Adventures in Babysitting, Part II
Characters: Debi, the little hellions princes of Azoth House Status: Continues this scene. Complete
The first half hour after Serenus left was fine. Etienne played with a stuffed toy, Serafino gnawed his own toes, and Debi watched them with a rapt, enchanted-to-the-point-of stupidity expression. They were beautiful children, with blue eyes that looked to stay blue, and she couldn't help smiling at how wonderful and perfect they were despite the odd way they'd come into being.
A sudden, nasty smell that was more than a little reminiscent of pea soup brought her up short. "Looks like one of you needs a change, and I'll bet it's Etienne - come on, I can't leave one of you alone while I change the other, ups-a-daisy - "
They were heavier than they looked, and Serafino began to whimper as she picked up one twin, then the other, and started upstairs to the nursery. His brother looked startled for a moment, then let out a yell that nearly shook loose the plaster. Debi gritted her teeth and did her best to hurry despite the weight on each hip.
"Come on, just a few more steps, into the nursery and onto the changing tables - " Debi sighed in relief as she plopped one twin, then the other, into place. She took a moment to catch her breath before pulling out fresh diapers and supplies. Etienne had turned an alarming shade of red (evidently Snapes of a certain type had very sensitive bottoms), and Serafino actually had tears in his eyes. She wanted to cuddle Serafino, but the way Etienne was screaming -
"One at a time, Deborah Anne. One at a time." She gave Serafino a quick pat on the head and moved over to Etienne. Fortunately she remembered to hold the new diaper at the right angle in case he decided to wee in her general direction, and fortunately she'd gotten to him before the contents of the diaper had migrated onto his clothes. He calmed down as she wiped him clean and smoothed the diaper into place, and was actually chuckling to himself as she decided to make a preemptive strike on Serafino while they were both upstairs.
Serafino merely looked unhappy as she repeated the process, and Debi did her best to hurry before his brother's diaper stunk up the whole floor. She'd never been so glad to dump anything in her life, including the Playgirl air freshener Travis had tried to give her for her first car - what did Tom put in that soup?
She made sure they were safe in their crib before heading into the bathroom to wash her hands with what she hoped was antibacterial soap. Maybe they'd nap for a while and -
Another yell from the nursery put the kibosh on that brilliant idea. Debi dashed back in to find Serafino at it this time, with Etienne contributing the occasional whine. It wasn't their diapers, they clearly weren't sleepy -
"Are you two hungry?" She pulled out her cell phone to check the time. "Oh, you probably are - is it past lunch time? Here, let's head downstairs, hopefully without giving Auntie Debi a hernia this time - no, Serafino, you cannot eat a cell phone, it's all full of nasty electronics and batteries and stuff, and your papa will never speak to me again if you start ringing - "
She clipped her phone to her belt, gritted her teeth, and picked them up again. Serafino cuddled up against her this time, and she smiled at the thought of someday doing this with her own child, just the two of them, mother and child and -
Etienne kicked against the side of his crib and blew a raspberry. "All right, all right. I hadn't forgotten you, really. But I am telling Zach that twins better not run in his family - oh, all right, let's go - "
Evidently they were both hungry, because they both began wriggling as she neared the kitchen. Serafino was first into his high chair, then Etienne, and the fussing crescendoed as she fixed two bowls of mush, one green peas (dear God, liking this junk had to be genetic, it looked like something Grannie Dillenschneider's cat had sicked up), one a bland cereal. Debi took a deep breath, arranged a spit rag across her torso, and sat down in an adult chair facing the twins.
"Okay, boys. Open up, here comes the airplane, right into the hangar - "
Serafino began making little mooey-mooey noises of pleasure as she fed him. Etienne scowled at the spoonful of green slop (was it her spoon technique? Or just him?), then deigned to open his mouth long enough for her to pop in the first spoonful. Soon enough she had the rhythm, and soon enough both bowls were empty (or reasonably empty in Etienne's case). Debi picked up each twin in turn and patted his back until he burped. Someday she'd have one of her own to feed, although she definitely wanted to nurse for as long as she could, not that Serenus had had a choice about that.
Serafino yawned and went limp against her shoulder. Debi cautiously stood and carried him back to the living room, where she laid him gently in the playpen while she got his brother. Etienne wasn't sleepy, but at least he didn't squall this time when she picked him up. She lowered herself into the most comfortable chair and began rocking back and forth, very slowly, so he'd at least be calm.
He burped again (fortunately onto the spit rag, since it was that awful soup) and grabbed a good handful of her hair. Debi pulled it free before he could try eating it, grimacing slightly at the faint residue of peas on his sticky hand. "Mustn't eat hair, little one. Do you want hairballs like a kitty? Nasty hairballs? You may think you do, but I don't think so, not on my watch!"
He glared at her and reached for her scalp again. Debi shook her finger at him. "No, not that. Trust me on this one. You'd be better off eating paste, and believe me, that's about as nasty as it gets."
Etienne looked inclined to disagree, so Debi sighed and put him down next to his brother. Serafino stirred as Etienne rolled slightly to the side and whacked at the floor of the pen with a stuffed rabbit, but did not wake up. Etienne turned his head, gave his brother what Debi would have sworn was a dirty look, then sighed loudly and decided that It Was Time To Sleep Now.
Debi rolled her eyes at his antics. He really was Severus in miniature, or maybe Cymbeline - no wonder she liked him so much. Not that this was necessarily bad - Severus was brilliant even if he had a way of making her feel about an inch tall when he felt like it, and his children and Remus clearly adored him. There were worse things than being prickly, like deliberately trying to poison people with bee stings.
Bee stings. Debi closed her eyes at the memory of how Zach had failed before her eyes. She tapped the pendant he'd given her for Christmas last year, the one that felt like the wonderful cool wind of that very first broomflight. She hadn't even had him a year, and she'd nearly lost him. All their plans, all their dreams - it had so nearly ended before it had really begun.
I was almost a widow. Nothing but his clothes and his books and his dog - not even a baby to remember him by -
Her hand went almost of its own volition to her stomach. Would a baby have made any difference if she'd lost Zach? She still would have been shattered, losing him so soon.
But -
She held her hand out a few inches from her body. What would it be like, carrying a child? She'd had nightmares about having Travis's baby, but Zach's - that would be something wonderful.
Part of Zach, and part of me - ours -
Her last thought as she drifted off to sleep was that maybe, just maybe, it was time to ask Zach how he felt about being a father.