three.

[thraxios]

[Gideon's handwriting isn't nearly as neat as usual: the letters wobble, and there are splatters and swipes of ink around the words. Holding a squirming, squalling baby while trying to write using pen and ink in a journal that doesn't want to stay open to the proper page isn't an easy task.]

It won't stop crying.

What does one do

[and there's a particularly large spill of ink]

when it won't stop crying?

I've tried everything I can think of.

((OOC: Gideon is now father to a little girl who's old enough to have hair just like his, but not so old that she can say what she wants. >D))

Comments

[heloise]

You ought to calm yourself, first. Even a babe can sense your anxiety.

[thraxios]

Anxiety seems reasonable enough given the-- situation.

I should like to think myself calm considering the circumstances.

[Tense, yes. But not panicking. Yet.]

[heloise]

Babies have simpler needs than we do. Food, warmth, comfort. Is it lacking any?

[thraxios]

If it is, it has not deigned to say so in any [splatter]telligible language.

[heloise]

That comes later.

You can offer it each in turn.

[thraxios]

And should it reject those?

[heloise]

Try and offer it comfort. Love.

[thraxios]

It seems a bit young to grasp complex emotions. [Also, he hasn't yet figured out the difference between bouncing the baby and jostling it.]

[heloise]

Love is not so complex.

[thraxios]

And how would you convey it to a screaming infant?

[heloise]

The same way you do to a man full-grown.

Hold it gently, keep it warm, attend to its needs and shower it with kisses when the mood strikes you.

[thraxios]

You sound experienced enough in these matters - perhaps I [splotch] should leave it to you.

[heloise]

Ah, but would I love it as much as you could?

[thraxios]

You might. Admitting much fondness right now is proving difficult.

[heloise]

It is still yours. Part of yourself. [ Which is why she loves all her children. ]

[thraxios]

A rather louder part of myself.

[But he can see the logic, even if he's having difficulty feeling it.]

Perhaps the similarities are easier to see when it isn't wailing.

[heloise]

Do you never wail?

[thraxios]

Rarely.

[heloise]

Perhaps your child will follow your example.

[thraxios]

Only in the amount she cries, I hope.

[heloise]

Why not in other ways?

[thraxios]

No doubt you have traits you'd rather not engender in anyone else. The same is true of me.

[heloise]

[ She chuckles. Nope, none aside from misfortune, perhaps. ]

I hope she will be the most well-read.

[thraxios]

[He's happy to take Lucrezia up on this turn in conversation, and so he answers with some good humor.]

If I had reason to believe I would be keeping her, I would be planning her lessons as we speak.

[heloise]

[ She smiles to herself, but he wouldn't take this as badly as a few might. ]

Barely a week, last time.