Big Man, Little Baby

Writers: Devin, Chelle
Date Posted: 16th May 2015

Characters: N'vanik, Nisheyl
Description: Father and daughter have bonding time.
Location: River Bluff Weyr
Date: month 13, day 7 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Briata, Cosani, Rhosyn

N'vanik

N'vanik bounced his daughter on his knee. He still wasn't quite sure
what to do with a baby, but with each visit it was getting a little
easier. And Nisha was growing so _fast_.

And she was also learning how to do new things. She could scoot and
crawl and was eating solid foods. She was also teething. Grinning at
him, she reached and grabbed his nose. She recognized him, but she
couldn't talk yet. Noises happened though, often. Pleased with herself,
the small child giggled.

N'vanik chuckled in response. "Do you know who I am? I'm your da." She
_seemed_ like she recognized him, but maybe she was just a friendly
baby. He didn't get to visit as often as wanted to. **She'll know me
when she's older. She'll understand then.**

Bringing her fingers down, she ignored his nose but pressed his lips.
The wetness there was interesting. Then she brought her hand back and
put her fingers into her own mouth. Hazel eyes like his stared back at him,
though they also looked like her mother's. Strong, pudgy legs kicked out
at the air as she wiggled.

"Want to play, Nisha?" He moved to set her on the floor, where a soft
rug was spread with various toys. Taking a little stuffed feline, he
walked it toward her. He would have felt silly if anyone was watching,
but thankfully they were alone.

That brought a big smile and she crawled slowly to him. When she could,
she snatched up the feline and put it in her mouth. Slobber was all
over it pretty quickly.

He made a slight face. Babies and drool went together. "You like that,
Nisha?" He took the feline gently out of her mouth and made it give
her little kisses. "Does the kitty love you? I think she does."

Clapping her hands together, she lunged forward to try and grab it and
ended up falling on her face. That caused a brief look of surprise, then
the smile from earlier turned into a cry.

"Uh-oh." That was another thing he was learning -- how quickly her
mood could change. N'vanik scooped her up and held her close, rocking
her slightly. "It's okay, Nisha. Just a little fall, no big deal.
You're tougher than that, right?"

It was some time before the cries subsided. When they did, she continued
to just curl up, pressed against his chest, with her thumb in her mouth.
That was a nice place. Her other hand was splayed against him, short chubby
fingers spread against his tunic.

"There, see? Everything's fine." He looked down at her beautiful face,
rocking her gently. "I can't always be here, but I'll always look out
for you." He missed all this with Cosani and it still pained him to
think of that.

Pushing back and looking up at him, she made blowing sounds with her mouth.
Then she started reaching, grabbing everything in sight that included his
mouth, nose, chin, and neck. Her body was small but it was strong.

"What is it? You want something?" She wasn't fussing the way she did
when she had a messy diaper and the lack of smell confirmed it wasn't that.

She gave an exasperated cry, but she couldn't talk yet. She continued to try
and wriggle out of his arms. She was thrusting, telling him she wanted something
in the only way she could.

He tried giving her the stuffed feline, which she didn't want. He
tried another toy and that wasn't it, either. Finally he looked over
at the table, where the ever-organized Briata had set out a bottle and
some food. N'vanik carried her over and held her near them. "Are you
hungry? Thirsty?"

She immediately reached for the bottle, straining to get her fingers around
it. It had some juice mixed with water in it and she liked the sweetness of
it.

"Ah, ok." N'vanik lifted the bottle and helped her bring it to her
mouth. He couldn't wait until she started talking and could just ask
for things.

Quiet again as she sucked down the liquid, she kept her eyes open to watch
him. He was a large man and that gave her a sense of security. When he came to
visit, she never crawled very far from him. When she was done, instead of
being ladylike, though, she just threw the bottle into the floor.

N'vanik snorted. "Well, we'll just let Briata deal with your lack of
manners." Still holding her close, he leaned over to retrieve the
bottle and set it back on the table. Then he shifted to rest his back
against the couch. "Maybe you'll be good for her, but your momma is a
handful and so am I. So's your sister. I think you're gonna be trouble."

As if in answer to that question, she made another noise that was a
harbinger of bad things to come. Acting as if nothing had happened, she reached for
the stuffed feline and chewed on the animal some more.

Oh, joy. There was going to be a diaper change in the near future.
Definitely not something he enjoyed but he got through it by reminding
himself it was part of taking care of her. Sure, she was too young to
remember anything, but _he_ would know that he'd changed her diaper.
And fed her, and played with her.

Last updated on the May 31st 2015

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Big Man, Little Baby