Within two hours, the little one had started to move her head a little, squirming to find the warmest spot to sleep. Harv nudged Finn with his foot, not comfortable with calling the witch for help. In a flash, Finn sat upright and wildly looked around. When he saw the baby still with Harv he relaxed.

"I can't cook and hold her at the same time." Harv whispered, not wanting to wake her before there was food to eat.

"It's kind of like making tea, right?" Finn said. Harv started to get up out of his chair, again the babe squirmed.

"Not really, I'll show you." Harv said. From his shirt came the tiniest little grunt of disapproval. "No one's putting you down, it's okay." He used one hand to support her weight and the other to encourage her to lay her head back down. Finn just stared at him as if he'd gone mad.

"What are you going on about?"

"I was talking to the baby." Harv said. Finn shook his head and wandered into the kitchen. Harv followed suit and leaned against the island counter while Finn pulled stuff out of the ice chest. "Half is milk, half is water; bring it to a boil together on low heat." The baby stretched and grunted again. He watched Finn clumsily throw stuff together, occasionally offering a gentle correction when things strayed too far from safe. He recognized a stack of vermillion folded clothes sitting next to the clean dishes. "Is she wearing a dinner napkin right now?"

"You're welcome." Finn said as he stirred the pot. "They were very expensive, but I figured it was better than getting soiled on." He hummed as he cooled the jar under the tap. "Does she understand what you say to her?"

"No, she's just a baby." Harv said. He fought the urge to yawn.

"Then why did you talk to her?" Finn slowly filled up the pap.

"I don't know, they like it. My brothers always liked getting talked to." Harv shifted her further up on his chest. "That's too much milk Finn, it'll spill if you try to give that to her." He watched Finn pour the excess back in the jar. "And, they can kind of tell when people are happy or not. So like, if you talk to them nicely, they know things are okay." Finn came back over and helped Harv pull the baby up out of the neck of his tunic. She scrunched up her little face and curled into herself.

"Eenh." She voiced, small and short like before. Finn tucked her into one side of his robe. She relaxed a little and opened her mouth expectantly. He tipped the pap towards her lips and she latched immediately. She drank for a good five minutes before pushing the pap away with a tiny hand.

"Oh, was that enough?" Harv asked and took the milk from Finn. She opened one eye at the sound of his voice.

"She trying to look at you!" She blinked open both eyes. Finn tilted her up a little in his arms so she could see both of them. "Hi." She swiveled her head a little to face him more. She couldn't really focus on anything with her eyes, but she was trying. The kitchen was so bright that she kept squinting. Harv shielded her face from the light. For a few seconds she looked at them before falling asleep again.

"I guess that was enough." Harv shrugged.

"That's a good sign right? That she's looking at us?" Finn wrapped her up against his chest. "And she's eating now too. We don't have to force it as much." The little burst of adrenaline from her responding to them helped him push past the fatigue.

"If we can just get her to safely sleep in a swaddle, they might take her." Harv agreed. "I want to check around town before contacting the orphanage. Maybe someone else in her family would want to take her."

"...right... That would probably be for the best." If the family was like Harv's, then sure, she'd be better with a bunch of uncles and aunts and grandparents looking out for her. Life wasn't always so kind though. Finn's grandparents had wanted nothing to do with him. The baby had already been abandoned once. What good would taking her back to the same people do? She could end up left somewhere else where no one would find her.

"Hey," Harv tilted Finn's chin up, "it's going to be fine. I won't be gone too long."

"If you find them, I want to meet them first." Finn shooed his hand away. "You're a notoriously poor judge of character."

"Now wait a minute-" Harv pulled his shoulders back, ready to argue.

"You almost traded my life for a bouquet of flowers from a serial killer." Finn said.

"That was over two years ago." Harv sheepishly collected his things. "And I already said I was sorry."

"I know." Finn clutched the baby tightly to his chest. "I want to meet them first."

"I never said I wouldn't let you." Harv shook his head. "You're the one who said you wanted her out in twelve hours. She just barely started eating. I'm only trying to help." He was under slept and tired and still worried she wouldn't make it. "I'll see you in a few hours." Finn flinched at the sound of the front door slamming, so did the baby.

"...It's okay." Finn muttered, feeling a little silly. She settled down again immediately. "Yeah, it's okay."


After his morning chores, Harv dragged himself around town talking with every farm and guild he could think of. No one was missing a baby. Which was odd, sure the baby was small, but surely the mother would have started showing a little. Everyone who was expecting a baby still had theirs, and people who weren't denied suspecting anyone in their family had had one. There was a sliver of a chance she might have been of noble birth, abandoned by some maid, but that would be even trickier to prove.

As a last resort, Harv knocked on the door of the tailor's guild. A girl a few inches shorter than him with wild auburn hair answered the door; Rhodri's little friend. She clenched her jaw when she saw him.

"What do you want?"

"This is going to sound really personal." Harv fumbled with his words. "And kind of... improper... but it's for a good reason." He flinched when her eyes narrowed and she clenched the door.

"What is it?"

"Have..." Harv scratched the back of his head. "Have any women in town come in to have their dresses let out in the last few months." She relaxed, a wry smile on her face and laughed.

"Why would you want to know that?" She let go of the door and leaned against the door frame.

"Well..." He kicked at the ground; this was so awkward. "We found this baby and-" Her eyes widened, she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close to cover his mouth with his hand.

"The walls have ears." She looked behind her. "You can't just go around blurting stuff like that out."

"You can't?" Harv said, though it was mostly muffled by her hand.

"Geez, do I have to explain everything?" She let him go and held out her hand. "One pence, that'll cover an hour's pay and I'll tell you everything. Somewhere else."

"No wonder you two are friends." Harv fished around in his bag and handed over his pocket money. She dragged him by the sleeve to the town square. With all the hustle and bustle of people going about their day, one little conversation was easier to disguise as noise. She also got him to pay for a caramel apple too, the little sneak.

"Haven't you paid attention in church?" Emet said half way through her apple. "That Solomon guy, had two ladies coming to him claiming they both had the same baby? You go around saying you have a free baby, the wrong people are going to lie to you and say it's theirs, the 'you can cut it in half' kind of people. Besides," she took a huge bit of apple, "you think I remake dresses every time someone gets pregnant? Who has the time? All dresses are made to fit pregnant ladies, even noble lady's dresses. You're not going to find your would-be mom that way."

"Do you have any idea where else I could look?" Harv asked. He really didn't want to have spent all this money just to be told he was stupid for trying.

"If there's anything I've learned working in the castle, it's that there's two scenarios where that baby would end up in Finn's neck of the woods." Emet threw the apple core in the trash from her seat. "One, an unmarried noble lady was messing around and didn't want to get caught. Or two, a nobleman was messing around and didn't want to risk his reputation over a little girl. After all, if people found out that kid was found near the witch's house, who do you think they're going to blame? The nobles or the witch?"

"You can't be serious. Who would believe that?" Harv frowned, now too familiar with Finn's family to assume the worst. Emet coughed and looked at him like she was about to tell him a secret.

"I heard that witches use babies' souls to make their gardens grow." She leaned back and faked a gasp. "I know right?"

"Okay, you have a point." Harv buried his face in his hands. "What am I going to do?"

"You? Nothing. She's feeble right?" Emet shrugged. "It'll just sort itself out, won't it? Or just plop her in a basket on the orphanage doorstep in the middle of the night. Either way, that's Finn's problem, not yours."

"Finn's problems are my problems." Harv slumped onto the table. "He makes sure of it." He felt her pat him on the head.

"Of course, you're always a good doggie for your boyfriend." She smirked. He pushed himself off the table, ready to fight, before remembering this wasn't Emet from Warrior U. He couldn't let people see him get into a physical altercation with a girl.

"I am NOT a dog." Harv straightened his tunic with a huff. He was better than this. "And he's not my boyfriend."

"If you say so." Emet turned to leave, flipping the pence in the air and catching it. "See you in class on Monday."


Harv returned to the witch's house less angry and emotionally drained. As he walked up, he noticed the first thing to come into view were the yellow rose bushes. As much as he wanted to help Finn, he had his own family to take care of the goats and chores. The closer he got to the door, the easier it was to pick up something was wrong. He heard shouting through the door.

"-she wasn't even crying. She was just making noise." Leenan's tone was kind yet firm.

"That is how she cries!" Finn however, was hysterical. "How long did you leave her starving?" Harv only could have been gone for three or four hours.

"Young man, I raised you. I know more about babies than you do." Harv hesitated at the door. He could just pretend there was an emergency at home or something, but he had a bad feeling that would make things worse. He knocked on the door, Leenan threw it open, and smiled. "Look who's here! Will you let him take over since I'm oh so incompetent?" Finn was glaring up at her from his seat, feeding a baby who seemed perfectly content. His eyes were bloodshot and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Has he gotten any sleep?" Harv asked under his breath.

"No." Leenan grumbled. "He's being completely irrational about it too. I now have two babies in my house." She straightened up and pushed Harv in with a sweet smile on her face. "Do something."

"Hey Finn." Harv approached his friend like he would a wild animal. "How about after she's done eating, I hold her for a bit and you can get some sleep." He saw Finn's shoulders sag.

"You're tired too." Finn said. Without anger fueling him he was starting to droop. "What if you fall asleep and she falls?"

"That's not going to-" Harv began, he saw Finn glare up at his mother again.

"For the last time she didn't 'fall'." Leenan crossed her arms. "She slipped down between you and the arm of the couch. I was the one that fished her out." So that was what started the argument.

"I can make it six more hours." Harv sighed. "You however..." Finn looked down at her then back up at Harv.

"Fine." Finn set down the pap. "Come on Piper, go to Harv."

"You named her?" Harv took her, now wrapped in a cotton blanket. The hat they put on her was so big it kept sliding down over her nose. He could see Leenan roll her eyes.

"She needed a name." Finn dragged himself out of the chair. "We couldn't just keep calling her 'baby'."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Leenan reminded kindly. "I still think Christine would be a prettier name."

"Eee!" The baby peeped. Finn pointed at her, eyes heavy with fatigue.

"She doesn't like it." Finn slurred. "'Sides she sounds like a lil flute."

"Okay Finn, go to bed." Harv said and gave him a pat on the back. "I got Piper." Finn started to go toward the couch. "Oh no you don't, you're actually going to bed. I got this." Finn grumbled a string of curses and went to his room upstairs. He heard the door slam.

"I take it you couldn't find her parents?" Leenan said and started to tidy up the room.

"No one that was willing to step forward." Harv sighed.

"Figures." Leenan went to take the baby, Harv reflexively shielded her. "You need sleep too. I will not have you both at each others throats when this baby finds the energy to fuss. I can at least watch her during the day. And for goodness sakes, you both need to stop waking her up every hour or so to eat, every three is fine." He slowly handed the bundle over. "If Finn catches you sleeping, just blame me. Once he realizes how difficult this all is, he'll let go of this idea that no one else can take care of her." Harv laid back in the chair as she took the baby out of the room.


Finn came downstairs to find Harv sprawled across the couch asleep, no pram or baby in sight. After a jolt of panic, Finn realized she was probably with his mother, which wasn't the end of the world. He just trusted Harv would listen to him more than she would. He also spent his childhood protecting and rearing frail defenseless things. He wouldn't do things like try to stick useless bows on her head when she was still trying to learn how to eat.

Harv snored, half face down on the cushion, he didn't look comfortable at all. He fished a fleece throw blanket and draped it over him. It was the least he could do after the things he'd said before Harv left. As he moved some of the stray locks away from Harv's face, Harv slowly opened his eyes.

"Didja fall?" Harv asked and tried to make room for Finn only to be surprised by the back of the couch.

"I haven't seen you this out of it since you were close to death." Finn sat down on the couch next to his stomach. "You must be exhausted."

"I am." Harv wrapped an arm around Finn's waist and pulled him close. He was slowly becoming more aware of his surroundings again, like Finn running his fingers between his locs. He batted Finn's hand away. "Quit it."

"I thought you liked it when I played with your hair." Finn slumped over Harv to lean against the back of the couch.

"I did until-" Until Emet got all in his head about the 'boyfriends' thing and made it weird. "It's just not... manly."

"But Harv," Finn pouted, "I feel bad. I want to make it up to you."

"You could try apologizing." Harv felt tension rise from his brows up his forehead. It shouldn't hurt to keep his eyes open.

"You never like my apologies, though." Finn sighed. "I'm sorry for saying you're too kind to strangers."

"That's not what you said." He poked Finn in the ribs and the bard squirmed. "You said I was a poor judge of character and acted like I'd hand her over to someone like Hevvin."

"Well, I meant you're too kind for your own good. You should save that kindness for people who'll give it back." Finn let his eyes close again. "I'm just worried. I don't know how you do it all the time. This is... painful and exhausting."

"What is?" Harv sat up a little. He'd fall back asleep if he didn't start moving soon.

"Taking care of people." Finn's breathing slowed down as he dozed off, half propped against the couch, half in Harv's arms.