Prompter: DominusTempori

Prompt: Bring on little Smith cousin #4 in the TTWLB-verse, since 1) I'm guessing John and Clara deserve at least one grandson and 2) it looks like all Smith siblings tend to come in pairs across all generations.

Originally posted: 05 September 2016

Notes: 1609 words; John and Clara deserve all the grandkids period; takes place October 14, 1979; all the Smith grandchildren have been planned and named for a long time already, it was just a matter of getting the prompts in place (though frick—I forgot why I named half of them what I did); standard reminder that rabbits are generally not good pets for a child as young as Liz (almost four; recommended is around eight and older), but she's literally been helping Davey with their bun her entire life so she knows what to do

"Gran, if Mummy has her baby, will I still have to go to school tomorrow?" Liz wondered aloud. She was sitting at the kitchen table in her grandparents' house, frowning into her breakfast cereal. It was confusing work, not being the youngest in the family anymore, and she wanted to make sure she knew what was going on before it really happened for good.

"Yes, you do, but we can go see them afterwards," Gran replied. She set down two plates, one in front of Granddave and one at her own chair, before sitting in her chair. Granddad came in with his own breakfast and sat next to Gran. "Then again, you could go visit your mum as early as tonight—it all depends on what happens today."

"Oh, okay," Liz nodded. She went back to poking her cereal, though Granddave reached over and patted her on the shoulder.

"Don't worry—your dad will call to tell us when we can come down," he assured her.

"Why can't we go down to the hospital now though?" she asked. "I thought lots of peoples waited at the hospital for babies to be born."

"That's true, but it's very boring at the hospital otherwise, and we'd rather have you here where you can still play if you want to," Gran replied.

"…and I'm not babysitting Granddave down at the hospital unless I have to," Granddad added. He and Granddave then started to argue, something they did by making angry faces and moving their lips, though no words came out. Gran had said one time that she "stole their arguing voices" long ago, though Penny was a good cousin and had explained to Liz and Rita that they were told they had to eat soap if they said rude things, which meant that they mouthed them instead.

"Don't worry, sweetie—Aunt Wynn is coming by later with your cousins. I'm sure that playing with them will make you feel better," Gran said.

"I guess," Liz said. She finished her cereal and put her bowl in the dishwasher and went back up the stairs to her room. Well, actually, it used to be Daddy's room when he was her age, but now she used it whenever she came to visit. The girl carefully placed stacks of books in the doorway before reaching into the rabbit hutch and pulling out Jimmy. She placed him on the floor and let him hop about as she got his food—some grass that she brought from home—and made it all fit in his little feeding bowl. Liz had been helping Daddy feed Jimmy for as long as she could remember, and when he dropped her off at Gran and Granddad's, he said that it was her turn to take care of their rabbit. He was old and didn't bite, so he was a good rabbit to practice with, and Liz took the job seriously. She put Jimmy's bowl down on the floor and pet him cautiously, not wanting to spook him as he ate.

After watching Jimmy eat and roam around the room for a bit, Liz heard feet bounding up the stairs, which could have only meant her cousins were there. Penny and Rita were usually pretty fun to have around, but for some reason, Liz wasn't very happy to see them as they popped into the room.

"Is your baby sister here yet?!" Rita shouted excitedly.

"No, and I don't know what kind of baby Mummy's having," Liz frowned. She picked up Jimmy and put him back in his hutch before beginning to pick up his mess. "All I know is I have to share my room now."

"I thought Uncle Davey and Aunt Nyssa were going to make the studio the nursery and move the art stuff into the den," Penny mused. Being the eldest (and one month away from turning seven), she was privy to all the adult conversations, and this did not fit into the plans she overheard.

"You haven't been over lately, but Daddy's keeping his studio and I share with the baby," Liz scowled. "Mummy says that we'll have a different flat by the time the baby can be in their own room, but I don't know…"

"Girls! Come downstairs!" Gran called out. The cousins looked at one another and shrugged before hopping over the anti-bunny-barricade and rushing down the stairs. Gran was standing with the phone to her chest, a large smile on her face. "Liz, it's your dad." She held out the receiver and urged her youngest granddaughter to take it. She did, lifting the earpiece-end to her ear while her cousins tried to listen in.

"Daddy…?"

"Hey there, Cuppa," Daddy replied. "Mummy had her baby a little while ago; would you like to come down and meet him?"

"Him? I have a brother?"

"Yeah, you do." There was a pause before Daddy spoke again. "Aunt Wynn and Uncle Orson should be helping Gran get Granddad and Granddave ready, and then you're all going to come down to the hospital."

"Okay, Daddy."

"Hey, cheer up, Cuppa—you're gonna be a great big sister," he said. "Now hang up the phone, yeah?"

"Okay, bye." She put the receiver back on the base and stared up at Gran. "I have a brother."

"That's wonderful news, sweetie," Gran beamed. "Get your shoes on and head on out to the car—we'll be there in a moment."

"Um… Mum…?" Aunt Wynn said nervously. "I actually was wondering if we could talk first."

"Does it have to be now? Your nephew was born earlier this morning."

"Well, part of it happened two months ago, but another part is going to happen seven months from now, and I think it's going to involve how much I give you in the summer to watch over the kids…"

"Another one?!" Gran gasped. Her eyes did the inflatey-thing, confusing her granddaughters. She wasn't sad, but more shocked and… something else. Adult emotions were sometimes hard. "Alright, I'm putting the kettle on, and we're going to talk about this."

"Sure thing, Mum." The two women then vanished into the kitchen, leaving the girls to finish putting their shoes on.

"I wonder what that was about," Penny mused. Liz shrugged; she was as clueless as her cousin on this one.

There was little time to theorize, however, as soon Granddad was ushering all three of his granddaughters into his ancient, smelly car and allowing Uncle Orson to drive off towards the hospital. Mum and Aunt Wynn were too busy with tea to come along, and Granddave didn't want to "catch anything in that disease hotbed", so it was just Granddad and Uncle Orson bringing the cousins to the hospital. Liz held Granddad's hand tightly as they walked into the building and found the floor Mummy was on, not remembering having ever been there before. He instead picked her up and carried her, holding his youngest granddaughter close.

"Do you know something, sweetling?" he asked.

"What?"

"You've heard of Auntie Sarah Jane, yeah?" She nodded. "She was my big sister, and I always looked up to her; she was my hero."

"Really…?" Liz wondered. "Daddy says that Auntie Sarah Jane was a lady that didn't take no for an answer and didn't let anyone stop her."

"That's true, and that's part of why I admired her," he said. The group then arrived at Maternity and found Mummy's room, where she was feeding Liz's new brother from a bottle while Daddy read a bit of the new book he picked up on Friday. Daddy grinned widely when he saw the family, taking Liz from Granddad's arms.

"Hi Cuppa," he chuckled, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I thought you were going to make sure everyone was coming."

"Wynn's talking with your mum and Granddave's being himself," Uncle Orson explained. He then leaned in, attempting to be discreet. "Number three's coming." Daddy's eyes went wide like Mummy's and he passed Liz back to Granddad.

"You two are bonkers," he said. Uncle Orson shrugged and turned to Mummy, giving her an awkward set of thumbs up. "Another successful little one for Granddad to spoil rotten?"

"He is," Aunt Nyssa laughed. "Treasach, for my dad, but we're calling him Teddy for as long as that's a mouthful for him."

"Then how about if we sit down and meet Teddy?" Granddad asked Liz. She nodded cautiously and he sat down, waiting to be passed his grandson. Daddy took Teddy from Mummy and placed him in Granddad's free arm, which nearly made him start to cry. "Isn't he great, sweetling?"

"Teddy's a baby, Granddad," Liz said. She took the handkerchief from his shirt pocket and dabbed at his eyes before putting it back. "He's just laying there."

"Why are you crying, Granddad?" Rita asked. "Is Teddy already being bad?"

"No—I cried when I first held all of you," Granddad assured. "It's one of my happy cries, sweetling."

"Oh, okay," she nodded. She looked at her baby cousin and tilted her head in thought. "Uncle Davey? Aunt Nyssa? What's Teddy's trouble-name?"

"Treasach Idris Smith," Mummy replied. That was when Granddad began to cry in earnest, which caused Daddy to rescue Teddy and Uncle Orson to get Liz before she slid down to the floor.

"Told you he'd react this way," Daddy told Mummy as he handed back Teddy. "Granny Smith's got to be rolling in her grave."

"Granny Smith and my Uncle Idris," Mummy reminded him. That seemed okay though, as she then had Uncle Orson help Rita and Penny onto the bed so that they could meet their new cousin properly as well.