Rescue

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 8th February 2007

Characters: Birigundi, Nialyn
Description: Birigundi comes to the rescue
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 2, day 1 of Turn 4

Birigundi

Shards, Birigundi was sure that Candidate classes couldn't be more boring!
It had been so hard just to sit there and wait for the man to stop talking. Probably it didn't help that Birigundi had heard it all a thousand times before, or that he had something much more precious on his mind. Lyndi and Nia. He just couldn't wait for class to finish so he could be with Lyndi and Nia.

As he reached her weyr door, he could hear Lyndi was upset. Shards, but that girl had a set of lungs on her, he chuckled to himself. Who thought something that small could make a noise that loud? But she was still so new and mysterious that every terrible sound, awful smell, disgusting bodily function, was still somehow beautiful. "Nia? I'm done for the day. Do you need a hand?" he called as he walked into the main room.

Nialyn lifted her tear-streaked, blotchy face to his. "She won't stop crying, Biri!" she sobbed, offering her breast--again--to Lyndi, but the baby would have none of it. "I don't know why! She's not hungry. She hasn't gone to the bathroom. She's not tired. I don't know what's wrong!
She keeps crying and crying--" Her near-hysterical rant was interrupted by a hiccup, and she held the squealing baby tighter against her bare chest.

"Oh, Nia, it's ok," he reassured her gently, brushing tears from her face.
"Is she sick?" he asked worriedly, laying a hand gently against the baby's purple cheeks. She did indeed feel warm, but then again she had been screaming. "Here, let me take her a moment."

It felt strange not to have Lyndi in her arms. Nialyn grabbed the nearest pillow and clutched it to her chest. "I'm doing something wrong!" She hiccuped again, fresh tears trailing down her cheeks. "I know I am. What am I doing wrong?"

Lyndi quieted a bit as Birigundi held her close. He felt under the light sleeping shirt to make sure her body temperature was normal. She didn't feel sick. "Don't cry, Nia. Look, she's already calming down now."

Nialyn blinked up at him, almost in disbelief. "She wanted you. This whole time, she wanted you." That was so sharding frustrating! After doing everything and offering everything and checking everything, Lyndi wanted her papa. And that--out of everything else--was something Nialyn could never ever control.

"No no," he said quietly, reaching out to stroke Nia's hair softly even as he bounced the much quieter, but still fussy Lyndi. "I don't think she even knows who I am yet. She just... needed a new perspective is all." He didn't want her to think the baby didn't want to be with _her_, afterall!

The tears wouldn't stop. And Nialyn didn't even know why she was still crying. Looking down, she pushed the squashed pillow aside and picked up her discarded blouse from earlier and pulled it over her head before leaning back into the cushions of the sofa, suddenly feeling exhausted. Even breathing seemed to take up a lot of energy. Too much energy. "She knows, Biri. Lyndi knows who I am, and who you are." She rubbed her eyes. "She knows."

Shards, she really was upset. "Why don't you splash some water on your face and just relax for a minute. I'll see if I can't get her to sleep." He turned and walked Lyndi back towards the other room, crooning softly and rubbing her back the way he had found she liked. "Why are you giving your Mama so much trouble, eh?" he whispered softly. Honestly, though, he was kind of touched at the thought that she might know him. And want him.

If breathing was this tiring, she certainly wasn't going to physically stand up and move to the other room. Nialyn rubbed her aching temples, wishing with everything in her that she could stop being so hormonal about everything. Every time Lyndi burst into tears, Nialyn burst into tears too! It wasn't right. She had to be strong for her baby. She couldn't fall into hysterics when Lyndi did. She had to be strong. Stubbornly, Nialyn blinked back her tears, clenching her teeth as she forced her breathing to become more even, keeping one ear trained on Biri and Lyndi in the next room.

Birigundi bounced and whispered and caressed and walked Lyndi around the room until her cries died down and soon turned into light, contended snores. Carefully he laid her down in her crib and watched for a moment to be sure she really was asleep. Creeping back into the main room he said softly, "I think she's out." But Nia still looked like a wreck.

She nodded, thanking Faranth for the sudden, blissful silence in her weyr.
"Thanks, Biri," she whispered.

He sank down into the couch next to her. "Come here, Nia," he said softly, reaching out to pull her close. "Now what's the matter. Hmm?"

His tender voice undid all of her shaky self-control, and tears filled her eyes again. Shards, would she ever stop crying? Nialyn curled as close as she could up into Birigundi, burying her cheek against his chest. "I'm so tired, Biri. I'm just so tired."

"Don't cry, Nia." He ran his fingers through her hair and leaned down to kiss the top of her head softly. Shards, he hated to see any woman cry, but especially her. "You can rest now."

"But what if she wakes up?"

"Well, then I'll be here to take care of her."

Her hold tightened on him, too exhausted to feel anything except relief and gratitude. "Okay."

"It's all right, Nia. Just sleep now." Birigundi rubbed her back gently and began humming softly, unconsciously falling back on the same tricks he had just used to soothe their little daughter.

Last updated on the February 9th 2007

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