Royal Upbringing
Chapter 2: Baby Steps
A/N: Okay so this story had 226 hits but only 7 reviews. Really?! All I'm asking for is a little love here guys. Tell me if you love it, tell me if you hate it, tell me if you think it's the most original and coolest thing you've ever read (wink). So those of you who did review asked for more, so I'll do my best.

DG had always considered herself to be a strong person. She'd been raised to be an independent, self-assured person, completely confident in her own abilities. And so far it had paid off; she'd managed to traverse the dangerous landscape of the OZ, avoid capture (for the most part) by the Longcoats, and conquered the evil Witch. She'd been successful in everything that life had thrown at her.

Until now.

Until this crying, eight-week old infant brought her to her knees and made her question everything she thought she had known. Who was she kidding? She didn't know the first thing about being anyone's mother. She could barely take care of herself in this world, let alone be responsible for another person. 'What have I gotten myself into?'

With a loud sigh, she picked her daughter up out of her bassinette and held her against her breast, swaying her hips, rocking the infant gently. "C'mon Dani," she pleaded. "Please stop crying. I don't understand what you want."

The child would have none of it. Though she leaned against the embrace of her mother, her cries were as fervent as ever.

"Is it your teeth?" DG asked. "No you can't possibly be teething yet. That doesn't happen for a while…right?" She wasn't entirely sure who she was asking, although she was hoping they would answer her. She took the following silence as her answer. "Okay so it's not your teeth," DG surmised. "You just ate not an hour ago so you can't be hungry. Okay think Deeg!" Her mind raced through a million possibilities but drew a complete blank. Man I need some help!

As if answering her prayers someone knocked lightly on the door to her private chambers. "Come in!" she called, relieved at the thought of having company if only as a distraction from her problem.

Lavender opened the door as quietly as possible and slipped inside. "Good morning dear," she greeted her youngest daughter before turning to the infant in her arms. "And how is my Angel today?" Queen Lavender had taken to calling Danika by DG's old nickname, saying that the baby had reminded her so much of DG when she was born that it was only fitting.

"Thank Ozma you're here," DG cried. "I don't know what to do with her. She's been changed and fed and yet she's been crying for the last half hour. I'm completely clueless. Help!"

Lavender smiled at her daughter. She remembered those days all too well. "Oh Sweetheart, don't fret." Gingerly she took the crying child from her mother's arms and cradled her in her arms. A few seconds passed before Dani's cries softened and eventually subsided completely.

"I don't believe it," DG sighed collapsing onto the nearest couch and staring at her mother as if she had grown an extra head. Immediately her feelings of doubt and self-consciousness flooded over her. "You didn't even do anything! I must be the worst mother in the Zone."

The Queen shook her head and took a seat next to her daughter. "Don't ever believe that Dorothy Gale," she said with a sternness that showed her love. "Every mother has a difficult time with their first child. It's a new dance and you can not be expected to perform as though you know all the steps. Ozma knows when Azkadellia was born I was a complete headcase!"

DG laughed and stared at her mother. It was difficult to believe that the woman that seemingly had everything together, that could do no wrong in the whole of the OZ, had at one point in her life been completely clueless.

"You think I'm joking Darling?" Lavender inquired with a tip of her head and a small laugh. "Well I imagine it was quite a comical sight. Your father and I stood staring at the bassinette, wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. We had no idea why she was crying or what it was that she wanted."

"But I'm sure you figured it all out," DG said while silently adding, 'You always figure everything out.'

"Well yes eventually we did," she laughed at the memory. "Of course that was after two faulted attempts at changing her diaper and missing a meeting with the Western Guild Traders. It was quite a trying time."

DG took a moment to visualize the image of her parents standing in the middle of the room in complete confusion. It was quite comical to say the least. "So how did you finally figure it out?"

"I realized that Az was magically sensitive. My emotions were causing my magic to fluctuate drastically which Azkadellia picked up on. Once I learned to calm myself and reach out with my light, it soothed both of us."

DG nodded, taking her mother's point to heart. Maybe she could do this after all. One last question lingered in her mind though. "Was I that way?" she asked and then further elaborated at her mother's questioning gaze. "When I was a baby, was I the terror that Az was?"

The Queen laughed as countless memories of her children's youth swept across her mind. "Actually you were the perfect baby. You slept nearly all day and night and rarely cried. That's how your father and I knew you would be so much trouble later in life." She nodded at DG with a joking smile before she became more serious. "Motherhood is not always easy. But it is by far the most rewarding job in the Realm. Use the gifts that you were born with and that inevitably this little Angel was born with as well." Making her point, Lavender shifted her granddaughter in her arms so that she was now facing her mother.

DG was shocked to see her daughter's eyes shut, a peaceful look gracing her face. "How did…?" was all she was able to mutter before the wave of self-doubt toppled over her again. 'Even my mother can get her to sleep. Why do I suck as a parent?'

"Reach out with your light Darling," Lavender instructed as she handed the sleeping infant to her daughter. "She can sense when you are anxious. Let your light radiate from you to her. When you are at ease she will be as well." The Queen stood then, leaving mother and child to bond in peace.

"Thank you Yoda," DG mumbled under her breath with a smile.

"I heard that," her mother called quietly from the door. "I don't understand the reference, but I heard it." With that she was gone.

DG laughed softly and stared down at her sleeping daughter. "All right little one," she began in a soft whisper. "It's just you and me now, but we're going to get through this. We can do this. I can do this."

She got the chance to test that conviction about an hour later. Dani had been asleep since Queen Lavender had left, when like clockwork her eyes popped open revealing those sapphire orbs that everyone had fallen in love with. The cries started as shallow sobs before growing in intensity and volume.

"Okay I'm here Dani," DG announced picking her daughter up from the bassinette. She held the girl tightly against her chest with one arm while her other hang sought out the girl's face amongst the slew of blankets. "There's my sweet girl," she cooed at the bundle in her arms.

After changing the baby's diaper, DG made her way to the sitting room. Looking around at her surroundings a sudden idea struck her. Pushing the rather large rocking chair with her entire body while balancing Dani in her arms, DG managed to move the large chair so that it was facing the expansive picture window.

"This has to be the most amazing view in the entire castle," she explained to the infant. Taking a seat in the rocker DG stared out at the castle grounds at Finaqua. From her vantage point on the third floor of the giant stone building she had a glorious view of the lake as well as the gazebo on its shore. "Seeing all this sure does bring back memories," she spoke in a soft voice just barely above a whisper. "Your grandmother used to rock me on that swing over by the lake. I can't remember much…it's mostly little snippets of scenes from my childhood…but what I do remember is wonderful." As she sat rocking in her chair, DG replayed all the memories she possessed of her childhood. They were few and far between, but they were all happy.

"When you're old enough I will have to show you how to skip rocks across the lake. Your Aunt Azzie and I would spend countless hours down by the lake. We drove your grandmother absolutely crazy," DG recalled laughing. "We were quite the handful when we were younger. Although I suppose we still are sometimes." She ventured a glance down at the girl in her arms and was met by two tiny orbs mirroring her own.

The look on Dani's face was that of complete calm and serenity. Both of her hands were pulled up to her chin, the left hand fisted tightly under her chin while the right was crammed into her mouth up to the first knuckles. Her eyes, which appeared to grow bluer by the day, were focused on her mother. Dani appeared to be studying DG's face, committing every detail to memory and making mental notes.

"We're going to be just fine aren't we?" DG inquired. As if to respond to that question Dani smiled broadly and giggled. The sound was soft, barely audible but it was music to DG's ears.

"You smiled! And laughed!" she exclaimed. "Maybe I'm not the worst mother in the Zone. At least I can make you smile. That's something to build on."

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