(Untitled)

[crazyspacegirl]

River had been spending the afternoon with Samantha Halpert when Susan Snow had stopped by, still looking for her sister. River knew too well what that meant, and, since she couldn't take Sammy out searching, she offered to keep Rickon for a little while, since even looking for someone unlikely to be found was easier without taking a baby along.

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[outlawrobin]

When Robin went to Serenity to find Kaylee, he never went on board to look for her, sometimes he looked in - she could often be found on in the cargo bay But he respected the instructions of her Captain she'd told him about. Today however his curiousity found him at least stepping onto the ramp and peering in.

There was the Captain and his young wife - who Robin had met at the dinner of thanks he'd been invited to but they seemed to be outnumbered by infants.

"I hope the island is not sending the stork this year instead of gifts," he remarked taking in the scene.

[crazyspacegirl]

"That would be a stork with an uncommonly cruel sense of humor," River noted, far too distracted by her fruitless attempts to quiet Samantha and Rickon to properly greet a visitor. "Though I wouldn't be too surprised, if the stork belonged to this island."

At least if it was an island trick. she'd be reasonably certain that it would end within a couple of days; crying babies, she was beginning to believe, were for eternity.

[tightpantscapn]

Mal turned t'ward the sound o' a visitor, a look o' sheer panic twistin' his usually unflappable features. In his arms, Nate squalled n' Mal wondered if'n shootin' himself was 'n option.

"The moment I see a story nearby, it's gettin' clipped," he said dark-like, attemptin' t' bounce Nate t' calm 'im.

[outlawrobin]

Robin thought it just as well that there were from what he could see no island storks though he supposed they might be good eating. It was a relief that children were not appearing unexpectedly as if they were unwanted presents. He actually recognised one of the babes as Robb Stark's nephew though to his shame he had no clue of the child's name. "It is good to hear it is no trick," he said, "can I help at all - you seem outnumbered." And Robin was to be almost an uncle himself soon enough.

[red_ponytail]

Serenity wasn't too far from where Bill lived, so on occasion he went by it on the way to or back from somewhere. He didn't know any of those who lived on board very well, though, so he generally went right on past, especially as he knew of the captain's protective nature over his ship.

Today, however, as he went by, the unmistakable sound of crying made him head over and investigate. His eyebrows shot up at the scene he found - three babies wailing away, likely one of them having started the rest off. Sam Halpert, Susan's son Rickon, and another Bill didn't quite recognise. "You lot look like you could use a hand," he said, with a friendly smile.

[crazyspacegirl]

"I imagine we do." River blew a lock of her hair away from her face, both of her hands full of baby. The action fascinated Rickon, who reached out to grab a handful and tug. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, more surprised than hurt, as Samantha had mostly moved past the hair-pulling stage.

Samantha didn't like that at all, and took a deep breath to start another long wailing cry, which got Rickon going again. River would have preferred for him to continue pulling her hair. "It's okay, Sammy, I promise." River hugged the little girl and bounced the baby on her leg slightly, and was rather desperate for help no matter where it might come from.

[tightpantscapn]

Now, Mal didn't know the man by name but he recognized him all the same, seein' as how the fella could often be found servin' up food in the kitchen. 'tweren't a bad cook, neither. Though, o' course, food was the furthest thin' from Mal's mind jus' 'bout then.

"I reckon we could e'en use two," Mal said wryly, switchin' Nate t' the crook o' his other arm. He frowned, lookin' t' River n' the babies for a moment n' then turnin' back t' the fella. "Y' any good with l'il ones?"

[red_ponytail]

"You likely could," Bill agreed, heading over to where River had her hands full with two. "I'm the oldest of seven, so I've a bit of experience. And I've minded Remus Lupin's son quite a few times."

He crouched down next to River. "May I?" he asked, looking to her for permission before taking the crying Rickon from her. "Hello there, Rickon," he said in an overly cheery, but gentle voice. "What's all this fuss, hmmm?" Standing up again, he bounced the baby gently and began to sing a silly little song his mum had used to sing to them when they were wee. He could carry a tune all right, though it was a shame they were too far from the compound for him to run and borrow Sadie from Roger.

[gorramcheerful]

Was an awful time for anyone when folk started vanishing and when she heard about Lucy disappearing, she knew it would likely hurt Sansa, but more so the family Sansa was connected to, the one he had shared a meal with over Christmas time - a wonderful meal. Starks and Pevensies joined families and then there were guests like Robin, herself and Polly. There'd been little ones there too, but one she knew best and that was Eddara; she had met her when she was tiny, but not much quieter, and she adored her red hair and just about everything she said made Kaylee laugh.

It happened that she was spending rather a lot of time with Eddara today, as her visit to check on Sansa had Kaylee offering to watch the little girl. She had mentioned wanting to help Susan and Caspian search for young Lucy, and Kaylee desperately wanted to help; she knew how it hurt, just about everyone here has lost someone and to lend a hand was at least something. So it was with a young, red-haired little girl that Kaylee returned to Serenity; keeping her close all

[crazyspacegirl]

Of course River knew Eddara, though she was surprised to see her suddenly in the cargo bay with the rest of them. She didn't think Serenity had ever seen this many babies in all her days, and hoped the ship didn't mind.

"Let's play blocks," she said, inspired by desperation. Simon Chicago, however, was in the way, having come over to investigate this new woofing creature, and when River made him move, his tail thumped Samantha squarely in the face. River braced herself for another scream, but was pleasantly surprised when Samantha laughed instead. "Dog," she said, grabbing a handful of fur to pull him closer.

River was incredibly grateful for her patient dog who liked babies (and Samantha in particular), who just did as he was bid. She didn't know what she'd do if he had been prone to biting.

[tightpantscapn]

Mal was quick losin' his grip on reality. Since when had Serenity turned int' a loud, squallin' gatherin' place for island babies?

He scrubbed his free hand o'er his face, sighin' mightly 'fore dropping the hand t' the blanket wound 'bout Nate. He lifted the crook o' his arm a touch, elevatin' the baby's face so's Kaylee could see it. "This here is Nate Petrelli. His mama up'n disappeared a few days 'go n' Rob n' his fella are takin' care o' 'im. Thought they could use a break, so I offered t' take l'il Nate for 'n hour or so."

A brow arched meanin'fully as he set his gaze on River n' her menagerie. "Weren't 'xpectin' River t' have 'ppointed herself Island Nanny while I was out n' 'bout."

[gorramcheerful]

Kaylee gave a slightly troubled look as she met the little one, hearing he was now without a mother - this place really behaved unfairly sometimes, how could it take a mother away from one so little. "Awful nice thing of y' to do." She assured happily, giving him a smile. "He'll be callin' you Uncle n'no time I bet

[permanentlypink]

Tonks was taking Teddy for a walk along the beach. Well, he wasn't exactly walking yet, though he'd made a few clumsy attempts at it in the past couple of weeks, which meant that she was still toting him around. And he was getting pretty bloody heavy. But he did love that little fur teddy bear jumper that had appeared with the winter weather, and since the day wasn't so cold as some, she thought they'd have a bit of fun in the snow.

They were just passing Serenity when she heard the sounds from inside, and looked down at Teddy. "What do you think, should we investigate?"

And of course, the permission of a one-year-old made it not quite so rude when she stuck her head in. "Wotcher! We were just - " She blinked, upon seeing the scene. "Is there a daycare center I didn't know about?"

Teddy clapped his hands gleefully.

[crazyspacegirl]

River looked over, glad to see at lease one baby who looked happy and not likely to burst her eardrums at any moment.

"If there is, it's not here," River answered. "I imagine people running a daycare center would know how to make them stop crying."

She patted both of her small charges futilely, while they continued to wail.

[tightpantscapn]

Mal looked up from the unhappy bundle in his arms, clearly as discontent as the babe he held. His brows knitted t'gether n' lifted up near int' his hairline.

"If'n there's a sign out there that says so, kindly let me know so's I can have it used for target practice," he said, n' then shuddered as all three babies wailed in harmony.

Gettin' run through with a sword had been more pleasant.

[permanentlypink]

"Oh, is that little Nate?" Tonks asked, smiling. Teddy reached out towards him, almost a semblance of a wave.

She laughed and added, "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on dropping mine off as well. I'd be happy to give you a hand, though."

[this_is_pam]

It wasn't difficult to miss wailing like that from a little further down the beach, and while Pam wasn't due to be picking Sam up yet, she couldn't pass Serenity by upon hearing that noise. There was no way Sammy by herself could be making such a racket. Almost a little hesitantly, Pam approached, getting near enough that she could lean to the doorway to see what was going on. When she did, though, and saw River and Mal with not one but three babies, she had to bite back a grin. She didn't have to have been on the island for very long to know that this wasn't exactly a common occurence.

"You guys okay in here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Her attention turned quickly to River, though, and she looked a bit more sympathetic then. "I can take her, if you want."

[crazyspacegirl]

"Oh, we're fine." It wasn't entirely truthful, but River didn't want Pam to think she couldn't handle watching Samantha. "It's just loud right now."

Sammy added to the already considerable noise level by shouting "Mama!" Her tears had all but vanished, and River thought that she probably had an excellent career as a con artist in the future, should she decide to enter a life of crime.

[tightpantscapn]

'pon seein' Pam stickin' her head in, Mal felt relief wash o'er him. True, she weren't the Pam that'd been Sammy's mama but 'twas close 'nough. At the very least, Pam had 'nother set o' hands n' a way 'bout her that made folks feel comfortable when they were near. Mayhap the babies'd calm down with Pam in the bay, too.

"Yes'm, that's y'r mama, Sammy," Mal murmured, bouncin' Nate up'n down. She turned t'ward him, noddin' emphatic-like. "Aye, cap'n!" she said gleefully.

[this_is_pam]

Pam couldn't help but grin when Sam spoke up, and took that as her cue to cross to where River was sitting and take a seat beside her, so Sam, in turn, could crawl into her lap. She had a feeling it might've seemed cold to just swoop in and pick Sammy up, and besides, River and Mal were always good company. They looked like they could use another person around, anyway.

"You guys on babysitting duty or something?" she asked, lightly teasing, looking away only to press a kiss to the top of Sam's head once she got settled. Pam had a feeling she wouldn't be still for long.