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 Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:32 pm
"Hopefully I didn't give my opinions so freely at the worst moments," Beatrix said, with not a lot of hope. "Right in people's faces."
Not a lot of people told Jacoba they liked her outright; she was more used to being told that she was terrible, and being in states of cold war with man and boy alike. She took another swig at her water and regarded Jack gravely.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:57 pm
"Yeah, you did," Jack pointed out heartlessly. He still considered the little girl, though, with a calculating eye. Suddenly, he got to his knees and then rose to his feet. Bending over, he disengaged the sippy cup from Jacoba's hand and then picked her up. "I've gotta try this," he offered in baffling explanation. "Antony never let me." Then, without another word, he tossed the toddler into the air, catching her under the armpits.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:08 pm
Jacoba immediately shrieked with delight: nobody had ever done this with her, and she wiggled her stumps enthusiastically. She was laughing hard, cheeks red. Jack moved up from liked to UNCLE JACK IS GREAT immediately. "More!" she demanded happily.
Beatrix groaned, settling back to lean against the couch with her cup of tea. "Your secret fetish," she said. "Toddler-throwing."
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:34 pm
"It's a new one," he replied, unperturbed. He tossed Jacoba into the air again. "No one's ever been daft enough t' give me a toddler before."
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:16 pm
"I didn't give you permission," Beatrix said wryly: but Jacoba was still giggling madly, obviously finding this exercise both hilarious and exhilirating. She never got much of a chance to get bounced around: Beatrix certainly had never done ye olde toddler activity 'airplane' with her.
"More, more," she begged.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:20 pm
"When have I ever needed permission?" Jack adjusted his hold on Jacoba, making sure he had her safely. Then, slowly, he began spinning in a circle with her held high. "C'mon, give a bloke a break. She's adorable."
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:53 pm
"Oh, she's being adorable for you," his friend said. "Usually her adorability rates very, very low. In fact, upon consideration, I should've called her Damien. The Daycare staff usually tell me helpfully which children she bit that day when I bring her home."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 12:02 am
Jack grinned up into the little girl's face as he lifted her higher. "Give any of 'em rabies, lass?" he asked.
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 12:40 am
Jacoba grinned back into Jack's face, a disconcertingly similar grin and more than its fair share of naughty. "Rabis?"
"See, this is why I knew I shouldn't have children," Beatrix said, laughing despite herself and downing the rest of her tea. "You'd just end up corrupting them. I've never seen her smile like that at me," she added enviously. "You womanizer."
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Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2007 10:26 pm
"Eh, it's easy t' be charmin' t' sweethearts." Unabashed at Bea's attempt at scolding, Jack lowered Jacoba for a moment before tossing her ceilingwards once more. Once she was safely back in his grip, though, he sank to the floor and arranged his long legs Indian-style. The little girl found a home on his knee. "She's a firecracker," he laughed, glancing at Jacoba. "Right, lass?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 4:04 am
Jacoba, in what her mother regarded as a truly disgusting display of disloyalty, snuggled into Jack's shirtfront and smirked for all she was worth. "Uh-huh," she agreed with him amenably.
Beatrix threw up her hands in mock-defeat. "That is what I call a wilful act of sucking-up on both your parts," she said, laughing too hard to even be sounding like scolding now. "I'm sure Antony doesn't pander to you like that, Jack."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:31 pm
Absently rubbing Jacoba's back, Jack shrugged and then shook his head. "'Course he doesn't. For one thing, he's too big t' chuck around. For another, it's not his thing. He drives Shade up the wall." He grinned, clearly finding it hilarious. "They're different as night an' day."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:54 pm
"Antony reminds me more of myself when I was his age," Beatrix agreed, "only I think he's rather less of a self-absorbed prig than I was. I was a little s**t - well, that's fifty cents for the swear jar," she added in calm consternation. "Anyway, Antony and I get on well."
"Antony suck," Jacoba informed Jack gravely. He did! He did have his good points, though. He was fun. Maybe he didn't suck that hard. Then again, she wasn't about to say that.
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:04 pm
"No, Antony's just got manners, Gingertop." Again he ruffled her short hair. He grinned. "He's got charm, too. Shade says he's made a bunch o' lady friends."
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Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:07 pm
Beatrix just laughed out loud again, remembering the half-conversation she had had with him about Delilah and the state of princesses: obviously Antony's chivalry was an attractive thing to the other girls his age. "So long as none of them are red-headed teenage goths."
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