Chapter 100: To bathe an elfling
"Cield?"
"Yes Adar?" Cield raised his head from what he had been doing, and quickly hid the wood he had been crafting. Thranduil eyed his son, and with what he had seen before Cield had shoved the wood away, Thranduil knew what it was that was being crafted.
"Would you be building a crib for your child?" Thranduil asked curiously, Legolas impatiently tapping his foot behind Thranduil. Haldir it seems took a wrong turn and has made his way to Iraq, so we will send out some Americans to find him. The end of this chapter will find Haldir, we promise. Unless we sent out some stupid Americans like last time... poor Feanor, never found him...
"...Well..."
"Yes, or no? And being your father I will know if you lie to me, so do not waste your breath with a lie."
"Yes, I was. I used to be so worried about this child... but... well, I suppose you have made things better. Thank you Adar. I love you."
"I love you too, ion-nin. And after hundreds of years telling you this it must have been easy to ignore, but it has been long since I gave you a kiss goodnight." Thranduil smiled as he kissed his son's cheek.
"Might I see how the crib is coming along?"
"Poorly. I am no carpenter."
Thranduil took the pieces of wood into his hands and observed them, then was handed a piece of parchment.
"That's what it should – hopefully – look like if ever I finish it." Cield muttered. The sketch was wonderfully made, and Thranduil could see that Cield did have talents like those of a carpenter, even if he thought he did not think so.
"This is amazing work Cield. It must have taken much time to plan this out."
"It did adar... I, I just want to be a good father, and I am hoping this will be a good enough crib for my son."
"It is smart that you started so early. I wished to craft your crib myself, but I waited to the last minute... You slept in Tonus' old crib for a while... At least now you will be sure to have the crib prepared."
"Aye. It will be." Cield smiled. Thranduil could see that a lot of thought went into Cield's plans: much inscriptions and decor had been added to the wood on the sketch, and Cield had been carving royal symbols on the wood pieces almost ready to begin putting together.
"Cield, would you mind putting aside your work? I wish to teach you something you will need to know if you wish to be a proper father."
"I do not mind. I wish to be a good father to my child."
"May I first ask, what do you wish for? A son or a daughter?"
"I wish for a son, who I will teach how to use the bow and how to spin elven blades as you taught me, and if ever I was to become king, though I doubt that will happen as I no longer wish to be crowned prince, my son would be my heir. What did you wish Tonus would be?"
"I actually wished for a daughter. It was not disappointing that Tonus turned to be a man, for he has proved to be a great heir to my throne, though Legolas too may be a great heir one day. But I did get that daughter, your little sister Illiendal, and only some years later I also got Legolas, as you know." Thranduil smiled as he played with Cield's fair ear in his fingers.
"Now... to help you with your new child, you must learn how to bathe a child. Legolas will be whom you will bathe. Legolas, Daro." Thranduil said, as Legolas was about to run away. Legolas' eyes widened, thinking he had been tricked. But Thranduil sat beside Legolas and whispered something in his ear, then stood up again as Legolas smiled and nodded.
"Now, you will need to make Legolas' bath, remove Legolas' clothes, bathe him, re-dress him and tuck him in for his nap. Of course, you cannot let Legolas escape from you, and you will have to catch him. Legolas, James."
Legolas ran away.
"Adar, I am to catch him now?"
"Yes."
"But-
"No buts, you are to catch him, and before he gets out of hand!"
"Can't you help?"
"No."
"What is 'James' for? And who is James?"
"I have no idea, ion-nin, but tis the 'secret word' Legolas chose to signal for him to run off. Now go! Catch him! He is fast for his age and could have even made it out the palace by now!" Thranduil watched Cield run off, and then left the palace to find Legolas. Thranduil did find Legolas, hiding outside in the mud, naked, with his small clothing piled up beside him in the mud. Legolas was coated in globs of mud, and just looked like a large pile of mud.
"So this is where you are hiding?"
"Yup. And the mud was getting all hard between my tunic and my skin so I took off my clothes. It's better this way."
"I see. I will leave you now, and I warn you that Cield is coming." Thranduil smiled and walked away to hide as Cield's good eyesight met with the lump that was his brother. Cield grabbed Legolas, but the elfling's muddy body was slippery and quickly slid out of his hands and back in the palace, where he ran around naked and muddy.
This made Cield's job easier, as Cield just followed the muddy footprints, with Thranduil behind him. By the time Cield had caught up with Legolas, most of the mud and dripped off the prince or had dried up, so Legolas was no longer slippery, and he found himself caught in his brother's tight arms. Thranduil, Cield and Legolas entered the bathroom, and Cield shut and locked the room, where a bath had been made by Cield quickly. Legolas was dropped into the bath carelessly by Cield, and his small backside hit the bottom of his bath harshly and not only did his splash everyone, he was now in a small amount of pain and tears gathered in his eyes.
"Cield, be careful!" Thranduil said angrily.
"I am sorry!"
"I do not mean to sound harsh when I say this ion-nin, but you have NEVER been careful with your brother. When he was just a infant you accidentally hit the most delicate part of his head, where it was still quite soft. I do hope you gave him no brain damage."
"I am sorry Legolas!" Cield whispered.
"Now... get the soap and lather it in his hair, just as if you where washing yourself."
Cield did as he was told. Then Cield did the same with the soap on Legolas' body, and rinsed Legolas until he was clean. Of course Cield forgot to wash behind Legolas' ears, so had to do that once again, but then he was finished and took Legolas' towel, and carefully took Legolas out of his bath and dried him off, then carried him to his bedroom.
"Now, though Legolas is too old, I wish to show you how to diaper an elfling."
"Ada! I don't want to wear a diaper! I am a big boy!" Legolas protested, and was kissed on the top of his head.
"I know you are a big boy, but we are helping Cield, remember?"
"Yef..."
Legolas miserably allowed his father to take his towel and lay it out on his bed. Legolas was told to lie down on it, and so he did. Thranduil handed Cield a cloth diaper, and instructed Cield to lift Legolas' legs and slide the diaper beneath him, and of course to be careful since if Legolas was a real baby he would have no control over his body. Cield succeeded in the raising on Legolas' legs, but had slight difficulties sliding the diaper beneath his legs. Then Thranduil continued instructing Cield. Cield was then told to use the pin to clip the diaper together on one of the sides.
Cield messed this up. When he clipped it, it pricked Legolas slightly, but the elfling cried. Thranduil soothed his son then insisted Cield to try again, but Cield had a sudden mood swing and was reluctant.
"See Adar! I wished to believe you could help me, and you did, but it is useless. I was not meant to be a father, and I am no good father at that!"
"You will be. Now try again." Thranduil cooed. Reluctantly, Cield tried again, and this time succeeded. Then Cield removed the diaper and dressed Legolas, as he usually would be dressed.
"Good job, my son. We can try again tomorrow. Now, get Legolas to sleep. This is much easier."
"Yes father." Cield said, tucking Legolas in bed.
"Sleep well gwador."
"Cield?"
"Yes?"
"Tell me a story."
"Once upon a time Haldir ate an elfling..."
"I DID NOT!" Haldir snapped as he entered the room. "I came to say good nap, Legolas." Haldir smiled as he kissed the elfling's head. "Good nap..." Legolas muttered as he drifted off. Thranduil lead Cield and Haldir out of the room and in the kitchen.
"How did it go with Cield, lord Thranduil?"
"Very well. Better than I was with Tonus when my father was teaching me!" Thranduil smiled briefly at Cield before turning his attention back to Haldir.
"One day, not in the next hundred years, but one day, I wish to have a son. I could only dream to have one as sweet as your Legolas. I hope you know, Thranduil, that Legolas is truly a gift that the Valar have blessed you with."
"Yes, he is a gift, as where Cield and Tonus, but some days they seem as the Valar where trying to get rid of them. But even if the Valar where getting rid of them, I am glad to have received them. I love them all more than anything, even if some say I love jewels more than Mirkwood or my daughter, or sons."
"I know that is not true." Haldir said. "Legolas spoke of you many a times whilst you where in Lorien. He missed you, down in his heart, though he tried not to show it." Haldir smiled at the king.
"Aye, and if he only knew how important he is to me, and how much he scares me some times. He was with his mother when she was killed, and the orc intended to kill Legolas and not my wife, but some days, I am just so glad the knife did not hit Legolas. When I learnt that Legolas and his mother where attacked in the woods, I collapsed. I just, blacked out. All I heard was 'one is dead, which one is not known' and I just... Could not take the news. If it was Legolas I would surly have left middle earth and entered mandos... I got to the forest in time with Tonus to grab Legolas' bloody body and run with it to the palace, where Cield had gathered up the army, and killed the whole lot of orcs." Thranduil sighed.
"I have slapped Legolas before, and I regret it. It has only been because Legolas has been scaring me, and when he scares me I suppose I get so shocked all my relief in knowing he is safe... turns to rage which eventually hits Legolas... But I have come to realize that taking away his chewy cloth is a much better approach, and when he awakens he will be receiving his chewy cloth again."
To be continued...
Sad to say that I do not have 1000 reviews to celebrate, but 300 is close enough, right? Well, let's do the happy dance because we hit 100 chapters again! But to truly celebrate, post long reviews and even if you Dont have an account or you never usually post reviews, post them anyways! That way I know that you are reading!