A Saga of Shadows and Sorcery: Chapter 3

 Chapter 3

Family Time

It was early in the morning, and Valerian opened his eyes, gave a big yawn, and then stretched as much of his little self as he could.

 

Valerian's new home was starting to feel like a familiar space to him, which made him feel safe and happy.

Great-Uncle Alder walked into the room and sat down at the foot of Holly's bed. "Good morning, Valerian," he whispered to the infant, trying to be careful not to wake the rest of the family. Then he hid his face behind his hands. "Where's Uncle Alder?"

Alder quickly removed his hands from his face and exclaimed "There he is!"

Belladonna stirred in the top bunk of the bunk bed next to Valerian's crib. She got up, climbed down the ladder, and turned around to face her host. "Mister Todd, while I appreciate your assistance in caring for the baby, I would appreciate it even more if you would be so kind as to keep your voice down."

"My apologies for disturbing your rest, Belladonna," Alder replied.

"It's not that," Belladonna clarified. "It was time for my husband and I to get up anyway. Just be careful not to wake Holly."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Belladonna left the room, and then Basil got up and left the room as well. Then, as if on cue, Holly stretched her arms and crawled out of bed.

"Good morning, Holly!" Alder greeted her cheerfully. "How about breakfast?" Then he picked her up and carried her out of the room as well, leaving Valerian on his own.

Valerian waited a bit for someone to come back and fetch him out of his crib. He needed to use his diaper, so he did. Unfortunately, the diaper in question was already full, leading to a rather unpleasant explosion.

Valerian waited for someone to come and save him from the stench. He whimpered and fussed, but it seemed like no one could hear him. Maybe his mother was right -- he couldn't continue being a helpless weakling. He had to find a way to take care of his own problems, but that wasn't going to happen unless he could figure out how to move his own body. Valerian carefully shifted his weight to one side...

And then, for the first time, he rolled over onto his tummy all on his own!

Alder Todd walked into the room, carrying a fork in one hand and a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon in the other. "Phew!" he exclaimed. "Something is rotten in the state of nappy." Alder tried to take a couple more bites of his scrambled eggs, but found that he couldn't resist the urge to gag from attempting to eat in the presence of blown-out diaper stench. "I'll help you soon, little one. I promise. But if I starve to death, then who will be left to care for you?" With that, Alder left the room so that he could finish his breakfast in peace.

A very short while later, Alder came back into the room without his breakfast. He picked the stinky infant up, cradled him in his arms and fed him from a bottle. Then he carried Valerian into the bathroom, started running warmish water in the bathtub, and poured a dribble of bubble solution into the running water. Briar watched the bubbles as Alder gave him his bath, fascinated by how round and shiny they were. And when he reached out to touch one, it popped!

It was Uncle Alder who'd taken care of Valerian when he needed it, and it was Uncle Alder who'd summoned these wonderful bubbles to Valerian's bath. Valerian thought that Uncle Alder was amazing!

When Valerian was all clean, Alder took the infant outside and placed him on his playmat. Valerian drifted off to sleep to the sound of the birds chirping, the breeze blowing in the leaves, and the waterfall rushing in the distance.

Valerian woke up to the sound of his mother's and sister's voices next to him. He glanced over and saw that Belladonna was showing Holly some kind of cards, but he didn't quite understand what they were doing -- maybe it was some kind of game. Then he looked up at the infant toys hanging above him on the playmat. They were round, like the bubbles from his bubble bath this morning. But they were purple. Purple bubbles! The thought of that was just too funny. For the first time, a giggle erupted from Valerian's mouth! Then he reached out for the toy, wondering if it would pop like the bubbles when he touched it. His fingers brushed against the blue ring underneath the purple ball, and then he managed to close his fingers around the ring.

Belladonna stopped her conversation with Holly when she heard Valerian's first laugh, and she watched him closely as he reached out for the toy and then grabbed it. "My little witch and my little warlock are both growing by leaps and bounds!" she exclaimed with glee.

Belladonna picked Valerian up and fed him. Then she held him in her arms as he cooed at her and she responded by saying things like "Yes, my little warlock" and "You're getting so big!"

Then Basil came around behind the cottage, and Belladonna handed Valerian to him. Basil took Valerian inside and went to change his diaper. Once Valerian had a fresh diaper, Basil took Valerian into the family's bedroom, changed him into his PJs, and gently placed the infant in his crib. Then Basil kissed the tips of his index and middle fingers, reached down into the crib, and pressed those fingertips against his son, passing the goodnight kiss along. Valerian yawned, stretched, and attempted to drift off to sleep.

However, no matter how hard Valerian tried, sleep just wouldn't come to him. He cried. Loudly. Until he fell asleep while crying.

Of course, being an infant, Valerian wasn't sleeping through the night just yet. He woke up in the middle of the night, and Basil woke up too, when he heard Valerian's awake noises. Basil picked Valerian up and gave him a bottle. When Valerian was done, Basil rested his son on his shoulder and patted the infant on his back until he burped. Then Basil put Valerian back to bed and kissed him goodnight again.

With that, both father and son went back to sleep.