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Friendly Conversationalist
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 Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:27 pm
Claire straightened up with a sigh and stretched her arms behind her back to work out the kink that had formed from leaning over for so long. That was it, everything was done. She smiled back at Aaron and Lorin, her enthusiasm apparent and catching as both returned her gesture, and she moved to join them, stopping just at Aaron's side. Lorin raised his head from his father's shoulder to giggle down at the sight of her and disengage his arms, ready for her to hold him. She obliged and there was a shuffling between the two humans as she took the Frei in her arms and he smiled up at her, shifting to readjust himself. Aaron ran a hand through his hair once his arms were free with a chuckle.
"No questions here, man," he replied while Claire busied herself with Lorin, and he added with a laugh, "Pretty sure we'll end up shooting some your direction at some point, though." However, Zeke mentioning "one more thing" made all eyes turn towards Zeke curiously, until he pulled his phone out and made his offer. Claire's arms tightened excitedly around Lorin.
Their first family photo. With all the fuss of actually picking him up, she had not even thought to document this important moment. Given that there was no actual birth certificate other than the paperwork, however.. it would make for a lovely first entry into the long-forgotten baby book. Lorin blinked at Claire and his fingers held fast at her shirt at the sudden shift in demeanor. She assured him with a gentle nudge of the head against his own, which dissolved him into another quiet giggle. Her eyes peered around his blonde head to meet her husband's gaze.
"What do you think?" she asked with a slow smile. Aaron paused to consider, arms folded over his chest.
"I think it sounds great. Let's do it," he agreed with a raise of the eyebrows and his own careful smile. Claire's brightened considerably at the words and the trio turned to face the vet. Another flutter of worry coursed through Claire and she jiggled the Frei softly in his arms to get his attention.
"Now don't worry, it's going to make a noise and it might make a bright light," she fussed, reaching up a hand to flatten some of his hair (which had mussed slightly), "But it won't hurt you, don't be startled, okay?" Her tone was soothing, and for all the excitement at whatever was coming, even if Lorin had no rightful idea, he felt safe in her arms, with Papa at his back.
"Okay," came the tiny reply with a smile, and Claire felt the need to cry all over again.
"There's a brave boy." The hand paused on his head to rest there gently, and she resteadied her grip on him. With another shared glance between husband and wife, they moved closer together; he pulled his arm around her shoulder and Lorin turned more fully towards Zeke, as much as he could in Claire's arms. There was no artifice in her smile when she announced, heart fluttering and voice full of emotion, "Ready when you are."
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:45 pm
"Well you know how to reach me if anything should come up!" He let the phone drop a little to say that and as the two of them took a moment to deliberate before coming out with the answer he knew would be obvious.
"Awesome. I'm gonna tell you now, I'm no pro photographer but if either of you have seen my Facebook you've probably seen enough selfies and photos of my family to know I can work my way around a cellphone camera." He waggled his brows with a cheeky grin waiting for them to get settled and close. "Flash shouldn't go off," he said to quell any fear of startling Lorin, "it's bright enough in here that it shouldn't need it. The noise is either gonna be that preset click or a duck quack because I forget if I changed it back over."
It had been done in a moment of inspiration to get Brad smiling at his desk while he worked from home the other day. Just another of Zeke's spontaneous plans that had worked marvelously.
"Anyway! On the count of three say 'cheese'!" He pulled the phone eye level and moved around just enough to make sure everyone was in frame. No glares, the light was behind the photographer, his shadow was somewhere on the floor that wouldn't be in shot...Perfetto. "One...two...three!"
A duck quacked and the photo was saved automatically.
"Got it!" He pulled it up, closing the space between them to show them the picture. "What do you think? Perfect or would you like me to try again?" He would be more than happy to take as many as necessary to get this just right. He even held the phone down enough so Lorin could see himself and his parents without needing to crane his head. "How about you, kiddo? Did I capture your good side or what?"
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:35 pm
A chorus of "cheese" rang from the two adults and Lorin made a valiant attempt to duplicate it, but any thought of that flew out the window when the phone quacked. He had never heard such a delightful sound and it had startled him in exactly the right way. A peal of laughter fell from his lips as the camera clicked, which widened the smiles on his parents's faces. Zeke wasted no time in rushing over to show them his handiwork, and Claire sighed appreciatively. "Oh no, this one is perfect, how wonderful. Please be sure to text this to me. Won't this look great in the baby book, Aaron?"
The phone was lowered for Lorin's benefit as Zeke spoke, and he looked at the phone in the vet's hand in utter surprise. Why were Mama and Papa so small, and yet here they were, holding him? He looked between them, jaw a little slack and eyes wide, before looking back down at the phone screen. It was clearly them but not them, but how? Then his eyes settled on the tiny figure between the not-Mama and Papa, mouth opened in joy and blonde hair tousled as he had started to move (thankfully not enough for the picture to blur).
Who was this?
Was this him?
He reached a small hand out to touch the screen and gave a gasp when the image zoomed in. Claire watched this moment of discovery with a budding fondness in her chest, the Frei's eyebrows scrunched in confusion as he tried to puzzle it out.
"I'd say he approves," she replied with a chuckle.
"I think smartphones are something we'll have to get him used to, though." Aaron added with a laugh of his own as he tilted his head to get a better look at Lorin's wonderment, and she nodded in agreement. She bounced him once in her arms to get his attention.
"Ready, baby boy? It's time to go home now." He blinked and looked around. They were not going to stay here? An interesting notion but one that seemed to make sense; this place had the Scary Room where he had knocked things over, where he could not get out until Zeke came to rescue him. He did not necessarily want to live in a place that had a room like that, and he scrunched his face up and shook his head, hands on Claire's shoulders once again. "What's the matter?" Claire asked with a laugh but he just kept his arms around her neck, glancing back at Zeke. "I think he wants to say bye, Zeke," she added with a gentle smile. Lorin kept his eyes trained on the Lab assistant, face nuzzled into his scarf, but one hand slid from the safety of his mother and he reached out to gently pap Zeke on the cheek, as he had done with Claire earlier. He giggled.
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 5:05 pm
"All right first try!" He made a fist and shucked his elbow back in victory. "I'll also email it to you so you can print it off or set it up as the background on your computer." It would be done already but the phone moved in his hands with the tap of Lorin's tiny fingers and far be it from Zeke to pry him away from exploration.
"I'd say so! You guys might have a master photographer on your hands; looks like he has the zoom-in down pat!" He was laughing again and it felt oh so good, even though he was quite aware that their time together was drawing to its close for now. When Lorin let go of his phone Zeke pocketed the object for now - the appropriate text and email would be sent shortly after he saw everyone safely on their way.
Before that could be, Lorin wanted to say goodbye to him and Zeke was happy to oblige. The pat to his shaven cheek earned the Leshy boy a funny face to make him giggle more followed by a pat of the vet's own hand over the much smaller one resting on his face.
"You be a good boy now you hear? And no reaching for things on high shelves like earlier!" He then reached out and tapped what was exposed of the Frei's nose with a soft 'boop'. "I won't say 'goodbye' only because we'll see each other again once mom and dad have you settled in. I'll even bring a lovely lady along with me to meet you, how's that sound?" He winked at the Frei before he straightened to address said parents, reaching out to Aaron for another handshake before resting that same hand on Claire's arm. He gave a sigh, soft in breath but enough to draw his shoulders up and down, readying himself for the parting.
"I would love to have Anya meet him sometime when you're all free for it. I think she really took a liking to you when you guys first met, Claire, and I don't think she'll have any problems with the little guy here." He then gestured to the door. "But we can talk about that later when the time comes. For now, let me see you all out."
He held the door open when they reached it, smiling at each face in turn.
"Congratulations again you guys and hey, thank you for making my day!"
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Friendly Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 5:52 pm
Another person for Lorin to meet?
The word meet was sinking in with all the use it was seeing today and when Zeke's hand settled over his own with the offer and a wink, Lorin smiled. If this new person was like Mama and Papa and Zeke, then he would like that very much. He nodded enthusiastically, beaming, as the man stood to show them all out. Aaron clapped two hands around Zeke's offered one and returned the handshake with enthusiasm, despite his own nerves at the gargantuan task called parenthood that lay before him.
"Nice meeting you," he said with a parting grin, and Claire smiled gently when that same hand came to rest on her arm. This time, it was her turn to give him a hug and she looped her free arm around Zeke's shoulder with a gentle squeeze.
"Thank you again, Zeke." Her cheeks pinkened from the conveyed compliment from his lovely Raevan. "And thank Anya for me, too - I'm glad she approved of me. I'd be happy to arrange something once Lorin is a little more settled." The small face peeked out again at the mention of his name, but the door was open now and a light breeze swept in. He winced against the n** of cold but it was not as intense as it had been before; the sun had done its work and the temperature was slowly climbing. Midday traffic was picking up outside and he shrunk against Claire's shoulder at the sudden appearance of a car driving by, pushing up only just the slightest as it kept on, his eyes following its trail. Claire hummed as she and Aaron stepped through, and raised a hand in parting. "Bye, Zeke, and thank you." Lorin turned his attention from the road, eyes on her hand and he, too, raised his own.
"Bye, Zeke," he echoed with a smile. Once the door closed, Claire heaved an sigh and her sights were set towards the next task - grocery store, home, call her mother and share the good news. Aaron reached his arms out to take him as she started fishing for her keys and his own mind was embroiled with doubts. He smiled shakily down at Lorin, who in turn gave him a megawatt smile until something else seemed to grab his attention. His face was awash in curiosity and his gaze wandered everywhere.
"What's wrong?" Aaron asked, and his stomach clenched as though suspecting the child had sensed his innate doubts. Lorin squinted his eyes as he searched, but then - there it was again. Claire paused in her fishing and Aaron lifted his chin as both of them heard clearly what had distracted the Frei - a very soft peep. They waited a moment.. and it happened again. Aaron shifted Lorin to sit more securely in his arms and followed the noise, eyeing the shrubbery just outside of the Lab, and reaching down to pull away a few branches they spotted the source. A tiny spring peeper stared up at them, croak sac inflating at rapid pace. Lorin's eyes went wide and he reached down a hand towards it, but the frog hopped out of reach, much to the Frei's disappointment. It scaled the branches of its protecting shrub and peeped gently. "You're a little early, aren'tcha?" Aaron chuckled to it, and Lorin made another noise and reached down towards it. It was so green and made such a funny noise, just like Zeke's phone! But Aaron straightened and pulled them both away to leave the tiny frog to his devices. "Now now, we can't take him away from his home, can we?" Lorin blinked back at his father with a small pout and another glance at the bush, but there was another word he had heard frequently today - home. Here was the frog's home, and his was another place. Maybe he would find more of the funny creatures at his home.
Claire chuckled, keys in hand. "It is warming up; spring is in the air, after all." Between an early-rising spring peeper and their newest bundle of joy, this was certainly a momentous start to the season.
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