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 Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 12:40 pm
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Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 7:11 am
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Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2015 5:21 am
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Class Quest Solo Hunter
The moon was still high in the sky when it started up. Liira jolted awake, her body aching in ways she didn't know it could ach as she tried to piece together what was going on. Noise. That was the best she could process before giving it another painful try, working on waking up her brain. She soon enough figured out what it was. The baby was crying. Liira huffed a sigh, a grimace on her face as she padded out of bed and over to the cradle. Tyyn was already several months old now, and it seemed like only yesterday that Liira had been telling Tau the news. They were going to have a baby. It was an accident of course, they didn't know whether to be happy or to punch each other in the throat. Liira rubbed a hand down her face; how did she even end up here?
She reached into the cradle and lifted the baby out of her crib. Her squawls pierced Liira's ears and she moved to bounce the baby in her arms, hoping that she would quickly fall back asleep, her own eyes starting to close againin exhaustion. She just wanted rest. She thought she would be able to regain her energy after the first months of having the baby, but already eight months later and she still couldn't feel normal again. The bouncing did nothing to quiet Tyyn, she still screamed into the night and Liira sighed. She couldn't keep doing this. She guessed she wasn't the only one not getting any sleep lately and this would surely wake up the others. She wasn't hungry, she had just fed less than two hours ago. She put her cheek to the baby's forehead and heaved a sigh. She was burning up. Tyyn was sick again. The baby had a knack for coming down with anything she could, getting sick constantly. It was the reason Liira couldn't gain a normal sleep cycle, how could she when the baby needed so much attention all of the time? Her mother and Tau's mother had both assured her that after the first few months she would be able to settle into a new cycle, that Tyyn would sleep longer and need less feeding as she grew, and Liira had hoped for that. But it wasn't happening as far as she could see.
They had panicked the first few times Tyyn had been sick; rushing her to a healer to see what the problem was, hoping that she would be alright, not really knowing what to do with a sick infant. They had never been in that situation before, Liira especially. Now it almost seemed like a way of life. Tyyn got sick, they stayed awake to a crying baby and nursed ber back to normal. They kept a supply of the medicine from the healer after she guessed the healer got tired of being woken up in the middle of the night. She couldn't blame him. She was tired of being woken up in the middle of the night.
The night passed slowly as she fed Tyyn the medicine and waited for her to go to sleep. Her sleep only lasted in short busts, then she would wake up and fuss until Liira could get her to calm down again, occassionally feeding her more medicine in the hopes that this illness would pass quickly. The morning couldn't have come any sooner. But the morning eventually passed and turned to afternoon before turning again into night. Tyyn's fever still hadn't broken and it would be time soon to go on a hunt for the family. Liira rocked the still squirming baby while her and Tau had to talk about the need for supplies. It was usually Liira who went out for herself. Even during the pregnancy she had been the one to do it until the baby was born and she needed rest. She picked it right back up as soon as she could, but now Tyyn needed her. Tau agreed to go on the hunt, and left soon after the morning had broken the sky.
Liira sat by the cradle, it was one of the few moments when Tyyn slept peacefully, and Liira sulked. She loved her baby. More than she thought she could ever love anything. Tyyn was precious to her, and even though the pregnancy wasn't planned, wasn't really wanted, she grew close to the parasite inside of her for nine months. She enjoyed the little fluttery kicks and talking to it when no one was watching. She would rub her belly with a smile on her face, enjoying the weight of it while she walked - well more like waddled - around. And that was before she knew it was a girl. She had told her family about her pregnancy only after she had started to show. It was her only reason to go back to Zena then, was just to let her family know what had happened and where she would be staying for years to come. Her parents were overjoyed, both loving the idea of their own little girl growing up and starting her own family, being able to be grandparents. But it wasn't all joy either. She would be staying in Tale with Tau, far far away from Zena. The trip was short, and soon she was leaving her family again, leaving her dad with having to find his own helper since she wouldn't be in the fur trading business anymore.
Tau's family had been just as happy, though it was just his mother now, and his little brother. His mother was just so happy to have something to look forward to after losing her husband. And she welcomed Liira into the house without hesitation, even when Liira wasn't so sure she wanted to be welcomed. When she was still struggling with her uncertainties about even wanting a baby. About the possibility of her running away and living in Zena alone with her little surprise hybrid baby.
But eventually Tyyn was ready to join the world and Liira fell in love all over again when she saw her precious face. It was a like a honeymoon high to her. Nothing could go wrong with her baby, and she loved her like nothing else. She was alright with not hunting for a couple of weeks while she recouperated from the birth as long as Tyyn was near her. But eventually she longed for the hunt, and the longer she stayed home with Tyyn the more it grew inside of her. She wanted her life to be the same as before. She wanted her baby still, but she wanted to be the provider. She wanted her freedom, even with Tyyn in her life.
She thought of Tau then, on the hunt, on his own, no responsibilites other than gathering food, taking down animals and skinning them. She despised the idea of having to rely on someone else. On Tau being the sole provider while she stayed home with Tyyn feeling useless. She didn't like the sudden change in her position in life. She couldn't help but wonder whether this was right for her. Being a mother. Did it really suit her? Could she really do it? She looked down at the sleeping baby in the crib and knew she didn't have any other choice, but did she want this? She had to know, she couldn't let her child grow up with a life where she wasn't sure if her mother loved her or saw her with resentment and longing for the life she had before.
Tyyn wiggled in her crib, opening her eyes and looking to Liira. She wasn't crying anymore, and Liira had lost track of time but she had been asleep for quite a while. She reached down and put a hand to Tyyn's forehead before sighing. Her fever had broken; the medicine had finally worked and wormed out whatever it was that Tyyn had caught this time. She looked at her baby, the baby she hadn't wanted but loved anyways. The baby she loved more than she did the baby's father. And watched while the little eight month old girl reached down and put her foot in her mouth, totally content with herself. Liira laughed, she was adorable and even with all of the hard times she supposed with that little cherub face looking up at her she wouldn't trade it for anything. She was just tired. Her lack of rest had gotten the better of her and she was grumpy. She might have meant what she had thought, but she knew that she would love her daughter, and Tyyn wouldn't grow up wondering whether her mother loved her or not. She would learn to grow accustomed to this new life, and her new role in it. She may not ever love it, and it may get harder from here; she may wish for something else at times, but she would have Tyyn there to remind her of the reason she was doing it all.
[word count: 1,513]
[The pregnancy was unexpected and threw a wrench into Liira's plans. Liira has to come to terms with the idea that she can't continue to be the sole provider/hunter for the family, now she needs to adjust her life to be a mother to her newborn, knowing that she probably will never regain her old independence.] |
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Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:55 am
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