[PRP] A Visit to Family [FINISHED]

[Daisicle]

Menelie

Miriam and Asher had continued to see each other on a semi regular basis, as Miriam's teleportation power allowed her to travel to and from Partayzia quickly and easily. But the girls hadn't yet been old enough to travel, so she had never brought them.

The girls were old enough now, though, that Miriam thought they could travel to Partayzia, since it wasn't far. They couldn't quite fly yet, however, so it made the journey quite a bit longer as they'd hitched a ride on a cart delivering wine. As they got closer, Miriam sent her familiar, Libi, ahead to find Asher. She had tied a bit of parchment to her foot, a note to let Asher know she and the girls were coming. And, as OP definitely hasn't forgotten to mention the bird before, Asher would recognize Libi.

Libi found Asher and landed nearby, twittering at him expectantly.

Daisicle

Asher was out on the boat this day when the bird eventually made it's way to him, letter in hand. Curious - it wasn't often these days that she sent him mail, opting instead to just pop on over and tell him whatever she wanted to tell him before spending some 'quality time' together. Thankfully, that aspect of their friendship had continued beyond the pregnancy. In fact, it might be even better than before, what with the 'mommy' and 'daddy' play and all.

Shame her milkers had reduced in size as she'd stopped nursing. Nothing for it though.

He took a moment to break away from his clientele to read the letter. His brows rose and he blinked a few times as he did so - the girls... were coming to visit? Sure, he figured they would at some point, but to think they were already this old? Woof did the time fly.

Thank the Guardian's that Miriam had given a heads-up - his home was strictly not-child-friendly at this moment. And even worse if they'd shown up unexpectedly and he'd been with company! That'd be such a horrible way to make what was effectively a first impression. They couldn't remember him having visited when they were newborns, after all.

---

Some days later, Asher had shoved all of his questionable items into a closet (and locked it tight), and placed his liquor into a cabinet (and locked it tight), and had otherwise made his home suitable for children in time for the three of them to arrive. It seemed they'd come here first so they could drop off their things and let the girls settle in a bit before they did anything else. Easy enough!

Menelie

The trip had given Miriam time to field all the awkward questions--Why doesn't Daddy live with us? Are you going to get married? Are we there yet? Why doesn't Daddy visit? Is Daddy nice? How come Grandma calls him good-for-nothing? How much longer until we get there?--before they got to Asher's house.

"Now, I know you girls will be on your best behavior while we are away from home," Miriam was saying as they approached Asher's door.



Naomi was practically vibrating with excitement. New things to see! Stuff to do! Daddy to meet! She hoped he liked hugs. She darted out from Miriam's side and knocked on the door. She just couldn't contain herself.

Daisicle

Unlike her energetic sister, Leah was downright anxious to be in a new spot, visiting a new person... even if this new person was their daddy. She'd even gone as far as to ask if she could just stay at Gramma's house while her mom and sister visited (to which her mom had very much said no).

While her sister ran off and to the door, she hung back with her mom just a bit in front of her.



At the knock, Asher looked to the door, gave himself a bit of an internal pep talk, lightly slapped both of his cheeks with the palms of his hands, and then went over to open the door.

 

[Daisicle]

Menelie

Miriam smiled at Asher when he appeared at the door. She tried to remind herself that this visit was for the girls, not for her, and was trying to put up boundaries around certain activities, but just seeing him did things to her. She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to hold out. "Good afternoon," she said softly, blushing despite her best efforts.



"Hi!!" Said Naomi loudly. "I'm Naomi!" She almost hugged his legs but remembered that Mama said we had to ask first before hugging, so she put out her little hand for a handshake instead.

Daisicle

Asher looked up and over at Miriam with a smile before looking down at the bundle of energy. He crouched down and placed his forearms on his knees as hw got closer to her eye-level, then reached forward to return the hand shake and then ruffle her hair. "Hey there Naomi - wow, you've become such a big girl since I last saw you!" He then looked over to the other one. "Hey there Leah!"



Upon being addressed, Leah moved to hide herself more behind Miriam, such that she was barely peaking out from behind.

Menelie

Naomi beamed. "I am a big girl!" She agreed enthusiastically. "Wait, the last time you saw me? What last time?" She eyed him suspiciously.



Miriam giggled. "I told you girls, your father visited us when you were just babies, so you don't remember. But he remembers you!" She reached behind her and patted Leah's head. "D'you want me to pick you up, honey?"



"I wanna go inside!" Said Naomi, taking Daddy's hand and trying to tug him back indoors.

Daisicle

Leah quietly stated at her father until her mom addressed her, which caused her to look up, then forward, then up again. She shook her head no, but did reach over to hold her mom's hand instead.



Nice save Miriam - Asher offered her a silent, internal thumbs up as Naomi's energy was skillfully redirected. "Sure thing, Princess." He chucked somewhat as he let her direct their path inwards

 

[Daisicle]

Menelie

Naomi seemed pleased by this term of endearment and led them all inside. Ooh, a sofa! "Hey, watch this!" she exclaimed, before hopping up on the sofa and making a flying leap off, beating her little wings furiously. She made it almost all the way to Daddy before running out of steam and dropping to the floor with a light oof. "Mama says my wings're still growing," she said.



Miriam squeezed Leah's hand reassuringly and followed Asher and Naomi inside. "Naomi, what have I said about flying indoors?" she asked pointedly, one hand on her hip. The last thing she needed was for Naomi to break something while they were here.

Daisicle

Thank Guardians that Asher had put away a somewhat suspicious device he usually kept hidden under the loveseats cushion - they were designed with a different sort of impact in mind, after all. To her mother's chagrin, he offered an emphatic round of applause upon her little journey. "Oh wow! Look at you go!"

He did offer Miriam a shrug when she corrected the child, but didn't explicitly contradict her.



Leah, meanwhile, remained close to her mother's side as they moved into the house, her eyes wandering from the comfortable safety provided from that location. Her tail wagged a bit - evidently she was just a bit curious about the place

Menelie

Naomi looked back and forth between Mama and Daddy. "It's his house," she said defensively, crossing her little arms. "That means he makes the rules." She climbed back up on the couch. "Catch me!" she exclaimed before doing the same maneuver again.



Miriam started to say something but didn't really have a counter for that, so she just rubbed her face with one hand. With her other, she squeezed Leah's hand again, encouragingly. She crouched down beside her. "What would you like to do?" she asked.

Daisicle

Asher tried (and kinda failed) to keep the smirk from his face at Naomi's deduction - smart kid, huh? She was gonna give some boy or girl a lotta trouble when she got older. Catching the quick movement from his periphery, he was ready to catch her at the next liftoff just under her armpits. He then raised her high into the air with a, "Vwooooom!"



Leah's tail started wagging more, her eyes sparkling a bit, as she watched in quiet wonder at the ease that her sister broke Mama's rules... and that it was allowed! Exciting. Her attention was returned to her mom at the hand squeeze, and she looked between her, then to her airborne sister, and back, tail wagging muting just a bit. She brought her thumb to her mouth and nibbled on it - a little habit she'd picked up for when she was thinking hard about something - and looked again at the couch.

"I... Wanna fly into Mama's arms!"

Daddy was still too new to trust.

 

[Daisicle]

Menelie

Naomi shrieked with laughter, still flapping her wings mightily. Her little legs kicked in midair, as if that would propel her further. Daddy was fun! "Mama look mama I'm flying!!"



Miriam shot Asher a look, like look what you started, then smiled at Leah, wanting to encourage her to be bolder. "Yeah? Alright, up you get, then." She motioned to the couch.

Daisicle

Asher made a bit of eye contact with Miriam as he continued making the, "Fwooooom" noise, his face goofy and generally unapologetic. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to be more of a friend to the girls than, like, a parent really.



Leah's tail vigorously started wagging when she got the go ahead, eyes full sparkle mode, before she let go and ran on over. With a 'hrrump' she pulled herself up onto the couch and kept her arms outstretched as she turned around. "Mama, mama! Are you ready?!"

Menelie

"I see you, baby, how fun!" said Miriam cheerfully. She was glad the girls were having fun here and she was also feeling much more validated in her decision to raise them by herself. Returning her attention to Leah, she nodded and scooched in a little closer. "I'm ready, baby, give me a big jump!"

Daisicle

Leah nodded and put on a serious look as she made two little jumps on the couch - to warm up of course - and then launched herself forward, arms outstretched, towards her mom. She had every confidence that she was about to be caught and made no effort to catch herself in any way beyond tryin to flap her little wings.

 

[Daisicle]

Menelie

Naomi, meanwhile, had caught sight of a door slightly ajar and paused her motions. "Ooh what's over there?" she pointed. She wiggled. "Put me down I wanna explore!"



Miriam winced internally. Exploring Asher's house seemed a bad idea. There was all sorts of, uh, off-limits stuff she could get into. But that was Asher's problem right now. Hers was coming toward her more slowly than she'd anticipated, and she dove forward a step to catch Leah before she fell. "Great job, honey!" she exclaimed. She tried not to sound too surprised, or too relieved.

Daisicle

While Miriam's gut instinct -was- true - that room up until yesterday had housed many such items that any reasonable adult would consider to be "inappropriate for children" - they were safely locked away and out of reach for innocent eyes. And anyways, that was the bathroom she was showing an interest in. She'd probably be bored of it soon enough... though perhaps she'd find the notably large and deep tub to be comforting, almost a sort of pool for a child her size.

"It's a secret~" Asher hummed back as he carefully set her down in front of him.



Leah breathed melodramatically as she held onto Miriam for support, then looked up in full-on sparkle mode. "Did -breath- Didja see me mom!!?!"

Menelie

Naomi's eyes got big and extra blue. She looked at him, mesmerized. "I love secrets," she whispered earnestly. This was shaping up to be the best day ever! Flying inside and now secrets??



Miriam smiled and kissed her head. "I saw you, little one," she said. "You were very brave!" She sat down on the sofa. "I think that's all Mommy has in her for now."

Daisicle

Leah grinned - she was brave! Mommy was proud of her! Yayy!

She cuddled up next to her mom. "Okay~ I'll keep you company Mama." She'd had her fill of excitement for the day.

 

[Daisicle]

Menelie

"Show me secrets! I wanna see! I wanna know secrets!" Exclaimed Naomi, tugging on Daddy's hand.



Miriam smiled and put her arm around Leah. "Thank you, sweet." She looked at Asher. "I figured we would stay at the inn....?" She said, but left it open-ended. She hoped he would invite them to stay here, but for very selfish reasons, and she fully didn't expect him to offer.

Daisicle

Asher crouched down close to Naomi as she tugged on his hand. He put on a serious expression. "Are you sure you can handle Daddy's deep, dark secrets?"

He paused the seriousness to turn and look back at Miriam. "I mean, if you want. I cleaned up around the house (re: hid all the R-18 stuff) if you wanted to save some money and crash here too."

Back to Naomi, serious face engaged. "Do you think you can handle it?"

Menelie

Naomi got a very serious little face as well, and nodded somberly. "Yes," she said seriously, eyes sparkling. Daddy was going to trust her with secrets! She felt very responsible and grown-up.



Miriam kept her face neutral, but, as usual, her tail betrayed her. Even seated on the couch it swished back and forth at the idea of staying here. "I'm sure the girls would love it," she said with a nod. "Maybe after they're asleep you and I could catch up over a drink." There wasn't even a hint of innuendo in her face or voice, except for a very small pause where she'd gently cleared her throat before the phrase catch up. She even impressed herself some days.

Daisicle

"Sounds good Puppy Girl." Oops, he used her pet name without thinking about it.



Leah looked up at her mom with big ol innocent eyes. "What's a puppy girl?"



Now ignoring the situation he'd caused, Asher nodded once more at Naomi before standing up and waking with her towards the door. He paused, hand on it and ready to push, before looking down. "This is your last chance to turn back."

 

[Daisicle]

Menelie

Miriam, who was by this point in her life an expert at hiding the true nature of stuff from her moms, just smiled at Leah's line of questioning. "Hm? Oh, it's just a fun name your daddy calls me sometimes. Would you like a snack?" Her ears flickered darkly in Asher's direction, however.



"Uh huh," nodded Naomi. She was a brave girl! And she was getting to see secrets! But she did, however, cling a little tighter to Daddy's hand. "What is it??"

Daisicle

Asher pointedly ignored Miriam's pointed comment as he nodded to Naomi and pushed the door open.

"Quick! What is it?!"

Menelie

Naomi eagerly peered inside, and her ears promptly flattened against her head. She furrowed her little brow but tried not to look too disappointed. It was just a bathroom? She looked up at Daddy, puzzled. "Why is your bathroom a secret?"

Daisicle

Asher looked down, feigning confusion and ignorance. "Well you didn't know that was a bathroom, did you? That means it was a secret until now."

Menelie

Naomi wasn't buying it. She crossed her arms and stomped her little foot. "That doesn't count!" she asserted.



Miriam, sensing an impending meltdown, kissed Leah's head and sat her back on the couch before getting up to go to Naomi. "I think everyone could use a snack," she said. She was sorely tempted to let Asher deal with the mess of his own making, but more she wanted to keep this experience light and fun for the girls. "To the table please, girls!" she said cheerfully, before going to her mail bag--repurposed here as a travel bag--and bringing out some bread and cheese she'd bought on the way in. She got everyone seated and settled with their snack, including herself. Not bad for a first impression.