It's Alive

Writers: Chelle, Eimi
Date Posted: 19th November 2012

Characters: Parale, Syren, Venrys
Description: Venrys asks Parale about her parents' problems.
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 10, day 4 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Ioven

She was sitting down after dinner, looking at a shawl she had been
sewing then planned to dye. It was half finished and she started to
take up the needles when she felt the baby jump inside her and then begin
to steadily kick. It was a bit uncomfortable, though she was glad of
the reminder that her child was alive and well. Parale shifted her body
some to alleviate the pressure. "I feel you in there," she told her belly
quietly.

Syren's eyes turned towards her step mother. "Are you talking to the
baby?"

Her head came up and she smiled and nodded. "I am. Come here, Renling."
Ushering Syren closer, she encouraged the little girl to feel her belly
as the kicks continued.

The young girl jumped up at the chance, bumping her older sister who
pricked her finger on the needle she had been practicing with. "Shards,
Syren, be careful!" she spat out before sticking the wounded finger in
her mouth.

"Sorry," she mumbled. But she had been invited to feel the baby! Syren
reached out to feel the spot Parale had been touching just moments
before.

And then another movement could be felt. It seemed the baby was
determined to be awake and make its presence known. Parale watched Syren
carefully. "Did you feel that?" She wondered if Venrys had done anything like this
when Syren had been inside the womb.

"Yes!" Syren cried out in excitement. "It's right here! I felt it, I
felt it!" The little girl was utterly delighted that the baby was
putting on such a show just for her benefit. "There it is again!"

"Venrys, did you ever do this when Syren was waiting to be born?"
Parale asked curiously, inviting the older girl into the conversation.
"You're going to be so important now, I am counting on you to help me.
And Syren-you're going to be a big sister now too."

"I don't remember," Venrys mumbled, keeping her eyes on her sewing. She
really didn't want to join in with all the excitement just yet. Naturally, she was
very curious, and had lots of questions in her mind, but she had a lot of
concerns, too, and that weighed more heavily than anything.

"Yeah, but I won't be mean like Venrys," Syren said with a mischievous
grin. It brought a glare from her big sister.

"Well, I hope no one is mean to anyone. Venrys is good at looking after
you, though. It's a big help to me. And now, I'm going to have three to
look after so more help is good. And babies need lots of looking after.
You're a big girl now so you can do lots of things yourself." Smiling,
Parale put a hand over Syren's hair. She was getting big.

She drank in her step-mother's attention. "I can help!"

"Sure you can. What kinds of things do you think you can do?"
Absentmindedly, she continued to feel the kicks herself until
they subsided. Thank Faranth for that.

Syren scrunched up her face, trying to think just what she could do for
the baby. Her face lit up as she exclaimed, "I can sing to the baby!"

"Ohhh I bet it would like that. Go on and try," she encouraged, watching
Syren as she tried not to laugh. It was so cute. She was going to be a
good big sister.

The song she knew best was the one that her mother had sang to her as a
small child, and later, after her passing, her father. But as she sang
the tune her high, slightly off key tone, all it did was make her older
sister sad. Venrys held the small pillow she had been sewing to her
eyes to catch her tears as Syren continued, completely oblivious to her.

Parale watched Syren, her head head swaying just a bit to the music. She
did notice Venrys' stillness though, but she didn't want to draw
attention to it. She would ask her when Syren was done, though she ached
to just draw her arms around the older girl right then and ask what was wrong.

"I know some teaching ballads, too!" Syren piped as soon as her song
was finished, wanting even more approval from Parale.

"Well I think maybe those are too long just yet. Now, the baby is
sleeping. See it isn't moving anymore?" She looked down and noticed the
smooth, roundness of her belly. "Could you maybe go and get me something
to drink, though, please?" Once Syren left, her plan was to take advantage
and then ask Venrys what was upsetting her.

"Ok!" the little girl said, bounding away to do just that. After all,
she wanted to prove she could be as big a help.

Once Syren was out of earshot, Parale turned to the older sibling and
shifted slightly in her seat, setting her work on top of her belly.
"What's the matter, Venling?" Her eyes held concern and an
understanding. She too had lost a parent, though it had been her
father and not her mother.

Though it was easy to assume it was the missing parent that was
troubling the little girl, surprisingly, it was the opposite. "Daddy
lied to me," she sobbed into her tiny pillow.

Thrown for a loop for a moment, one of the older woman's eyebrows came
up just slightly. Marshaling her thoughts, she gestured for Venrys to
come closer. "What do you think he lied to you about?"

She drew near her step-mother, trading her pillow to cry into for
Parale's arm. "I asked him why he sleeps in another room, and he told
me you can't sleep with him because he snores. But I know that's not
true!"

Sighing, she looked upward, wondering what to say. Obviously Ioven
hadn't thought it necessary to tell Venrys the truth. She was older now
and she noticed things young children didn't. She wouldn't fully understand but
at least if Parale told her something, she might not be so upset. "So
you're upset because he didn't tell you the truth, not because we don't
sleep in the same bed, right?"

One had led to the other. She had asked her father because she knew
something wasn't right that they would suddenly sleep apart. Then he
lied. It seemed she was being asked to choose one or the other, so
Venrys sat silent, burying her face further into Parale's arm.

"You're not in trouble. It's okay. Tell me what you need me to do to
help you understand." She wouldn't tell her everything because it wasn't
her place to know all of what went on, but maybe she could at least help
Ioven save face with his eldest even if he never knew.

Her voice was very small. As much as she trusted Parale would not be
angry with her, she was almost afraid of what she might say. "Daddy
said that a husband and wife sleep in the same bed." Her friends
seemed to confirm that much. "Are you still married?"

"Yes we are still married. And what your Daddy should have said is that
husbands and wives usually sleep in the same bed-but not always." That
was easy enough to explain since it was the truth.

"But _why_ don't you share a room any more?" Venrys knew her father
could not be blamed for snoring. She had shared a bed and a cabin room
too many times to believe that!

Syren had returned with the drink, but she could see her older sister
was upset, though she couldn't understand why she was crying. Very
quietly, she set the glass down on the end table and sat in the chair
where she could be removed for the situation, but still hear everything
that was going on. It seemed they were discussing important things that
ought to be observed.

Parale noticed Syren coming in, but didn't move to grab the drink just
yet. Thinking this was going to come into Syren's thought process at some
point, it might as well just be said in front of both them, though the younger
one might not understand as well as Venrys would. "We had an argument
and to end the argument, it was decided we would simply sleep in different
beds."

That didn't exactly ease Venrys' fears much. She had an argument with a
friend once, and after that they had stopped liking each other. What
would happen if Parale and her father didn't like each other any more?

Syren, however, was full of useful ideas. "You could say you're sorry,"
she suggested softly. "When Venrys and I argument, I don't want to be
around her, but if she says she's sorry, I don't mind sleeping in the
same room."

Smiling because she couldn't help it, Parale wished that little girl
logic would work in this case. "I think we've moved past the I'm sorry
stage, Syren, but thank you." Grabbing the drink, she began to slowly
take some of into her mouth.

Venrys had heard enough. Now she had her answer, and all she wanted was
to be alone. She slipped off the couch, throwing her pillow on the
floor without a care, and ran to her room. Syren watched her go in
respectful silence until the door was closed, and then turned to Parale
and asked in a not so soft whisper, "So when I'm an adult, can I stop
apologizing to Venrys, too?"

"When you're an adult you can decide what you should or shouldn't do.
Venrys is your sister, though, so you should always treat her with
caring. There will be times later, when you will need her. I never had
a brother or sister to love and I wish I had." She thought of her good friends,
though, and missed them momentarily.

Last updated on the November 26th 2012

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It's Alive