Welcome to Gaia! ::

Andreas shifted the dozing Isabella onto his shoulder, using his foot to tuck her folded-up stroller back under his chair. He was sharply dressed as usual, still in his suit with his dreadlocks pulled back from work. She wiggled a bit, grasping his jacket with her little hands. It was odd how he had seemed so disinterested when Adani was pregnant, considering how he was now so concerned with every little detail of Isa's life. At the moment, the detail he was concerned with was her education. Sure, she was still very young, but she had the capability to be smart, if he nurtured it from an early age. She was already showing signs that she was intelligent, talking early, learning so quick, it was wonderful. So, he figured it would be best to start teaching her the joys of reading early. Today, he had decided to take her, all dolled up in her bunny clips and overalls, to listen to a few hours of nursery rhymes and fables. They'd already been there for an hour or so, and she seemed tired, so a nap was in order. He moved Isa from his shoulder to his chest, hugging her tight when she latched her tiny arms almost all the way around his neck, careful not to move and wake her up. He looked around, smiling and nodding to anyone that acknowledged him. Some of the children around seemed to know each other, so he made a mental note to ask some of the parents later on where they took their kids to play. Maybe then Isa could make some friends before she had to start preschool. He glanced down at her, holding back a bit of a laugh when her ears twitched and she squirmed a bit. Ting did that too, usually when she was having a dream about running. He gave her hair a soft stroke, then turned his attention back to the children and parents that were wandering around, waiting for the next story to begin.

Andreas nodded a greeting to the two who had walked in, cringing when he realized the movement had jarred Isa awake. She had started to whimper, she never cried, and grip at his shoulders, wondering what was so important that he would wake his precious baby. He scratched her behind the ears and smiled, "They're going to start a new story soon baby."

Isa flicked her ears curiously at the statement. She didn't entirely understand it, but her daddy was being nice and he had said a new story. That was good, she would hear more imag-ma-national things. And even better, there seemed to be others around. She turned herself around in her father's grip, wide eyes hopping from the winged boy to his mother and then back to her daddy and the empty chair. She'd seen most of it before she woke up, except the people, but now she wanted to play, so everything seemed so much more interesting.

Andreas smiled, pushing a few loose dreadlocks out of his face. Even though it was his day off, and even though he was supposed to be relaxing, he was still dressed his best in a pressed suit and wire frame sunglasses. He wasn't one to just, let loose, like his wife. That was the way their relationship worked. He made money and organized everything, and she partied and made friends. It had been working since they'd met, so why change it. He just wasn't ever going to relax much, it wasn't who he was. But Isa at least calmed him down to a sociable level. He set Isa down on the ground so she could explore the new child, then turned to Elysia, "I'm Andreas, and this is my daughter, Isabella."

Isa showed a canined smile, imitating her father. Her face was flushed, partly from her excitement and partly from her usual energy, but she didn't seem to care. When she was put down, she squeaked happily, tossing her arms into the air. Unfortunately for the pup, she didn't have very good balance and thus, fell forward. Instead of screeching or crying out, she started giggling, and rolled over onto her back, reaching to grab her toes. She kept her head tipped back to look at the large boy though, and when he spoke, she mimiced him, "Hi hi!"

Story time? Oh, it's on. Kirea held Ravyn's hand gently, bending over a little to trot with the little girl into the room, holding the door open for them. She felt out of place, seeing everyone already assembled, and forced a weak smile. Ravyn too seemed to have noticed at there were people already there, and slunk toward the corner where there was an open seat.

Kirea sat down holding her arms out to pick up Ravyn and sit the toddler on her lap. She smiled politely to the other families and stood up, still carrying Ravyn, edging their way towards the the other families. Ravyn hadn't met anyone from the center yet, not since she had been an infant, and that she couldn't remember. The goal of going to the story time thing--whatever it was called--was primarily to get her friendly with some of the other kids, maybe even form some friendships.

Elysia gave the dreadlocks another look-see. They were perfectly formed, and did, in fact, look as if they had been there all his life. "Well, they are really nice," she complimented, giving him a grin. "They look perfect. I rarely see such well-formed dreadlocks."

She paused, watching to make sure Ari wasn't getting to rough with the baby. "So did you adopt here too?" she asked. She hadn't met many parents yet. It had been hard for her to get to the agency in the past few months. Life had been more than stressful. "Ari was put into my care almost nine months ago. Amazing how they grow so fast," she said, really saying it to herself.

She watched another mother and daughter as they walked in, and Elysia thought she recognized them, but perhaps not. It had been so long since she'd been to the place that she had forgotten which parents she'd met.

Ari jumped a little as the infant squeeked at him. He was going to be paranoid forever about the grass incident with Mia that had caused her much unhappiness. He didn't want to hurt the little baby, so he took a closer look to make sure she wasn't damaged. "O-tay bay bay?" he asked her, in toddler-speak of course, his brow furrowing in concentration. It was then that he saw her smile. "Yay!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. She certainly did look okay to him.

Elysia nodded. It was good to see people who couldn't conceive adopt...It gave Elysia a warm fuzzy feeling inside. So many times, these people gave up, or tried in vain to use their own DNA, to no avail. "Well, it was good of you to adopt. There are so many kids out there who need good families." She smiled at him. "Well...I haven't had too many problems. Though the friend that I adopted with...well, she's not around so much anymore. I think she left Gaia, but I can't be sure. I haven't seen her in awhile."

Ari looked around the room curiously, not really noticing what Isa was doing. He had a short attention span at this age, and everything around him was interesting. He jumped as he felt her poke him on the shoulder, but instead of being upset about it, Ari broke into a huge grin, and turned around to face the little one. "Bah!" he exclaimed, "Pokey bay bay!"

He gave her a second to react, then prodded his own index finger out there, giving her a slight poke in the side. "It!"

"Aaah, I see. Yes, Ari's birth mother was a good woman too. She never really revealed the reasons for giving up her baby for adoption, but I think it's because he would remind her too much of her lost love...Now, I'm not sure if that's really the case, but that's what I've always assumed." A concerned look crossed her face. "If you don't mind me asking...I know I'm nosy sometimes...but why is your wife always in the emergency room?"

Ari giggled as he watched the little girl squeal. He clapped his hands together, and let out a squeak. "Isa!!" he shouted, slowly pulling himself up to his feet, and toddling after her carefully. He was used to bumping into things by now, but he'd at least try to be careful. He would tag her next--he was sure of it.

Elysia looked at Andreas wide-eyed, listening to the antics that his wife got into. As soon as he finished talking abou the cocoa puff, she burst into laughter, unable to keep it in any longer. "Hahaha! Sounds like you've got all kinds of things to deal with! Is Isa better than she is when it comes to sticking things where they don't belong?" She giggled again, and then decided that she might be a bit rude herself. "I'm sorry," she managed to get out between giggles. "It's just funny. I'd like to meet her sometime though. I'm sure she's a great mother."

Once Isa started rolling around, Ari didn't quite know what to do. He'd never had this happen when he was playing a game before. "Isa rolllll!" he exclaimed, clapping again for the very impressive baby. "Go Isa GO!!" He let out a little squeal and watched as she rolled around in a circle. It was amusing enough to keep him watching--by now, he'd lost all interest in tagging her, and just watched with wide eyes. He wondered if she'd ever get dizzy.

He remembered spinning around on the beach behind their house, and he got so dizzy that he fell down, the world spinning around him. Would Isa feel the same way when she finally came to a stop?