Companion fic to my picture "The Problem with 6 Kids..."
Sy' was just having a really bad day.....
The Trouble With Six Kids
Sy' groaned as he rocked... Lyric? He looked down, darkish-yellow tint to the hair? Yes, Lyric, as he tried to get the sobbing baby to fall asleep.
Two trials in one day was exhausting, and he just wanted to lie down somewhere, maybe have some wine at his piano first. It was especially tiring with out Katherine to help him with the paperwork that went with such things. Even with the correct mind for the task, two-year-old hands did not make for accurate reports. Lui' did not seem to understand the ordeal it was to Judge such things... telling him to 'Cheer up, you like this stuff don't you?' with that irritating little smirk on his face.
His sigh split the silence and he froze looking down cautiously. The baby he held was asleep, he glanced into the crib; Lute was still, too, pacifier on the floor. Carefully he laid Lyric next to his twin. Making sure he was on his side as the healers prescribed, and rolling Lute into the same position. Sy' had no idea that a simple case of colic could be so much work.
Although, in retrospect, he should have known that if one twin got it, the other would get it soon. After all, that's how it had been with Gerald and Gerude, and they didn't even bother to wait a day to catch it, like Lute had. He supposed he had gotten a fair warning the day before, when Lyric had started to cry.
He tiptoed over to the two bassinets under the window. Stevie slept soundly. She seemed to be able to sleep through anything, seeing as her brothers' screams hadn't woken her. Jenny gazed up at him solemnly, blinking bright, catlike eyes, then she yawned widely and sighed a little, snuggling into her pillow. Sy' reached in and pulled her blankets over her small body once more. The rebellious little baby opened one eye and wormed them into a corner of the cradle. Diyn intoned dryly Perhaps you'd just let that be.
Sy' closed his eyes and sighed, slowly relaxing, now that the little ones were quietly sleeping. Gerald and Gerude were playing? fighting? Whatever they were doing he couldn't see them and he hadn't heard or felt anything that indicated that one or both of them was in trouble, self inflicted or otherwise.
He worked the kinks out of his back and neck, gratefully. He was ready to be off his feet.
It began to rain softly outside. A crack of lightning split the skies outside the nursery window, Sy' watched the jagged crags oddly, then the thunder hit. Stevie shrieked. It seemed that thunder was the only thing that could wake her, and it scared her. Sy' hurried over to shush her before she woke- a wail from the crib in to corner told him that one or both of the twins had been roused.
A pounding noise outside turned out to be footsteps on the staircase. Probably his older set or twins. Sy' put it out of his mind as he reached into the cradle, intent on calming the bawling redhead concealed within.
Gerude slammed through the door, utterly soaked and proclaiming loudly that Gerald had pushed him into the mud by the front of the house. Gerald's voice, just as loud, followed his brother through the now open door, announcing that Gerude had started it.
The sound of the door hitting the wall had brought Jenny out of her slumber and she added her voice to the screeching that already filled the room.
Sy' nearly screamed.
