Who: Splendid Angharad splendid & Susan Ashworth thecatwidow What: Random Run-In When: Thursday, September 17th evening Where: Von's Grocery Rating/Warnings: Teenish/A little talk/thoughts about death otherwise that's it. Status: Closed/Completed GDoc/Partner Thread
Splendid had picked Valerian up from daycare after she'd finished her shift at work, only to head directly to the grocery store since her refrigerator was getting quite bare. Normally Splendid didn't let her pantry get that low, however, she'd just not felt like going out, especially with the new brand on the back of her neck.
She was careful to keep her hair down, except when she was at home, since she didn't want anyone asking any questions about it. It would be too hard to explain, and quite frankly she didn't have the energy to explain it either.
Putting Valerian's carrier into the buggy, Splendid began to cruise down the aisles, carefully putting items into her cart around Valerian. She paused for a moment, looking through the loaves of bread before finally settling on one and she was just about to reach for it when Valerian started to cry. "Shh, shhh…" she tried to soothe him by putting his pacifier back into his mouth. He only spit it back out and continued to cry. Splendid undid the buckles that held him in, and picked him up, holding him close to her while bouncing him gently until his cries became whimpers.
Her cart was in the way of the aisle, and she glanced up as someone turned the corner. "Sorry." She apologized, using one hand to maneuver it out of the way.
Susan had winced when she heard the cries of an infant; it reminded her too much of Zoe. Part of her felt stupid for still being upset about everything - it had been teen years since her daughter had died, but she still missed her. It did Susan well to know that there was a mother fussing over the little one. That was how it would should be.
“It’s no problem at all,” Susan murmured. Her accent was thicker because she was exhausted after a 14 hour shift. She’d been planning to just wander around, get stuff that looked good, go home, and pass out.
"He's normally so quiet. It's strange for him to do this." Splendid replied with a light laugh, still bouncing him in her arms until he finally quieted down. He wasn't wet, and she didn't believe that he was hungry since the daycare worker had stated that he'd had a bottle not long before Splendid had arrived.
Her brows furrowed slightly as she looked at Susan. There was something strangely familiar about her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "Do I know you?" She asked, still bouncing her baby in her arms.
Susan blinked when the woman asked if they knew each other. Then she smiled. “You were talking about him online. Before he came.” The spark of recognition came when the woman had smiled.
"Oh!" Splendid's face too took on a look of recognition, "The Network, right." She laughed softly, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at herself. "I'm Splendid, and this is Valerian. As you can tell he finally arrived safely." She remembered one of the posts she'd made complaining that he was late, and as it turned out she had been right about one thing; how long it was going to take for him to arrive. "Though it appeared that I did jinx myself and he arrived two weeks late."
“Like the root?” Susan couldn’t help but beam; it was a cute name. Susan watched the baby, and she could appreciate immediately how good a mother Splendid was. The baby was comforted by just being in her arms. “Two weeks is about as long as most OB/GYNos will let you go, I hear. I work in an ER, not on the maternity ward.”
Giving a nod, Splendid glanced down at Valerian. "Yeah, that's what they told me when I went in for my last visit. The OBGYN had actually stated that he was going to induce labor, but the dreams did that for me." She frowned slightly at the mention of her dreams, before shaking her head again. "But yes, well, not really after the root. I liked the meaning of the name, valiant. I thought it suited him."
“Well, it’s probably just as well. The stuff they use to induce labor can make it more painful. And it absolutely does, just like your name suits you as well.” Susan smiled at Splendid; Splendid seemed to be one of those women who probably had no idea that she was beautiful or charming. Even Susan found her very likable.
She gave a nod, "I'd heard the same thing, which is why I'm thankful it didn't come to that." She wasn't thankful that she'd had dreams the night before, or nightmares rather, but there was little she could do about it. Splendid smiled, "Well thank you. I'm sorry, and normally I'm great with names, but I can't place yours."
“I’m Susan, it’s quite all right.” Susan smiled and found herself looking down a bit at little Valerian. “He’s beautiful.” She knew rationally that all mothers heard things like that about their babies, and that all babies were beautiful, but she truly meant it about this one.
She remembered speaking with Susan now. They'd talked about her dreams at one point and time on the network as well, at least, she thought they had. Splendid felt as if she was scatterbrained all the time now with her own dreams ramping up. She tried not to think about it too awful much. "Thank you." She smiled as she too looked at Valerian. "He was well worth the wait." The smile didn't fade from her features as she turned to look back at Susan, "Have you been doing alright?" She asked, brows slightly raised in question as the smile finally started to fade from her face.
“I’m all right,” Susan sighed. “Dreams notwithstanding.” Susan’s accent had become a bit more like it had been in her youth; as an ex-pat it had faded to a weird patois of working class London and California surfer, but since she’d been dreaming, it had gone right back to where it was again. “Sick of dying in them.”
Splendid could understand how draining the dreams could be. They often reminded her of her past, of why Valerian was there with her, but still she wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. "I -- I can't imagine how exhausting that must be." She offered Susan a small smile, "Hopefully they won't last much longer for you."
It was a heavy thing to say, and Susan was immediately sorry she’d said it to this near-stranger. “But don’t worry about me. He’s so in love with you,” Susan cooed. “It’s obvious, and I’ve just met him.”
Heavy was just about all that Splendid dealt with in her line of work, and sometimes she understood the need to have someone just to talk to. "I worry about everyone, I'm afraid. It comes with my job." She laughed softly, "Oh, and I'm definitely in love with him too." She hadn't been so sure she was going to keep him until well, the moment she held him in her arms. Life would've been too hard without him there. Reaching into her purse, Splendid pulled out a card and held it out to Susan. "If you ever need anyone to just talk to, about dreams or anything, you're welcome to call me. I'm always happy to lend an ear."
‘Well, thank you. I’m an ER nurse, so when I say I hope I don’t see you, it means I hope you and he stay as healthy as possible. But you can always ask me if his cough sounds normal and things like that.” Susan found a scrap of paper in her purse and jotted down her mobile number.
Laughing, Splendid gave a small nod of agreement, "Hopefully I won't see you either, but it's nice to know there's someone there that I know in the event that he or I get sick." She gave Susan a small inclination of her head, "I won't keep you. I think we're both in need of getting out of here and getting home. It was lovely to meet you, in person, Susan."
“You too, Splendid. Maybe we can go for coffee sometime, the three of us.” She knew that finding sitters was hard. “Give me a call if you need anything.” Susan was smiling when she walked away from Splendid and Valerian, and that was a rare gift.