|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 3:35 pm
Carson met Nell outside of Elke's house, where she was giving the landscaping a very thorough once-over. "Okay," he said to her. "Aysel pays a lot for the gardener, so stop looming over her zinnias. They'll wilt." His sister looked to be in a foul mood, and plants were sensitive to like, brain waves. Or at least that was his coworkers swore by. Anyway, as bad a day as this had been, he thought he knew the cure to it - Naiime was at a very cute age, and he didn't think Nell would be able to resist her charms. She might yell at him first, all like what the ******** man you had a baby and didn't tell me, and then he'd have to like, explain that she wasn't his baby, or even Elke's baby, Elke had just kind of acquired her... but then it would be great! Using the key Aysel had given him, he unlocked the door and gestured fro Nell to follow him to the kitchen, where he could smell something baking. "Hey," he called down the hall. "Elke?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:30 pm
Nell looked at her brother, and decided he didn't seem to be much worse for wear. He looked a little drawn, but it had been a trying day. And maybe he was being a little too pushy on the zinnia-staring (were those even zinnias?) but she didn't see any reason to like point that out. Nell just nodded and followed Carson inside, hands shoved in the pockets of a pair of jeans that she'd had since Carson's first growth spurt.
The house was... nice, thought Nell. There was abstract art on the walls, a weird and slightly eerie sculpture pressing out of the wall at them. The entryway opened into an open space, in which there was a tiny blonde Arab-looking girl and... a baby? Nell frowned. She looked at the girl, who was too skinny by half, and at the baby, who was contentedly chewing on the girl's apron strings, and then at Carson.
Nell recognized Elke Arma. But no one had ever mentioned a baby. "You didn't say you had a baby, Carson," she hissed, grabbing his arm. "What the hell?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:33 pm
"Kitchen," called Elke, bouncing Naiime on her hip. The baby made a sweet little noise and clutched at Elke's sleeves as they spun slowly around the kitchen, checking on this thing and that. "Here's Carson," she said to Naiime in French, shifting the baby up higher. "Remember him?" Of course she did. Naiime reached out one chubby-fingered hand to Carson, green eyes mutely demanding. (Her other hand was full of Elke's apron-strings and baby spit.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:43 pm
"Oh my god," exclaimed Carson, with mock surprise. "Where did this baby come from?" He reached out, taking Naiime off Elke and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Do you see this baby, too? Am I hallucinating?" Carson got her settled against his shoulder, and she popped her fingers back into her mouth. More seriously, he added, "She was a, uh, friend's," he said, although he wouldn't call Castor a friend. "We're looking after her. Permanently. Naiime, say hi to Auntie Nell." The baby, being far too young to have any sort of fine motor control or social graces, did not wave or otherwise attempt to say hi. But she was very cute, and obviously very at home against Carson's shoulder.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:47 pm
"Yes, I see her too," said Elke, turning back to a Saran-wrapped bowl. She peeled back the cover and gently poked whatever lay within before covering it back up. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Elanor," Elke said, smiling at the taller girl.
She hopped up on the counter, let her feet swing in the air. "Walnut-cinnamon bread," she said to Carson. "With an egg wash, so it'll be shiny. Should I add raisins?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 5:49 pm
Ordinarily, jokes like that would've made Nell crack a smile. Right now she felt too raw for that; it was like someone scraping sandpaper over her eyeballs, or lemon juice in papercuts. "Hi, Naiime," said Nell. "Hi, Elke. Definitely raisins. Just jazz it up, or something." No one had really asked for Nell's opinion, but there it was anyway. She reached over to trace her fingers over the baby's downy white hair. At least the baby was very cute, and not one of the homely little things she saw when she did political women's luncheons things for her... For her... "Hey baby," she said. "Aren't you pretty."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2016 6:00 pm
"Yeah, I don't know where she gets it from," said Carson, stepping a little closer to Nell. Naiime made a very cute face for her benefit - or maybe it was just gas? Hard to say. "Would you mind not breaking the news to Mom? I think we're just going to show up at Easter with a surprise baby. She'd like that." Actually, that was probably the least responsible way to handle this situation... but Carson was still getting the hang of this talking to family thing. "By the way, Elke," he said, holding the baby out to Nell. "Would you like to go to Easter in San Francisco? I'm apparently going now, because our father's been uninvited."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2016 12:50 am
"Your family knows I don't eat pork," asked Elke, raising both eyebrows at him. She portioned out raisins into a dry measure, leveled the top off and set it aside. "Don't they?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2016 12:54 am
Nell took the baby and snuggled her up gently. Naiime was small, but heavy, like a sack of potatoes or a backpack full of water bottles. There was a couch in the living-room space. Nell sat on it, then leaned sideways so the baby was laying on her chest. This seemed as pleasing to the little girl as anything else had been, and Nell supposed that was fair.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2016 8:32 am
"I... will tell them?" answered Carson uncertainly. He'd never actually discussed Elke with Jenn, to his recollection - but it was probably time to start, if he was going to bring her to Easter. "It's like a month out. The menu's probably not set. I'll make sure there are options." It was going to be catered, anyway, and Jenn always bought too much food - and Elke didn't really eat that much, anyway... though not having anything that she could eat at a family dinner was definitely dangerous. He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her cheekbone. "I'll take care of it," he assured her, and then looked across the breakfast bar to check up on Nell and the baby. "I think she likes you," called Carson, and then turned back to Elke. Lowering his voice, he said, "Our father is about to have a sex scandal of East Coast proportions, and I just wanted you to hear it from me before it's all over CNN."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
