IT'S A BABY-BONANZA!

[paradisamods]

Good morning, residents! Did you sleep well? You're going to need all the energy you can muster because congratulations: You're parents! Again! The Paradisa Stork has paid some very lucky residents a visit last night, and even moved them to a more kid-friendly environment.

Some of you may already recognize your little bundle of joy and--my, how they've grown! Others will have to get acquainted with their little rugrats. You may not know them, but they certainly know you. By they way? They're bored. And hungry! And they want all the attention you could possibly give them.

It's going to be a long week.

(ooc: Use this as a catch-all post! This will be the only mass post for the Sunny Skies Retreat, so you may use it for any day that you'd like. Feel free to make your own posts and/or sections whenever you'd like!

SECTIONS: BEDROOMS | PLAY ROOM | PETTING ZOO | POOL | GARDENS | THE CASTLE)

Comments

[secondchances]

[She has a feeling he's itching to leave. It's what he does.

Is this salvageable? Who knows. Steph slides off the bench to kneel in the water, jeans be damned.]

Look, Jack. See? He was just playing.

[She wraps an arm around Jack before sending a small splash Tim's way. Angry silence between them isn't any better than a shouting match, so she'll... try, she guesses, to be open, because she has to be the one to do it.]

Just playing, that's all.

[dorkwonder]

[Closes his eyes over as a migraine begins to come on. The past two weeks have been filled with so much tension and drama. So many difficult conversations and having to put himself out there. Everything is catching up to him and he's left feeling emotionally exhausted.

If he leaves now, he's not sure he'll come back. There's a part of him that just wants to be done. If the two of them are only friends, then it doesn't matter what they say or do to each other.

The splash gets him to open his eyes and he finally looks at Steph.]

Yeah, we're just playing around.

[secondchances]

[Jack's wailing ceases as he clutches the duck, and Steph frowns. Yeah, she's pretty sure she doesn't want to know what he's thinking about.]

I wish it wasn't like this.

[dorkwonder]

Me too. [Lets Jack have the duck.]

All I seem to do these past couple of weeks is upset you, hurt you, and frustrate myself.

[secondchances]

It's been a tough month. [Understatement of the year.]

[dorkwonder]

It has been. [Quietly.] Do you think the rest of the month would be easier for you without me in it?

[secondchances]

--what? [Looks at him like he's speaking a foreign language.]

[dorkwonder]

We'eve both had stressful months, yours has been even more stressful than mine. I'm just wondering if you want to take a break for awhile?

[secondchances]

[Whoa, there's that nauseated feeling again. She puts both her hands down in the water to stop the room from spinning. Was this--a break up?]

... do you want to take a break?

[dorkwonder]

[Does he? Before the answer would have been a resounding yes. But the thought of going through with it makes him sick and his migraine feels like someone is taking a jackhammer to his head.]

No, I don't. I just don't want to argue about this over and over again. We need to work this subject out once and for all. Preferably when we're both not so stressed.

[secondchances]

[That's a relief to hear. As much as she's upset and hurt and ready to blame it on Tim, she's not so sure a break up--or break--is something she can handle right now. Plus, she sort of loves him a lot and all that.]

I don't, either. And you're right. We do need to just sit down and talk about this, but not now.

[She presses her lips together.]

I'm just going to say this now, though. I'm not giving up any of my friends. I'm not losing anyone else.

[Kara, Lucrezia... and all the others. Ezio wasn't getting added to that list until he left the castle.]

[dorkwonder]

[Wishes they could be back at the hotel, filled with love and trust, instead of all of this frustration. His mind wanders back to the night they returned from the ship, and how she wanted nothing more than a hug from him. Moves over to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.]

I don't want to lose you, Steph. Especially not to something like this. I know we can make it work.

[The fact that neither one of them pulled away from each other, especially him, speaks volumes for where they are at.]

[secondchances]

[Hugs are always good. She is surprised, though, when he initiates it--he's the one that tends to withdraw when they argue like this. Today's been especially rough, with him talking about his father more than he has in his entire stay in Paradisa.]

We'll figure something out.

[... hopefully. She hugs him back, chin on his shoulder. Hugging it out is a step in the right direction, but she wonders how many arguments like this they can handle. He was already offering a "break" and that was freakin' scary.]

[dorkwonder]

[It was scary. Tim played out several different outcomes in his mind. There was a distinct chance if they took a break, they wouldn't get back together. When he realized that was a possibility, the answer was obvious to him.

Hugs her a little tighter, wanting to convey he means it when he says he wants to work on it. Slowly pulls away from her, once Jack crawls over to the two of them.]

Hey, buddy. Want to go splash around in the pool some more with your mom and I?

[secondchances]

[She reluctantly pulls away, too. She reallyreallyreally doesn't want to, because it's nice in hug land and there's not really anything that's sucky there, but alas. There's a baby.

She swallows a grimace when he says "mom."]

You fed him, right?

[dorkwonder]

[Figures Steph was uncomfortable with the word choice, but to Jack the two of them are his parents. Tim's had Jack all day and the little guy hasn't bolted for anyone else. Sometimes he goes after a toy, but he always crawled back to him.]

Right. I also changed his diapers and put on some special ones for the pool.

[secondchances]

That's good. [A small, tight smile. Maybe if she still wasn't feeling insulted she'd try to hold his hand as a small sign of peace, but right now she just can't bring herself to do it.]

[dorkwonder]

[With Jack around, things aren't so awkward. He's full of energy and wants to play with the both of them.]

At this rate, he's going to sleep like a rock tonight.

[secondchances]

Also a good thing. It's not so fun, trying to sleep with a crying baby.

[dorkwonder]

How long do you think he'll sleep for? [Wondering if he's going to be sleeping on the recliner tonight...]

[secondchances]

[She won't kick him out of the bed, but there may be a distinct lack of cuddles. Very noticeable when she sleeps more on him than on the mattress.]

I don't know. I think babies at this age sleep a lot, right? They're still doing a lot of growing.

[dorkwonder]

[Holds his pointer fingers out, letting Jack take a hold of them. Swings his fingers back and forth, earning loud giggles from Jack.]

Yeah, and I think he's a month away from learning to walk, which probably burns a lot of energy. He was trying to walk towards me earlier.

[secondchances]

[Terry wasn't nearly as sentimental.]

He's probably a fast learner.

[dorkwonder]

I bet in a couple of years he'd be an acrobat. [Lifts Jack up, letting him kick his legs around and splash the water. They won't get to see him grow up, but it's a nice thought.]

[secondchances]

[Steph nods. Someone's a downer.]