Black clouds are behind me, I now can see ahead
Often I wonder why I try hoping for an end
Sorrow weighs my shoulders down
And trouble haunts my mind
But I know the present will not last
And tomorrow will be kinder
-The Secret Sisters
Laura was starting to regret offering to give Maya a break and take Isis for the afternoon.
Babies had never really been her thing. Toddlers even less so. Their movements were too erratic, their moods just as mercurial. As children went, Hera seemed to have a fairly moderate temper but she didn't exactly have a large reference pool to draw from.
She had just started walking aimlessly, pointing out the things she recognized, hypothesizing out loud at that which was alien to no one's real benefit. Hera repeated some words and babbled nonsense at others. Giggled at the snowy rabbits in the thickets and grumbled when she was tired of being carried. Squirming angrily as Laura's stories of an old Battlestar, utterly devoid of silly voices, failed to placate her.
"You know…" Laura grunted, shuffling her weight to the opposite arm, "when I was a little girl…the first time we fought the Cylons… and bad things would happen, my mother always told me to look for the helpers... There are always helpers…"
Hera had finally managed to wiggle her arms free of the tight swaddling Maya had wrapped her in, thumping her fists against the thick blankets and giggling happily as she yanked her knitted hat from her head and threw it to the sand.
"I don't know about you," Laura groaned as she stooped to snag the little pink hat between her fingers, suddenly feeling her age with an extra 20 pounds on her hip, "but your mother will kill me if you come back with a cold." Managing to pull it snuggly over the little girl's ears without too much of a fight.
"La-la." Hera cooed, too fascinated with the fistfuls of hair she'd managed to secure to be too bothered by the return of her hat.
"Two is too much," Laura winced, managing to disentangle her hair from one chubby little hand, "You can have one." Hera only giggled again.
"La-la." And just about headbutted her as she leant forward to press her forehead against Laura's cheek.
"You have no idea what's going on, do you? Laura smiled, cuddling the little girl tightly and tucking her head securely under her chin. "This is the only life you know…"
"La-la… down."
"We'll make it better for you… I promise."
"La-la down!" Hera insisted, throwing all her weight forward until Laura was forced to set her down on the sand. Folding the blankets carefully across her knee and sitting down on a sizable stone as Hera toddled away.
She would be dirty and gritty by the time they made it back but the lake was frozen solid, it didn't pose much of a threat.
It looked different now, but her feet could have found it in the dark.
The sedge grass was all but gone, taking with it the tiny, purple flowers that had once brightened her schoolhouse and the sand that had once been so warm beneath her feet looked closer to ice now.
But, of all of New Caprica, she couldn't think of a better place to build a cabin. The bedroom set to have an easterly view of the sunrise over the mountains, the yellow light glancing off the lake to the west as it sank low behind the horizon until it was little more than a sliver of bronzed gold. Watching from the window, warmed by the glow of a roaring fire and the heat of the body beside her.
She glanced up out of habit, hoping, maybe, to spy an unfamiliar blot against the grey sky. But today was no different to any other day, and her memories offered no relief.
"He-… Isis, honey, it's time to go."
"Nooooo!"
She was too old to run, at least that's what she told herself as she chased after little girl. Luckily, she wasn't very fast.
"Nooooo." Hera giggled as Laura scooped her up in the blankets just about as gracefully as if she were catching a dog out of a bath.
"Yeeesss." She smiled, slinging her over her shoulder to wrap her up properly, "It's a long walk home and you are heavy." She only fought a little after that, easily distracted by having Laura blow on her hands to warm them up. Setting her head down on her shoulder with a huff when she finally grew tired of it.
It was starting to get properly dark down and they weren't even halfway back. Maya would start to worry.
Curfew was a joke, and a bad one at that, but the Cylons were deadly serious about it. They wouldn't take a baby, but they would most probably take any excuse to put her in detention again.
"Dark." Hera mumbled against her jumper.
"I know, honey. Just close your eyes. We'll be home soon."
She hummed absently, just nonsense syllables to lull the baby to sleep, she was easier to carry when she wasn't squirming. She grumbled angrily and wrapped small arms around her neck, huffing against her throat.
Laura jostled her slightly to tuck her arms securely under her rump, settling her flat across her chest.
So long as you are with me… no harm will come.
"Black clouds are behind me, I now can see ahead…" she murmured into Hera's dark curls.
"Often I wonder why I try… hoping for an end." It had been a long time since she'd heard the lullaby, longer still since it had been sung to her.
"Sorrow weighs my shoulders down… and trouble haunts my mind… but I know the present will not last and tomorrow will be kinder."
