(no subject)
River spent a lot of time talking and reading to baby Zoe, because she had read that was the best way to help her develop her own cognitive skills. She never spoke to her, or any other child, in a manner different from how she spoke to anyone else, but she did make a point of reading to her from classic children's literature as well as from River's own current reading material. This was how she came to be sitting on a couch in the rec room alternating reading aloud chapters of a book on string theory with Dr. Seuss, whose rhymes she had come to appreciate in the years she'd been reading them to Samantha Halpert. Zoe seemed well on her way to becoming a fan as well, River thought, though Simon Chicago was proving to be an irresistible distraction.
The baby was nestled against her mother and some pillows, and every once in a while the dog would pop up from his spot on the floor, put his paws on the couch, and poke his cold nose at little Zoe. This never failed to make Zoe shriek with delight as she grabbed at the dog's fur and ears and tried to pull him close enough to chew on him, like she did everything else she managed to grasp. Only River's order to Simon to keep most of himself on the floor kept him from attempting to crawl into the baby's lap. "You're a lot bigger than she is, you know," she reminded him. It was only the fact that Simon Chicago had been licking and playing with all the other island children for years without negative consequences that let River not worry much about the dog doing anything worse than sitting on her baby. Besides, watching them together made her happy. The dog was so pleased to have a kid of his own, who didn't ever have to leave him to go to her own home, and Zoe was endlessly fascinated by her canine companion.
There was a line to be drawn, however, and River did that by stopping Zoe from grabbing the dog's tongue. "You can put together your circus lion act when you're a little bit older," she promised. Simon Chicago backed off a bit, resting his snout on the edge of the couch. Zoe contented herself by gnawing on the wing of her stuffed toy parrot, and River picked up the next book from the pile at her side. Only this one had definitely not come from the bookshelf; she knew it the second she opened it and found, inside the front cover, the words "This book belongs to Simon Tam" with their old home address on Osiris underneath, all in her brother's precise handwriting. Hands shaking, she turned to the back, already knowing that she'd find her own childish script there where she'd helpfully corrected the wrong answers.
"Wo de ma," she breathed, barely noticing the baby's loud protest when she dropped her toy and the dog tried to either flee with it or to find it a new home with someone else in the rec room.
The baby was nestled against her mother and some pillows, and every once in a while the dog would pop up from his spot on the floor, put his paws on the couch, and poke his cold nose at little Zoe. This never failed to make Zoe shriek with delight as she grabbed at the dog's fur and ears and tried to pull him close enough to chew on him, like she did everything else she managed to grasp. Only River's order to Simon to keep most of himself on the floor kept him from attempting to crawl into the baby's lap. "You're a lot bigger than she is, you know," she reminded him. It was only the fact that Simon Chicago had been licking and playing with all the other island children for years without negative consequences that let River not worry much about the dog doing anything worse than sitting on her baby. Besides, watching them together made her happy. The dog was so pleased to have a kid of his own, who didn't ever have to leave him to go to her own home, and Zoe was endlessly fascinated by her canine companion.
There was a line to be drawn, however, and River did that by stopping Zoe from grabbing the dog's tongue. "You can put together your circus lion act when you're a little bit older," she promised. Simon Chicago backed off a bit, resting his snout on the edge of the couch. Zoe contented herself by gnawing on the wing of her stuffed toy parrot, and River picked up the next book from the pile at her side. Only this one had definitely not come from the bookshelf; she knew it the second she opened it and found, inside the front cover, the words "This book belongs to Simon Tam" with their old home address on Osiris underneath, all in her brother's precise handwriting. Hands shaking, she turned to the back, already knowing that she'd find her own childish script there where she'd helpfully corrected the wrong answers.
"Wo de ma," she breathed, barely noticing the baby's loud protest when she dropped her toy and the dog tried to either flee with it or to find it a new home with someone else in the rec room.