Rythian had thought that it would be easier the second time around.
When Zoey had first mentioned the idea of children, they had been walking together in the forest. The sun had been shining, slanting through the branches and sending shafts of yellow down through the canopy to dapple the ground in front of them. A breeze had been blowing softly and stirring the leaves, and white clouds had scudded across the azure sky like little boats in an ocean. Rythian had been totally at ease walking with Zoey at his side, enjoying listening to her chatter.
"… and I really like this area we're walking in and wouldn't it be nice to have a house here? Hey, Rythian! We should build a house here!"
The enderborn had nodded, liking the idea. Their desert home was beginning to wear on him; the days were hot, the nights freezing, and sand got in absolutely everything. It would be nice to put his boots on in the morning without having to shake out what seemed like a dune's worth of sand from them first.
"I suppose." He had said at last.
"Yeah!" Zoey had begun to talk animatedly about their prospective house. "We could clear a little space and build a nice little log home and live there! Tee could build an awesome tree tower and Ghost and Willow could run all over the place! It could have a front porch and a living room. Oh! We should totally have a fireplace too!"
"Right." Rythian had nodded.
"The house should be two stories, and the chimney should be made of stone!"
"Why on Minecraftia would we need two stories?" He'd asked, confused. "One story would be plenty!"
"Well the bottom floor would need a kitchen, a living room, maybe a bedroom, and a library for all of your books." Zoey was ticking things off on her fingers.
Rythian had to admit that a library would be nice; right now all of his books and scrolls were packed away in a chest.
"Oh, and a magic room somewhere!" She had favored him with a smile, which he returned fondly. "The second floor would have extra bedrooms, for guests and kids and stuff!"
Rythian stumbled and had nearly fallen. "Excuse me?"
Zoey had turned around to watch as he righted himself. "You know, guest rooms?"
"What was that last one though?"
Zoey didn't blush often, but that time her cheeks had stained a soft pink color. "Well, um, you know… kids and stuff?"
"Um… ah…" Utterly speechless, Rythian had stared at her; finally he'd gathered his thoughts. "What about, you know, Baby Jim?"
"Well, Baby Jim is all the way back at Blackrock." Zoey had wrung her hands. "And it's hard to cuddle with a volcano or hear the pitter patter of little feet, you know?" She'd rushed to fill the awkward silence. "But I'm not saying we have to or anything, kids are trouble after all and we're both busy and yeah." Abruptly the girl had turned and begun to walk away. Rythian had followed her, his mind in turmoil.
Children? Him and Zoey? Children were little things that cried and got in the way and needed constant attention and diaper changing. Children were a liability and got into trouble and made messes and then grew up to be teenagers that got into even more trouble and made even bigger messes. Baby Jim was bad enough, but human children? Rythian also doubted that he was good with children, though he had little to no evidence to back up the suspicion. Not to mention his magic… a child with endermagic? What a disaster!
To his relief Zoey had dropped the subject completely, and he'd heard no more of it for many months. When they had returned to the desert, Tee had tilted his head to one side in question at the queer way his friends were acting. Zoey had been flustered, and Rythian seemed to be in a daze. After several futile attempts to get an answer, the sharpshooter had simply shaken his scaly head and shrugged. Humans were weird, what could be done about it?
Rythian eventually took Tee with him back to that forest and showed the dinosaur around. The reptile had been ecstatic at the possibility of living there; he too was becoming disenchanted with the desert. After much discussion, the two had begun to plot in secret, developing the plans for a house that they could build in the picturesque forest. Rythian would go out to "scout" while Tee kept Zoey company; and then they would switch off periodically. Shaking had and claw, the pact was made.
Clearing the trees was hard work, and Rythian would come back from "scouting" exhausted; it took a few days to get enough space to build on. Tee took over from there, building the foundations and shoring them up; he even included a small cellar for food storage, which Rythian was thankful for.
Once they had nearly been discovered. Zoey had gone to visit the Doctor for a while, and so Rythian took the opportunity to draw up a finalized blueprint for the house. He and Tee had been poring over it when footsteps had sounded outside the tent.
"Rythian? Tee? Where are you guys?" Zoey had walked inside to find the two both looking around a little too innocently. Rythian's hands were hidden behind his back, and her blue eyes had narrowed suspiciously. "What is that?"
"What is what?" Rythian asked, blinking his purple eyes in what he hoped was a guileless manner.
"That thing you're obviously hiding behind your back." She had crossed her arms over her chest.
"I don't know what you mean." Thinking quickly, Rythian slipped the scroll up his sleeve before holding out both of his hands. "I don't have anything."
Her look had been disbelieving, and so Rythian had opted for a distraction. "Could it be this apple?" He reached behind her ear and seemingly pulled the fruit out of it.
The trick had worked, and Zoey's eyes had lit up. "Whoa! Can you pull out cocoa beans next?"
He'd sighed, thanking Notch for his interest in sleight of hand tricks as a boy. "Sorry, the magic only works once a day."
"Darn." She'd looked disappointed, and Rythian had made a mental note to surprise her with some cocoa beans soon.
After weeks of work the house had been completed, along with a rudimentary tower for Tee, and so Rythian and his faithful friend had taken Zoey on a "walk" through the woods together.
"I really do like it here." She'd sighed as they padded through the trees. "Someday this is where we should live."
Tee and Rythian had shared a conspiratorial grin.
"Seriously, we should!" She said. "It's so nice and these deer trails are fun to walk on and why is it getting lighter?" Her brow had furrowed. "Was it lighter here before?" The trees began to thin out. "What is that? Has someone been here besides us? It looks almost like… a…" The girl trailed off as they came to the clearing, her blue eyes wide.
The house was a simple, cozy affair. Sturdy wooden steps led up to a covered front porch bordered by railing, and two torch brackets sat to either side of the front door. The house itself was wooden, though the very bottom was the same cobblestone as its foundations and cellar; a window sat on either side of the front door, and neat little shutters framed them. The corners of the house were large spruce trunks, trimmed of their branches, and a birch trunk formed the lintel for the door. On one side of the sloped roof a stone chimney poked out cheerfully.
And the house was two stories tall.
Zoey had spun around to face Rythian and Tee, her face alight with joy. "Is this—? No way! You guys—did you really?"
Tee snorted with silent laughter at her inability to form a sentence, his face wrinkled up into a dinosaur smile. Zoey tackled her friend with a hug, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and jumping up and down.
"Ohmygoshohmygosh you two are the best ever! I can't believe you went and did this!" She'd turned and flown at Rythian next, giggling when he spun her around. "You built us a house!" She looked up at him with eyes bright from unshed joyful tears. "A house for us to live in!"
"You know, the inside is cool too." He had reminded her gently.
"You did the inside too?!" She spun and raced up the steps. "Ohmygosh the porch is so nice and we can sit here in the evenings and the windows are cute too!" Zoey turned the doorknob and disappeared inside.
"Why would we build the outside of a house but not the inside?" Rythian asked as he and Tee had followed her. The dinosaur shrugged.
The front entryway opened up onto hardwood floors and a cozy living room. To one side there was a stone fireplace and hearth that rose up the wall to connect to the chimney; on the other side was a staircase to the second story and a hallway that led to other areas of the house. First off the hall was the kitchen area with its stone countertops and birch wood cabinets; there was also room for a table and chairs. Across from the kitchen was the bathroom, and Rythian grimaced when he recalled the difficulty of figuring the plumbing out. A library/study sat to the right at the end of the hall, with built-in shelves and an alcove for a desk; to the left was a room just big enough for an enchanting table and some storage.
Zoey had been scampering all over the place, commenting on this and that; when she saw Rythian and Tee she returned and danced around them in glee.
"We have a house! We have a house!" She had chanted. "No more sand! No more sand!"
Rythian chuckled. "No more sand indeed." He gestured to the staircase, "There's a broom cupboard under there for storage and cleaning supplies."
She had turned to look him in the eyes. "What's upstairs?"
"Um…" Rythian looked away. "Three bedrooms and another bathroom."
Though she hadn't said anything, Rythian thought he could see a satisfied smirk on her face as she turned to leave the house.
Moving had been a hassle, but worth it. It had taken many days to transfer all of their belongings to the house in the forest; Tee had improvised an enclosure for the mooshrooms not far away from the house which would do until a proper stable could be built, and Ringo had gotten a similar temporary pen much farther away from the house. Johnny Iron and Red Five were released into the forest with instructions to stay close; Ghost and Willow, after patrolling the territory, had begun digging a den by the back porch. Slowly the house had begun to feel more and more like a home; it still needed some furnishings, but most of it was in place.
Saying goodbye to Ravs and the residents of Cabertown had been the hardest part, although they had promised to visit often.
"Oy, Rythian." Ravs had grinned cheekily at his friend as he had bidden them farewell. "Be sure tae tell me when y've filled up t'other bedrooms."
The enderborn had buried his face in his hands, wishing to sink straight into the ground as Zoey had burst out laughing.
Zoey and Rythian had settled into their house well. Tee's tower was complete and hidden skillfully among the trees to the west, and the mooshroom stables would be snug and dry even in the winter. Zoey and Rythian spent many a night cuddled up together by the fire, and Tee stopped by nearly every morning for breakfast. Not to say that everything was perfect… there had been a slight issue when a huge storm had blown through and dumped rain for days—Rythian had spent a day on the roof searching for the tiny hole which had let three buckets worth of water into their bedroom. Another problem had arisen when Zoey had gone to put something in the attic and was greeted enthusiastically by a colony of bats.
Nearly a year and a half after moving to their new home, Rythian had caught Zoey standing at the doorway of one of the extra bedrooms. She had simply been staring at it, her blue eyes distant, one shoulder leaning against the doorframe. The sun had been slanting through one of the windows and casting a golden-yellow light on the floor in front of her.
"Zoey?" The man had asked nervously. "Zoey, are you ok?"
"What?" She had snapped back to reality. "I'm fine! Great! I just was standing here and yeah and… umm…"
He frowned, she didn't sound alright to him, and why wouldn't she meet his eyes? "Zoey? What's going on? Do we have bats again?"
"Well yeah, but I think I'm going to leave them up there this time." Zoey had looked up at the ceiling like she could see straight through to the attic. "They've promised not to poop up there, so I figure they're ok."
"They've promised not to…"Rythian had decided to let it go, if Zoey said that she had talked to them, he knew better than to dispute it. "Ok, fair enough I guess." He made a mental note to check the attic later.
"So yeah…. Um… Rythian?"
"Yes?"
She had stared at him for a moment. "Well… we might need to… um… clean this room."
"I just dusted it yesterday!" Rythian held his hands up in defense; the first time he'd "dusted" a room Zoey had gone up to find everything swept under the rug and she'd made him redo it properly as Tee had looked on, snorting with mute laughter.
"Well we're not going to want any germs in there or anything because I heard from Nilesy that babies have really weak immune systems and can get sick from all sorts of stuff and that would be awful because sick babies cry and crying might scare the bats and then they'll break their promise and poop on everything and they'll have to move all because we didn't clean the room properly!" The girl had paused to take a breath, her face beet red.
Rythian had said nothing, and she'd grown worried.
"Um… Rythian? Rythian you've gone all spacey on me." Zoey wrung her hands nervously. "You're not… angry with me… are you?"
That had caused him to snap out of it, and he had rushed forward to wrap his arms around her. "No. No I'm not angry. How could I be angry with you?" A mixture of emotions had whirled through him: pride, love, nervousness, excitement. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "I'm… happy, at least I think I am."
"Good." She had looked up at him with shining eyes before standing on her toes, pulling down his facemask, and pressing a kiss against his lips; grinning she then skipped down the hall, calling over her shoulder, "Now to tell Tee!"
Tee had nearly fallen out of his chair when they told him over breakfast one week later. They had been debating how to break the news, and finally that morning Zoey had simply blurted out "We're going to have a kid, Tee!" as the dinosaur had been reaching over for a piece of toast; his claw had slipped from the table, causing him to bang his chin painfully on the hard wooden surface.
Rythian had rolled his eyes as his morning coffee, black with no sugar, had spattered onto his paper: iThe Minecraftian./i After checking the attic three days earlier and discovering that indeed the bats were still there but that the floor was spotless, Rythian had quietly and self-consciously muttered that they were welcome to stay. This morning he had opened the door to find the Sunday paper on his porch, and as he picked it up he had caught a flutter of leathery wings out of the corner of his vision. The mage's response had been to simply raise an eyebrow; bats delivering the paper? Why not?
Tee had waved his arms wildly, looking back and forth from Zoey to Rythian and grinning. Though slightly embarrassed, Rythian had accepted his friend's congratulations and traded smiles with a positively beaming Zoey. Zoey began to explain to Tee that it would be a while before their next family member arrived, and Rythian listened from one ear while he scanned the headlines.
"We'll have to make a crib! Babies are supposed to sleep in the same room as their parents for a while; I wanted to put them in their own room, but then I realized that it will probably be hard because they'll wake up a lot and I'll have to go and feed them or change diapers or whatever and I don't want to have to walk down the hall."
Tee had nodded, biting into his toast and looking slightly overwhelmed.
"Hmmm…." Rythian rubbed his chin. "Looks like Zombies have been a bit of a problem around SipsCo lately." The enderborn let out a dry chuckle. "What a shame."
"Oh! And we'll have to think about baby food when she gets older and hi-chairs and we'll have to move all the sharp stuff and—"
"Hang on!" Rythian had set down his paper. "When did 'it' become a 'she'? And anyway let's just concentrate on one thing at a time!"
"Of course it's a girl, Rythian!" Zoey had waved her hand in a dismissive manner. "I know these things! A woman can tell!"
The next months had passed in what seemed like a blur. Zoey's stomach had progressively gotten more and more rounded, and Rythian had gotten more and more anxious. Were they really ready for this? Was ihe/i really ready for this? What if something went wrong? Rythian had seemed more anxious about the whole thing than Zoey, which Tee had viewed with amusement. Ghost and Willow had noticed something was up, and were intensely protective of Zoey, for which Rythian was thankful. He and Tee worked hard to keep the surroundings free of monsters, and the iron golems patrolled night and day.
At the same time though, Rythian would have some very special memories from that time period. One night Zoey had summoned him to her side and gently placed his hand over the swell of her stomach; after a moment he'd felt a slight nudge beneath his fingertips, and the mage had looked up at his wife with an expression of awe. They'd sat cuddled up together on the couch after that, silent and lost in thought; the fire had crackled cheerfully in the grate as if it could sense the love and joy that they shared.
Rythian had sent a letter to Ravs, explaining that he and Zoey would probably not be visiting for some time, and that one of the bedrooms was about to have an occupant. The reply he had gotten was a messy scrawl written in Ravs' phonetics. "Ya' sly bugger, send me a line when the bairn arrives." Zoey had snorted with laughter when she'd read it, and Tee had grinned.
The last few weeks had been some of the hardest. Unable to predict exactly when the child was going to arrive, Rythian and Zoey stuck close to the house. Tee stayed in the house with them, using the bedroom farthest from theirs; he would be the one to sprint down to the nearby village and fetch the midwife when the time came.
It had been early that morning when Zoey had woken Rythian. The sun had just peeked over the horizon, sending tendrils of daylight winding into their room and turning the clouds a soft pink color. As soon as he'd felt the tap on his shoulder the man had jolted awake to see Zoey staring at him.
"Um… Rythian?" Her voice had been shaky. "Do you think you can go wake Tee up?"
He'd sprinted down the hall and shaken Tee awake, watching as the dinosaur disappeared down the stairs and out the door. The forty minutes it took for the midwife to arrive seemed like an eon to Rythian, who was pacing back and forth across the bedroom floor; Zoey watched him calmly from the bed, eyes narrowing every so often against a wave of pain. When the midwife did arrive Rythian had been shocked to find himself evicted from the room and told to wait outside.
"But—Zoey! " He'd protested. "What if—? I have to be with her!"
"Rythian," Zoey's voice had caused him to look up.
"Yes?"
She had smiled sweetly at him. "I love you—now get out of this room." Her voice was iron.
"Yes." He'd replied meekly and went to the front porch with Tee.
By the fourth hour Tee had been sure that his friend was about to wear a hole in the porch with his manic pacing. Though lunch had passed neither of them had eaten anything; and Rythian felt so anxious that he wasn't sure he would ever be able to eat again.
"Is it supposed to take this long?" Four steps, turn. "What if something's gone wrong?" Four steps, turn. "Anything could be happening and I'm stuck down here!" Four steps, turn.
Tee had sat in front of the door, guarding it under strict instructions not to let Rythian in until he was summoned. Rythian had already tried twice to get him to move, but to no avail.
Suddenly a thin cry of pain had sounded from the upper story, followed by another. Rythian raced to the door, only to be blocked. "Tee, Tee you have to let me through!"
Tee had shaken his head, though his brow was furrowed with worry.
"Tee, please! She's hurting! I have to do something!" The enderborn's eyes had been frantic as he tried to release himself from the iron grip his friend had placed upon his shoulders.
They had stayed that way for a long while, locked in a battle of wills; it was unclear who would have won, but the door opening had stopped them from finding out. As soon as Tee heard the creaking of the hinges he had released Rythian and moved aside as quickly as possible. One look at the old midwife's face and Rythian had teleported. His concentration was a little off, and the woman had shuddered as the sensation of freezing cold overtook her for a moment; the sensation passed as Rythian appeared behind her and took off up the stairs. Skidding down the hallway the man burst through the door into the room that he and Zoey shared.
Zoey had looked absolutely exhausted. Her fiery hair was messier than usual, and a sheen of sweat covered her brow; her sides were still heaving a bit from the strain. Her blue eyes were alight though, and her face was flushed with triumph.
Rythian rushed to her side and brushed a forelock of hair away from her face. "Zoey are you ok? How do you feel? Do you need anything? Did everything go alright?" The questions had spilled from him in a rush.
"I'm alright, Rythian." She murmured tiredly, smiling as he leaned his face against hers. "Really."
Feeling reassured, the man had finally glanced down at the small bundle being cradled in Zoey's arms. Rythian's violet eyes had widened, and he had stared in awe at the perfect features of the child, who was sleeping soundly. A shock of brown hair covered the baby's head like fuzzy down, and the little fingers were curled up around the swaddling cloth. Gently Rythian had reached out and slid one finger into the small hand, feeling warmth surge in his chest when the fingers curled reflexively around it.
"What should we call her?" Zoey asked quietly.
"It's a girl?" Rythian looked again on the child.
"I told you, I know these things." Zoey had smirked. "I was thinking Emily?"
"Emily." Rythian had rolled the name around on his tongue to see how it felt. "Emily." He smiled at his wife. "I think it's perfect."
Rythian had gazed down at his daughter and had been floored by several emotions: relief, love, pride, and above all a desire to protect the new life that had entered under his roof. If he had any say in it, nothing on the face of Minecraftia would ever harm his little girl.
Tee had appeared in the doorway and had padded forward almost fearfully to view the baby resting in Zoey's embrace. The dinosaur's yellow eyes went wide and he slowly reached out a claw to brush through the brown hair, gentle as a soft breeze.
"Tee, this is Emily." Rythian had said quietly, before looking down at the girl. "Emily, this is your Uncle Tee."
They had all stayed that way for a while, just looking at the newest addition to the family with awe written on their faces. Out in the hall the midwife had smiled to herself; even though this was a strange group of people, they reacted to a baby just like everyone else. At last Tee had torn himself away and escorted the midwife home, leaving Rythian and Zoey to get things settled in peace.
Zoey had looked up at him. "Would you like to hold her?"
Mutely he'd reached out and taken the child, instinctively supporting her head as she was too young to hold it up on her own. At some point Zoey must have left the room to clean up, but Rythian's full attention was focused on the baby. The enderborn's magic slowly crept out of its own accord, running over the tiny form and memorizing everything about her; the magic recognized the child as his, and when it returned to Rythian there was the knowledge that this was another person to protect. If Emily was injured the magic would act of its own volition to heal her, much the same way it did with Zoey.
Almost as Emily could sense the magical scrutiny she was under, the girl's little eyes had opened to reveal blue irises. Though they were a little unfocused, the eyes locked onto Rythian; he stared back at them.
"Emily." His voice had been soft, but she seemed to hear it, so he spoke again. "Hello, Emily. Welcome to the world." Crooning softly to her he had walked around the room in slow, measured steps, rocking his arms gently.
Zoey had walked in to find him grinning like an idiot as his daughter made little burbling noises at him. Rythian hardly seemed to notice her as she stripped the bed and bundled the sheets away down the stairs, Ghost and Willow greeted her outside, wagging their tails and whining when they smelled blood. She sat with them for a moment, assuring them that she was alright.
Back inside the house, Rythian had tilted his head as Emily opened her little toothless mouth wide, what was she doing? The baby had taken in a deep breath and then had promptly begun to emit the loudest cry he had ever heard in his life. Alarmed, the man tried to soothe her, but she only cried the louder.
Zoey appeared in the doorway, and he looked up at her helplessly. "Zoey! Why is shy crying? Help!"
Stifling a laugh at her husband's panicked face, Zoey had taken Emily from him. "She's probably just hungry, Rythian." To his chagrin, she was absolutely right.
Rythian had a lot to learn about babies, as he had soon discovered. He learned that baby poop was one of the most disgusting materials on the face of Minecraftia, and he learned that it was wise to place a towel on one's shoulder when burping them. He also learned that babies most definitely did not sleep through the night, and many times he woke to a demanding wail being issued from the crib just across the room. For all that though, Emily was a constant marvel to him, and the man liked nothing better than to sit with Zoey and watch his daughter sleep comfortably in his arms.
Tee was constantly at the house, dropping in for breakfast and cheerfully greeting little Emily as he sat down at the table. Many times a day he would stick out both arms in a plea to hold her, and then would sit watching her for hours at a time with a delighted smile on his face. Zoey had let Ghost and Willow in the house to meet the baby, and the wolves had eagerly licked her little hands with tails wagging all the while. Johnny Iron and Red Five also glanced in the window at the new arrival, accepting her appearance with philosophical indifference before stumping off into the trees. Zoey had even opened the trapdoor to the attic so that the bats could look down and see the baby; to Rythian's surprise when he had looked up into the gloom the whole colony had been gathered directly over the trapdoor and had been looking down.
Emily seemed to develop remarkably fast to Rythian, though when he asked the midwife about it during a grocery run she had assured him that it was normal. She began to hold her head up, and after a time was able to sit up on the floor on her own. Rythian would lie on his stomach on the rug and play with her for hours, trying and succeeding in getting her to smile. Towards evening Zoey would pick a scroll from his library and read aloud to the child until she fell asleep. Their favorite thing was when Emily would give a burbling giggle at one of their antics, and Zoey would spend time trying all sorts of different things to make her laugh. Emily's favorite was when Zoey would puff up her cheeks and blow a loud raspberry, little did Rythian know that Zoey had caught him doing it as well on several occasions. Emily also liked to play with Tee's claws, yanking them this way and that with her little hands.
One day Zoey had raced down the hall with Emily in her arms and presented her to Rythian. "Rythian, look! Look at this!" She had turned Emily to face her. "Emily, who am I?"
"Mmmmm" Emily's brow had furrowed.
"Come on, say it!" Zoey urged.
"Maaaamm!" The girl said. "Maaammma!"
"That's it! I'm mama!" Zoey giggled, tickling Emily under the chin until she laughed.
Rythian had enveloped them both in a hug. "That's amazing!"
Zoey had grinned at him. "You'll be next, just wait!"
Emily had shown Tee the same trick the next day and had laughed when Tee nodded and grinned furiously at her. She now greeted Zoey with an enthusiastic "Mama!" whenever the woman walked into the room.
Two weeks later Zoey had found him again, but this time kept Emily facing away from her. "Emily, who?"
"Papa!" Emily shrieked joyfully.
Rythian had taken her from Zoey and spun around with her. "Yes! That's my smart girl!"
Emily had kept up a steady chant of "Papa Papa Papa Papa!" as they spun, and giggled as Rythian ground to a halt. Zoey laughed at his exhilarated expression and wrapped her husband in a hug.
Tee of course had been next, although the T sound was difficult for her, so "ee" the dinosaur was his name for many a month.
The child began to scoot across the floor on her little rear, and soon had graduated to crawling. At that point Zoey and Rythian had gone through the entire house and examined everything from the doorknobs down, looking for sharp edges or splinters that could harm their firstborn. Emily began to experiment with mushed up baby food more, and they quickly discovered that she despised carrots; it only took four times of orange coated kitchen to convince them to leave well enough alone.
After that the big milestone was walking; Emily was one and a half when she took her first steps across the floor with Zoey guiding her. From there she took off, learning to walk unaided and slowly getting her little legs to support running. Words were added to the vocabulary, primarily "eat", "drink", "doggie", and most of all "no". For a time "no" seemed to be Emily's favorite word. "Cow" was added when Zoey took her down to meet the mooshrooms, and "big" came later when Johnny Iron had walked across their yard one morning. Sentences came next, though they lacked structure.
Rythian and Zoey did their best to keep her out of harm's way, though they were thwarted on a few occasions. Many a scraped knee occurred during the early walking phase, and bruises were common as she continually knocked into things. As she had patched up one such injury Zoey had ruefully stated that her daughter had inherited her mother's grace, or lack thereof. She graduated to a big-girl bed, which replaced the toddler crib that had been in her bedroom, though she complained about the railings. Rythian had doubtfully taken them off, but after she fell out of bed and gained a lump on her skull he'd quickly replaced them.
One early summer morning Zoey had taken her daughter outside for some time on the quilt, which had been a gift from Ravs to Emily; the girl loved to play on the faded cloth and feel the breeze. Ghost had scented the creeper before Zoey had spotted it, and had lunged across the clearing to attack the green monster with a snarl. The wolf had jumped clear just before the explosion, but the loud noise and heat had frightened Emily even though she had been safe under Zoey's protectively curled body. The result was a fear of loud noises, especially thunder, that would persist for years to come. Rythian had nearly had a heart attack when he'd come home to a crater in the lawn and a singed blanket.
Rythian had kept an extra sharp eye out for endermen as well; many nights he would go out and search the area, looking for a telltale flash of purple. Any offenders were shown no mercy, be they endermen, spiders, creepers, skeletons, or zombies. Many a monster met their end on the point of Rythian's sword those years; many more died to Tee's arrows, as the dinosaur would join his friend on patrol often. As Emily grew older the patrols had spaced out more, secretly Zoey had been relieved as she worried for Rythian when he was out.
Emily was four when Rythian had caught Zoey staring into the unused bedroom. She had been acting strangely all day, and when he saw her standing there everything fell into place.
"Zoey?"
Though his voice had been gentle, she had still jumped in surprise. "Rythian? Oh, hi there! I was just, you know, standing here and stuff."
"So I noticed." He smiled. "Any particular reason?"
"Oh you know," Zoey had grinned, "Thinking about cleaning this room."
He'd folded her into an embrace, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "We'll clean it when it gets closer."
"He." She corrected. "When ihe/i gets closer."
The next morning Rythian had lifted his paper and coffee just as Emily had zoomed into the kitchen and leapt into her chair, bumping the table as she did. Tee smiled and passed the toast as the girl bounced up and down in her seat.
"Mama said she had a surprise for me!" Emily buttered her toast, managing to get some of it on her hands.
"We both have a surprise for you." Rythian sipped his coffee.
Tee looked up, setting his breakfast down and watching as Emily began to chatter excitedly.
"What is it? Mama said it was good! I wanna know! I wanna know!"
Zoey had breezed into the kitchen. "Alright! Alright hang on!" She sat at the table. "Emily, you're going to be getting a baby brother!"
"From where?" She tilted her head to one side.
Tee had spluttered in laughter as Rythian struggled to answer. "Um… well…"
"He's going to live here for a little while." Zoey pointed to her stomach. "And then when he's ready he'll arrive."
"Oh!" Emily had hopped from her chair and walked to Zoey. Leaning down, she yelled right at her mother's stomach. "Hi in there! Hurry up and come out!"
Rythian had released a very undignified sounding snort before dissolving into chuckles, Zoey glared at him before stroking her daughter's shoulder-length brown hair. "It'll be a while, but I'm sure he appreciates it."
Rythian had felt much more prepared the second time around. He had stocked up on cocoa beans, and as Zoey's stomach swelled he moved the old crib back into their bedroom. Another letter was posted to Ravs, and the reply was a box; within the box there was a purple baby blanket and a reply of one word: "Finally!" Tee moved into the last bedroom three months before the newest addition was due, and they all settled into an air of expectation. Emily spoke to her brother every night before bed, telling him to hurry up and get there. She had been amazed when Zoey had let her feel the baby kicking, and had eagerly begun to practice her writing so that she could make him a welcome card.
Preparation could only take them so far though, which was why Rythian was now pacing the front porch one month early in the middle of the night. They had been out there for hours upon hours; Emily was asleep in Tee's arms as the dinosaur sat in front of the door, and fireflies blinked outside in the late summer night.
"Why is he so early?" Rythian worried. "He wasn't supposed to be here for another month!" He had thought that this would be easier the second time around, but here he was nearly out of his mind with worry again. Four steps, turn. Four steps, turn. He hadn't wanted to leave the room, but at Zoey's dire threats he'd retreated with as much dignity as he could muster. He could hear her crying out in pain, but could do nothing about it, and it was driving him mad.
"If the old woman doesn't come in another hour I'm going in there." He warned Tee, who nervously tightened his hold on Emily.
Fifty five agonizing minutes later the midwife threw open the door and dodged aside, not wishing to experience the feeling of a teleporting mage for the second time. Rythian burst into the house and frantically ran to Zoey, who was looking much the worse for wear.
"He decided that he didn't just want to be early, he wanted to arrive backwards too." Zoey murmured as Rythian used a corner of the sheet to wipe her damp, pale forehead.
"Emily must have put him up to it." The man finally tore his eyes away from his fatigued wife to look down at his child.
The boy was much smaller than his sister had been, his head only had the barest covering of dark brown hair. Surprisingly though, the boy's blue eyes were open and staring at the two faces above him; as Rythian looked down the child burbled at him.
"Joakim." Rythian smiled at his son. Zoey had let him pick the name this time around. "Little Joakim." The little fingers curled around his just as Emily's had, and Rythian released a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
Tee entered the room with Emily in his arms; her light blue eyes regarded the scene warily. As they reached the foot of the bed she squirmed to be put down and ran to her mother's side.
"Mama, mama are you ok? You look sick!"
Zoey reached out a hand and patted her eldest child's head. "I'm just tired, Emily."
The girl looked down at the babe in Zoey's arms. "Is that my new brother?" her face was stamped with wonder.
"Yes." Rythian lifted her up so that she could get a closer look. "This is Joakim."
Upon seeing his sister Joakim let out a wordless stream of sound. Emily listened diligently to it, nodding every so often until the boy ran out of breath.
"My." Zoey grinned. "He had a lot to tell you there!"
Tee nodded and moved to the other side of the bed so that he could get a closer look at the baby, smiling when Zoey turned to let him view it more easily. To Rythian's surprise Joakim looked directly up at his father when the enderborn's magic curled around him; was it him or was there the slightest tint of purple to those blue eyes? The man shrugged mentally, time would tell if his son had inherited any of his father's magic.
Rythian had never felt as happy as he did in that moment, looking around the room at wife, best friend, daughter, and son. This was his family, and he felt that they could make it through anything so long as they were together. The man looked forward to all of the challenges and surprises that his son would throw at him, after all, it had to be easier the second time around.