Welcome to Gaia! ::

Then the others had questions.

"Stork?" "What's his name?" "What's a music box?" "How does that work, exactly?" "What in the name of the Valar is going on here?!"

With all the noise, Andarien started to cry again, though thankfully not as loudly as before, and Earendil hushed everyone around him. "You're frightening him!" he censured them. He turned to Alene. "I hate to bother you, but do you have some clothes he could borrow? Shiloh's just a bit bigger than him, she's the closest to his size ..."

Alene smiled and nodded. "Not to worry. I'll be right back." She headed back into her tent and emerged a moment later with several articles of clothing.

Earendil set about dressing the babe, and while he was doing so, he told the others what little he and Lin knew: that he'd come from the music box that Miyuki had given him, his name was Andarien, and that he was their new son.

Kaito was perched in a tree above the crowd so that he could see better, his golden eyes gleaming with amusement, his tail flicking back and forth. This was indeed something very amusing to him.

Earendil smiled at Miyuki as she drew near, and though Andarien was still crying, he held him up to show her.

"Your brother, Andarien," he told her with a wide grin. "You want to hold him?"

She'd held Shiloh, she knew how to hold newborns, correct?

Earendil smiled and set Andarien into Miyuki's arms gently. The infant was still crying, but with his hands and legs tucked inside the blanket, he was no longer able to flail.

Once Miyuki had Andarien, Earendil reached into the tent for the music box and wound it up again, this time all the way. Slowly, Andarien's wails slowed, until he grew quiet. His eyes were wide, and he stared up into Miyuki's face.

"No clue, considering he came from the music box," Earendil chuckled softly.

He supposed this was going to cause a few changes in the travel. Someone was going to have to carry Andarien, and he wasn't sure if Lin would want to carry him on a horse ... he wouldn't have a problem, but he was used to riding, Lin was still relatively new to it. If Lin wanted to carry him, she might end up in the wagon as well. Good thing there were blankets they could use to pad it.

"I don't mind holding him," Earendil offered, "but if you're going to, you might want to ride in the wagon with him."

Miyuki and River were going to be riding in the wagon, but to be honest he didn't trust either of them holding a newborn baby for several hours at a time.

"If we take turns, we should both be all right," he added.

Earendil nodded. "And maybe we should ask Leilani to keep her flute handy," he chuckled. "It might come in handy, what do you think?"

"I don't mind," Leilani spoke up from where she was feeding Remiel a nice warm breakfast. "It makes traveling better anyways."

Leilani giggled softly. "I do," she nodded, just a single nod of her head. "I've been playing for a long time, since I was younger than you are. I've learned many songs and many skills throughout the years, and I have been taught by the Valar themselves."

Though Miyuki probably didn't realize what that meant. The Valar were the first musicians, the creators of music: the ultimate teachers.