Ja'far sat in the rocking chair, holding Mystras, humming to him gently. He wasn't used to such delicate acts, even having been a reformed assassin for almost twenty years now. His voice was hesitant and unsure, rising and falling like choppy waves with the melody. Nonetheless, Mystras seemed to enjoy it, and his fussing gradually died down as he fell asleep.
He looked around the nursery that had been set up in a hurry. He would continue to make improvements to it for some time. "I don't know where you came from, Mystras, but I am happy you're here now." He whispered softly, looking up as Sinbad came into the room quietly, "He's asleep."
Sinbad smiled, leaning over to look at the sleeping infant's face. "He's adorable when he's not crying." He said, making sure the door was locked so he could kiss Ja'far's temple. Why was he so afraid of people knowing? He was Sinbad, conqueror of the Seven Seas.
Ja'far nodded, still rocking back and forth. "Raleigh is sweet, her kid is too. I'm glad that we found her." She had been eager to help them. Most of the citizens felt that way about King Sinbad, he had, and continues to do so much for them. "The little one's name is Sango."
"Good to know." He pulled up a chair to sit next to him, both taking in the beauty of the small form nestled between blankets. The limitless possibilities in a child's future. Ja'far seemed ready to take on the challenge of raising a child. He really wanted to, it felt right, and he was getting older. But children were not his area of expertise. He was a warrior and a leader. Ja'far was far better with children, he was almost motherly. How had he acquired such a wonderful skill? "Can I hold him?"
"Of course." He passed the little one to his other caretaker. Mystras didn't seem to mind once he was in Sinbad's arms, eager for the warmth that the man carried. "Like this, make sure to support his head." He repositioned Sinbad's hands slightly, making Mystras more comfortable.
"Ah, I see." Being so close to the new voice make Mystras grumble a tiny bit, "Shh, Daddy's here." He smiled, rocking as he had seen Ja'far do earlier in the day, and Mystras quieted down and closed his eyes.
Daddy? Well… I suppose. Ja'far smiled, putting his head on Sinbad's shoulder. He felt exhausted. He looked over to the clock on the wall, realising it was almost midnight. Sinbad had spent much longer working then normal, because of the extra paperwork? Probably. "I'm sorry the paperwork took so long, I'll be able to do it tomorrow." He yawned, closing his eyes.
"No worries, I took care of tomorrow's too." He leaned his head against Ja'far's, closing his eyes as well. "I'll be out a lot tomorrow, so I wanted to get ahead."
"Where are you going? Who is on your security detail? Do you need help?" He stayed in his position, hands in his lap, folded delicately. He was sure his King would be alright, but he liked asking. It was better for him to have the information, especially since this trip was not on the schedule. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just going down to oversee the repairs in the southern district." He lied. Sharkan was overseeing that, "Sharkan thinks that I should see it." Another lie, Sharkan had no idea. He was going to walk through the town and think, he had always had a plan, but now he had no idea where he was heading. He was fourteen again, wandering the desert without sense of direction, his body simply telling him that he had to move. He had to do something for the world. Now, he had to do something for himself and Ja'far, and the new addition into his life.
Ja'far nodded with another yawn, "I agree. The floods were bad this year." Every summer the tides rose around the island, and sometimes, water managed to get around their natural barricades. Fortunately, the middle of the island had a steady increase in altitude that protected them, but the lower levels did not. As such, every year, the kingdom handled the repairs to the lower levels. It would certainly not be fair to require the citizenry to handle the aftermath of the forces of nature, that was just the kind of injustice Sindria was founded against. "Bring Walnuts." He said quietly, making a connection that only made sense in his own sleepy mind.
Sinbad didn't know when he fell asleep, but he woke up to a screaming infant. Ja'far fell out of his chair in surprise, confusing the cry of a child with a dirty diaper with a scream of pain. His hands flew to his weapons in a moment of confusion, before he got his thoughts together. Sinbad was less startled, looking down at little Mystras, "It's just a dirty diaper… How do we handle this?"
Ja'far stood in silence for a moment, hands on his hips, drawing Sin's eyes, "Are you serious? It's a diaper, Sin." He sighed, remembering caring for Kikiriku all those years ago, "Come here." Well, Sinbad was smart, he could learn how.
Sinbad brought the child over to the changing table, placing him on his back as Ja'far instructed. "Just like this." Ja'far smiled, getting to work, however as soon as the diaper came off, Mystras decided it was time to pee again, spraying across the room in a golden arch. Sinbad was quite taken aback, "They do that. Only boys do." He remembered Rurumu had explained to him that it was because the sudden air once the diaper came off. "That's why you don't stand near their bottom."
Sinbad nodded, glad that neither had them had gotten wet, watching Ja'far continue. He worked so fast with it, and before he knew it, there was a fresh and clean baby in his arms. "All clean now!" He smiled, "Though Ja'far, I may need another demo."
"We will have plenty of opportunities for that." He smiled, getting to work on cleaning up the spill, "Could you bring him next door? He'll be hungry soon." He looked out the window to see that it was still in the middle of the night. He felt bad for having to wake Raleigh, but she was a mother and knew how babies worked.
As if on cue, Mystras began to cry again. "Okay okay." Sinbad coddled, heading outside the door to go see the milkmaid. "Don't worry, she's right here." He knocked on the door, and was shortly greeted by a woman with sleep in her eyes. "Sorry for waking you, he's um…"
"No problem, my King." She smiled, expecting this after all. She took Mystras gently when he was passed to her, heading into her room. Sinbad wasn't sure what the courtesy was, "You can come in, I'm covered." She had a scarf covering the sucking baby, knowing how squeamish men were about breasts, especially when they were being used for their natural purpose.
Sinbad followed in, "I just wanted to say thank you." She had packed up and moved here to the castle to take care of a baby that wasn't hers. He saw Sango pop her head up from her crib, wobbling on her two legs. She probably hadn't learned to walk quite yet. She was staring at him, black eyes wide. She reached out for his necklace, admiring how shiny it was. He wasn't sure how to respond to the little kid, so he just smiled, saying hello.
"It's no problem, I am glad to be here." Mystras was adorable, which was certainly an incentive. "It's an honour to be here and help you." A sincere smile laid on her lips, "And Sango always plays princess, she was so excited when she heard that you wanted us here."
"I am glad, is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" He asked, Sango now pulling at his hair, fascinated by the colour. "Hello princess, would you mind? That hurts." He faced her, gently removing his hair from her fingers.
"Oh goodness, I am so sorry." She stood up, "Sango, don't do that!" Sango stopped, hearing that her mother was upset, "I am sorry, she loves hair." Raleigh was clearly embarrassed, her cheeks red and rosy.
"It's no problem. Sango, you can braid it one day, okay?" The little girl simply continued in her play, crawling across her crib to grab a doll, swinging it in the air as if it were flying. Both adults in the room smiled, "How is he doing? Does he seem… Normal?" He had heard that sometimes there were babies that refused to feed, many people across the world were trying to figure out solutions to that problem.
"Yes, he does." She smiled, looking down at the baby, "Though may I ask a question?"
"Of course, please don't bother with formalities. We're equals." He leaned on the wall, seeing her brow furrow for a split second. No matter how much he insisted on equality, people still treated him as if he were better than them. I was born poor in the middle of the desert to a crippled war hero and a beautiful and strong woman. There is nothing that makes my birth special.
"Well…" She seemed hesitant and unsure, "Why are you taking in this child? Surely he has other places to go, and he would be just as taken care of…" Sinbad wasn't married, and surely there were plenty of eligible maidens. Why adopt when he could easily have children of his own? "You work really hard…"
"Well…" He tried to figure out an explanation other than 'My secret boyfriend insisted, and named him after a dead friend', "My counselor Ja'far is wonderful with kids, he is trained as a midwife." It was an unusual skill for a man, "And I have wonderful support from the castle staff and our people… It felt right. Mystras was left here for a reason."
She nodded, hearing Mystras coo. "I see. Well he is a very lucky little baby indeed." He cooed again, looking down, "Ah, you done little guy?" Mystras was back in Sinbad's arms, happy as could be. "I can hear him cry from the next room, would you like me to listen out for the next time he is hungry?"
"That would be great, though I think Ja'far will be keeping him close." Mystras seemed sleepy again, "Especially for this first week." They would certainly be better off than most parents, they had dozens of people to help them in raising a child. "I would ask him about it."
She nodded, helping Sango back to bed, "It's time to sleep again." She whined, "Come on, we'll have plenty of fun tomorrow."
Sinbad headed back to Mystras's nursery, trying to lull him back to sleep as well. Ja'far had finished cleaning up, and looked over from where he was reordering the picture books. "That was fast." He trusted a mother to know when infants were done feeding, but he was surprised nonetheless. "You head back and get some more sleep, you have work to do tomorrow." He smiled, "I'll read him back to sleep." It was never to early to start reading to children, "This was… His first day on this world." He huddled up to Sinbad's shoulder, it was so magical. He had been through many days of his life, some more special than others, but a first day? That was magical, the blessing of life. "This was the happiest day of my life."
"I'm glad to hear that, this was truly wonderful." Though the happiest day of my life was definitely when I first held you in my arms, and you told me that I was not alone, that you loved me too. His heart had pounded like a drum of thunder, or the percussive sounds of the footfalls of ten thousand soldiers. His blood had rushed through his veins with a fire that he had never known before, electricity tingling at his fingertips, and his lips once they met his. "I'm really excited."
Ja'far gently took the baby from him, "I love you, go sleep. I'll be in within the hour." He smiled, tilting his head. If one didn't know Ja'far's past, they would assume that he was simply a loyal and adorable sweetheart, but hell, he was so much more than that.
"I love you too." He grabbed his face to give him a quick peck on the lips, and the kissed Mystras's forehead. This was all so much, so fast. He never would have guessed as he woke up that he would be a father by the end of the day. Fate never showed me this, what a pleasant surprise. He could feel the rukh clearly now, circling the newborn. "Sleep tight, both of you."
Ja'far sat down with a book in hand, holding Mystras in the crook of his left arm, the book in his right hand as he started to read a story about a toy duck floating through the ocean. By the time he had finished, his son was asleep, so after holding him, watching his chest rise and fall with the gentle waves of his breath, he brought him over to the crib to sleep. He made sure that the magic orb that Yamuraiha had set up was functional. It would allow him and Sin to see and hear Mystras from other locations. It would be very useful for if he started to cry in the middle of the night.
Sinbad stirred slightly when Ja'far rolled into bed, pulling the sheets over him. Ja'far kept very warm was he was asleep, it was the only time he was every warm. During the day he was very cool to the touch, as if he were a ghost. "Hm." He rolled over to wrap his arm around his lover, earning a smile. "Welcome back." So much for not sleeping together frequently. "You sure you're okay here?"
He nodded, pulling Sinbad's arm to his waist, holding it there. "Yeah. Just for tonight. It would be faster to get to Mystras from here. I'm worried about being so far away from his room…" He paused for a moment, before spinning suddenly to face him, "Besides, I like it in here with you." He had stayed in here once while Sinbad was away, just to feel close to him, and it wasn't the same.
"Oh?" He smiled, "Here I was thinking it was all about the location. I didn't know I was a factor in this decision making." His hand wandered from Ja'far's waist to his posterior.
"You weren't. You're just a wonderful, wonderful bonus." He bit his lip, eyes looking downward for a moment, before slowly making his gaze back to Sinbad's golden glimmering eyes. "The location is the pancake. You're the syrup and the cream."
"I love being cream." Sinbad smiled, kissing Ja'far longingly, "What do you do with cream?"
"I make sure cream gets plenty of rest because he's busy tomorrow… as his advisor. But as the man taking off his clothes… I do other things." He said with a wink, and Sinbad rolled so that he was on top of him. "You're going to be exhausted tomorrow, are you sure?" He bit his lower lip again, though this time in hesitation.
"I'm just watching, not like I'm actually building." He leaned into Ja'far's neck, kissing it. "So yes, I'm sure." Ja'far made a delicious sound in discontent agreement, "Though I do demand that we switch roles, my pancake toppings." He purred into his ear lustfully, and Ja'far nodded, unable to say anything. "You're just too sweet for it to be any other way."
