WHO:Emma & Kate WHEN: [backdated] late September/super early October WHERE: Cafe WHAT: Emma intro's Kate to Niko and catch ups. WARNINGS: Nada STATUS: Complete
Kate hadn’t seen Emma in a long time. It probably felt longer than it was, really, as it’d only been a few weeks since the baby was born. Right? Or was Kate on Kate time? Anyway, she’d sent a message to her friend and they’d made plans to have lunch at a cafe (since coffee practically flowed through Kate’s veins and she nearly constantly needed a fresh supply) to get together and catch up. Kate didn’t have a whole lot to share, but she had a feeling that Emma did. What with new baby and everything. The new baby that Kate had yet to meet.
She arrived to the shop and took a seat by the window, then ordered a cup of coffee for herself and some water for Emma. She wasn’t sure what the other woman was drinking now with the kid in tow. Then she waited, staring off into the distance and sipping slowly.
Getting Niko out was a production most of the time. It was probably overkill, but Emma didn’t want to take any chances. Her baby bag was full of all the essentials, probably a few not essentials too. But she wasn’t taking those risks in Orange County, she had her magic yes, but a few little tid bits in her baby bag wasn’t a bad idea.
Parking up the bug, just glad she was driving again, Emma went through the next process of getting Niko out, without too much fussing and grabbing said bag so she could head over to the shop to meet Kate and introduce her little dumpling of a boy.
“Hey, sorry we’re a little late.” Emma was routinely a little late these days. “How’ve you been?”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Kate said, giving Emma and the baby a smile. She didn’t have a whole lot of experience with babies, so this was pretty much as close as she’d ever gotten to one. And damn that infant was freaking small. She leaned over to get a better look at the thing. “...wow. That came out of you, did it?” She asked, smirking softly.
“It did.” Which was insane considering and wow at the same time, but all in all, it was that whole miracle of life thing. Setting her bag aside, all Niko’s needs inside, Emma settled herself down, Niko cradled close before she gave Kate a grin, “Do you wanna hold him?”
Babies did strange things to people, and while Emma could understand people not wanting some of their own, usually she found that people were okay with cuddling up with the little things. “He looks like a rolly polly thing, but he’s a snuggly bug really.” Niko was chubby, and that was good apparently, because he was a good weight for a baby and he was eating well, they weren’t so bothered with him putting on weight at all. Apparently for being late to come out, that was normal.
“...uh, I dunno,” Kate wasn’t the babysitting type when she was younger, and she didn’t have any friends with kids. Her sister hadn’t started making babies yet. Kate’s experience with babies--especially ones this small--was legit restricted. “I don’t wanna like… break it.” She said, giving a sheepish smile. She’d likely need quite a bit of coaching on how to hold a baby if she was to attempt to do so.
“Oh, trust me, they are a lot sturdier than they look.” But Emma understood the concern, happy to settle in her own seat with Niko curled on her arm and nestled into her side, he’d been fed before they left the house, so she was sure he wouldn’t get fussy and cause a scene, he’d likely sleep and just peer at people when he got curious. “Don’t worry, you can work up to it.” But Emma wasn’t the sort to force babies on people -she hadn’t been entirely keen on them until she’d gotten a few months through her pregnancy herself.
“How’ve things been? God, I can’t believe how long it’s been. Behind home bound is not great for a social life.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” It wasn’t that Kate didn’t want to hold the baby, she was just a little terrified. She’d warm up to it, make her way there eventually. “Maybe I’ll just start by saying hello, and holding hands.” Kate reached over and ran a finger over the baby’s tiny, soft fist. “God, he’s adorable. Almost makes me want one of my own. Almost.”
She grinned a little and shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing new to report, really. Living with Clint is pretty amazing. I’m keeping busy with two jobs and the self defense classes.”
When Kate reached for Niko’s little chubby fist, he almost automatically wrapped his fingers around her finger, gurgling a little as he gave it a shake. “Yeah, he’s just a little sweetie pie,” she couldn’t resist giving his head a kiss either, while Niko investigated the cafe with big wide eyes.
“Yeah? Living in sin working for you guys?” Emma joked, she fully endorsed couples living together before they made big decisions on stuff. “At least you get you activity in there, god knows I’ve been missing it since going on maternity leave.” It wasn’t so bad after Niko was born, but before, when she’d been unable to do much of anything? The worst.
Niko was freaking adorable. Kate smiled and waggled the baby’s fist around her finger. “You really are. Sweet as candy, aren’t you? Aren’t you?” She grinned. “Aren’t you? Sweet baby.” Funny how cute dogs and fat babies made Kate’s voice go all wonky and peppy.
“Living in sin’s pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.” Kate grinned over at Emma, finger still clasped in the baby’s little fist. “You’ll get back into it, won’t you? Are you still supposed to be on bed rest or whatever?”
It was the baby effect, Emma had seen it with a lot of people, and while she was attempting to not do the ‘cutesy’ thing, she still ended up slipping here and there. But Niko was just a happy, chubby little guy that laughed at the attention anyway.
“Well, I’ve not to overdo it, but there’s not demand for bedrest just now.” Thankfully; Neal had a job, Henry was at school and Emma was just glad that she wasn’t constantly told to keep off her feet. Running around after Niko wasn’t too bad, he wasn’t too demanding a child, but Emma liked to keep herself busy. “It’s just finding the routine again to work things around the new addition.”
So far, it was working out okay for her. She was finding her stride with new mom and still moming Henry and her and Neal were still making time for each other. It was just a little puzzle to work out. “And now I get to socialise again.” Like meeting up with friends.
Kate assumed that by the time Niko was crawling about and making Emma really run, she’d have had time to heal up completely. And, hopefully, she’d have caught up on her sleep. (If that ever really happened.) “Yeah, I can’t imagine it’s easy,” Kate said, finally withdrawing from the baby so she could focus on her lunch. But she gave Emma a bright grin. “I’m really glad that you get to socialise again. Means more lunch dates for me.”
“I’m not going to complain about pregnancy or motherhood, because it’s amazing and everything, but oh, it’s so nice to be an adult again.” She was definitely looking forward to the challenge of being a working mom who balanced everything, she was pretty sure that was part of the fun of it all too. Giving Niko her keys to play with for now, left Emma free to give Kate her attention.
“How’re the defence classes going? I’m totally missing them, but I have like a few more weeks before they’ll let me do anything more strenuous than picking up the baby.”
“Things are going pretty smoothly. The number of students fluctuates a lot from week to week.” Kate explained. Truth was, things were going well. She could have put a little more focus into it, could have advertised a little more. But it was pro bono work, so she was content to focus on the few students she had who came regularly.
“We’ll be lucky to have you back when you’re ready for it, but don’t rush things. It’s like… a pretty crazy change in your life, right? Don’t stress yourself over anything if you can help it.” Kate said, giving her friend a smile. “Because we know what’s important.”
It was probably easier to work with fewer numbers than more, Emma thought that Kate’s classes were fairly welcoming and helpful partly because she could give time to each student that came along. Too many people and it wouldn’t have been as effective a class.
“I’m easing into things, yeah. So far the exercise is just taking this one out for a walk with the dogs daily.” Since Hawkeye and Mystique were so darn well behaved around the baby, it was so much easier to cope with the two of them and Niko for a walk to the park and back. “Even if I do miss all the activity.” Niko decided to just gurgle at them, as if weighing in on the conversation to attest that yes, he was important and mommy would just need to wait to go off and kick butt.
"Well, that sounds like a good amount of exercise to start out," Kate said, nodding softly. She was busy jogging with Pietro and Steve, and doing some work out things with Clint, but Kate always felt like she could be doing more. Especially when she saw Emma with a baby and walking dogs and all that. Kate worked two jobs, but she always felt like it wasn't enough. Maybe it was the overachiever in her. "You'll get back into the swing of things before you know it." She said, smiling warmly at her friend. "Until then, take a ton of pictures. I love seeing them."
“Oh, god. I’m that mom. By the way, you know, the one that has to document everything the baby does.” It was pretty much all the time when she was at home with him, and part of that was making sure Neal could see everything still too -she probably got annoying with all the pictures and all the videos constantly but she didn’t have too much of a capacity to care. “Henry’s into it too, which is a bonus.” Because Emma was so wary about leaving Henry out at all.
“Oh yeah. How could he not be? Being a big brother is a big responsibility. And it’s like, the best toy ever.” Kate said, grinning brightly. “You absolutely are. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” She reached a finger out to tap the baby’s nose gently, then grinned up at Emma. “Let’s have some lunch. I bet you’re starving.” It took a lot of energy to care for a baby. She knew that much at least.
“Oh, so hungry.” Emma wasn’t so much eating for two anymore, sure, but she was still very much burning a lot of her energy off. She definitely could carry on her eating for two just now though.