strangetrip | [EP] open your hands if you want to be held

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[EP] open your hands if you want to be held

Out beyond the greenhouse and the gardens, in the orchards she'd nurtured with love, and magic, and friends, Regina had stripped her usual business casual battle armor in favor of a softer mien. She rested beneath the shade of a tree, inhabited by an elemental named Manzanita, who understood nothing of fashion, everything of fornication and fertility, and laughed like a babbling brook or syrup sap at the words she didn't understand from the fashion magazines Regina read to her beneath her boughs.

At her feet or more occasionally her head, a puppy-now-nearly-a-dog sprawled, his tail thumping when his mistress laughed unusually loudly. From time to time, inexplicably, a black kitten-cat herded by a spirit Russian Blue appeared to torment the dog. Behind them in a magically constructed paddock, a mare grazed, keeping quiet watch over the antics, and less quiet watch over the picnic basket of fresh fruit (apples, and plums, and pears, and berries and cherries, oh my) on a picnic blanket at Regina's side.

The conversation that was more of a communion took a turn for the sly when Manzanita detected thoughts of a certain wolf in her not-a-druid's mind. It wasn't words, but a suggestion, perhaps Regina might leave this issue of outer-bark wholly behind. Head back, laughing, Regina (briefly, magically) shed her clothes for a light dusting of leaves. (~~Please, let me down, Mama. I'll be good.~~)

On second thought, with a flip of her wrists to replace her clothes, she murmured, "Smelling like forest is freedom enough."

[ooc: Slow because shit is real, but hit me til I scream. Find Regina in the orchards she planted at any time during this post. Avoid seeing her naked if your fireball tolerance is low. Otherwise, fireball forecast: low. Title quote: Rumi.]

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"Seems a shame to leave you with a picnic alone." Zahra had seen Regina from afar. It was obvious the woman looked happy and Zahra had come to learn that she didn't always look as such. She had been out for a walk, trying to stay active as it was apparently good for the future birth to keep limber. Now, she needed a rest, and the woman's spot in the garden was particularly restful-looking indeed.

Something about the woman's mien in the moment reminded her of a pregnant Mary Margaret declaring her smitten and Regina declaring Haagen Daaz smitten with Snow's stomach. She smirked slightly to herself but smiled at Zahra pleasantly enough. "Not a problem you're likely to have any time in the next sixteen years," she offered with an obvious gesture at the woman's stomach.

A slightly friendlier smile and tone bid her, "Please, join me."

It took a moment for Zahra to navigate sitting down with her current belly and center of gravity. It was almost graceful, but it was lacking the usually freedom of movement she could usually exhibit. "I've come to terms with the lack of alone time I'll be having. Though, I should admit I was never a fan of being alone to begin with."

As Zahra settled, she found a firm, sturdy pillow wedge at her back that hadn't been there before. Regina had summoned it with a curl of her fingers and a gesture like opening a cabinet.

"I admit that's not a sentiment I would have expected from Kashaw's mate," Regina replied serenely.

The pillow was much appreciated and her expression seemed to convey this. "I enjoy quiet, perhaps." Kashaw was not exactly a chatterbox and Zahra smiled softly at the thought of him. "But he's always present, in some form or another. It will probably take some time to get used to the amount of energy in the room more than anything, although our dealings with Vox Machine has begun to prepare us for that." Certainly Vax, Grog, and Scanlan.

"Mm," Regina replied neutrally. Vax didn't chatter in the gardens. He talked, certainly, but not of pointless stupid things.

In deference to Zahra's pregnancy, she poured them both fresh pressed apple juice instead of wine, simply enough summoned and always delicious. "My children required an entirely different quality of attention than even the busiest royal audiences."

Zahra pressed the glass to her lips. The juice was delicious and more refreshing than she thought she'd find it. Zahra did miss her wine, though.

"How many children do you have?"

"Multitudes," Regina replied with a low, husky laugh. Some days, that felt truer than the real number. You didn't create entire curseworlds without inheriting all of the inhabitants as children.

"Four. Two stepdaughters, a stepson, and an adopted son," was the actual answer, although the story went that she had another stepdaughter now. "Mine hasn't been a traditional family."

"Traditional families are over-rated." Zahra meant it as she said it. Even her and Kash weren't considered 'traditional'. Apart from how some people back home would view the pairing of races, they weren't married. "Raising children is more than being related, certainly."

Once, Regina would have said that family was overrated, period. But stepping up when her family had needed her had been the beginning of her happy ending. "Raising children has nothing to do with being related and everything to do with love."

She nodded in agreement. "From one mother to another, then, do you have any advice?"

"How long do you have?" Regina couldn't help laughing, both at the irony of someone asking her about mothering and at the sheer volume of advice she found she had. "I've mothered four very different children. You're going to want to narrow the field a little."

She laughed softly. "I believe we're stuck here indefinitely, aren't we?" And Zahra wasn't exactly itching to go home, even if part of her felt a bit of guilt for that.

"Well, I'm having twins, but I'm uncertain of who they'll take after." She paused, then smiled. "And I'm unsure of who would be worse in that regard."

Edited 2018-06-03 02:53 (UTC)

Regina smirked at that response, but not unpleasantly. "For your sake, I hope they take after Kashaw physically. I can't imagine birthing even a small babe with horns." Not that Zahra was unattractive. Far from it. She just couldn't imagine passing horns through her vaginal canal would be anything like pleasant.

"But I suppose, my first piece of advice is that babies cry." She couldn't help a small grimace at the memory of Henry immediately stopping his bawling in Mary Margaret's arms. "They sound different if they're sick than if they just want attention or to be held. It's always worth checking to see if they're hungry or have a dirty diaper, but don't panic. It'll drive you crazy, but it's perfectly normal. And some of them cry more than others."

It was true giving birth to a Tiefling was a lot more dangerous than a human and no doubt one of the biggest reasons her mother had died. She had been told by others of her kind that Teiflings were more prepared physically to give birth to their kind than other races. Either way she was thankful to be at the Inn with the knowledge and technology and as many healers as they did.

"I think Kash might have a harder time with the crying, I imagine." Mostly because Zahra knew he was concerned with 'getting it right' and that the crying might be seen as some sort of failure. "But I admit I have little in the way of experience with babies myself." Tieflings didn't exactly scream 'here, hold my baby' to most people. "I've been reading that the crying often affects the mother more innately, would you agree?"

She paused. "You don't suppose there's someone here, a man, who might be able to speak with Kash about babies?" Scanlan hadn't been around when Kaylie was a child, so that was out of the question.

"When I adopted Henry, my first, I read every book I could get my hands on, to try to make up the deficit of not being his biological mother," came the beginning of Regina's response. "I thought, somehow, I would be less connected to him, less his mother, or less good at it, because I hadn't borne him."

It wasn't a thing she spoke of often, and that she did so now, she could explain only as a bond between mothers and the best way to love her children in their absence. She supposed it had very little to do with Zahra, although she did feel an intuitive liking for her. But either way, she meant to be there to help when help was wanted.

"And it's true, at first, I was terrible at it. I was so afraid, and so focused on 'getting it right' that I made both of us crazy with my fussing. But one day, someone who had been a mother held him, and then put him back in my arms, and suddenly I was his mother. There was a moment--" Coupled with terror that Henry somehow knew whose arms he was in, and that she would just be better at it than Regina. "--a recognition, and with it came the confidence I'd been lacking.

"I know that's not precisely what you asked. But it's the answer I have. Their tears will always affect both of you, because you are their parents. But there will come a moment where the tears won't terrify you anymore, and it won't take long before it happens. After that, the crying may drive you crazy. You may pray to every god that they will just please stop for half an hour."

Regina swallowed against the sudden sting of tears at the flood of memories. "But all of that will pale against an unexpected nap together in the morning sun, waking to your child smiling and knowing there's nothing they could be smiling at but you."

Regina's descriptions brought a smile to her face. Zahra had no idea what it was going to be like, truly, but the idea that there would be moments that obviously brought such joy to this woman left Zahra feeling hopeful that she would feel it too one day. A small, dark part of her wondered if her father ever felt even a sliver of such joy for her, but she knew that line of thinking led nowhere quickly and she pushed it away.

She almost asked to know more about the boy, but she worried asking such a question would bring about unpleasant feelings as the boy was not here. "And Snow is one of your children as well?"

"Snow is my daughter, yes." That she was adopted, that she was the second of her name, none of that mattered anymore. "I met her when I first arrived in Gotham, a city much like this Inn, and fell in love almost instantly."

Even thinking of Snow brought a softer, sweeter smile to her lips. "I'm very grateful for Kash's affection for her. He's been very good for her. You might remind him of that, when he worries. As men do."

"He does." Even when he tried to hide it. "Neither of us have had much experience with children and our upbringings... have not been entirely nurturing ones either. He's worried we might make many mistakes and end up harming the children." Zahra didn't think so, or at least not to the same degree.

"You will make many mistakes." It wasn't unkindly said. Not remotely. "All parents do. But children are resilient as long as they're loved."

She frowned, pensive. Her childhood wasn't one she shared. At all. But if it would help a child, or children, she owed it to Henry and Mary Margaret...

She forced steadiness into her voice and calm into her face and didn't let on how hard it was to say, "My own upbringing was very much less than nurturing. I won't pretend that it didn't affect my parenting, but I learned and so will you. Remember the things you wished for as a child, and the things you hated. If you keep those in your heart, you won't go far wrong."

She made a thoughtful 'hm' sound and nodded. Zahra was hopeful their mistakes would at least be glaringly obvious. She found herself making mental lists of things she definitely did not want to do. She would never, for example, raise a hand to the child or find the need to confine them in any ways. "Thank you, Regina. To know there's someone else here who has gone through this is comforting."

"Comforting isn't a word most people apply to me," she observed with a wry twist of a smile. "You are welcome, though. If there's more I can do, now or when the babies are born, please ask. As my boys aren't here, all I can do is help with others' and hope that someone is doing the same for them."

The words tasted like syrup on her tongue, sweet and heavy, and nauseating with it. She refrained from sneering at her own sentiment, but only barely.

She felt for Regina, though she would not know the deepness of such a feeling until she had children of her own. Then she would truly understand how it felt to be separated from a child.

"I have no doubt someone is looking after them." Zahra offered a smile.

It was a slow climb to her feet, but she managed. "I should get inside before I find myself dozing off in the middle do the garden."

Naps were now a think for Zahra and they never had been before.

"If you're tired, I could teleport you to your room," Regina offered. But it was only because the woman was pregnant with twins, no other reason. She didn't want to become a magical taxicab, certainly.

Some others might find such an offer or venture unappealing, but Zahra was both used to magic and used to teleportation. She nodded to Regina. "If you'd be willing, I certainly won't pass up the offer."

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[EP] open your hands if you want to be held

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