Who: Polyhymnia, Erato & Mel What: Surprise Baby Shower Where: Shiri & Adam's house When: Backdated. May 29 Warnings: none
Shiri had to do very little planning in order to keep this baby shower a surprise from Valentine as long as she could. Step one, like all good surprise parties, began with lying right to her face. Check. Step two was not to let the party-target see through your grinning. Luckily, not only had Shiri not been around Valentine since this plan came to be but also, she always smiled and grinned. Check. Step three, set the party stuff up in a back, hidden room from the front door so she could walk in on it. Super check.
The pale muse grinned as she continued to play her cello in the living room area of her new house. This house was meant for surprise parties with its kitchen tucked in the back overlooking the backyard. But now she relaxed, simply playing her cello in wait. The door was open, a note pinned to it written in German: Door open. Just follow sound of the cello to find me. I am probably too distracted by it to hear you knocking or ringing the bell in a timely fashion anyway.
Other steps included inviting guests. Well, in this case, it was more like one guest. But that was fine. Mel saw the note and nodded to herself, shifting the huge item in her arms to open the door and slip inside. She hadn't seen anything that Erato was there yet, which was good. The package was large, and she held it awkwardly as she stepped into the house, following the sounds to her sister. Ah. Perfect. Finding her, set the package on the ground, revealing that she was in a pretty sundress, yellows, reds and whites showing through with no black. For her sister, she would do this. Well, she'd do it at least once. Hopefully the small effort to be cheerful wouldn't go unnoticed.
"...won't make fire out of clay or other inventions will we burn..." Shiri paused her song and the bow along the strings of her cello as she looked up at the sounds of shuffling and moving toward her general direction. She offered her sister a smile: first for coming before Valentine, always important, and second for being so brightly and pleasantly colored. It almost made her wish she had put any thought into her own outfit of a red plaid ankle length skirt and a deep red tank top with a peach hood attached to nothing that she had bought at the local Target. But she didn't especially care that her outfit didn't make much sense, she was in her house and wanted to be comfy. "First one here." Rising to her feet, Shiri rested the cello against the couch and motioned to the package. That would only give away the surprise if seen, "Come, we should put that in the kitchen so Val can find it at the right time."
Mel nodded, and went to her sister to give her a hug and kiss on the cheek. Proper sister greetings came first. Only after that was done did she pick it up once more, and start to head for the kitchen. She hadn't seen it really before, but she had a vague idea where it would be. "Where's Adam?" She asked, assuming that the mortal was out of the house as it was over taken by three muses.
Shiri hugged and kissed her sister in return before leading her to the kitchen passed the one mural already begun on the white walls of the home. The kitchen had been decorated for the party, mostly with balloons and an adorable center piece on the table of the kitchen nook. "No idea. He went outside to play... with Eric, Alana... his other friends." The pale muse giggled lightly with a shrug, "When he was explaining, I had begun to play my cello. I have to believe he knows I had begun to tune him out. I do know that if I need him I can call him."
Well trained. She set the gift down, and slipped out of the kitchen again to go to the mural and look it over. Adam was in art, she recalled. Made sense. "Can we call him to get us extra food if we need it then? Or strippers?" Melpomene glanced at her sister, face blank, without indication if she were jesting or serious.
"Sure. I do not see why not." Clearly, it didn't matter to Shiri if it was a jest or not. It was Val's baby shower and if she decided they needed strippers? Well, then they would get some strippers. Not the most traditional of baby shower activities but the Fudgy the Whale ice cream cake she bought wasn't the traditional treat either. Passing by Mel to return to the living room to wait for Valentine and continue to pretend this was a house warming, she smiled at the mural, "He just started it."
The muse of tragedy studied it for a bit more, then stepped away to follow her sister. Part of her wondered why strippers weren't meant for baby showers. Babies were about fertility and the result of sex. Strippers could tempt people into sex and the celebration of it, and thus fertility and the creation of new life. Then again, baby showers were more to more for the coming life she supposed. Pity. "It has a good start. Does he have any real plans for it?"
The muse of sacred matters returned to the couch and took back up her cello, idly playing it almost as if to make background music. "I have to believe so. He was looking at the wall with his sketch book for a while. I was too busy preparing for this to snoop over his shoulder to really figure it out. Maybe when he starts up again."
This all left one muse to go. Erato made her way to the front door, waddling really, as she carried a heavy wrapped box under one arm. She knew that Adam and Shiri were fresh from college, and so it was important to her that they have some nice plates. Didn't the end of college usually signify the end of plastic wares? She glanced at the sign on the door and frowned. German. Hers was rusty at best, but she could make out "door open" and "cello." She managed to finagle the door with her free hand, letting herself in. "Hello?"
"Come in!" Shiri called out at the sound of her other sister's voice, playing her cello louder now to form a musical line of breadcrumbs for her to follow to them. Of course, the living room was only like five feet away from the door and a step away from easily being seen but... who didn't like musical breadcrumbs to follow? Shiri certainly didn't know.
Val tilted her face towards the sound and smiled. "Hi there..." She grunted a bit, hefting up the heavily wrapped box. "Come get this please. It's heavy."
Again the cello was put to the side as Shiri rushed to her newly arrived sister and grabbed the wrapped box. It was heavy. "Why are you carrying this?" she scolded.
"Who else was going to carry it?" Val replied, feeling her back protesting with aches. "You say it was a girl party." She leaned over, tapping a kiss on her sister's cheek. "Melly Belly!" She waddled her way over to her other sister, arms open for a big hug.
Mel went to Erato and held her arms out wide to give her the big hug as requested, hugging carefully, but tightly, and giving her a kiss on the cheek as well. Then, by sisterly right, she patted the bulging belly, and glanced up to the expecting one. "You're big."
"Tell me something I don't know!" Val giggled, glancing down at her swelling bump. "Why are we so damn fertile?"
"Because our mother was," she answered without missing a beat. Nine sisters? That had to be a fertile mother... "... and so is our father." Also true. She pressed firmly on the muscles, seeing if she could find a foot or an arm or some other body part sticking out. "When are you due?"
"One more month or so," Val replied, making a face when one of the brood decided to kick at Mel's hand. "It doesn't help that there's multiples in both our families. I mean, I haven't really gotten it checked by a Greek yet, but..." She pointed down at her stomach. "Does this look like one baby to you?"
"No," Shiri piped up from sitting beside the heavy, wrapped box. Three months pregnant with possible multiples? It sent a shiver right down her spine. She knew she certainly wouldn't be going to some 'house warming party' carrying heavy boxes if it were her. "I have to say in my non-expert opinion, it is probably not just one baby. Just look at you. I blame him."
Val glanced over at Shiri, stifling the frown that she felt on the inside. "Well he only did half the work." She added a light hearted giggle on the end of that sentence for effect.
Shiri fought her own frown at her light hearted giggle. Oops, forgot that the blaming the husband could possibly be taboo with Val considering everything that had happened. She offered her sister a bright smile, "I always blame the man. The further along in the pregnancy it is, the more his fault it becomes. Until it becomes 'What has he done to me?' I thought that was the rule. Have I been lied to?"
"I'm sure when I'm pushing the critters out it will be all his fault. It will be very loudly all his fault," Val smiled, seeing a comfy looking chair and moving to rest in it.
Mel moved to take a seat herself on the couch, curling her feet up under her skirt. "Who are you going to have there when you deliver?" Who was going to be suffering her cries of contractions and cleaning up the birth ichor? That was the real question.
"I'm not really sure..." Val murmured, running a hand over her stomach. "I mean, I know Hera does that stuff, but I'm not very comfortable with her delivering my babies. Not that I doubt she'd be terrifically efficient, but..." How did she say but she's too much of a vengeful, frigid bitch without outright saying it? She glanced around the charming new house. "But enough about the baby..ies. This is a housewarming party. I want to know everything about this place~"
Shiri had grown pensive as Val spoke, almost appearing like she was mediating on what could be in the box because that's where her pink eyes had focused. However, her thoughts were really 'Hera? As an option? Don't they have midwives? And what about us?' But at the sound of 'house-warming', the lie returned to her and she snapped out of it and remembered this box. Her hands reached out to begin to open it as she spoke, "A gift from Auntie Hestia. We are going to cover the walls in murals." Shiri smiled at the mention of it and tore the paper away, pausing as she opened the box. "You did not have to get us something this nice..."
"Yes I did," Val protested, glancing at her sister. "You crazy kids need nice things. I want to make sure you're living well..." She grinned, glancing at the walls. "Murals will be very nice. I'm sure Adam will have fun with that."
Shiri nodded with her own grin, carefully picking up the box as she stood. It really was heavy. How many plates were in this box? She suddenly wished Adam wasn't out of the house; he would be perfect for carrying this thing. Oh well. It gave her an opening. "Come on. You two can help me pick a cabinet and then help me put all of these away. Do not want to just leave such nice plates in a box after all." Yes, come into the kitchen, unsuspecting sister. Come.
Mel waited for Erato to stand first and followed after her. Didn't they want to wash the new plates before they used them? She frowned slightly to herself as she tried to recall if there was a dishwasher in the house. She hadn't been paying attention really. And she hadn't brought any kind of house warming gift... Probably best that they were headed into the kitchen then. She didn't have to think of something that would be delivered later. Like landscaping. She brought her thoughts back to the present and watched to see what the pregnant one would think.
"You get the privilege of washing all the dishes, Poly Doodle. I mean, it is your house war--" Val paused abruptly when she saw the pink and blue balloons that decorated the kitchen and the stork centerpiece on the table. This was not any housewarming party she'd ever been to. "What?"
"Surprise," Shiri whispered into Val's ear with a giggle, grinning all the way as she put the box of dishes on the counter out of the way. "It is not my party at all, [Sister]."
"Oh..." Val stared at the decorations with disbelief before wheeling around on her sisters. "You guys...." She squeaked, flinging her arms open wide and hugging them both.
Mel returned the hug and kissed her shoulder. "[We wish you the best with your babies...]" she murmured softly. "And Shiri likes excuses to party."
Shiri nuzzled into the hug, luckily there was plenty of Val at the moment to do so. "I like throwing baby showers. And I like ice cream cakes. All good things."
"Ice cream cake?" Val perked up, glancing around as if Shiri might have left it out somewhere.
Shiri understood that glancing around. "It is not sitting out on a counter. Do you want some right now? I do not mind cutting into the whale if you do."
"F...fu...fudgy the whale?" Val asked, her face lighting up. She gave Shiri a huge kiss on the cheek before giving one to Mel as well. "[You guys are the best. I love you so much...]"
Mel accepted the kiss, and managed not to reply with the first answer that came to mind. "[We love you too.]" She shifted back so that Val could continue to enjoy the sight of her little party. "Do you want the cake now?"
"Mel, I'm huge and pregnant and hormonal. You guys should give me the cake now if you want to keep your hands~" Val laughed, waddling her way over to the table to sit down.
Eep! Shiri really liked her hands. They were her second favorite and needed part of her body after her throat. ... Even if it was a joking threat, the youngest muse couldn't put anything beyond a pregnant hormonal woman and a desire for a piece of Fudgy the Whale. But none of that stopped her from kissing Val on the cheek, easily walking to her side before going over to the refrigerator and pulled out the delicious chocolate ice cream whale and grabbed a knife. "You are the expecting mother, so you get to pick what part of this delicious, happy whale you want to eat first."
"I want his tail!" Val squeaked, eyeing the tasty treat. It was the simple joys that made life so special! She waddled her way towards the fridge, only stopping to plop herself down at the table. Aching backs could only be ignored for so long.
"Sit," Shiri commanded a bit late as she could easily see Val doing so as the word escaped her lips. She brought the cake and the knife and placed over down dead center of the table. "Pregnant women as big as you get served." This time her words came out in their normal pleasantness as she cut the chocolate ice cream whale's tail off and handed it to her on a plate with the plastic fork that came provided in the box. But then with Val served she cut two more random pieces and handed one to Mel before sitting at the little kitchen nook herself to eat along with her sisters.
Val smiled, digging into the cake. It tasted so good! She glanced at the decorations, and then her eyes turned to her sisters. They'd done this for her. She felt her eyes mist over, and she looked up at the ceiling to keep tears from falling. She blinked, then sniffled, shoving her mouth full of Fudgy.
Mel's eyes glanced up from her offering of cake to peer at her sister, and quickly she realized what Erato was doing. She glanced back down to pick out her first bite, giving her a moment of privacy. "Have you talked about any names yet? Or worked on a room or anything?"
"We...uh," she rubbed her eyes briefly. "We've thought about some names. Nothing concrete. And same for the room. We have ideas, but....I guess we haven't quite gotten to the point where everything feels super tangible, like the babies could be here any moment. But, we cleaned up a room in the house--the one with the best sun exposure. We tried out some paints on the wall...probably going to go with a blue-green."
"If you want any help painting and setting things up in it, let us know." Mel glanced to Poly, wondering if they could sneak in to paint the room and add baby type decorations to the walls as well, before she looked to the plate with cake, and took another bite.
Shiri was much too distracted by the conversation to catch the glance, "How on Earth could you not be at the point where everything feels tangible?" The youngest muse wouldn't be surprised if those babies came right here, right now how big she was.
Val blinked, glancing down at her stomach and then laughing loudly. "I know. It seems silly, but...I just don't want to get too excited and then have something go wrong." She shrugged, forking up the last of her cake piece. "Do you guys have any name suggestions?"
"Helen is named after Nick's mother, and her middle name is our mother's." Pausing briefly, she took a bite food the ice cream cake. "What about names like Ruby, Rose, or something? Words of warm colors and the like, but also accepted names? Or flowers."
Shiri cut another piece of cake for herself, not just because it was delicious but also because somehow the ice cream would erase any thoughts about the pregnancy going wrong. That would be terrible. Horrible. But ice cream covers all bad thoughts. "Oh! City names are also popular these days. You could pick names from Greece and um... Scandinavia?"
"I like theme names," Val remarked, grabbing another form of the whale straight from the box. "Like...Sunny, Honey, Love..."
Mel managed to not wrinkle her nose as some of the name choices, remembering that is was her nieces and nephews, not her own children. She didn't have to give them happy names. "Words in other languages get used too."
"What ever you do," Shiri then had to pause as she put another bite into her mouth and refused to talk until her mouth was once again not full with ice cream cake, "Just think about the poor children on the playground. Do not make it overly easy for the bullies."
"I'll keep it in mind...though I'm sure Freyr can teach them to hold their own out in the world," Val grinned, glancing up at the balloons. "I'm so glad you guys decided to do this. It's exactly the perfect thing."
Too bad there aren't more of us, Mel thought briefly to herself. It would be better to have all nine sisters, gathered to gather, some park with trees and privacy and games and all the attention Erato could stand. That's the way it should have been. But it wasn't the way it was. It never was the way it should be. She contemplated her next bite. "Don't forget to ask Freyr what he thinks about names. He will have to be able to yell them through the house when they are teenagers and other teenagers are at the door, ready to take them off to some party." Who knew? Maybe Helen would even be among them.
"And do not forget to say the whole name. A proper name flow is important." Some many people seemed to forget that fact when naming their children... or choosing their own names when it came to her own kin and it bothered Shiri to no end. But leaning slightly, she brushed her fingers along Val's cheek softly, "I am glad you like the party."
"Delmar is a good last name at least..." Valentine smiled, snagging another bite of cake. "Now you need to have kids Poly-Doodle so our children can all play together~"
Shiri scrunched up her nose a little bit at the comment, "Bad enough I am going to have to have the kids. Do not put them on me too quickly. That is so impolite. To think I got you Fudgy the Whale." She then paused and put down her fork, "Do not get me wrong, the actual children part I do not mind. It is just... All that lead up part."
Melpomene glanced to Shiri is silent question. Wasn't she supposed to be the sufferer? Or did the pains of pregnancy not count? Some day, she wanted a rule book from the Fates. "Has Adam said he want kids?"
"He is an only child with daddy issues..." Shiri shook her head a little but smiled just the same, "He has not said anything but I know he is going to want at least two of them. That is fine but that does not mean I will not complain for at least a solid two months for each one."
Of course she would. "At least he'll probably spoil you during the time. That's what they are supposed to do." She wondered how long it would take for the two children to come, and if, in that way, he'd be at all like his own father. She turned to Erato. "Is your husband spoiling you properly?"
"I think so," Val replied, thinking hard on this. "Of course, we're newlyweds so it's hard to discern between spoiling and appreciating or basking in my wifely glow." She giggled, shaking her head. "I get to play with his ears a lot though!"
"At least that's something. You should be getting double spoiling, then spoiling later as a mother." She finished what was on her plate and pushed it aside. Enough ice cream cake for her. "You should get a room together though... He gets to do all the work of putting it together to your liking."
"And remember the rules..." Shiri finished her second helping of cake , instantly regretting the speed it had disappeared from her plate. Rubbing her forehead, she continued to speak, "You are pregnant so when he sets up the room, he has to do it shirtless." She was sure that was the rule. "He has no excuse not to."
"Oh man~" Val cooed, a dreamy look passing over her features. She was definitely envisioning Freyr working shirtless with tools and things. "I'll have to do this now. Like right now."
Shiri shrugged. She didn't especially care for Freyr, but she understood the sentiment that had consumed her sister perfectly well. "It is your party. If you want to leave, I suppose you can. Just take your gifts with you."
"Gifts?" Val parked. "I get gifts?" That was a temporary distraction from the thought of half-naked elf.
"What kind of party do you think I am throwing?" Shiri feigned being insulted in tone to the best of her ability, even as she smiled brightly.
"Fair enough....can I open them?" She perked, ready and eager to receive baby gifts.
Shiri stood up, opened up one of the cabinets and pulled out a box, placing it on top of the one Mel had brought and then placed both on the table in front of Valentine. "Gifts are the point of parties like these."
"Though now I'm wishing I got you something different. Mine aren't very helpful," she mentioned with a small frown. Why hadn't she gone with the paintable crib? Oh, right, because she didn't know if they already had one. She'd make it up to them later with diapers and clothes.
Val squeaked, hands tearing into Shiri's gift first. "That is...too adorable!!" She squeaked, hugging a plush stuffed bunny to her chest. This squeeze made the bunny begin to play a soft lullaby on the harp. Erato was so pleased. She then opened Mel's gift, which included all sorts of scrap booking materials including a bunch of rare Polaroid film and a camera, and....another box? She opened this and found a pamper kit with sparkling juices and creams and a sleep mask. She smiled brightly, glancing up at the two. "I really couldn't ask for better sisters. And I'm excited that we're together and we get to share all these things again..."
Summary: Val thinks she is going to a self-thrown house-warming party. Little does she know her Miami sisters have other plans -- like a surprise baby shower.