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 Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:31 pm
Kill the Romance For the first time in what seemed like an eternity to Amyla, the house was silent. All of the various offspring were deep in slumber. The animals outside and in the house were silent except for the occasional snore from Zambarau that echoed in from Kari and Erin's room. Even the nearly perpetually-awake Caleb was sleeping quietly in his crib. It was peaceful... very peaceful.
Too peaceful.
"Alone at last," Aiodhan purred as he shut the bedroom door and padded over to the bed, fairly pouncing onto the bed next to Amyla. "I love that kid, but jeeeeez... it's nice to have a night alone with you... without the interruptions!" he said, snuggling in as close as he dared without an invitation.
That prompted a snort from Amyla. She knew perfectly well how much Aiodhan adored Caleb, but she shared his sentiments. Caleb was the most adorable and most irritating baby alive, though Erin was running a close second in the 'irritating' department. It was nice to have him asleep for once so that she and Aiodhan could have uninterrupted snuggle-time. She sorely missed those times. They had been few and far between when she was pregnant and non-existent after Caleb's birth. Their son was worth the loss, of course. But still... a little alone-time was needed to rekindle the romance.
And that was exactly what they both had in mind.
"Am I to take that as consent?" the dragon-man whispered quietly in her ear, startling her just a bit as she emerged from her thoughts.
She grinned as she felt a tail curling about her waist and a hand caressing her arm. Should she draw it out.... make him sweat it for a few moments before giving in? Nah.... too much effort. "Well, since you obviously won't take 'no' for an answer..." she sighed dramatically, forgetting whatever else she was going to say as his lips laid claim to hers. She snuggled closer, almost squirming in her happiness. Ah yes.... uninterrupted, peaceful, Amyla-Aiodhan time without the....
"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!"
They groaned simultaneously.
"I'll get him," Amyla said grumpily, disentangling herself from Aiodhan's embrace and trying not to notice the pained expression he was wearing. Poor guy... "You might as well go to sleep. I could be awhile," she added, though she knew she didn't have to. Knowing Caleb, she likely wouldn't get to bed for another hour. Excellent. So much for alone-time...
"All right... what this time?" she asked wearily as she slipped into Caleb's room, looking down at the little boy squirming in the crib.
The boy blinked his massive blue eyes and held his arms up to his mother. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeheeeeeehehe?" he asked, looking rather hopeful.
Amyla sighed, her shoulders slumping. "All right... all right," she moaned, picking him up and settling him against her chest. "You disturb me just 'cause you wanna be held? Jeez... that sounds like someone else I know," she muttered, thinking of Aiodhan's insistent dependency for the first few weeks he was under her care. That sort of thing just had to be genetic. "Don't you ever sleep, sweetheart?"
Content now, the boy simply snuffled quietly and cuddled against her, burying the side of his face into her chest just above her heart. Amyla could have sworn she heard him purring, and she was hard-pressed not to smile. Much as she hated the interruptions, it was very difficult to stay mad at the little monster for more than about five minutes. He was too cuddly.
And he knew it too.
About a half-hour later, she knew he was deeply asleep, and thinking it safe to return to bed now, she set him back in his crib and carefully covered him up in his blanket. He would wake up in about two hours for his late-night feeding, so she might as well get some sleep and maybe a little time with Aiodha-
The sound of deep snores put an end to that wishful thinking, and she sulked silently as she tucked herself into bed, trying to tune out the snores. Bah.... it looked like they weren't getting any more alone time soon.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:36 pm
Enter the Catclaws xd It was time to visit the Raikes-Layden family. Kimie had heard of Caleb's birth, and certainly they wouldn't mind a random visit.. right? Of course not! In any case, Kimie stood at the front door, Maddie and Madoc each on a hip, the newly-grown Evan at her side. "Knock knock!" Evan yelled, knocking on the door as well. Kimie rolled her eyes. Oh well, it worked. xd
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 7:46 pm
Amyla gave Caleb one last pat on the back, sighing happily as he expelled a final burp without any accompanying flames. Finally... progress. She hated having to constantly buy new shirts and snip flaming strands of her hair. Even with her hair pulled up and out of the way, the boy nearly always managed to catch a strand or two on fire, talented thing as he was.
The infant perked up in her arms and flicked an ear, a gesture that normally heralded an imminent arrival that she couldn't hear. Usually it was Erin causing problems. Today, however, a knock on the door was the sound that Caleb's hearing picked up long before her poor ears did. What in the...
"Got it!" Aiodhan called, ambling his way toward the front door. Nearly there, he was bowled over by a green streak moving far too quickly to be humanly possible.
"I'll get it! It's Evan!" Kari shrieked at the top of her lungs, obviously recognizing her friend's voice on the other side of the door though Amyla heard nothing but a distant burble from the kitchen. The Ancient child fumbled a bit with the locks and then opened the door wide, obviously expecting to see her friend at roughly eye level.
She suffered a small shock when he wasn't.
"Kimie! Come on in! Welcome... Kari, don't do that!" Aiodhan sighed, picking himself up off the floor.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:27 pm
Evan smirked down at Kari. Yup, "down."
"Hi Kari!" he grinned, and patted her on the head. "I grew," he explained needlessly.
Kimie snorted. Evan was hardly tall, but he had grown-- in more ways than one. "Hey there, Aiodhan. Happy New Year! Figured we'd stop by and see the new baby." The feline stood on tiptoe, trying to see over Aiodhan's shoulder. The two lemurlings fidgeted, wanting to be let down.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 8:51 pm
There were few things that truly annoyed Kari, but being looked down upon just happened to be one of them. "I'm not a little kid, y'know, and I can see that you grew," the Ancient child fumed, stalking away from the front door.
Aiodhan grinned. "Ahhh... somebody is finally putting on some height, eh?" he commented, reaching down to ruffle Evan's hair. He bent down just a bit to whisper. "If I were you, I'd catch up to her before she goes into full sulk-mode," he said, patting Evan on the head again and gesturing with his head toward the direction in which Kari had disappeared.
"Aiodhan, do I have to play mother and tell you to mind your manners?" Amyla yelled from the kitchen, her statement punctuated by a burble from Caleb.
The dragon-man cringed and gave Kimie a sheepish grin. "Come on in, Kimie. And Happy New Year to you too," he replied, curiously eyeing the lemurlings. Wait a second... when did Madoc get that big? "Evan isn't the only one who grew, is he?" he asked, gesturing for the woman and her offspring to come inside.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:01 pm
"Hey, what?" Evan looked from Aiodhan to his mother, then to the retreating figure of Kari, highly confused. With a slightly panicky expression, he ran off after her. "Wait, Kari, I.."
Kimie couldn't help but grin. Her son was growing up. Both of them were... "Ah yes, Madoc grew.. about a month ago, I suppose. Rather suddenly, of course." She followed the dragon-man into the house, setting Madoc and Maddie down as she did so.
"Amyla~" she chirped, trotting into the kitchen, lemurlings trailing along behind.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:08 pm
"Stupid boys!" Kari sulked, heading straight out the back door and kicking snow across the back deck. "Not fair! Why don't I get to grow up yet?! I'm still just a kid, and I'm older than he is too!"
Aiodhan resisted the urge to smirk at Evan's predicament as he shut the front door. Poor kid. "Yeesh... they grow up fast, don't they?" he remarked, watching Madoc trail after his mother. "And I see a familiar face. I'm guessing Zam is hiding in some corner, Maddie," he chuckled at the female lemurling, ambling into the kitchen as he did.
Seated at the table, Erin gave the newcomers a curious look. What was this... more people to torture? The catgirl perked up considerably. Yes, more beings to toy with. Who should she begin with...?
Trying to pry her collar out of Caleb's mouth, Amyla spun around with a tired, though happy, grin for her friend. "Kimie! Where've you been lately?" she asked, shifting Caleb's weight and finally succeeding in getting Caleb to release his bite-hold on her collar. "Ugh... Caleb, you are absolutely incorrigible."
Though he didn't understand a word she said, the boy did get the gist of the attitude and now wore an expression that was annoyingly similar to Aiodhan's smirk.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:34 pm
Evan stood at the back door, peering out into the yard. "Kari..? I'm sorry.. I was just teasing you..." He bit his lip. Maybe growing up wasn't so great. Certainly more complicated...
Maddie perked up and starting looking in corners and under furniture. "Zam-kitty? Mrowrr? Maddie look! Pounce?" she babbled, dropping to hands and knees. Maddie was mostly good at walking, but crawling was still faster-- and less wobbly.
Madoc kept upright, but peeked around Kimie's legs at Aiodhan.
Giggling at her daughter's antics, Kimie gave Amyla a hug, eyeing the scorch-marks warily. "So he did inherit some of the dragon, then?" She grinned and poked Caleb's nose. "He does look incorrigible!"
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 9:52 pm
"Yeah, yeah.... real funny!" Kari groused, idly scratching at one of her horn nubs. "'S not fair. I've been a kid for ages, and I wanna grow up too."
Aiodhan grinned in Maddie's direction and turned just in time to stop Erin from making a beeline for Madoc. "Whoa, Catty. Are you going to play nice?" he asked, getting a good hold on the back of the catgirl's shirt. Erin simply nodded and watched Madoc with wide eyes, tail waving lightly behind her.
"Erin gone?" Zam whispered, poking her purple head around the edge of the couch. She spotted the familiar face and trotted out. "Maddie! Make Maddie-noise, yes?" she asked, doing a feline imitation of the chitter-howl that made Aiodhan grin.
Amyla returned the hug as best she could around Caleb's squirming. "Just some of the dragon?" she said with an expression of utter exasperation, turning the boy just enough to Kimie could see his growing, fluttering wings. "Enough that he doesn't sleep, let's put it that way. Kimie, meet Caleb. Caleb... not my shirt!" she sighed, failing to notice that during the hug, the infant had fastened his gums about her collar again.
At the poke on his nose, Caleb blinked at Kimie and released his hold on the collar again, eyeing this person with his customary wariness. Who was she? She was not Mother, nor Father. Nor was she Erin or Kari or Nieva-Mother. That exhausted his limited knowledge of faces, and he scrunched his face up in an expression of bemusement.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:21 pm
Evan made a face. He didn't like people poking fun at his height either. "I'm sorry, Kari.. I didn't think. And it's not like I meant to grow, it just happened!" He stepped outside, avoiding the worst of the snow and put a tentative hand on Kari's shoulder. "Don't be mad at me.. please?"
"Who you?" Madoc demanded, his own striped tail waving. "Nice?" He glanced up at Aiodhan for more information.
Maddie squeaked and jumped onto the couch. "Zam-kitty! Maddie noise, yes, mrrowrrooo-hoo!" She reached out to pat Zam on the head, chittering happily.
Kimie's eyebrows raised as she inspected the distinctly draconic wings of the little baby. "Well hello there, Caleb. I'm Kimie, a friend of your mom and dad's," she explained matter-of-factly. She hid a smirk-- and she'd thought her kids were a handfull!
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:32 pm
Kari sighed and scratched at her horn nubs. Ugh, it was too difficult to stay mad at Evan for long. "It's okay... not your fault. I'm not mad at you," she mumbled, examining her green toes. "I just wish I could grow up too. Nieva is bigger than me now too," she grumbled, pulling a face. She glanced up at her friend. "Did you get my letter?"
"Erin!" the little cat-girl said happily, purring in her eagerness to examine this new torture object.
Aiodhan sighed and reluctantly released his hold on Erin to let her take a toddling step closer to Madoc. "Nice. Not mean. Not doing things like pulling tails," he said, giving Erin a knowing look while the toddler attempted to look innocent.
Zam gave a rumbling purr and rubbed her head against Maddie's hand. "Maddie noise fun. Zam do it lots. Make Erin cry, yes," the lion cub replied with a feline smirk.
Caleb blinked once at Kimie and gave her a casual wave of the hand before moving to sneak his jaws back around his mother's collar. This time, Amyla caught him and stuck the pacifier in his mouth first. "Chew on that, Fuzzball," she chuckled, watching his expression go from a scowl to one of contentment at the rubbery surface to chew on. "I'm sort of dreading the day he learns how to crawl. He already has rolling over down to an art, and he is slowly working on sitting up. I'm shuddering to think what kind of mischief he'll get into," she remarked, trying to smooth down the boy's permanently tousled hair. "Anyway, how have things been going for you, other than Evan and Madoc sprouting?" she asked, trying to keep a wary ear out for the two younglings out the back door. Kari was not a violent child, but she did have ... talents... that liked to manifest at inopportune times.
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Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 11:28 pm
Evan nodded and offered Kari a hug. "I did get your letter! And the present. Mum didn't really want more pets, but since it was a gift..." He grinned. "Thanks a lot," he said honestly. "I meant to get you something, but uh.. I'm not too great at getting presents for people." Evan rubbed his hands on his arms. "Can we go back in now? It's cold!"
"Air'nn," Madoc repeated, still a bit suspicious. "Not pull tail, kay?" He held his long stripy tail protectively.
Maddie scritched Zam's ears happily. "Zam miss Maddie? Why make Erin cry? Fun noise!" She giggled.
"Things have been going well. A bit hectic, but that's normal." Kimie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and made a face at Caleb. "I'd been meaning to stop by, actually, I found out some things about Maddie..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 8:17 pm
Not one for physical affection, Kari returned the hug somewhat gingerly and then scooted a safe distance away. Ewww.... touchy-feely nonsense.... "She didn't like the pony-bug? We've got two of them hanging around the house. Serri likes to perch on my shoulder, and Uaithne thinks Caleb is a bed. And you're welcome... and it's okay. I'm not really good at getting presents for people either," the Ancient child shrugged, curious at Evan's sensitivity to the cold. "Cold? Oh.... right. Yeah, we better go inside," she muttered, heading toward the back door.
"Yah, Erin!" the cat-girl purred, eyeing the stripy tail with new interest. "'Kay. No pull tail," she agreed, then gave Madoc a bewildered look. "You?"
If Zam could have purred, she undoubtedly would have. Instead, she settled for something like a rumbling, growling noise of contentment. "Zam miss Maddie very much. Erin not like Zam noises. Zam not like Erin. Erin pull tail," the young lioness commented, leaning her head into the scritches and waving her tail about happily.
Amyla grinned at the face Kimie made in Caleb's direction, noting how unconcerned the boy was with his surroundings now that he had something to chew on. Little brat. "I hear you on that account. 'Hectic' is definitely a good word to describe it," she commented, shifting Caleb's weight a bit on her hip. "About Maddie? I was planning on stopping by the clinic later to talk to Farland, let her see Caleb and ask about Erin's mysterious appearance on our doorstep. Anyway, why don't we go take a seat so we can talk comfortably and keep on eye on the dem- I mean, delightful children," she said, grinning mischeviously and gesturing with her chin in the direction of the living room.
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:15 pm
((Reserved in case of RP continuation elsewhere))
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Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:42 pm
Jaws "Duh-nuh... duh-nuh.... duh-nuh... duh-nuh, duh-nuh, duh-nuh, duh-nuh, duh-"
"Moooooommy!"
Amyla sighed, trying hard not to lose her temper again. Her hair was a mess, she hadn't slept well since Caleb was born (and even before that!), and her patience level was very close to zero. The little dragon-boy had been especially fussy and bite-y over the past few days, making her life more than a little frustrating. Now Erin just had to add to those problems... "What, Erin?" she asked with another heavy sigh, turning around just in time to see the toddler's tearful and frightened face bury itself in the side of her leg, the little catgirl clinging to Amyla's leg with all her might.
"Mommy, Kari made scawry noise again! Shark gonna eat me!" the girl wailed anew, the sounds of her distress grating on Amyla's already-strained nerves.
Turning her gaze toward the scowling green Ancient, Amyla made a curt shooing gesture at Kari. We'll talk later... she thought, making very sure that her face got the message across.
She didn't have to try very hard. The Ancient's scowl deepened, and the child spun around and stormed away, a distant bedroom door slamming an instant later. The girl had gotten progressively more moody lately, which Amyla hoped meant that the Ancient child was growing up. That could only be good. She couldn't handle these pre-teen moods anymore.
However, a more immediate issue had to be tended to before Amyla could go remonstrate her bully of a daughter. Erin was still clinging to her leg and wailing with such volume and intensity that Caleb was starting to whimper as well. Amyla didn't blame him in the least.
"All right, Erin. I heard. Kari is just teasing you. No sharks are going to get you," she said with as much patience as she could muster, reaching down and picking up the girl. She felt her back groan in protest and frowned. Aiodhan was going to give her a massage later, or there'd be hell to pay. "Okay, Erin? No sharks." Last time I let them see "Jaws." Whose idea was that anyway?! she thought furiously.
Erin stopped crying almost immediately, simply sniffling a bit and nodding now. Her pathetic face turned into a bright and shiny expression, and she patted her mother on the head. "Tank yooou, Mommy!" she cooed happily, making Amyla seethe quietly as the catgirl was placed back on the ground to scamper off.
Little brat just wanted Kari in trouble.... ugh!!!! Amyla grumbled, about to tear her hair out. Could the day possibly get any worse than this?!
Caleb made sure of it, making an insistent whimper from his swinging chair and directing Amyla's attention back to him. He had been neglected for two minutes, after all. That was completely inexcusable.
Muttering about demanding children and remembering that she had been about to feed the cranky infant, Amyla walked over and scooped the little boy out of his chair. She settled herself comfortably into her rocking chair and adjusted her shirt, wincing as always in preparation for Caleb's gums chomping down with their normal fierceness.
She was unprepared, however, for the pinching pain that nearly made her jump out of the chair. She did utter a surprised squeak, though. "What the heck?" she grumbled, trying hard not to glare at the boy as his grip didn't loosen in the least.
When he was done feeding, she pulled her shirt back into its normal position and settled the burping cloth on her shoulder. Just as she was bringing the boy up to burp him, the little monster had the audacity to give her a mischevious grin that she just knew he'd gotten from his father. And in that moment, she noticed a little white something poking out of his top gum. Frowning, she squinted a bit to get a better look. Could it... yep, it was. He was teething.
The boy's grin seemed now more devilish than ever, and Amyla resisted the urge to growl as she began to burp him, cringing when a little puff of smoke emerged from his mouth. Would the surprises ever end?
As soon as he had spewed up half his meal, twice as much air, and a few clouds of smoke, Amyla put the burping cloth aside to wash it and headed for the nursery. It looked like she got to note Caleb's first tooth in his baby boo-
"Yow!" she griped as the sharp-toothed mouth nibbled gently on her ear. Prying the jaws away, she resisted the urge to call Aiodhan at work. Oh, this boy was so getting bottles from now on...
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