Taking Care of Baby

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 6th October 2021
Series: The Hallmaster's Ladies

Characters: Thayde, Enamra
Description: Thayde brings Jalotha to his home.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 9, day 16 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Jalodwyn, H'riv
Occurs after "Feverish"

Thayde

Enamra

---

Well, it was time to put his money where his mouth was… or his
daughter where his heart was, at any rate. He had told Yasha that he
would look after Jalotha until Jalodwyn had recovered, and now he
needed to tell his wife that same thing….

**I should have brought flowers, or something,** he thought, carrying
Jalotha on his left hip with a bag of her things over his other
shoulder. Thayde hoped that having Jalotha with him might win her
over.. **Or it might piss her off.**

“Enamra?” He called her name as he entered their quarters.

"I'm in the office!" Enamra called out, her voice light. "Just
dusting." She emerged, a smear of dust over her nose. "Did you even go
in there while..." Her voice trailed off as her eyes took him in, then
the bundle in his arms. Brows raised in surprise, then utter
confusion. "What's going on?"

Thayde continued in, dropping Jalotha’s bag on the couch as he
repositioned her in his arms. “Uh.. well.. Enamra, meet Jalotha,
Jalotha, this is Enamra.”

The confusion remained as Enamra stepped forward to peer at the young
sleeping baby. "But....why do you have her? I thought that Jalodwyn
didn't want you around." She looked down at the child and her eyes
softened. "She looks like you, Thayde. She's beautiful."

He glanced down, face softening a bit. “You think so?” Thayde touched
a finger to Jalotha’s button nose. When he glanced up at Enamra he
thought, **So far, so good.**

“Well, you know Jalodwyn’s sick…”

"I do." She lifted her gaze back upwards and tilted her head. "I
remember she is." Her brow knit again, then eyed him and one
brow rose. "Thayde...."

**Uh oh…**

“I was checking in on her progress and Yasha was there, she’s refusing
to leave her side so… So I did that thing where I stick my stupid foot
in my stupid mouth, and I insisted that we would take care of Jalotha
until Jalodwyn gets better.”

Enamra gave a soft groan and covered her eyes with her hand. "Faranth,
Thayde..." She sighed and shook her head. "What do you think is going
to happen once she's well? I thought you wanted things to get better.
This probably isn't going to help." She looked down at Jalotha again
and gently touched the baby's cheek. "I don't mind helping with your
daughter, I really don't, but maybe you shouldn't have done that."

“I just… I just wanted to help. I mean,” he sighed in frustration. “I
can’t even enter the room without nasty looks and eye rolls. And this
seemed like a way to help.” He looked down at Jalotha.

"I know you're trying to help, Thayde." Enamra's voice was gentle,
immediately trying to soothe his frustration. "Can I hold her? Do we
have everything we need?"

“Of course,” he handed Jalotha to her. “We have what we need for a few
days. You’re not… you’re not mad?”

Experience raising her siblings helped her as she was clearly at ease
as she held the baby in her arms. Rocking from side to side gently,
she smiled down at the little girl and shook her head. "No, I'm not
mad. I think I understand why you wanted to take care of her." She
patted the little bottom lightly. "I don't think I'm the one you need
to be worried about being mad at you. That's all."

For a moment, Thayde couldn’t respond. He was too busy looking at
Enamra and thinking how good she looked holding a baby that looked
like him.

“As long as you’re not the one mad at me, I can take it,” he said.

"Will she be sleeping at the creche? We don't have a nursery set up
yet." She continued to smile down at the baby as she slept. "And I
think she's wet. I need to change her."

“She can sleep in the creche, if that’s easier… Otherwise, we could
make a bassinet out of a dresser drawer,” he mused.

"We don't even know if she's sleeping through the night yet." Enamra
answered. "But I've done that before." Her lips lifted easily. "Hand
me what you have so I can get her all cleaned up. Besides, it'll be
good practice for our baby, at least for you, if she does wake up."

“You mean… it isn’t just the mother’s job to get up every time the
baby cries?” There was a teasing glint in his dark brown eyes.

There was a sweet smile that answered him. "You know, the Weyr taught
me so much...especially about how men and women can do the same
things." She blinked. "My mama did get up with babies. And so did I.
It's exhausting. But you know, if I'm tired all the time from getting
up with the baby for _months_..."

Thayde laughed, the sound causing Jalotha to flinch but not wake up.
He stifled his laughter behind his hand. “I see you have become very
wise during your time away. This is why holders don’t like their women
visiting the Weyr.”

That brought a little giggle as Enamra moved to carefully lay the baby
down to check her cloth diaper; she was indeed damp, but thankfully
not soaked. Her action caused Jalotha to wake and open her eyes, then
stretch. "Easy there, sweet pea. Are you waking up?" Her voice was
light and gentle, soothing. "Let's get you changed, hm? Hand me some
warm, damp cloths and a fresh wrap for her please."

The Hallmaster spun to do her bidding, collecting the different items
she requested. “Here you go,” he said, handing over the damp cloths.
“I wasn’t sure how warm… hopefully they’re not too cold.”

"If they're too hot or cold against your wrist, that's how you tell."
She took the cloths, checked, then nodded. "They're fine." She quickly
changed Jalotha's nappy, making sure to stop and lightly tickle the
little tummy, bringing a giggle out of the baby. Wrapping her back up,
she picked her up and settled her against her shoulder. "All done. I
bet she's hungry. I'll let you do that part."

Thayde, who was very capable when it came to things pertaining to his
craft, suddenly looked like a fish out of water. “Um…and I should just
uh… give her a bottle?”

Blinking and holding back a smile, Enamra cleared her throat. "You
have to warm the milk, Thayde. Normally, she'd feed from Jalodwyn. Did
you remember milk?"

“Milk? Oh, yes.” He turned and pulled glass bottles from the bag. “The
women in the creche packed the bag for me,” he admitted.

"Take her. I'll warm one up and you can feed her."

Thayde took Jalotha. He didn’t know much about changing and feeding
babies, but he knew how to hold one. That was something he could do.
He watched Enamra as she worked, checking the temperature of the milk
on her arm.

“You’re good at this,” he told Enamra as he put the bottle to
Jalotha’s mouth, who happily latched on and began sucking down the
milk.

Enamra nodded, then smiled a bit sadly. "I had to do it for my baby
brother and I helped my mother with my sisters. I guess I just got a
lot of practice."

Thayde was mesmerized by Jalotha’s soft, round cheeks and her perfect
little eyebrows and long eyelashes. Holding her and caring for her
made some part on the inside of him squeeze with an unidentifiable
feeling.

Reaching out, he took Enamra’s hand and pulled her down onto the couch
beside him. “Thank you for your help and for understanding.” He
pressed his lips to her temple.

"Of course." She smiled as she watched Thayde feed his baby, uncertain
as to how she really felt at the sight. It was true that the image fit
him, it seemed natural to see him now with a baby in his arms, but
Jalotha wasn't _theirs_. She was his. It did sting, seeing him hold
another woman's baby, but her anger at him for the past was long gone.
Nothing could be changed about what happened and it wasn't the baby's
fault. Besides, now they were expecting their own.

As Jalotha finished up the bottle, Thayde set it aside. “Now burping, right?”

"Yes. Up against your shoulder and start patting her back. But put a
cloth on your shoulder first because she might spit up a little."

“Just like your Uncle H’riv when he’s had too much to drink,” Thayde
said in a higher pitched baby-talk voice. He flipped a towel over his
shoulder, put the baby to it, and began patting her back.

It didn't take long for Jalotha to give a healthy little burp before
beginning to softly babble. She leaned back a little to look up at him
and reached to grip his lip with curious fingers. Giving a milky
smile, she stared at him with wide eyes and gently tugged.

Thayde’s smile was crooked, courtesy of the baby fingers pulling at
his bottom lip.

“Hey there,” he crooned softly. “My name is Thayde and… I’m your dad.
But don’t tell anyone I told you.”

Her free hand began patting at his cheek while she tugged on his lip,
as though exploring and getting to know his face. Then her searching
hand found a lock of Thayde's hair by his ear and gripped it.

"Uh oh." Enamra grinned. "You might want to start keeping your hair
away from your face. "

Thayde chuckled as her little fist tugged at his hair. Her grip wasn’t
strong enough to hurt yet but in the future…. “That or cut it,” he
reasoned.

"Oh, no you don't. You cut your hair, I'll cut mine." She protested
immediately. "Just keep it pulled back around her. "

“Noted, I didn’t realize you had a strong attachment to my hair,” he
grinned, glancing at her from the corner of his eye since Jalotha was
now exploring his nose.

"I love your hair." She confirmed, then smiled as Jalotha squeezed
Thayde's nose. "You really love her already, don't you?"

“She’s hard not to, don’t you think?”

"Yeah."

Last updated on the February 4th 2022

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