[PLOT] Settling In [FINISHED]

[Daisicle]

Menelie

It had only been a few days since Tirzah and Menahem had brought four beautiful gold-and-brown babies into the world. Everyone was still very much adjusting to the change, learning what the infants' rhythms were, and figuring out what life looked like now while basking in that rosy baby glow. The three happy parents had been given a season off from their work in order to care for the little ones until they were old enough to send to the nursery during the day.

The midwife had just left from making a call to check on how the babies and parents were doing. It was a rare moment of quiet, as all four had decided to sleep at the same time. Three of the children were in the large bassinet near the adults' bed, wrapped snugly in blankets and placed side by side. Tirzah held Nurit in the crook of her elbow--this one didn't like to sleep unless someone was holding her--as she laid in their bed, propped against the back wall slightly.

Menahem, to his extreme consternation, had not yet reverted to his own body. Tirzah had said that it was probably so that he could nurse, which he had not signed up for. He'd been doing it, but it made him extremely uncomfortable. He'd even asked Tirzah if there was a way she could do all four, to which she'd giggled sympathetically and said no. He sat cross-legged on the bed, holding a warm compress to his abdomen, given to him by the midwife. While his experience actually birthing the children hadn't been too bad, recovery so far had been s**t. He tried to hide it, but he was often grumpy because everything ******** hurt.



Tirzah reached over and patted Menahem's knee gently, then sighed, leaning back again. "Almost don't want to talk, like it'd break the spell or something."

Daisicle

Rhoea's past few days had been rather chaotic, to put it simply. The time had come for the babies, and perhaps due to the fact they were practically conceived concurrently, so had Tirzah and Menahem gone into labor together. If one could imagine the stress of a new father watching his first child coming into the world, imagine that multiplied by two. Concurrently. With that just noticable outward judginess towards him from the midwives helping with the process. He, for one, would like to never be on the receiving end of that again.

And while the babies were cute - and he meant the most adorable, beautiful, little bundles of warm - man did they cry a lot. Like a lot, a lot. And when one woke up, they woke up the other three.

This lack of sleep couldn't be good for gainz.

But for all that, there was something special about these little moments of peace amongst the chaos, something that let him just take in the fact that he was now a father... And that'd he'd done it all the same if given the choice. Or, well, at least mostly the same. He might have asked Tirzah and Mena to space things a bit.

Carrying some wooden glasses of water - infused with herbs and fruit, how fancy - he offered one to each of the new moms. He kept his voice low. "Yeah, these four sure know how to make some noise - so demanding."

Menelie

Tirzah took the water with a quiet "thanks" and sipped from it. Seemed like she was always thirsty since the babies had arrived. In contrast to the boys, Tirzah had been handling motherhood with absolute grace. Even as sleep-deprived as they all were, Tirzah always seemed to be in a good mood. She loved nursing, loved rocking the babies to sleep, loved swaddling them in their little blankets, loved watching them and their little facial expressions. She was loving all of it, and she practically seemed to glow. Tirzah glanced over at Menahem again. "Hey, the midwife suggested we sleep in shifts...Mena, why don't you try to get some sleep? We've got this."



Mena, who had taken the water with a silent "cheers" sort of motion and had quickly drained the glass, nodded mutely and laid down, still holding the warm compress against his abdomen, and pulled the blanket up over himself. "Night," he mumbled.



After only a few minutes, Ziv began to fuss, making the little snuffling noises that usually proceeded crying. "Maybe he's hungry," suggested Tirzah. "Here, pick him up and I'll trade you. Nurit's still out like a candle, she just wants to be held."

 

[Daisicle]

Daisicle

Rhoea'd had a mind to affectionately ruffle Mena's hair, but he held back as the other quickly retreated to a darker spot. So instead he offered a half wave and a "Sleep tight," before taking back the glass and setting it on a nearby nightstand.

That seemed to be the cue for the fussiness to begin - good graces. A quiet moment really never lasted long. Maybe they should preemptively move the cradle outside of their bedroom so that there'd be more restful sleep...

"Yeah, got it." Rho walked over to carefully pick up Nurit and hold her against his chest. He half smirked at her suggestion. "I remember you saying you just couldn't handle nursing the boys as well." He was poking fun at her, and his tone conveyed as such.

Menelie

Tirzah stuck her tongue out at Rho while she got Ziv situated. "I know what I said, but I don't mind taking the boys while he sleeps," she said, hooking a thumb in Mena's direction. "Although my expectation is that he does the same for me, which he might not enjoy." She smirked a little, then it faded to a sympathetic smile at the sleeping Mena. "I just feel bad, y'know? Like, he's not saying anything but he obviously feels awful. I know I was a mess while they were being born but I feel great now, so I feel bad for him." She looked down at Ziv, who had popped one of his hands out of his swaddle and was waving it around. "Would you please focus?" she asked him, taking his tiny hand and smiling as his fingers gripped her thumb tighly.

"My love, could I trouble you for more water? I am like constantly thirsty." She offered the wooden cup back to Rho.

Daisicle

Rho almost shrugged, but caught himself just before - wouldn't want to accidentally wake Nurit. Thankfully, the other two were still asleep ... for now, anyways. Earthmother knows they'd be up in an instant if someone started crying. He already was counting the days until they could be on a regular sleep schedule.

"Hella good thing we got a bigger place before they came, huh?" The convenience of everyone living together could not be understated.

At her question, he nodded with a "Yeah, no worries, lemme get that for you," before taking her cup, placing it in Mena's used one, and walking over to the kitchen to refill it. He honestly couldn't remember if it'd been Mena or the midwife that'd suggested they keep this fancy-pansy water, but it really was a nice change of pace. Might have to keep in the habit of it. He returned soon after with just her cup to hand off. "I swear though, I hope Alba's done with the blankets..." He glanced over at the individual colors that wrapped each of the little ones, that draped decoratively on the crib and the couch... and the table... and the bed... multiple there, actually. There were so many...

Menelie

"Mhm," agreed Tirzah. "The bigger bed is nice, too." She patted it softly to illustrate. She got a pensive look as Rho gathered up the cups and went to refill. Tirzah had noticed some of the odd looks they'd gotten from other Faun they'd interacted with--the Tree Shaper who'd come to rearrange Rho's apartment to accomodate their large family, the midwives (although she'd been a bit busy to actively care)--but she was glad that, for the most part, nobody had been too weird. Her suspicion had always been that if they treated their arrangement as normal, so would others. Maybe that wouldn't always hold true, but those cases they could deal with as they came. What was most important--always most important--was that they loved, cared for, and respected one another. Tirzah would always care more about how Rho and Mena felt than other Faun.

She smiled as Rho returned. "Thank you," she said gratefully, taking the cup and sipping from it. She looked around at all the blankets as he spoke, and giggled softly. "Probably not until she gets Sven to give her babies of her own," she joked gently. Alba had been by a few times already to drop off blankets, or a meal, or something else, always offering to hold one of the children for them. Tirzah was glad she was supportive and excited to be part of their life. But she also was observant enough to see that at least part of that was Alba's own "baby fever". Not that she'd say anything to her about it.

Daisicle

For Rho's part, even if other faun judged their little family (which he had no doubt that they would), he hoped they'd at least keep their gossip to themselves. He really didn't care to hear it.

At Tirzah's comment, Rho instinctively cringed. There were a few things he didn't care to think about, and the thought of his sister and Sven having children was one of them. "How 'bout no... though she can keep helping if she wants." He sat down and gently repositioned Nurit to his other shoulder. "We're just running out of space for more... We only need so many of these things..."

Menelie

Tirzah, who had finished feeding Ziv and was now wrapping him back in his blanket as he was falling back asleep, chuckled and shrugged a little. "We might need to redirect her, in that case. Give her some other way to help." She stood and gently tucked Ziv next to his siblings. Then she came to stand behind Rho and wrapped her arms around his waist, giving his shoulder a little kiss then leaning her cheek against it. "You look so lovely holding them," she murmured affectionately.

~~

This sleeping-in-shifts business was already working nicely. With both Rho and Tirzah awake, they had been able to tag-team tending to the babies and getting a small meal together. When it was finished, they gently woke Mena, who by then had actually had a solid few hours' sleep. The trio ate together, and then Tirzah and Rho flipped a coin for whose turn it was next. Tirzah won, so she kissed the other two and snuggled up in bed.



Mena finished his meal (though he was still hungry--he might put something else together later) and then put his head down on the table, wrapping his arms around his midsection. "Thanks for letting me sleep so long," he said gratefully, though there was still a concerning hollowness to his voice.

Daisicle

"Bet she'd be willing to watch them when they're a bit older - give us some 'alone time' again." They hadn't really allowed much in the way of R&R to date (course, to be fair, they also weren't that old yet). He followed Tirzah with his eyes as she set Ziv down. Motherhood really did suit her well.

He turned to affectionately place his forehead against hers - or as best as he could given his horn - but the small murmurs of a stirring Irit interrupted him before he could whisper back sweet nothings. A sigh, followed by a smirk. "Guess she's a bit jealous I'm taking 'mom's' attention." Better tend to her.

--

Rho was honestly a little bummed to have lost out on the sleeping shift, but likewise was glad Tirzah was getting her turn when she objectively needed it more. Of the three here, he was certainly the most useless. He took care to -quietly- clean up the dishes from dinner and set them aside to dry, and was rewarded by no indicators that the babies had been disturbed. Mission = success. After toweling his hands off with a newly-embroidered hand towel (courtesy of Alba), he walked over and gave Mena a soft kiss on the back of his neck before pulling back and beginning a gentle shoulder massage. "Don't sweat it - this should be the normal from now on... er... at least until we can get them to sleep through the night."

He really wasn't one for the touchy-feelies, but even his dumbass could pick up on Mena's tone.

"You doin' fine bro? Need me to heat up more water?"

 

[Daisicle]

Menelie

~~

This sleeping-in-shifts business was already working nicely. With both Rho and Tirzah awake, they had been able to tag-team tending to the babies and getting a small meal together. When it was finished, they gently woke Mena, who by then had actually had a solid few hours' sleep. The trio ate together, and then Tirzah and Rho flipped a coin for whose turn it was next. Tirzah won, so she kissed the other two and snuggled up in bed.



Mena finished his meal (though he was still hungry--he might put something else together later) and then put his head down on the table, wrapping his arms around his midsection. "Thanks for letting me sleep so long," he said gratefully, though there was still a concerning hollowness to his voice.

Daisicle

--

Rho was honestly a little bummed to have lost out on the sleeping shift, but likewise was glad Tirzah was getting her turn when she objectively needed it more. Of the three here, he was certainly the most useless. He took care to -quietly- clean up the dishes from dinner and set them aside to dry, and was rewarded by no indicators that the babies had been disturbed. Mission = success. After toweling his hands off with a newly-embroidered hand towel (courtesy of Alba), he walked over and gave Mena a soft kiss on the back of his neck before pulling back and beginning a gentle shoulder massage. "Don't sweat it - this should be the normal from now on... er... at least until we can get them to sleep through the night."

He really wasn't one for the touchy-feelies, but even his dumbass could pick up on Mena's tone.

"You doin' fine bro? Need me to heat up more water?"

Menelie

Mena closed his eyes and didn't respond right away. He took several deep breaths. Honestly he wanted to cry, but he certainly wasn't gonna ******** do that.

Was he okay? Probably not. But figuring out exactly how he was feeling had been difficult these last few days, as if his emotions and thoughts were covered in oil. He couldn't hold onto them long enough to see what they even were.

"I don't know," he finally responded, very softly. He knew that Rho didn't like hearing about feelings any more than Mena liked talking about them, but he had asked.

Daisicle

Rho just kept giving his little massage, though he wasn't sure Mena actually -wanted- one? He at least hadn't asked him to stop?

"Like you don't know if you need more water or..."

He trailed off for a moment before awkwardly adding on. "Did you, like, I dunno, wanna talk about it or something?" He almost said 'some s**t' but successfully rephrased it mid-sentence.

Menelie

Another longish pause. "I think I do," he said. He sat up and rubbed his face with his hands. This was the clearest he'd felt in several days, so he was going to take advantage of it.

"I hate this. I feel like s**t," he said bluntly. "I....like, I feel like I'm not even myself half the time. Like this is someone else's life and I'm just...here." He wiped a quick tear away with the ball of his hand, then took a deep breath and shook out his hands. Not doing that s**t. "I miss feeling like me. I miss looking like me. I feel like I finished the job but like, somehow it's not over. Not to mention my ******** insides feel like they're tryna fall out." He ran his hands through his hair. "I was ready for being a father, but I'm stuck being a mother instead and I just....I hate it. And the worst part is I feel ******** terrible that I feel this way. Like, Tirzah is ******** glowing. Why aren't I?"

Daisicle

So Rhoea had half-expected some sort of feels to have come out, and if he was honest with himself, these were just the sort he'd half-expected to see. Nothing here was particularly shocking. "******** man, do you -have- to like it? Bein' real with you, I about lost my s**t when you two were birthing - looked like the Dragid was personally ******** you up from the inside. Fuuuuuuck no. If anything, Tirzah's the weird one... Or maybe it's a girl thing, I don't ******** know. You know?"

"I couldn't do it. Nope."

"Look man, you're not the first male to give birth here. The midwives said to just stick it out until the boys are weaned, right? And then we can go back to jokin' about it. Just a little more to go, and you already got the worst outta the way."

Menelie

Somehow the idea that he didn't have to enjoy this had never occurred to Mena. Tirzah was over there in maternal bliss, and he'd mostly been taking his cues from her. Maybe it was a girl thing.

Mena ran his hands over his face again, then leaned his head to the side to give a little "hug" to Rho's hand. "Bet you're right," he agreed, nodding a bit. "Thanks for listening anyway." He sighed, and his stomach rumbled. "I wanna ******** cook something." Cooking felt normal. Mena stood, grimacing only a little as his abdominal muscles protested, and gave Rho a long hug, tucking his face into the space between Rho's neck and shoulder. All this had Mena extremely ******** up, but he'd do it again in a heartbeat for Rho. "Love you," he murmured.

As if on cue, Nurit, who had only just been put down maybe 15 minutes ago, began to fuss. She seemed to be able to settle and sleep only when someone was holding her, though she wasn't particularly picky about who. Menahem sighed and bonked his forehead against Rho's shoulder. "Better go and get her before she wakes the others," he said.

 

[Daisicle]

Daisicle

Rho gave Mena's back two solid pats on the back when he seemed to cheer up a bit (perhaps a bit harder than was intended), then gave him a small pat on the head. He reached over with a smile to pull Mena into a bit of a side-hug before he could wander off, and Mena might have just caught the end of a, "...you too." as he let go.

Rho pouted as Nurit started getting fussy again. "For ******** sake, we -just- put her down..."

Following Nurit's fussines, Chaim started to stir into an unhappy bit of awake as well with little baby noises and stuff.

Menelie

Mena had the hint of a smile as he headed toward the kitchen, but then about-faced when he heard Chaim begin to wake. "s**t," he muttered, then went quietly to get Chaim. He didn't want to wake Tirzah. "I think Nurit probably just wants to be held, she just ate like a second ago," said Mena. Chaim, on the other hand, had been asleep for over an hour, and was probably hungry. Great. Mena took a fortifying breath and sat down with the baby on the sofa. This was his least favorite bit. It felt completely unnatural. You don't have to like it, you just have to do it, he reminded himself. He got Chaim situated and eating, then tried not to look at him. He knew he was supposed to look at him, bonding and all that, but Rho was bonding with the kids just fine without this. Suddenly he got an idea. He grabbed one of the small blankets that seemed to be everywhere--thank you Alba--and draped it over his shoulder, chest, and Chaim. A small wave of relief washed over him, and he actually smiled.

He looked over at Rho with Nurit. "Y'know, I bet Alba could make some kinda carrier so we wouldn't have to hold Nurit all the time," he suggested. He gestured at the room with his free hand. "We sure as s**t don't need any more blankets."

Daisicle

Rho sighed with a small, "Yeah, yeah, hand her over," before he joined Mena by the crib and took Nurit to hold against his chest. This certainly was becoming a bit of an annoyance. Watching Mena sit down with some amount of tension, he raised a brow. "You good man?" His expression mellowed out into a smirk after making eye contact and seeing a smile outta him for the first time in some time.

Damn, that made his heart outright flutter. If he wasn't so sore still...

"Fuuuuuuck no we don't - I was just sayin that to Tirzah earlier actually." He was going to cry if they got more blankets (metaphorically, not literally). "I'll ask her next time I get a chance. Want me to get the stove back up and ready for you while you finish all that?"

Menelie

Mena nodded, starting to feel excited. He hadn't really been in the kitchen for real since the kids had been born. But with their new schedule, he could make some actual ******** meals. "Yeah man, I'm gonna make some ******** baked potatoes with like, butter and salt and green onions and bacon." He was personally relishing being able to eat meat again without getting nauseated. He smirked a little. "Be glad to have you as my sous chef once Chaim is back down."

 

[Daisicle]

Menelie

~~~

The sun was just starting to come up when Rho and Mena woke Tirzah so that Rho could have his turn. Mena made breakfast for Tirzah, who nursed whichever baby had awoken with her. Nurit? No, Irit. They had a quiet morning together, playing with the babies and chatting.



A couple hours after breakfast there was a soft knock at the door. Tirzah answered it to find Alba had come by, again. She had a small armful of fabric, again. "I thought you might have enough blankets," she said, then shot a look at Mena, who had snorted with laughter. "So I made some washcloths." She offered them to Tirzah and looked around for the babies.



Tirzah smiled gracefully and put the washcloths on the table. "Thank you, Alba," she said. Then, "And I want you to know that you don't have to keep bringing things if you don't want to. You can just come over to visit and snuggle a baby." She smiled warmly.



Alba blushed and nodded. She hadn't exactly realized that's what she was doing. "Can I come in?" She asked.



"Of course," said Tirzah. "Rho is sleeping so we are trying to be quiet. Can I get you some tea?"



Alba nodded and came inside and sat down next to Mena.



Mena handed her Nurit, who was sleeping. "Here," he said. "Nurit only sleeps while she is being held, basically, so this way you can hold a baby and be helpful at the same time."



"You know," added Tirzah, "We could really use some kind of thing to carry her in, so we can hold her without, like, holding her. Does that sound like something you could make?" She asked Alba.



Alba, fully in baby bliss, looked up and tipped her head thoughtfully. "I'm sure I can create something," she responded, wheels already turning. She returned her attention to little Nurit, gently touching her little cheeks and nose. She hoped her turn would be soon...