(Untitled)

[kitchen_maid]

Amy came in this evening with Susan, because she thinks they both need a bit of a break from the excitement of Christmas in Ambergeldar.

She's not expecting to get a note delivered with her tea, and she reads it over twice, frowning more and more, until Susan, alarmed by the expression on Mama's face, fusses enough to get her mother's attention

Comments

[samstewart]

Sam's finished a light dinner -- a small piece of shepherd's pie and half a pint -- and returned her plate to the bar in exchange for a cup of tea.

(So much better than the tea they serve at the station.)

She's actually interested in sitting by the fireplace herself, and happens to catch sight of Amy seated a short distance away.

The smile that lights up her face goes almost incandescent when she sees the baby in Amy's lap.

[kitchen_maid]

"Good evening, Sam," says Amy, with a fairly bright smile of her own. "Come meet my daughter, Susan."

Susan looks up at Sam with Very Big Eyes.

New person.

[samstewart]

New person who immediately sets her cup of tea aside and moves forward, going down almost on one knee to be closer to eye level with Susan.

She's a vicar's daughter. She's had to mind children almost from the time she was old enough to mind herself. Though Susan definitely doesn't seem the type to try to put jam in your hair when you're not looking.

'Hullo, Susan,' she says quietly, still smiling. 'I'm Sam. It's really Samantha, but no one ever calls me that. So Sam's just fine with me.'

She holds out a hand -- or rather, a finger -- for Susan to grab onto if she likes.

[kitchen_maid]

No. Putting jam in your hair is something Ordinary babies do. (You can ask Nurse Marta.)

Susan considers her carefully, then very solemnly takes the offered finger. "Ansa foo," she tells Sam.

"How are you, Sam?" Amy asks.