During the first fragile hours of Lancer's life, King had a lot of difficulty trying to take care of him on his own despite having made this very promise beforehand.
Much like Queen had predicted, Rouxls indeed had zero experience with babies, and mostly relied on improvisation for Lancer's primary needs. He tried gently caressing him all over to stop his cries, adding the tiniest possible teaspoon of sugar to his formula in an attempt to let him drink it easier and faster (which I, the writer, despite not wanting children at all, will definitely not recommend to do since sugar is highly addictive), and even simply moving on to nappying him again without using any wipes during a quick changing progress. How scandalous.
Logically enough, King approved of none of these actions and swiftly took Lancer back in his own care until the evening fell, where the baby would sleep near Queen in the medical room and be under Iggy's care again.
"How Did It Go Kingy Wingy?" Queen asked, having a little more energy in her voice than beforehand.
"Rouxls has proved himself fruitless" King replied. "He can't take proper care of Lancer, not even when I try to explain to him that wriggling a bunch of worms in front of Lancer's eyes won't stop his cries…! A baby doesn't even understand such a futile concept yet…!"
"Well At Least He Tried But Seriously With Worms? He Perfectly Could've Used: A Rattle."
"Exactly, but he didn't want to 'make his fireflies dizzy' by shaking his jar full of them."
"That Would Make A Very Weird Sound Too. BTW Those Fireflies Could've Easily Calmed Lancer Down Visually For They Fly Around With Their Lights Like: Fairies."
"Hmm. Next time Rouxls is willing to take care of Lancer, I should remember telling him that." King leaned down on his knees at the right side of Queen's bed. "Now, how are you?"
"My Core Is Still Very Hot So Be Careful While Touching Me. But Now Its Temperature Is Fortunately: 45 Degrees Centigrade. It Was 10 Degrees Hotter At First."
"Oh dear, that sounds intense. Well, I can do nothing but hope that your core temperature will go back to normal soon. What is its usual temperature?"
"Usually It's: About 22 Degrees Centigrade. When I'm Excited It's: About 30 Degrees Centigrade."
"That's indeed a significant difference."
"My Core Has Warmed Almost Every Possible Cold Pack Back Up Today, And I Had Gallons Of Cold Water As Well Which Was Partly Good Since I've Been Thirsty All Day."
"You're doing a significantly better job with drinking than I do…!" King couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"I Do However Need A Lot Of Breaks To Go And That's: Annoying."
"But it's also a good sign of being and staying hydrated."
In the nearby glass box, Lancer let out some low-pitched, whiny cries.
Iggy, who was idly taking notes in the background, was the first to hear those cries and immediately went to the sink to wash her hands so she could prepare a bottle for Lancer.
Queen carefully sat up in her bed and reached her left hand out to the crying baby, caressing his stomach in an attempt to comfort him a little in the meantime.
"Shh It's Okay Lancey Sweetie Pie" she said. "Your Bottle Is Coming Very Soon."
"At least we can trust the contents of the feeding bottle soon."
"How So?"
"Rouxls thought it was a good idea to add sugar to one of them."
"He What?!"
"I know! I scolded him for it because Lancer isn't even allowed to have sugar yet!"
"Rouxls Is Just Such A Fruitless Excuse Of: Worm Brains."
"You said it right."
Meanwhile, Lancer had found one of Queen's fingers, and grasped it with his tiny, soft, white hand.
"Ha Ha Did You Find My Index Finger Just Now Lancey? Aren't You: A Curious Little Being?" Queen's visor showed the text 'haha' while she spoke.
King briefly snapped a few pictures with his pocket camera, as he, too, found it a very adorable sight to behold.
Within less than two minutes, the bottle was ready to be fed. Iggy took it out of its warmer, handed it to Queen and rolled the glass box a little closer to the latter.
"It's good to see you're doing a little better, my Queen" Iggy said with a well-meant smile. "Eiji really took good care of you during the day, didn't he?"
"He Sure Did" the cyber monarch replied. "Even If I'm Not Feeling 100% Healthy Yet It's Good To Be With Lancer Again Too."
"Take it as easy as possible, in any case. It's good to see your best impression of not rushing yourself."
Queen smiled sweetly and gave her doctor a brief nod before turning to Lancer and starting to feed him, immediately silencing his cries that way.
From King's face, his wife could also sense some relief that Lancer's cries had stopped.
"I don't think I can ever get used to those cries" King said. "I mean, I've always hated loud sounds, but no matter how often my parents told me to deal with it, I still can't."
"That's Because They Never Even Raised You Correctly" Queen said. "If Lancer Would Be Involved In A Situation With Loud Sounds I Would Leave With Him."
"But what if said situation would be unavoidable?"
"I'll Just Cover His Ear Spots. I Mean There Must Always Be A Way To Get Away From That At Least Somehow."
King was left dumbfounded at his wife's argument that was actually legit somewhere.
"Checkmate." Queen's visor showed the ';)' emote and she smiled playfully.
"I oftentimes wonder if you have been studying too much Darkner psychology back when you were still being homeschooled."
"Actually No I Just Found Most Of Those Things Out Thanks To: My Own Experiences. The Perks Of Living In A Crowded Mansion Where Noise Can Be Everywhere."
"Compared to your mansion, it's indeed significantly more quiet and serene here at Card Castle. Probably because we don't have those weird subcultures like rowdy teenagers or punk guitarists going on around here."
"Not Yet No. But Watch Out Once Clover Turns 18 And Lancer Acquires Some Sort Of Music Device During That Same Year. Do You Fear That Era?"
King burst out in laughter.
"Do you really think we're going to raise Lancer into a misfit? He has to follow in at least one set of footsteps or tracks around here to be as civilised as everyone else…!"
"Well It's Obvious That You Fear That Era But Don't Want To Admit It."
"What? No, no, of course not!"
"If You Had A Visor It Would Very Likely Show The Text: Lying. Just Like Me."
At the same time, Lancer's bottle was empty, but since Queen couldn't burp him just yet due to her still overheated core, this task was left to Iggy, who was already well-prepared for it.
Once this deed was done, Lancer was laid back down and given a soother, which calmed him down significantly.
"I Think It's Time For Me To Rest Too." The cyber monarch laid back down on her bed, put her cold pack back onto her chest, gently grabbed King's hand and kissed its back for several times.
"But it's only just 7:30 p.m."
"Doesn't Mean I'm Not Tired. Hours And Hours Without Sleep Passed By After Lancer Was Born." Queen's visor showed the text 'true' while she spoke. "Don't Worry At 6 P.M. I've Had Enough Dinner To Feel Satisfied. Have You Had Dinner Yet?"
"I only had one of those bowls of roux, but that's definitely not enough to survive the rest of the evening. I heard the chefs have made fettuccine carbonara, and if they have any left for me, I'll praise them very highly since carbonara is still my second favourite type of pasta." King briefly got down onto one of his knees so he could reach Queen's cheeks, which he peppered with several kisses, just like how she often did this. "Phew, your cheeks are glowing, Queenie Beanie. Either way, rest or sleep well."
"Thank You Sweet Kingy Wingy. Sleep Well In Advance Too." She gave King a direct kiss onto her mouth and smiled after doing so.
"Have a good meal soon, my King" Iggy said. "That fettuccine was the best pre-night-shift breakfast I've had so far…!" She couldn't help but laugh. "I'm pretty sure they still have quite some of that stuff left for you. Every chef knows by now that you're the biggest pasta fan of all of Card Castle."
"You bet. Have a good shift, doctor, and make sure not to overwork." And with that, the spadeling father left the medical room.
For the next few hours, Iggy did indeed take a well-deserved break while still somewhat keeping all of her senses peeled for Queen and Lancer, who had swiftly fallen asleep from their long and tiring days.
The next day, Lancer was left to King again to be taken care of.
The temperature of Queen's core had decreased a little more, albeit not enough just yet to be considered normal again. It was currently around 37 degrees centigrade, so cold packs and cups of cold water with ice cubes were still required.
While King did promise Queen to try to take care of Lancer by himself, he swiftly failed said promise when he couldn't find an exact reason why Lancer just couldn't stop crying.
The baby spadeling was clean, fed and had a normal body temperature. Gentle rocking didn't help, aimlessly walking around while carrying him didn't help, shushing didn't help… not even his soother helped this time.
Cathy, who just happened to be on the fifth floor, heard the cries from the throne room and decided to have a look.
"Are you doing alright, my King?" she asked.
"Can't you see that neither of us is doing alright?" King grumbled. "Those endless cries of his annoy the ossicles out of me. Why don't you try to solve this? I can't find a legit reason behind those cries after all." He somewhat frantically handed the still crying Lancer over to Cathy. "Everything he needs - formula, nappies, you know the jazz - are in his bedroom."
"If I can't silence his cries either, don't blame me." The feisty Hathy left the throne room, her mood immediately having dropped to a state of displeasure as soon as she was at a safe enough distance. "Ah, banana oil, it's always something with that man…" She gently adjusted Lancer in her arms and slowly drew the tip of her right tentacle hand over his soft cheeks. "Isn't it, Lancer…? I agree. You just miss your Mum, huh? I feel your pain. I didn't want her to be so sick either."
While Cathy wandered around the hallway and even up and down the stairs in a futile attempt to console the baby, she eventually bumped into Amore, who currently had nothing to do either.
"Hey, brother."
"Hi, Cath" Amore greeted his sister. "Oh, poor you!" His facial expression immediately turned into a pitiful one. "Why did King burden you with his own son? He knows he's the responsible parent with Queen still being sick, right?"
"I don't know, probably because I was busy doing nothing. I mean, it's a Friday after a grand holiday shortly beforehand, and we deserve to rest, but…"
"I think I know a good solution to those cries."
"Oh?"
"I can sense that everything has been tried and that nothing too important is currently bothering the baby… what's his name, anyway?"
"Lancer."
"Ah, of course. It's a pretty cool name, if I may say so myself. But come with me. Remember that music box that Papa bought for himself about 8 years ago?"
"That rare one with the popular song from that one role-playing game series?"
"Yeah, that's the one! Maybe Lancer will like its sound, too…!"
"Well, it's always worth a try."
The two Hathy siblings went down one more set of stairs before reaching their family's shared room on the 3rd floor.
Cathy sat down on the centre of her bed and gently cradled Lancer in her grasp.
Lancer's cries had become slightly quieter, now sounding like nothing more but monotone, querulous wails, and he looked to be very fatigued due to having cried so much for the past hour.
"It's not easy being a baby, huh…?" Cathy whispered. "Especially not when you have a father like yours. I don't blame your Mum for longing for you. You two need one another."
"Ah, found it!" Amore said after having rummaged in the largest cupboard of the room. "The most popular song from Ultimate Imagination 7. Papa's favourite. I hope he doesn't mind us using the music box in an attempt to calm Lancer down." He sat down across Cathy on her bed, gently placed the large music box in between them and checked if it was ready.
"Papa always has it set to a single playing session."
"Good." Amore carefully wound the music box up using the key on the bottom of the object before briefly adjusting its slider on the front, after which a gentle melody started playing.
The song was in the key of D major and had a large array of notes that one could hear, unlike those short and boring music boxes that were commonly sold in stores. Also, this very music box was known for being one of the rarest collector's items in the overall history of merchandise.
Cathy smiled all along. She loved the song a lot, and she would barely bother to get bored of it no matter how often she'd hear it.
Lancer seemed to be very intrigued by the soft music as well. His wails had almost immediately died down into quiet coos upon having heard the first few notes, and he looked in the direction of the music box out of one of his first ever moments of curiosity.
Amore was only very pleased that his little idea seemed to do the trick so far. He smiled at Lancer and carefully caressed his little cheek with the tip of his tentacle arm.
As the music progressed, the baby spadeling yawned widely and finally gave in to resting his not-directly-visible eyes, which he fought to keep open just a minute ago.
I'm so glad that I have such an intelligent little brother, Cathy thought to herself, because without him, I'd definitely be at the end of my rope.
She gently rocked Lancer up and down in her arms, apparently successfully putting him to sleep just a few seconds before the song was over, which could easily be judged from his slow and quiet breathing pattern.
Amore squealed softly in approval of his plan actually having worked before carefully getting off of the bed and placing the music box back on the shelf on which he found it in the cupboard.
Just a few seconds afterwards, the door of the room opened up, in response to which the friendly Hathy immediately made a gesture towards Castiel and Aurea, who were the ones to enter, to be quiet.
Castiel simply cocked his head and let out a brief hum in incomprehension, whereas Aurea suddenly saw Cathy with Lancer in her arms and pointed at them.
"King can't just ask random peers to babysit…!" Castiel hissed, sounding a little annoyed.
"I know, I know" Aurea whispered, "but look at how peaceful the little baby is…!"
"Hi, Mama" Cathy whispered back, "hi, Papa. Yeah, I didn't want to babysit Lancer either, but at least he's quiet for now. I heard his cries the other minute, and King told me that the poor thing just didn't want to stop crying."
"Well, maybe it's because he can sense both his father's annoyance and his mother's absence due to being sick."
"Makes sense. I don't really consider our King as a good father anyway, if I may be honest."
"How did you get the little chub to stop crying anyway?"
"Amore thought that using Papa's music box was a good idea. Don't worry, though, Papa, we were careful with it."
"You two did a great job trying to console little Lancer anyway" Castiel quietly said with a nod and a proud smile, petting both of his offspring's heads in praise. "A lot of babies love music and become calmer upon hearing it, which is why Aurea and I often sang the two of you lullabies as well when you were still of Lancer's age." He sat down on the bed next to Cathy and looked at Lancer, who was still fast asleep. "Aww, look at him… so peaceful…!"
"I'm sure he'll remain that way once he's finally allowed to be in his Mum's arms again. When he was still awake and crying, I just felt his pain so hard…!" Cathy looked at her father with a worried expression. "Thing is, I indeed can't babysit him the entire time. I did see the Duke of Puzzles take care of him yesterday, though. Maybe he knows better."
"Rouxls? But he has zero experience with children, let alone babies."
"I could always help him wherever he needs it, similarly to how I helped you and Mama take care of Amore when we were still little."
"You're a very kind lady. Too kind, even." Castiel planted a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "Always willing to help others out. I'm proud of you."
Cathy quietly chuckled when she steadily got off of her bed to leave the room.
"Have a good one, Cath" Amore said.
"Thanks, Mo. You and Mama and Papa, you all have a good one, too, and make sure to not overdo yourselves." And with that, the usually feasty Hathy left the room and went back upstairs, where she just happened to bump into Rouxls. "Good day to you, Duke of Puzzles."
"Good den to thee too, mine own lady" Rouxls said in his usual voice volume before realising that Lancer was asleep in Cathy's arms and starting to whisper. "Oops, mine bad… The Kinge saideth that his little worm hath done nothing but weep allst morning longe. But looketh at him now…" He bent over a little towards Lancer and caressed the back of his tiny hand with his thumb. "How didst thou stop his weeping?"
"My little brother actually did so by using Papa's music box. We were both surprised that it actually worked."
"I praiseth thy brother very mucheth."
"In case King was considering to let you take care of Lancer again, I shall help you with that today. I'm afraid that Lancer will start crying again when he senses his father's nearby presence alone, which is what Mama speculated the other minute."
"Well, if that art true, thou art more than welcome to helpeth me out. We doth haveth to maketh sure that the little worm art back with the Queene by 6 o'clock in the even, though."
"Fair enough."
While Cathy and Rouxls headed towards the latter's room, Lancer slowly woke back up, but felt significantly more at ease than beforehand, judging from the fact that he didn't start crying or fussing upon especially sensing his two current caretakers, which was especially a grand relief to the Duke of Puzzles.