Reflections Of Angels

Quiet As A Lamb

There's a trick with lambing when you want a mother sheep to adopt a child; you wrap the orphan lamb in the fleece of the mother's deceased own, to disguise the baby through scent as one of hers until she'd fully gotten used to and accepted it.

And on that theory, that's how Nyx ended up wearing his clothes; in particular, the shirt he'd been wearing the previous day that she'd pilfered out of the laundry basket. Seeing as she was the only one who did any laundry, she figured she had a right. Buttoned up, it was long enough to be a dress on her, although she wore it more like a tunic with her own trousers.

Grizelda seemed blissed out. Completely docile, she was cuddled up in Nyx's lap, fists curled into the shirt, stopped in her bottle-feeding every once in a while to rub her face happily against the fabric. She'd been like this most of the morning; so far, so good.

Since Zelda was showing fair capability in feeding herself, Nyx was also taking the moment to have a spot of lunch. Nothing fancy, just a sandwich on a plate she was taking bites out of at intervals.

"You're alright really, aren't you?" Nyx cooed to the baby. "We just need to learn to understand one another." Slowly opening her eyes, bottle still in her mouth, Zelda playfully stretched up her arms and wiggled her fingers, still curiously trying to reach Nyx's new-cut hair.

Then she lowered her arm, and with a small pop pulled the bottle from her mouth, making the little sound that said she was done. Nyx took it from her quickly, before the baby could consider throwing it, as she was apt to do.
Grunting and squeaking, Grizelda wriggled in Nyx's lap, attempting, Nyx realised, to sit up- and with Nyx's help, she did so; peering around in delight at what she could see.
Nyx frowned a puzzled frown. "How old are you again?"

Looking up at her, Grizelda gave her a wide, toothless grin- before reaching forwards and seizing from Nyx's plate what was left of her lunch.

"No, no, no, come on! That's mine!" Nyx groaned as the sandwich went straight towards the baby's mouth, trying to tug it from Grizelda's grasp as it got mashed in her strong baby fists; Zelda clinging on determinedly with a shriek simply in response to her trying to take it away.

***

He stuck his head out of his office as she came up the stairs. "... Are you wearing my shirt?"

"... Maybe." Nyx said; then she looked down at the baby passed out in her arms, snuggling into her chest, quiet as a lamb. "It's the only thing I've found that worked, okay?"

At their voices, Zelda sleepily cracked open her eyes; and upon seeing him silhouetted in the doorway, broke into a large, lazy smile; sleepily reaching for him with grasping fingers.

He nibbled his lip in thought for a moment, glancing behind him; before stepping out into the hall and pulling the door to as he then walked towards them. One hand on the small of Nyx's back, the other offered for the baby to twine her fingers around. "Come on, let me put you both to bed."