Chapter Twenty-Three: The Worries of Parenthood
Twilight Sparkle ambled back inside of the house looking a bit reserved, the slow and deliberate clopping of hooves on the stone floor sounding almost as reticent as she appeared.
“Oh! You’re back. Did you find out anything?” Fluttershy asked as she sent the ball back at Chenoa.
“No…” the alicorn responded with a shake of her head. “I asked Zecora, but she said she hadn’t seen anything unusual in the woods--well, anything more unusual than what she’s used to. She wasn’t even aware a family of griffons may have been in the area, though she did say she would keep a lookout.”
“Thank you, Princess Twilight. We really appreciate it,” Smokey stated, releasing a disappointed sigh. If Chenoa’s parents were still alive and searching for her, he would rather find them and give her back before he--and Fluttershy--got further attached. He felt a pang at the idea of being separated from her, but he didn’t wish to find out how much it would hurt if she was more grown onto him and the pegasus.
“It’s not a problem at all. I just apologize I couldn’t be of any further help.”
“You did what you could,” the pale yellow pegasus said with a small smile. “That’s what matters.”
“True,” the princess relented, then shifted to another subject. “Did Chenoa like any of the other toys I brought over?”
“She didn’t seem interested in the blocks or train, but she’s been having so much fun with that ball.”
“Ba!” The white-pelted griffon giggled at the globular object as she pounced on it and bounced off of it again with an audible boing. The baby didn’t seem to mind, as she rolled back onto her feet and rammed into it with the top of her downy cranium.
“Oh!” Fluttershy perked up, a wide grin spreading itself across her visage. “She said a word! She said a word!”
With a look of uncertainty, Twilight Sparkle arched her eyebrow as she observed the baby.
“… Really? It sounded to me like she only said half a word.”
“Oh. Um. She is only a baby. It should be a while until she can properly form words.” The pegasus’ heart melted all over again at Chenoa as the child attempted to wrestle with the ball. “That certainly sounded close enough to me.”
The scarlet dragon tore away from his work to pin himself to the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room, leaning in with ear frills flared and fixated on the baby in anticipation. Right now, he didn’t care if he didn’t get lunch done on time; he did not want to miss any first words.
“That’s right, darling! Ball!” he encouraged.
“Bab--pbbbt!”
“That’s it, Chenoa,” Fluttershy cooed. “Ball.”
“Ball,” the lavender equine joined in. It was not often babies made full words at Chenoa’s age, but there had been notable exceptions to the rule.
“Baba!” the child burbled and made a running jump at the ball… and bounding right back off of it again and plopping on her back. The thud of soft flesh on the floor sent a charge of parental protectiveness in the dragon watching her.
“Be careful, sweetheart,” Smokey warned as the element of worry sprang into his sea green eyes.
“Yes, please be careful.” Pinning her ears in reaction to the smack of fluff on stone, the pink-maned pegasus was only beginning to grasp how risky this activity was. How many times had she done that now? She hadn’t even been counting…
Her ears rotated a small degree and drooped, laying flat against the sides of her head as she berated herself. How could she?
The draconian’s attention switched to Fluttershy, absorbing and analyzing her body language and expression. Why did she appear so crestfallen all of a sudden? Could it be because she was worried over Chenoa? That had to be the primary reason, but he couldn’t help but feel there was something else.
“Maybe… we need to teach her not to pounce on the ball so hard,” he offered hesitantly, a little unsure. His suggestion made sense to him; the harder the chick pounced, the harder she fell.
“Maybe. I didn’t even realize that what she was doing was so potentially dangerous. She could really get hurt!” She paused for a moment, lifting her eyes to Smokey as another urgent matter thought popped into her head. “And I just realized we need to baby-proof the house!”
“Oh, heavens!” Twilight Sparkle tensed up slightly, bringing a hoof to her chin. “I didn’t even think of THAT! Oh, ponyfeathers! If I had remembered that I would have picked up something for that, too!”
The large reptilian bit his lower lip with a nod, ashamed that he had not thought of it either. But… how expensive was it going to be? He heard babies were very pricey to keep. His anxiety climbed to higher levels at the notion of giving up Chenoa for not being able to afford what she needed. How was he going to acquire funds until his first performance if he didn’t already have enough to cover baby-proofing requirements?
Wait… Did Twilight Sparkle say she would have picked up some baby-proofing things?
“Princess Twilight? Are… you sure you are willing to contribute in baby-proofing? Isn’t it… expensive?”
“Not really,” she replied, backpedaling a second later. “Well, yes and no. The various items themselves aren’t expensive, but adding them all up in the long run is. Though, so long as you know what you’re doing, you can generally avoid some of the high cost stuff. Using a rubber band or a pull tie to keep cabinets shut, for example.”
“But wouldn’t babies eventually learn how to work those off?” Fluttershy queried.
“Sometimes, though probably not until they’re older,” the alicorn continued as she, the other pony, and dragon watched Chenoa. “Babies love to explore if given the chance. I’d suggest investing in a mesh gate, and some of those magnetic locks for the doors and drawers. A lid lock for the toilet would also be a good idea.”
Smokey never took this into account. He figured supervision was enough to keep the young one out of trouble, but then the insight that the task would be near impossible. One of them couldn’t watch her constantly when she’d be spending time at either of their homes. Especially when Fluttershy had all those animals to take care of… And he was not sure if his own animals were able to handle her…
His vision was led to the fireplace, a knot forming in his stomach as unpleasant images flashed through his mind and came to the conclusion that he needed something to keep her away from there.
Fluttershy proffered a grateful smile to her friend, drawing Chenoa into a quick hug as she toddled on over, letting her go a few seconds afterwards. “Oh, gee, Twilight. You know so much about preparing for children. Your books certainly are helpful.”
“Never doubt the power of knowledge!” the lavender equine proudly avowed. “Most accidents are the direct result of not properly proofing one’s house while taking care of a baby. Did you know the most common ailments for children are burns, head injuries, and choking?”
Both Fluttershy and Smokey found Twilight Sparkle’s unintentional chipper attitude towards speaking about such a morbid idea a bit disturbing, but they decided not to call attention to it. The fact that they didn’t have either house baby-proofed made them fret over the tiny griffon’s safety, and they intended on resolving that matter as soon as possible.
“No… But we do now. Thank you. I… already got a parenting book, so we should be covered,” he notified, gesturing with a tilt of his head at the book on the counter sitting among the groceries.
The princess was confused until comprehension presented itself to her after a split second. A wide grin pulled across her facial features, glad the new parents had a reference of their own.
“I suppose that takes care of that! So! What’s it like having a small baby around the house? I mean, I’ve got Spike--but he’s old and mature enough to take care of himself…” the light violet mare gave a moment of pause. “Most of the time… And Princess Celestia raised him from birth, so I don’t really have much experience taking care of little babies on my own.”
“Really?” Fluttershy felt the ball tap against her leg again and subsequently rolled the ball for Chenoa to fetch. “I thought you helped out Pinkie with the Cake babies that one time.”
“I was going to. Until she got mad and kicked me out.” She tapped her hoof to her chin, eyes rolling up in reflection. “I still don’t know what I did to offend her…”
“She’s been… exciting,” Smokey stated as a answer to Twilight Sparkle’s question just as he turned around to resume cutting up the tomatoes. He picked up the pace knowing he already lost too much time.
With both mares occupied, chatting and giggling while keeping Chenoa’s attention divided between the two, the dragon worked faster and more diligently. By the time he finished cutting up the tomatoes, a small portion of onion, and moved onto removing a clove of garlic from its husk, the attention of the house’s inhabitants were stolen by a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it.” Twilight Sparkle deactivated her levitation spell, allowing the ball to drop to the floor, and pushed herself up onto her hooves. Since Fluttershy needed to rest her hoof as much as she could and Smokey was busy, she took it upon herself to answer the door. “Hello?”
The remaining members of the group were stationed outside, Applejack just having unhitched herself from a cart with doorframes accompanied with the actual doors and a new window secured with bungee cords. She was carrying saddlebags on her back filled with the needed provisions to make the necessary repairs. The other pony who came with a pair of saddlebags was Pinkie Pie--also balancing a plate of chocolate chip cookies on her head--, and they were practically bursting with who knows what.
“Hey, Twilight, how’s Fluttershy doing?” Rainbow Dash inquired as she flew in over the alicorn and plopped down on the couch, already making herself at home before even giving her the chance to react. Her magenta eyes went to the snowy white bundle of fur and down on the floor next to Fluttershy with a smirk, observing that the child had quickly become attracted to her colorful tail.
“Fluttershy’s doing fine, by the looks of it.” Twilight Sparkle stepped aside to allow the rest access into the house. “I brought some medicine and books for her, and a few toys for Chenoa to play with. Though all she‘s really interested in is the ball.”
“Ah got the doors and window out front,” Applejack proclaimed, walking in. “Nails an’ hammers are in mah bags, an’ between the five of us it shouldn’t take nothin’ to bang these doors an’ windows back together again.”
“Thank you very much, ladies,” Smokey said graciously as he watched Pinkie Pie pronk over to the counter, cookies flying up into the air with each jump only to fall back onto the plate as if they were magnetically drawn to it. As she set the plate down, he whirled back around to dice the garlic clove. “But I believe you mean six. I plan on helping out.”
“We got it covered,” Rainbow Dash insisted with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “You’re kinda busy right now anyway.”
“Thanks fer the offer, but we got it taken care of. Twi, could you give me a hoof here? I think it’d be prudent to get this one door here first.”
“Sure thing, Applejack.” Twilight Sparkle then followed the golden-maned mare back outside while Pinkie Pie dropped onto her stomach before Chenoa.
“Hi there, baby!” she squealed, wrinkling her snout. “She’s such a little cutie pie!”
“Well… alright.” The dragon didn’t bother persisting as he didn’t want to start an argument. That wouldn’t account for a good impression. He figured he should be more focused on making the impression on finishing lunch. Finishing with the clove, he scraped the tiny bits into the bowl and moved onto the herbs.
Chenoa’s amber orbs went wide, stepping back a couple of steps. She looked up at her adoptive mother, very unsure of how to deal with the confrontation. The mare smiled softly, dipping her head to nuzzle the chick reassuringly.
“It’s all right. She’s a friend. She won’t hurt you.”
“Yeah! Auntie Pinkie Pie is fun!” Bouncing to her hind hooves, she reached behind her back to summon a folded up piece of white paper and a pair of scissors pretty much out of nowhere. Cutting the paper in several locations, before tucking the scissors back… wherever she had found them and unfolded the paper to reveal cut-out griffons linked together. “Ta-daaa!”
The griffon blinked twice in succession, the cogs in her young mind turning, processing what had just happened. Clicking, she squealed, her eyes flickering with joy. Itching to see more of what the pony could do, she removed herself from Fluttershy’s side and ventured closer to Pinkie Pie.
Giggling, Pinkie Pie pulled out a golden coin. Flipping it up once, she caught it in the breakover of her hoof and showed it to Chenoa, then covered it with her other hoof. Removing it a second later, the chick and Fluttershy could plainly see that the bit had vanished! Quickly, she reached around the baby’s head… and revealed the coin!
Chenoa’s eyes went wider, her mind rendered numb by the coin’s enigmatic disappearance and reappearance in an area it never even neared! The child lifted her claws to her head, eagle toes feeling her scalp for any signs of more bits. Of course, she couldn’t find any, which baffled her even more.
“Wow, Pinkie. How did you do that?” Fluttershy questioned, the spectacle reminding her of the magic trick Smokey shown her on the day they first met.
“It’s a secret!” The rough sounds of a doorframe being torn out filled their ears. Applejack and Twilight Sparkle removed it to carry it off and set it aside to replace it with a new one. The curly-haired equine resumed speaking after the temporary distraction. “That one always confuses Pound and Pumpkin, too! You know, I bet you’d be a great playmate for them!”
“Easy now…” Applejack murmured.
“Careful…” Twilight Sparkle mused, assisting the other mare putting in the new doorframe. “Got it!”
“Great! Now we jus’ gotta hammer it in!” The blonde farm pony turned to address Fluttershy and the dragon. “How does Chenoa react to loud sounds? We’re gonna be makin’ some noise an’ we don’t wanna bother the baby.”
“Oh! Here!“ Smokey dropped the last of the herbs he had been rubbing between his hands in order to release the flavor and went to a drawer full of dishtowels. Grabbing a bright yellow one, he delivered it over to the earth pony. “Bundle the hammer up good in this and it shouldn’t make such a loud noise.”
“Thank ya very kindly!” Accepting the dishtowel in her mouth, she wrapped up the hammer.
“Yes, I didn’t even think of that,” Twilight said, levitating a nail up to the doorframe. It was a good thing the house wasn’t entirely made of stone, otherwise hammering in the nails would’ve been a difficult task for Applejack. While it made a noise, it was more of a soft thud than the loud WHACK expected.
Chenoa whipped her head into the direction of the foreign sound. It didn’t seem to frighten or bother her in the least. All she did was watch for a moment and wandered back over to the ball, breaking into a run halfway there and butting it.