Visiting the Baby!

[prof_stargazer]

Date: Friday, January 4th
Time: 4:00pm
Location: Tresor Litteraire, then the Finnigan residence
Characters Involved: Caleb Moore, Stella Sinistra, and Charlotte Finnigan (and the baby, of course!)
Rating: PG

Stella had been looking forward to this afternoon for quite a while.  Of course, she had been very excited the day that Caleb had come home from

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[beautesolitaire]

Charlotte had had so much time with the baby. Constance was beautiful. Charlotte had never known that she could love someone she didn't know so much. The birth had gone relatively well, though she was still sore from it. She was still getting used to the schedule of a newborn. Socrates lifted his head and got up, pawing at the door when he heard Stella's voice.

Charlotte was tired, but elated as well. She managed to get herself up. Constance was sleeping in the bassinet. She pushed her hair out of her face and headed for the door to open it, shooing Socrates away. The dog went back to his post watching the baby. It was rather comical, the dog swayed ever so slightly with the movement of the little basket.

Charlotte offered her friends a tired smile, "Mes amies, 'ow I 'ave missed you bot'." she said, motioning for them to come in, "'ave you finally come to see 'er?" she asked.

[prof_stargazer]

Stella smiled as they walked in, dropping Caleb's hand for a moment so she could give Charlotte a hug.

"We came to see you both," Stella said, making sure that Charlotte knew that they were here to visit with her as well as the baby. "How are you doing? You look tired-" not that it was really a surprise, since there was a newborn in the house, but Stella wanted to make sure that Charlotte was not over-exerting herself.

[wolf_caleb]

Caleb hugged Charlotte softly and kissed her cheek. "You're not overdoing it are you?" he asked, leaning back to study Charlotte's face. "You look wonderful by the way," he added, smiling at the small woman. "Motherhood suits you."

[beautesolitaire]

She hugged her friends and was just so glad to have such wonderful ones in her life. She gave them both that tired smile that had stayed afixed to her face in the last months of her pregnancy. "No more zen I was before, mes amies. Come in, tell me all of it." she said, grabbing Stella's hand to scope out the ring again.

"Did 'e get it right?" she asked, teasing Caleb a bit before she turned to check on the baby for making some imaginary noise.

[prof_stargazer]

At Charlotte's offer, Stella stole a sideways glance at Caleb. "I can," she said, not minding in the least. "Or, we could let Caleb have a chance," she smiled, having the feeling that Caleb wouldn't really be able to say 'no' to either her or Charlotte.

"Oh, but before I forget," Stella exclaimed, nodding to Caleb. "We brought something for Constance."

[wolf_caleb]

Caleb's eyes had widened in panic.

They wanted him to hold her?

"Present!" Caleb said, jumping to his feet and putting a bit of distance between him and the baby. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the gift they had brought for the baby. Setting it on the floor, he removed the shrinking charm before lifting it up for Charlotte to see.

"Mobile," he said, smiling. "Stars and what not," he said, wanting to steer clear of any mention of holding the baby. "Stella can tell you what they are I'm sure, I just thought it was shiny."

[prof_stargazer]

"Yes, it's shiny," Stella agreed, rolling her eyes again. "There are stars and comets, and a very small model of the solar system, too," she nodded, smiling at Charlotte. "Miss Constance will be well prepared for Astronomy class."

Stella could see the slight panic in Caleb's eyes, but she was not about to give up on this opportunity.

"You really should come hold her," Stella said, scolding him a little. "You're not going to break her, Caleb- and besides, she likes you already!"

[beautesolitaire]

"Oui, she likes you, Caleb!" she giggled, watching him before she started to play with the mobile herself. It was very shiney and lovely. "We will 'ave to put zis in the baby's room." she chuckled, "You sit down and 'old 'er, Monsieur Caleb." she said, in her best mommy voice.

She got up and put the burpy blankie on his shoulder as the baby started to fuss a little about not having her bottle back. She made Caleb sit back down. "She wants to 'ave your attencion too."

[wolf_caleb]

"That's just mean," he said, holding the diaper out at arms length. "For such a tiny little thing, she's rather potent," he said, wondering what he was supposed to do with the nappy.

Shrugging, he pulled out his wand and banished it altogether.

"There, that wasn't so bad," he said, a proud smile on his face. "See, I can do this dad thing, piece of cake."

[prof_stargazer]

Stella just shook her head and laughed, turning her head to smile at the baby resting on her shoulder.

"Constance, your Uncle Caleb is getting a bit too cocky," Stella said, smiling at the baby. "He thinks he can handle you all on his own!" She grinned over at Caleb. "Do you think we should let him handle you all by himself for a while?"

[wolf_caleb]

"What? No!"

That was a bad idea, perhaps the worst idea in the history of ideas. "Don't take it out on the baby, that's just mean! Don't make her suffer because I had a moment of...of...idiocy!"

He looked at Stella, slightly wild eyed. "You wouldn't, right?"

[prof_stargazer]

"Well," Stella said, shifting Constance over into Caleb's arms, "You're going to have to for the moment, because I need to use the loo, and Charlotte is still asleep."

Stella stepped back, raising her eyebrows at Caleb. "I'll be back in a minute. You'll be fine."

[safinnigan]

Seamus took the steps up to the apartment two at a time in his rush to hurry back up to check on his wife and baby. He’d seen Caleb and Stella go up on his way out of the kitchen, but he had barely had the chance to greet them as he’d been busy training a new barmaid. He’d taken to heading upstairs whenever he got the chance. He knew he needed to give Char as much help as he could and truth to tell, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on his babe. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and she could do no wrong in his eyes, even when he was stuck changing her dirtiest nappies. He’d not realized that babies could rival the smell of a ripe pasture in the summer heat, but that was his girl: she excelled at everything

[wolf_caleb]

"Seamus!" Caleb grinned and rose to his feet. "Congratulations," he said, shaking Seamus' hand and patting him on the back. "She's a doll," he agreed, looking down at the baby with a fond smile on his face. "Most beautiful baby on the planet."

Until they had their own of course, but until then, she won most beautiful baby hands down!

"Charlotte's lying down," Caleb informed him, sitting down next to Stella again. "For something so little, she sure can wear a person out," he added, grinning at Constance.

[prof_stargazer]

Stella returned Seamus's beaming smile before, like him, turning her attention back to the baby in her arms.

"She is just beautiful, Seamus," Stella nodded, agreeing with Caleb. "And yes, we insisted Charlotte get some rest- but Miss Constance has been perfectly wonderful, haven't you?" Stella cooed, addressing the baby with her question.

As strange as it was to know that Seamus Finnigan- whom she could still recall very clearly as a first-year student- was a parent before she herself was, Stella felt nothing but happiness for the new family. Seamus and Charlotte were wonderful people (all they had done for Caleb was testament to that), and Stella knew they would do an amazing job raising this beautiful girl.

"So how have you been adjusting to fatherhood?" Stella inquired, looking back up at her former student.

[safinnigan]

Seamus gratefully accepted Caleb and Stella’s congratulations. It was amazing how little he’d felt he’d had to do with bringing this gorgeous babe into the world, and how protective he felt about her now that she was here