Hi, all! Swooping in with a quick double-ish drabble, as I'm trying something new again. When I posted "Never Say Distinguished!" I mentioned that there should have been another story between "A to B" and that one, concerning how everyone adjusts to Ellie Bea's presence. Well, rather than try to incorporate all the moments/vignettes I want to tell into a single chapter, and worry about how to get them all to fit together just right, I decided to have each instance to be its own chapter. Much easier, and more fun, and I'll be able to update more often. The chapters could be anywhere between drabble and oneshot – length. We'll see. The title references the last chapter of "A to B," of course, as well as a line from "A Midsummer Night's Dream": "Come now, a roundel and a fairy song." A "roundel" is a multi-part song or poem, which fits as this piece will be told in multiple parts, and from multiple views in multiple tones. Thanks to DrinkwaterDrinkwine for the quick read-through and advice on the title, even though I made it as wordy as possible… of course. :p
Once again, characters are the property of Every Cloud productions and Kerry Greenwood. No infringement intended. Please enjoy this lighthearted first installment!
"Mac, are you absolutely certain you didn't increase my morphine, because I'm sure I just heard you suggest—?"
"A breast pump, yes."
"A breast pump." Phryne gave her friend a horrified look. "You want me to just… lie here and be milked like a… like a cow? Feeding the baby is one thing, but…" She flopped back against her pillows as dramatically as her healing incision would allow, and fixed Mac with a narrow eyed stare. Mac gazed blandly back until at last her eyes began to twinkle.
"Not fair, Mac, really. I'm convalescing," Phryne grumbled, aggrieved.
"But since I got you to roll your eyes and huff at me, I know you're getting better," Mac said, unruffled. "I could get my hands on one in a day or two, I'm sure, but don't worry, you're still getting too much morphine to feed her yourself in any case."
"But if I'm still here, and on the morphine, how are you going to send Ellie home? At least here the other mothers can feed her, and you were so insistent that she be breast-fed."
"Because it's much better, particularly for premature infants, and I doubt you object to my goddaughter receiving the best?" Mac raised an eyebrow.
"Of course not, but you still haven't told me how," Phryne complained.
"Ah, well, your Aunt Prudence has that in hand. We put our heads together, and she's had rather a clever idea." Mac smiled enigmatically, enjoying keeping her friend in suspense.
"You and Aunt P plotting? Together?" Phryne exclaimed. "Now I'm sure you increased my morphine, Mac!"
Just a rather frothy first installment… I'm so sorry, but I just couldn't stop imagining Mac teasing Phryne about a breast pump. They were available at that time, although probably not terribly widely used, and these early versions look rather frightening to me, and definitely uncomfortable. I'm not sure how much was known about the benefits of breastmilk at the time, or the fact that drugs/diseases could be passed on to the infant through breastmilk; I do know that the use of commercial formulas and other prepared milk substitutes became increasingly more popular from the 1850s onwards. In fact, it almost seems as though formulas were often the preferred option over breastmilk by the time this little vignette takes place? That's what's influencing the tone of the conversation, in case you were wondering. :-) For some historical context, see [ www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684040/]
(Oh, just in case, let me make clear that I definitely don't mean to cause any offense to any nursing moms or anything; I just pictured Phryne as being uncomfortable with the idea of an "impersonal," intensely mechanical pump, especially as in my headcanon she's not terribly thrilled with the notion of breastfeeding in the first place. As she is unfazed by the very modern "electrical massager" in 3x05, I could see making the case for her reacting more neutrally, but this is how I kept envisioning it, so I went with it. :-) )
I'm going to endeavor to do these in order, so the next chapter should reveal Aunt P's brilliant idea! Now off to work on my Phryne –Concetta oneshot!