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

[youfallback]

[Carolina hesitates for a moment before nodding. She doesn't plan to tell him anything, but she can at least so this much.] If I have a nightmare, take care of the kids first. I'll be alright.

[And she takes another sip of tea, somehow feeling more agitated with every sip. She doesn't want to sleep, doesn't want to feel Maine lift her by her neck again, tear her AIs from her head again, throw her over the cliff again.]

[encryptedlock]

Well, I can't really do anything for you without violating the no touching rule, can I? [He grins a little, trying to inject some humor into the situation.] I'll make sure they're fine. Even if we have to turn on an episode of Disney Fairies in the middle of the night to get them back to sleep.

[youfallback]

[She doesn't smile at the bit of humor, her expression just as somber and borderline nervous as it has been. Still, she nods, her stomach twisting at the thought of her kids having to go through that, of listening to their mother scream. She'd seen enough grief from her father, even if sans screaming, to know that it messed up the children afterwords.

A shudder runs down her spine and she presses a hand to her forehead. She doesn't want to do this, she doesn't want to sleep, she doesn't want to inflict the same kind of damage on her children that she was starting to see had been done to her for years. If she has even one nightmare, she'll have to consider something else.

But she also doesn't want to talk about it. She wants to be able to hold it all up inside, so no one will ever doubt her abilities.]

[encryptedlock]

[Holding it all inside is doing the opposite of helping, though. Not that York expects to be able to convince her of that. After all, the only reason he'd doubt her abilities is when she pushes herself too hard and her body can't keep up. Like she has been these past few weeks.

Abruptly, he stands up.]

Finish the tea. I'll go out for a while so you can try to get to sleep while I'm not here.

[Since he's obviously not helping.]

[youfallback]

I'm not going to sleep, York.

[Him leaving isn't going to necessarily help, either. She just doesn't want to do it at all, plain and simple.]

[encryptedlock]

[York mutters something under his breath about stubbornness and rubs his temples, but since he's already up he makes his way back to the bed.]

Fine. Have it your way. Just don't hold me responsible when you collapse.

[youfallback]

There's nothing else I can do right now. I tried alternatives. [Carolina's tempted to tell him to go fuck himself, but the kids are still here, even if they are asleep. She continues to sip her tea on the couch and settles in for a long night of not sleeping. Or so she hopes, but she knows that she's tired, that she wants to just close her eyes, even if it's only for a couple hours.] If you're going to talk to me like that when I try, then I'm not going to take it. I'll take the kids and go.

[encryptedlock]

You sure didn't try all of them, based on what we talked about earlier.

[But he doesn't seem to take her threat seriously, burying himself in the covers.]

But what are you complaining about? I'm letting you have it your way.

[youfallback]

You're being an asshole. [She glares at him, setting her cup of tea down .] Sedation isn't an option.

[She is getting up, though, heading for the kids' bed. Of course, she won't wake them unless absolutely necessary, but she wants to make sure that he does take the threat seriously.]

[encryptedlock]

You're being a bitch. It's an option you refuse to take because you won't trust anybody, even when they're only trying to help.

[He watches her progress and tries very hard not to roll his eyes, which actually succeeds. The castle won't let anybody's kids be taken away from them. He's seen parents try to get rid of them for five years now.]

[youfallback]

Are you even listening to what you're suggesting? How about you sedate yourself and see how you feel suggesting it afterwords. [She reaches over for Jack, trying to gently lift him without waking him. The boy stirs a little but he presses his face into the side of Carolina's neck in an attempt to get comfortable again.]

[encryptedlock]

I had to after you left.

[He says it without inflection, but it's true. It was either that or drink himself insensible every night, and that made Delta worry about his liver.]

Wasn't a walk in the park, but it was better than nothing.

[youfallback]

[Carolina frowns over at him, unsure if he's lying or not regarding that. She can't imagine why he's need to sedate himself after she disappeared. She's not leaving with Jack or Laura yet, but she's not entirely buying into the idea that yes he had actually sedated himself.]

[encryptedlock]

[Of course, he'd always had Delta there to wake him up if anything needed his attention--which it hadn't.]

Go ask Church or South if you don't believe me. They were the only ones I saw out there.

["Out there" being out on the borders of the Dead Zone where he'd lived in self-imposed exile for weeks.]

[youfallback]

[She continues frowning, keeping a hand on Jack's back as she whispers back.] Why.

[Everyone had been pretty pissed at her for coming back alive so she figures there must have been some kind of party when she disappeared.

Even York. Which hurt more than she wanted to say.]

[encryptedlock]

[Now there's a loaded question. Why did he need to take sedatives? Why had only Church and South seen him? Why had he gone out to the Dead Zone in the first place?

Besides, a party when she disappeared what the fuck even. Good thing York can't read minds for that one.]

Because they were the only ones who ignored me when I said I didn't want to talk to anyone?

[youfallback]

[She takes a deep breath, realizing she didn't specify a particular why. Although now she's starting to see how many why's there are.{ Why did you need sedatives.

[encryptedlock]

[He already told her that. It was because Delta was worried about his liver.]

Because every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was what I knew was going to happen to you back home? Because I knew that I'd lost the only chance at happiness this place ever gave me? Because it was either that or drink myself to death?

[youfallback]

[It's still difficult to imagine that he of all people could miss her, no matter how many times he's told her already. He'd kept the dog tags, tried time and time again to just hold her together even when she didn't seem to want the same.

She knows that Delta had been worried abou his liver but hearing in explicit detail, despite the fact that it should have been obvious. The reference to his own happiness being lost, though, doesn't help. She's been selfish all day, but heaven forbid she let him think about himself for once.

Taking a breath, she settles Jack back down on the bed, where he easily falls back asleep.] I don't understand. [But she's at least trying for two seconds.]

[encryptedlock]

What is there not to understand? [More to the point, why does she suddenly care? Carolina had made it abundantly clear to him that she didn't give a rat's ass about his situation ever since she'd returned.]

The only reason I came back to the castle at all after you were gone is because there was a world change and I didn't have a choice.

[And it made him senile and in a wheelchair. York still had only fuzzy memories of it all, except for seeing the Director (Delta had assured him it was only Church) and having pictures in his wallet of his grown kids. Kids who were now sleeping in a hotel bed right next to his.

If he never came back to the castle, he'd never see his kids again. That much had made him try again.]

[youfallback]

[Carolina continues to frown over at him but he seems to not really be interested in talking about it. It's not normal that he's talking about himself like this. She distinctly remembers only getting accusations about hating him. Or that's how she's remembering it.]

There's everything to not understand. You keep telling me that you wish I hadn't come back. South doesn't want me alive. And then you tell me that you only want to keep me together and--- [And it seemed she'd been a source of his happiness. Somehow.] Which one is it?

[encryptedlock]

Carolina, when you left me you were happy, determined, dedicated to the people you knew, and sincerely trying to make the castle a better place. And when you came back you pissed all over that. You push away everyone who tries to get close to you, you only seem to hear one out of every ten words spoken to you, you seem to hate everything and as far as I can tell you've been trying to work yourself to death.

You have to wonder why everyone's reacting like this to you?

[youfallback]

[Carolina stiffens in anger and shakes her head at him and she's about to be done with him until the echo of her own words to South hit her around the head hard enough to make her at least stop for a second. South hadn't been listening, no matter what she'd tried to say to her. She breathes in a moment before sagging back down onto the couch.] I can't trust them. I can't trust anyone.

[encryptedlock]

[York's silent for a few moments, trying to word a response to that so it won't make her even more upset.]

Look, I understand why you did what you did. But when you say it like that, it really hurts. I know you don't feel like you can ever trust anyone again, but--

Do you think maybe you could try adding a "yet" onto that?

[youfallback]

No, you don't understand anything. [She mutters under her breath. He really doesn't, though. Not without the knowledge of her family. But she sucks in a breath and shakes her head at him, saying more loudly,] Not yet.