Welcome to Gaia! ::

Intro:

Emily was not much for Christmas. Back at the Haven, there hadn't really been too much to celebrate for, after all. Her people lost more than they gained on the holiday, given the freezing temperatures and lack of ability to counter them. Too many had fallen on that day in the past. And there were few if any gifts-- there was no money to buy them, and even if there had been, there were no gifts to buy. Toy stores had long gone out of business-- the only businesses that did well were those that created medicines and those that created weapons.

While it was quite different here in Gaia-- she lived in luxury by comparison, though she chose to live minimally, in the smallest, darkest, dodgiest apartment she could find that reminded her of home-- she still didn't much enjoy the holiday. Sure, she still believed in God enough to appreciate the gift of his Son as she saw it, but Christmas had long since stopped being about that, and so it had lost all meaning for her.

She was curled up, then, with a book by the fire covered in a huge pile of blankets with the heat off. She could still remember years of winters curled up by a radiator snuggled in the blankets with Xi....but, there'd never been a fireplace there.

Too dangerous to leave it going all night, anyways. He was there beside her, because this was the time of year she missed him the most and the only way for her to cope was to project an image of him; garish Hawaiian shirts and all-- sitting by the fire. Something about him seemed odd, though. He seemed more...solid than usual. And when she thought about it, she was certain she wasn't projecting anymore, but the image still remained.

A noise caught her attention, and a small mouse squeaked by. They weren't that uncommon in this apartment, mice, but something about this one disturbed her to the point where she watched it. The little creature scurried along the wall opposite the fireplace. She remembered clearly later that it had been the wall opposite, because if had been the wall -near- the fireplace, it would have made a lot more sense when the poor little creature suddenly burst into flames. There was no squeaking, none of the horrific noise or vision you might expect with a creature on fire, just a small blaze that grew ever larger and suddenly died, leaving an infant behind.

Emily blinked, then hastily tossed the blankets aside-- the infant would be cold, after all, and would need care. Despite the oddness of the child's appearance, she was more concerned with the care of it, something not totally unexpected given the years she'd spent putting the care of others before herself in the Haven.

The toddler herself seemed exhausted from the whole coming-into-existence bit, and snuggled with Emily under the covers as the woman settled back onto the couch.

Rp entry:

While Emily would love to sit about snuggling with little Clara all day...well, it just wasn't something she was used to-- either the part where she was inside all the time with little to do, or the part where she had a little one to take care of. Sure, she had her waitress job and Clara got outside of the house during that while she went to daycare, but it just wasn't enough. She needed to be out and about and doing things during the rest of the week too. Especially on the days when Emily did -not- have work.

So, she figured she would take her to the pool. It would be nice and cool in the water, after all, during these hot summer months, and she'd be out and about with other children and parents and people. So, she'd gotten her a frilly little swimsuit and taken her to the nearest public one.

Of course, the mouse didn't want to go in the water. She clung to her guardian like there was no tomorrow, tiny little claws crafting holes in the shirt Emily had worn over her own swimsuit (more foresight than she had even thought of, she realized). When her tiny tail finally hit the water, it stiffened a bit, then as Emily slowly knelt down so that Clara was getting wet, the little mouse seemed to slowly adjust as well. She lightened her grip a bit, anyhow, though she showed no signs of wanting to let Emily go.

The woman -had- gotten a floating device for the little mouse, but now saw that she probably wouldn't be using it, at least for the first few trips.

Journal Entry:

Clara seems to be getting quite big now. Well, not much bigger-- she is still quite a tiny little thing, especially in comparison to most of the big, healthy little ones I see running about. But, it could be that she is simply younger than them, or smaller by nature. The doctor said that he thinks she is about normal from what he can tell, but he doesn't get many mouse-girls in, so he can't say for sure.

She is developing quickly, though. It is as though she already knows what she wants to do, she just has to get her body to catch up with her. She wants to learn to walk, but her legs cannot support her fully yet, she wants to talk, but only a few words will come out of her inexperienced lungs. She's trying to do a million things that are still just beyond her physical grasp, but none of it seems beyond her mental acuity.

I am helping her as much as I can, but, I am not sure what to do. The books have prepared me a little for these things, but without knowing exactly what stage of development she's in, I don't know what she is and isn't capable of doing and she doesn't seem to know either.

Still, she is a calm child for the most part and that makes things easier. I have yet to hear her cry-- she is sweet and timid, venturing forth with caution but just enough curiousity to keep her going forward nonetheless. I look forward to finding out more about her in the future, for certain.

Journal Entry:

Clara seems to be developing even more rapidly now. I think she's got walking down pretty pat, though she's still a little unsteady on her feet, but she gets better at it every moment of every day. And she's got a few more words on her as well. It seems more like she's remembering how to do things and getting her body to catch up with her than that she's just learning them, but I don't know. I've never seen a child learn before, so maybe it always seems that way?

At any rate, I picked up a few toys for her the other day. Met a few children there as well. We got some safe toys- soft things like stuffed animals and such, some stacking toys, a truck or two and some blocks. She especially likes a stuffed bear I found her-- it's very vintage looking, something like what the first stuffed bears might have looked like. She insists on taking it everywhere with us, and I certainly am not going to be the one to deny her that.

If you give a mouse a cookie...

Emily settled the small mouse in front of the television. The DVD had been dropped off, and since she had only recently gathered enough cash to buy a DVD player, she was definitely going to take advantage of it while she could.

Of course, Clara wasn't about to watch by herself, and Emily figured it was the Good Parent thing to do to sit with her while she watched it, so she settled herself against the base of the couch and gathered the little one into her lap while the opening credits ran.

((TBC))

After a few days of convincing, Emily had finally gotten Clara to agree to participate in the Halloween festivities. Of course, she had only agreed with the stipulation that they only go trick-or-treating part of the night, and the other part of the night they'd spend handing out candy to others-- something that Clara felt much more comfortable with.

The little mouse had then had to pick out a costume. They'd poured through magazines, checked out stores, looked through every last Halloween shop they could find, and the girl still had yet to make a decision. It was getting close, though, and Emily had finally had enough.

"Listen, Clara," she told the toddler, "We've got to find one tonight or you won't have anything to wear for Halloween. All the best costumes will be gone."

((TBC))