WHO: Anja and Eliza Weiss WHEN: 6/5 WHERE: The inn SUMMARY: Anja gives Eliza a gift and some advice WARNINGS: Babs having babs
Anja had thought about just having the book delivered straight to Eliza, but in the end she decided against it, deciding instead it would be good to give it directly to her Baby Girl, especially with everything else that had been going on. The fact that Eliza was doing budgeting seemed like a good sign and Anja was proud of her, even if there were certain behaviors she really hoped that Eliza would stop doing so frequently.
So she knocked on her daughters door, a copy of What to Expect When you're Expecting, in her hand. "Eliza?" She called through the door.
“It's open.” She called out, momentarily transported back to a time when it was her room and her mother was peeking in. Their home in California, just the two of them for so long. None of that was true now but for years that had been their life. Eliza and Mama.
Looking up from her phone, she started to get up from the bed.
Anja wondered a bit at leaving things open when there had been murders, but she didn't say anything of it, instead just pushed on the door and it did open up, and she was able to step in.
"Hello Eliza, how are you feeling today?" She greeted her daughter. She suspected this was all rather stressful, and then to add to the additional stress of what Eliza was working on in her own life. But then, that was partially at least why she was here after all. To help. "Oh, don't get up on my account," she added as she saw Eliza getting up from the bed. "I'm in the room, after all."
Pausing in the middle of getting up, Eliza sat back down and watched her mother come knot the room. If she didn't have to get up then she didn't have to. She wasn't going to argue. “Fine.” She answered as she leaned back onto her hands. “You?”
"I'm doing all right," Anja shut the door behind her and crossed the room to come and sit down beside her daughter. "I think I'm ready for classes to open up on Monday. Finally. Or at least as ready as I will be," she smiled, paused, and then handed over the book. "I brought you something, it might help some with your budget and planning, I don't know for certain, but perhaps."
Silently Eliza took the book, looking over the cover. A churning mixture of emotion shifted through her as the words washed over her. It was help, practical and plain help just like her mother always offered her. Aimlessly she began flipping through pages. “Harrison got books from the Hayes’s too. I think. “ She offered quietly. “Thank you.”
Anja smiled, reaching over and placing her hand on her daughter's shoulder gently. "The Hayes seem like good people," she offered. Which probably meant that Harrison was a decent sort, even if she might have her own reservations about him. He was sticking with Eliza anyway, which did speak decently enough of him. "How is the budget going?"
“Theyre fine.” Eliza didn't really know them. But she leaned into her mother's touch like a magnet, their shoulders bumping as her eyes stayed on the pages. There was so much. Multiple books. Good thing Harrison liked to read. “It's. I don't know. I've my loans, odd-jobs, school. Harrison is looking at staying home, so that's something. He's got some money too, but I don't want to just rely on that.” The words seemed to tumble out. “It's just a lot.”
Anja nodded sympathetically, her eyebrow raising slightly at Harrison having money. It occurred to her how very little she really knew him, and perhaps it was time to change that. She was here, he was here, there was time. "It is a lot, Eliza, but I fully believe you are going to sort it out. It will just be one thing at a time. Harrison would stay home with the baby then? Have you thought about whether you will breastfeed or use formula? Or will this be when it is a bit older?"
“I don't know.” Eliza hadn't even thought about breastfeeding. It all seemed so unreal,things that babies needed. “Formula would probably be easier with school and everything.”
That would be another thing to budget in. And Eliza was already discovering how expensive diapers were.
Anja nodded. "There is a good deal of push for breastfeeding right now, and if it is easy, you could do some, but you will either have to pump or you will need to have formula on hand. I suspect you can look at the book and decide which will work best for you and Harrison and the -" she caught herself halfway through, and with a small smile added: "Jack. I know women who have done a mixture of both - you don't have to get caught in an either or necessarily."
“I was looking on Amazon. Pumps look like facehuggers for your boobs.” Eliza remarked off hand as she turned another page. But it was an option, if she decided to. But if Harrison was staying home was that the most practical? “Yeah. I guess I'll have to bring it up with him.”
Anja nodded her head. That seemed accurate. "I suspect a thing or two has changed since I had Alexi and you, but if you want to ask questions, Eliza, there are probably some things I could at least let you know what I did."
“Like what?” She asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Because right now Eliza was not sure where to begin. Her mother had always seemed to plan everything. None of this was planned, it was all chaos that she was going along with.
“I don’t know exactly,” Anja considered. “There’s just a lot and it can be overwhelming - especially if you were planning to do it differently. I suppose things like, how to handle work and bedtimes and feedings and what to put in a nursery. There is a certain amount of it that you will always have to sort through, because every baby is different, but I know some things that worked for me.”
Eliza leaned her head against her mother's shoulder. “Bedtimes are a thing.” She observed in almost wonderment.
"Well," Anja wondered if she should say that they weren't really a thing, or that they were more of a trained thing. She supposed Eliza would figure that out. "Yes, you can create a routine around them."
“Routines.” Eliza let the book fall into her lap as she let her arms wrap around her mother's. “I'm not super great at those.”
Anja wrapped an arm around Eliza and smiled. "Sometimes it can be a very simple routine. Something as simple as always having a story, or a certain song. I think most children do routines better, but yours might not need it, and regardless of all other things - you and they will survive all right, I'm fairly confident."
Eliza looked up at her mother for a moment, not sure what to do with the approval. Her head fell back down as she squeezed her mother's arm again. Hopefully she would match up to her mother's faith.