t h o r n s & roses

Eideard laughed. “You know, I have no idea.” He gave another laugh. “Oh, is it? I think you’re in denial, love. I wouldn’t say a spoiled brat, no, but I doubt he’s ever going to have to want for even the slightest thing.” He grinned and raised an eyebrow. “Two? I can imagine that quite easily, actually, yeah. Insane it would be, but I’d love it.”

it was way too early to even think about it. they had plenty of time to figure out what they wanted for their future. their son was still relatively young, not even five months. “perhaps later, i doubt i would keep my sanity, plus our little mister here -..” words trailed off the moment eyes laid on her son, his eyes closed and his little fists closed around eideard’s finger. in just a matter of minutes, he’d fallen asleep. from a troublemaker, to an angel. “you would, but i am the one to birth them and we both know how that went last time, also he fell asleep.” she commented, pointing briefly at the infant. it was amusing to her how quickly he fell asleep in his father’s arms when he wouldn’t even dare do so on her own.

“it is not a problem at all.” he smiled over to the mother before his attention was drawn back to euan. “why hello there euan! i hope you’re being good to your mum.” he said, raising his eyebrows at the child who let out a laugh and showed a small smile. “how old is he?” he knew that he should just keep walking, but there wasn’t a lot of times that filipe got to see babies and he really did not want to keep walking. there were times that he was so grateful that he was dating megaira due to the fact he was able to stop with her and gush over a child- yet it really look like she was the one gushing and not him. 

“he is a little angel most of the time, i can’t complain but it isn’t like that always, of course.” god, she recalled the first few nights, her infant crying relentlessly overnight. he was a bit older now, and well it was with the help of a few that she managed to remain sane. although she did her best to have him attached to her hip, being her first child and all –– she did not want to miss a thing. “he’s four months old, almost five.” it was hard to believe she gave birth four months ago. “dear god, time does fly i suppose now that i think of it.”

“Me and him might have a problem then, yellow happens to be our favourite colour ‘ey?” Aileen takes the little girls hand again, swings them gentle as Aine nods quietly. Sucking on her fingers, even if she’d had told her not to at least a hundred times. You want braces like your ma had? She’d ask. Had even tried her dads old trick of putting hot sauce on her nails and nothing. “No worries though.” She smiles, waving her off easily. The irishwoman shakes her head then, “Oh no. Didn’t have to deal with all that. M’sister put up with all the tricky bits, bless her. We’re passed the dummy lobbing phase now, thank god.”

“getting in trouble already? seems likely.” she was more than sure his disgust was not towards the color or the item itself, but his curiousness towards it all and his more than likely struggle to maintain his hands still –– which more often than not ended in his mouth. seems both children were met with that struggle, eyes falling on the little girl as she placed her input on the matter. “oh, i see. this mister here, tends to cry if his dummy goes missing. i was hesitant at first, knowing how hard it is for some to ween off of it later in the game. i’m hoping it goes smoothly for us?” it was a miracle euan had not cried just yet, but just like the little girl or at least in some similar fashion, he had his small fist up in his mouth. 

Eideard snorted as Agnete spoke, though he smiled nonetheless. “Oh, you think he got this attitude from me, do you?” he asked, lightly bouncing Euan in his arms as he spoke. “I don’t think I was the one who forced my dearly beloved spouse all over kingdom come for whatever she wanted for nine months.” He smiled playfully. “And counting,” he teased. “I think he’s alright. If I keep up the bouncing, hopefully he’ll just go to sleep. But we never know with this one.” He looked down at the baby. “Do we? You already do whatever you want, just like Mummy.”

“where else would he have gotten it?” undignified, she pretended to be. hand coming to rest on her chest, as if feigning offense. “oh please, that is such lies that you say.” but, maybe there was some truth in that. although her child was mostly an angel, the little times he rebelled against he did remind her of herself. “are we raising a spoiled brat? maybe it’s a bit early to find out, but only imagine what would be of us if we had two.” she couldn’t believe she was already thinking of the prospect of having another child, as if one was not hard enough task. balancing her work life and house life she hadn’t even adjusted just yet. and while she had numerous assistants and two nannies, it still was not enough to appease her fully. “that’d be insane.” 

getting the call from his sister was something he hadn’t expected, and especially not to take take of her child. but she was his sister and there were things big brothers had to do. ‘ eight diapers? am i really going to need that many, netty? ’ brows furrowed as he turned his attention to the child that rested in her arm. his head nodded at her mention of the milk in the fridge, ‘ i am not an idiot, i do not keep my own milk on the counter, why would i not put it in the fridge? i probably also should mention that i have a meeting in roughly two hours so siggy will be with him for about an hour. ’ he assumed that would be okay although he didn’t mention it when they talked on the phone. eyes grew as he took the child, a grin crossing his lips as he made a silly face at the child. ‘ alright, go. we’re gonna head home and i’ll see you later when you come and get him? ’

“dear god, why in the world are you calling me netty? i thought we were past that - ..” the nickname she had received from him in their childhood and despite her mentioning various times she disliked it, he kept on using it over and over again. she supposed now it was inevitable for him to use it. “but yes, he may or not need it. it’s better to have more than to be short of them, right?” she had learned this the harsh way, it had previously happened. with clothes, with dummies, with diapers –– the list was rather long. she stared as her brother interacted with euan, a smile spreading through her lips, though it faltered ever so slightly at his words. “wait - a meeting? for what?” eyebrow rose, wondering if it was what she actually thought. “i’m alright with sigrid taking care of him, i know she has no problem with that. unless she goes out on weird business, now that’d be bad.” 

pietro: the more the merrier

pietro: i mean

pietro: if you think about it, we're all grown babies

agnete: great, see?

pietro: euan is adorable

pietro: i wouldn't mind

pietro: but if i'm such a baby, why would you want to leave your baby with me?

agnete: i'm sure milla would love to tag along

agnete: because to me you are a grown baby

agnete: älskar dig, pietro

pietro: at least i caught it in time!!

pietro: as in we have a lot of time, we'll have that conversation about family and babies down the road

pietro: what are you talking about? i'm a fully-evolved male man

agnete: you have a whole life ahead of you

agnete: don't even worry about it

agnete: but i could drop euan there anytime

agnete: as practice, you know

pietro: AGNETE

pietro: i almost dropped my phone

pietro: it's going well, i'm really happy, but i don't think we're there yet???

agnete: what?

agnete: i'm just curious.

agnete: "there" as in not close in that way yet or?

Eideard chuckled and shook his head. “No, she told me you had gone out, that was all. I surmised on my own that this was where you would go. I remember having to come here often enough at 4 a.m. to badger the bakers to give me a box before they even opened.” He laughed as she spoke. When he noticed the baby fussing, he plucked him lightly from his carriage, tucking him into the crook of his arm. “It’s dirty, you threw it on the ground,” he told Euan, reasonably enough. “You can’t have it back until it’s been washed off.” Euan huffed and whined a little. “I know, life is very unfair for you. Here.” He offered Euan one of his fingers, which the baby grabbed in his surprisingly vicelike grasp and seemed content enough with that. 

pregnancy cravings had been the absolute worst. in the middle of the night, she would have spurts of cravings and that, at the time, was imperative for her husband to comply with anything she asked. she did remember the times her husband had gone out and about to search for things she wanted and not necessarily needed. thinking back on the events only brought a smile to her lips, how hilarious it had been, well –– for her anyway. she watched the on-going scene between her husband and their son. he already displayed a huge amount of personality despite being so young and not even speaking a word. “i do remember that, but i will never be sorry. as for your son here, i wonder where he gets the attitude from?” she laughed, knowing in part he did get it from her. she indulged in the pastries before her, knowing soon they would have to return home anyway. “i think i packed one more dummy, but i don’t want to risk it getting dirty before we even return home.” 

pietro: mothers are amazing

pietro: i don't know how you do it

pietro: i'm sure little euan appreciates it

agnete: maybe, maybe not. he's an angel.

agnete: so, will i ever see you with a baby?

agnete: i think i read somewhere about a certain girl.

Eideard had called the house looking for his wife, and had been told she had taken the baby to a cafe. He didn’t need to ask which cafe this was – he knew well his wife’s obsession with this particular cafe, So he walked from his office to the cafe, ignoring the looks some people gave when he passed them. His father was a household name, which meant so was he, but in this modern age, politics held less of an interest than celebrity. It wasn’t that often that people actually recognized him – usually they gave him an askance glance as they tried to figure out where they’d seen him before. He couldn’t help but laugh as he approached, seeing his son toss his pacifier on the ground. “Now I am quite sure your mother and I taught you better than that,” he said, picking up the pacifier and putting it on the table. “Hello, my love.” He leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips before taking a seat himself. “I assumed you came here for your macaroons.”

she was about to stand to retrieve the dummy when she heard his voice. it was indeed a surprise to see him there. and she almost came to wonder how in the world he had found them. “wow, do we have a paparazzi in the making?” she joked lightly, after pecking him on the lips. “i suppose malin told you where we headed to?” while for most part, her assistants were of help, they also somehow tended to dig her into trouble if not careful enough. she did not mind her husband’s presence in the slightest, but it made her wonder how much they told to third parties. “i was craving them, one would think craves ended when the whole pregnancy thing did too, but i suppose not.” she took a glance to euan for a slight moment, seeing him fuss a little now that he was without his dummy dearest.

she was furious –– the word itself, perhaps an understatement. out of all the possible dates in her calendar, this would be the day her household nanny would dare get sick. many calls she had done, hoping to reach at least her usual replacement, all to no avail. she did not dare leave her child to her assistants. perhaps she could trust them with her work, but her child? not even in dreams. there were only so many people she trusted enough to leave her child to. and upon having no other option, it was him who she resorted to. “i packed like eight diapers, he should be good with that. you have to store the milk on the fridge and if he cries just give him his dummy.” the child rested on her arms, dummy in his mouth and eyes wide open with no clue of what happened before him. “here.” she tried handing the infant to her brother, it became clear that she was in a bit of a rush.

sigrid: yeah. yeah. i am the black sheep bla bla bla.

sigrid: just accept a good gift when you get it.

sigrid: obtained it abroad. might have been from swedish royals.

agnete: i would appreciate it, if my rep wasn't on the line and jail becomes a near possibility!

agnete: you are a mess but i love you, i guess.

sigrid: no stress babe, as long as you keep it in the closet no one will know.

sigrid: beside, no one will suspect you.

agnete: i have a reputation on the line

agnete: you say, but you'd be surprised how rumours fly

agnete: i sure hope no one does

au!week + older!euan

agnete and euan have a facetime call with eideard, upon euan’s request before bedtime.