Walt bit his lip as he looked at the shop. This was his last chance.

"Bagdwella?"

"Hm? Oh! Hello, Stricklander," The green and red trolless greeted, "What can I do for you?"

"Would you be able to watch Jim this weekend?"

Bagdwella stared at him like he had just asked her to kiss a Gumm-Gumm.

"I know you and Barbara are friends," Walt continued, "Blinky and Arrrgh are helping the Trollhunter and Draal-"

"Why?" Bagdwella cut him off, "Why do you need someone to watch him?"

Walt sighed and looked down at the sleeping one year old in his arms, "Barbara's mother fell yesterday. We have to go upstate for the funeral but...Jim is a little young to attend a funeral yet."

Bagdwella looked from the baby, to Walt, and back again, "You would have to tell me what to do. I don't know much about fleshbag whelps or...Changling whelps as the case is."

Walt grinned, "He's a really easy baby, Bagdwella. Barbara and I got really lucky with how easy he is. I'll bring his travel cot down in a moment, his food is in his bag but, if he's in his troll form, he can eat food intended for whelps his size. The biggest thing is that he's not walking yet. He's what humans call a 'vertical crawler'. He climbs on everything. With me so far?"

Bagdwella nodded, "I think I understand all of that. Does he sleep as often as a normal troll whelp? And how often does he usually need to be changed?"

"He usually sleeps after lunch and dinner. After dinner, he should make it threw the night or day, depending on when you put him down. After lunch he should sleep for about an hour but it is ok if he goes over a little. As for nappies, he goes threw a lot more then a normal whelp, especially in his human form."

Bagdwella grinned, "Alright. One last question, Would I be able to take him scavenging with me? I don't plan on going in the next few days but just in case there is an emergency."

"I think Barbara would be ok with that but I'll run it by her when I go get is travel cot."

LLB

Bagdwella looked down at the babbling fleshbag whelp in her arms. Barbara had mentioned her son almost every time she entered the shop but this was the first time Bagdwella was spending with Jim for any extended period of time. Jim slapped her arm and wiggled curiously before turning into a troll whelp on a flash of blue. Bagdwella almost dropped the wiggling whelp in surprise.

Jim slipped out of her arms and she barely managed to catch him bay the leg. Jim burst into giggles, clapping and wiggling the whole time. Bagdwella barely dared to move. Babies were so fragile and she knew Barbara and Stricklander would fell her if anything happened to their son while she was watching him. She carefully set him on the floor.

"Ah!" Jim squealed and rolled over onto his belly, "Dwa!"

Bagdwella watched as the whelp crawled around her keep. She could hardely believe that just a few hours ago the whelp had been screaming his head off as his parents left him for the first time. Now, he was perfectly happy and completely content to explore her home. Barbara had told her that Jim could be put in his travel cot if she needed to turn her back on him for a few minutes. Yet, Bagdwella couldn't bring herself to look away from the Whelp.

Jim crawled up to her nest and pulled himself to his feet. In seconds he was scrambling up the side and flopped in. Bagdwella rushed over, terrified that he may have cracked or chipped something. Jim giggled back up at her from the center of the nest.

Bagdwella sighed, "You're going to be the death of me."

Jim simply giggled and pulled her blanket over his head. Bagdwella reached forward to pick him back up when a familiar scuttling reached her ears. There was a gnome in her keep.

"Ah Dwa."

Jim had crawled up the side of her nest again and was watching the gnome. The gnome had an armload of eggshells and fabric scraps, some of Bagdwella's food. It wasn't often that gnomes broke into her keep for food. Her shop? Sure. But not her keep. Bagdwella picked up Jim and reached for her stock of gnome traps so she could set one, hoping she wouldn't have to call the Trollhunter while watching Jim.

"Muma,"Jim chirped, "Muma!"

"Barbara's not back yet, Jim."

"Muma!"

Bagdwella turned and what had Jim so upset. The gnome was wrapping the fabric scraps around a tiny gnome-whelp, a kit, while it's mate crushed the eggshells to feed the kit.

"Oh..."

She didn't know if it was because she had Jim with her or because the gnome was holding it's, her, kit, but Bagdwella couldn't bring herself to set the trap now. The gnome hissed and chattered at her.

"Muma, Dada, Beebee!" Jim chanted, clapping his hands together.

Bagdwella sighed, "I can't believe I'm doing this. You may stay."

The gnomes stared at her.

"But you can't stay in my walls! And you'll have to earn your keep. You can work in the shop and help me scavenge. Agreed?"

The female gnome looked at her mate before chittering at Bagdwella. She hoisted her kit to her shoulder and scurried over, offering one tiny hand to Bagdwella. Hesitantly, Bagdwella took it and shook.

Bagdwella and Jim got to work making a new home for the gnomes that wasn't a hole in the wall of Bagdwella's keep. It was made of cardboard and wood, which Bagdwella couldn't eat, and some carpet that had been sitting on her shelves in the shop for almost a year. The gnome family brought their things from their old home and made short work of setting it all up.

"I guess I'm going to to be needing something to call you,"Bagdwella said, "What do you think, Little Trollhunter? What should we call our new friend?"

Jim seemed to think for a moment, "Noah!"

The gnome chattered at him,"Chit."

Bagdwella smiled encouragingly, "Maybe not. Hm...what about Nolla? It's similar to Jim's suggestion but seems to suit you more."

The felmale gnome considered before nodding and smiling threw her beard, "Yit chit."

"Nolla!" Jim happily cheered.

"Nolla it is then."

LLB

Bagdwella quickly prepared dinner for her and Jim while the Whelp played in his travel cot. The whelp had been shifting back and forth between troll and fleshbag all night so she made sure to have troll food ready for him as well as the food Barbara had packed in his bag. She could hear him babbling with his toys and made sure to listen for the creek of the mesh, least he try to crawl out again.

"Alright," she finally decided, "Dinner time."

"Din?"

Stricklander had told her that Jim was starting to talk. Real words were beginning to emerge and this wasn't the first he had gotten close to correct. He had babbled about 'Muma', 'Dada', 'Binky', 'Arrr', 'Draal', and 'Kargar' all day.

"Yes, Little Trollhunter. Dinner."

Bagdwella swept the currently blue whelp out of the cot and sat at the table. He immediately reached for the jar of baby food Barbara had packed. Bagdwella made to feed him as Barbara had showed her but Jim grabbed the jar and bit into it, eating both the baby food and the jar. Bagdwella shrugged it off and bit into her eggshell-salad-on-plastic sandwich. It was one of her favorites. All she had to do was make sure Jim didn't turn fleshbag and try to bite the broken glass.

Soon enough, Jim was licking the last of his dinner off his hands. Bagdwella chuckled and pulled a change of clothes out of his bag. Stricklander had warned her that he would need more changing then the average troll whelp but this she had assumed that had just been a reference to diapers, not whole outfits.

"Bedtime, Little Trollhunter!" She said, playfully.

"No," Jim said, as happy as the gnomes in their new home.

"What?"

"No seep."

Bagdwella blinked, "It's time for bed, Jim."

"No!"

Even Bagdwella could see that Jim was working up to a tantrum. Unfortunately, neither Stricklander nor Barbara had told her what to do in this instance. She was on her own.

"No seep!" Jim declared again, growing angry.

It was only then that Bagdwella remembered something her mother had done when she and her sister were whelps.

"Alright, Little Trollhunter. We won't go to sleep just yet. How about we go for a little walk first?"

"Yay! No seep!" Jim cheered.

"Mind the shop, Nolla,"Bagdwella told the gnome before holding Jim close and making her way to the crystal staircase.

She walked quietly in the dark canal with Jim held gently to her chest.

"Do you know the story of Daya the Deliverer?"

"Nu un," Jim shook his head, rubbing his eyes.

Bagdwella began the story as she walked. She could see the lights in the fleshbag houses and the lights from their automobiles. It was rare, however, that any of these lights mad it down into the canal. She didn't even make it half way threw Daya's story before Jim was sound asleep, head resting on her Brest, thumb in his mouth.

She went back into Trollmarket and lay him in his travel cot, "Good night, Little Trollhunter."

"Night night, Ah Dwa," Jim mumbled out.

Bagdwella faltered for only a moment at realizing that her was trying to say her name before she made her way to the gnomes' house.

"Nolla? Come on. I'll show you how to get around the shop. Then we can open up and get to work."

"Chitta!" Nolla scurried out and up Bagdwella's arm, makeing herself right at home on the trolless's shoulder.