Disclaimer: I only own a copy of Skyrim.
Summary: Oneshot: The Listener has agreed for her and Cicero watch Nazir's little girl while he goes to Riften as a small test to see if they're ready for children.
Rating: T
Inspiration: My mom's friend has baby fever
Pairings: NazirxOC, CiceroxListener
Warnings: None really
Other Notes: I'm having a lot of writer's block on the Dark Brotherhood: Expanding the Family. Hopefully this cutesy little family oneshot will satisfy you until I get a better clue on how the Void I want to write. (I know what I want, not sure how I want to write it).
Reyna shifted closer to her husband. His response was a tighter hold on her, deep even breathing telling her that he was asleep.
She wasn't though. She was wide awake.
The Listener wasn't really sure why she was so awake. Maybe it was her depression. These past two weeks did not exactly work the way she had originally planned.
It was her biggest chance to encourage Cicero to think about children. The set-up was perfect.
Babette was on contract in Winterhold with the new member to assure he wouldn't screw up. Nazir and his lover had left for Riften nearly two weeks ago to be married. Nazir had performed the contract to kill Yasmin's abusive husband. Since then, the female Redguard became smitten with him, soon becoming an assassin herself. Within three years, they had their now five month old girl, Annika. She was an adorable, slightly chubby bundle of black hair, dark skin and eyes that was such a dark brown, they appeared black. The two had been put off getting married when they found Yasmin with child, and with their little girl was born and slightly grown since her birth, now just felt like the right time to finally get hitched.
And they had asked the couple if they would watch little Annika while they made their love legally official.
"We'll take good care of her," Reyna had promised Nazir. The Redguard chuckled in amusement.
"I know you will, Listener. Yasmin doesn't want to risk our little assassin getting hurt on the off chance we'll run into bandits," Nazir told her. "I told her that with that fool here caring for him, that she'd almost be safer with us. But for some reason, that woman trusts Cicero."
"He's a bit...eccentric," Reyna admitted. "But he's still a good man."
Before Nazir could reply, Yasmin's voice called through the Dawnstar Sanctuary as footsteps grew closer to the Listener and Redguard.
"Nazir? Sweetie, are you ready?"
"I'm ready when you are," he replied. Soon, her form came to walk in their view. Nazir smiled at her, and when she came close enough, he grabbed her hand and kissed it.
Soon after they left, Reyna quickly learned that although she had a heart of gold when it came to children, she knew nothing. Whether it was changing a diaper or the proper way to hold them, she had no clue.
But to her complete surprise, Cicero seemed to be a natural.
It only took one small sniff to tell her the reason behind Annika's crying. The small Redguard seemed to take pleasure in her disgusted look, giggling with some tears still streaming down her face.
"Cicero!" she called out desperately. He was there almost in an instant.
"Yes?" he asked, hugging her from behind. He immediately almost choked on a cough. "Never mind. Cicero can smell the problem."
"I don't know how to change a diaper," she mumbled, cheeks turning red. Cicero grinned and kissed her cheek.
"Cicero will teach Listener," he assured her as he took her from his wife. He laid Annika down on the dresser next to her crib. Reyna handed him a clean cloth diaper, which he accepted.
He explained as he went on what he was doing, but Reyna was too embarrassed to really think. She could barely care for this child. She was completely clueless. How would she care for her own? She now realized that Cicero was doing almost all the work. Where in the Void did he even learn to care for a baby? It was hard to believe that this was natural instinct.
When he finished, he handed Reyna a freshly changed toddler. She smiled weakly at him as he left to dispose of the dirty diaper.
That moment was the first in many in which he made her feel like a complete idiot. When she had seen other new mothers, even as a little girl, they seemed to automatically know what to do. She had no clue half the time what she was even doing. Cicero was so much better at being a parent than her. He always seemed to know if Annika's cries meant if she was hungry or bored, if she was bothered by a dirty diaper or the teething pain, and exactly when she was sleepy enough that she desired to be put in her crib for the night.
And the teething issue. Reyna never knew that this was apparently painful for toddlers, nor the amount of stress it caused both her and Annika. Again, it had been Cicero who found out the issue and knew what to do.
She had been sobbing for nearly two hours before Reyna finally passed the toddler to Cicero. Her head was beginning to hurt like the Void, and she had nearly begun to cry herself out of frustration. She had tried singing, feeding, no dirty diaper and she wasn't sleepy at all because she had just woken up.
Cicero had walked away with the toddler, allowing Reyna to just sit on the bed and allow the throbbing caused by the girl's loud shrieks to go away. When he came back, she had to blink several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
"Is that...is that a...a carrot?" she asked slowly. Cicero grinned and nodded, holding the carrot to the toddler's mouth. She had some tear stains on her cheeks, but seemed much happier now. "Why in the Void would you feed her a carrot? Yasmin said soft solids, you idiot!"
"Annika would not calm down, no dirty diaper and not hungry. Cicero then checked her mouth and sure enough, felt a little tooth growing in," he said, bouncing the baby slightly. "Sweetrolls didn't help, but she seems to love chewing on the carrot."
Reyna took one last look at the two before rolling her eyes laying backwards on their bed, curling in a ball. She felt like an idiot.
She swore the jester made her feel like the fool most of the time, and not the other way around.
Reyna snuggled deeper under the covers. It would be over soon. Nazir and Yasmin were expected to be back later that day. Then she could forget about the past two weeks, ignore her desire for babies and continue living her life with her loyal Keeper.
She couldn't shake off her want though. But it was pathetic. Pathetic that the Haarbringer, Guildmaster, Dragonborn and Listener couldn't even change a baby's diaper? All women knew how to change a diaper. By Sithis,even Cicero AND Nazir could change diapers! It was natural as the ones who carried and bore their husbands and lovers children. Natural to every woman in Skyrim but her.
She had been so eager to finally experience the realities of what to expect from motherhood. Now she wasn't sure if she was ever meant for motherhood. Maybe that's why the Gods named her Dragonborn, so that she would be too busy slaying dragons to find the time to meet a husband and have children.
But here she was, nearly fifteen years after Alduin's demise. By next month, she and Cicero would celebrate thirteen years since they promised to be bound together, now and forever in the little Mara temple in Riften.
Married for almost thirteen years, and they had never even talked of children. Every female in Skyrim she knew it seemed, from Ysolda to Jarl Elisif, was having babies or have already had them. She was the only woman she knew, aside from the unchild, who wasn't a mother or expecting.
Every time she went to fulfill her duties as Haarbringer, Tilma would inquire why she didn't ever bring her children with her to the Companions' home. Each time she stepped foot into the Ragged Flagon, Vekel would stare at her stomach, as if trying to determine if she was pregnant. The occasions when she went as Dragonborn for business such as her opinion on political matters or for pleasures such as the wedding of General Tullius's daughter, people would inquire if she was having troubles getting pregnant.
In any of the cases, she would smile and change the subject while wondering why didn't she and Cicero have any children.
Now she knew.
She would be a horrid mother.
Annika began to softly stir and whimper from her crib. Reyna froze. Normally Cicero would be up and already tending to the baby Redguard. Her loyal jester though, was still in a deep sleep.
The toddler began to softly whine. Reyna slowly scooted away from Cicero before sitting up. By then, her cries has escalated.
"Shhhhh," Reyna cooed softly, walking over. She peered into the crib to see Annika sitting up, staring at her with tears on her cheeks. The Dragonborn wiped them away before picking Annika up.
The Redguard grasped her shirt and whimpered more, her other hand mostly in her mouth as more tears fell down her dark cheeks.
"Do your teeth hurt, sweetheart?" she murmured as she went to the kitchen and picked up one of the carrots Cicero had put in a bucket of slowly melting snow to make it nice and cold on her sore gums. Putting it to the baby's lips, she immediately grabbed it and began to gnaw on it.
Annika looked at her, and while still chewing, began to make little babble noises. Reyna now knew that she was just practicing her words.
"Is everything alright?" Cicero had wondered, staring at a panicked Reyna.
"She's...she's making weird noises," Reyna admitted with a blush. "I don't know why."
Cicero gave one of his insane chuckles.
"Oh Listener! You humor Cicero so," he giggled. "Annika is just making baby babble."
"Baby babble?" the Listener echoed.
"Practicing the art of speech craft," he explained. He broke a part of his sweetroll off and put it into Annika's mouth before wiping the drool with his glove. She squealed and happily chewed the soft treat with her gums. Reyna looked at him in bewilderment.
Annika reached for Cicero, whom he accepted and cradled in his arm. "Would the little sweetie like more sweetrolls? Cicero believes that the unchild made more..."
Annika babbled nonsense. Complete nonsense, but Cicero nodded as if he understood every single noise that came from the toddler's lips.
"Let us go then," he told her cheerfully as he carried her out of the room and towards the kitchen. Reyna stared in disbelief.
"Oh, Annika," she sighed heavily. "Everybody says that Cicero is the fool, but I'm afraid I'm the mad one."
Annika giggled at her, making Reyna roll her eyes some. She sat down in the rocking chair by the small, steady fire with a fur blanket from the table. She wrapped her and the child in the furs, holding her close. This room of the Sanctuary was much colder than the others. Slowly using her foot to push them back and forth, she closed her eyes and listened to Annika's baby babble.
"I'd be a horrid mother if I didn't have Cicero, would I?" she spoke aloud to the girl in her arms. She just stared at the Listener, dark eyes wide as she chewed on the carrot. "I'm not cut out to be a mother. I can barely tell what you want half the time, how will I know why my own needs? Almost every mother I know immediately knows what to do. I don't have the slightly clue."
Annika offered Reyna a bite of the drool-covered carrot, which she declined. Annika leaned against Reyna, still grasping her nightshirt and her eyes drooping.
Reyna hummed softly as she stroked her dark hair. Seeing Annika's positive reaction to her humming, she began to softly sing lyrics.
"Our hero, our hero, claims a warrior's heart. I tell you, I tell you, the Dragonborn comes. With a Voice-wielding power of the Ancient Nord art. Believe, believe, the Dragonborn comes. It's an end to the evil of all Skyrim's foes. Beware, beware, the Dragonborn comes. For the darkness has passed and the legend yet grows. You'll know, you'll know, the Dragonborn's come," she sang softly. It was an old song, but the bards still sang it all the time, especially when she entered the inns. They would sing it in her honor. Smiling down at Annika, she sang some more. "Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin, wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal! Ahrk fin norok paal graan, fod nust hon zindro zaan. Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!"
"Listener must teach Cicero that song, he's never heard it before," the jester declared. Reyna turned to see her husband standing in the doorway. "Listener also left Cicero all alone and cold in bed."
"Annika woke me up," she lied, shifting the now snoozing toddler in her arms. "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough," he replied, walking over. He rubbed Annika's cheek. "The little assassin loves carrots."
"I think you got her addicted," Reyna teased. Cicero chuckled softly.
"Does Listener...want little assassins of her own?" he asked hesitantly. Reyna nodded slowly.
"But-" she began, but Cicero put a hand up to make her stop.
"Listener would be a good mother," he told her softly, kissing her forehead. "Because it would be Listener's children, not babysitting. Most mothers don't know much about babies until they've had their own. Then it's natural instinct."
"But, you...," she trailed off.
"Cicero is Keeper," he told her, smiling. "It's Cicero's job to take care of people. Mainly Mother, but he also cares for Listener...And Cicero did care for the old Listener's children while she did her duties as Listener. They're all grown up now, Cicero doesn't know what became of them."
Reyna smiled some in relief. It wasn't just natural skill for Cicero.
"I am lucky that I would have such a good father for my little assassins," she admitted. "You're already the perfect husband."
Cicero smiled, looking pleased.
"Humble Cicero lives to serve," he told her, kissing her softly. They broke apart upon hearing the Sanctuary door open. Footsteps slowly approached them.
"You're awake," Nazir said, sounding surprised and looking a tad startled. His expression immediately turned into complete love as he took his sleeping daughter from Reyna's lap. "How was my little assassin?"
"Wonderful," Reyna smiled. Yasmin wasn't far behind, immediately taking Annika from Nazir. Amazingly, the toddler was still asleep.
"Uh, guys? Why does she have a carrot?"