Early Wake Up (Merrick)

One of Gwen's eyebrows arched as he admitting to wanting children. She wasn't aware of many men who would admit to that. Well, obviously they all wanted an heir to their name or their title if they had one; some to help with the responsibility of the work around their home but other than that. It didn't seem very common for a man to want a child for the reason of...having a child. The work that went into creating said offspring, absolutely without question. Just not the rest of it.

When he pointed to the mixture of squash and pumpkins, Gwen nodded. "I was attempting to - Helga assures me that the vegetables are good for Lora and the healer here seems to agree so I have been trying with different combinations that the house elfs offer up. So far, it has not gone over well, as you can probably tell from her clothes." She smiled weakly, suddenly feeling like a horrible mother for not being able to get her own child to eat something. Was she missing a trick? Maybe adding a little honey to the mixture to sweeten it up might help...? If Gwen herself preferred it in her porridge, what could it hurt to add a little to the vegetables?

"I was thinking of perhaps adding a bit of the honey to it just to see if a drop or two would entice her. I know it's precious and she can't have it all the time but just this morning, when there's already so much to do. I want to make sure she'd well fed before handing her off to Rauble for today, as she'll have enough to do with Helena to watch as well."

"Hmm," he considered the options as the little girl was making grabby hands at his bread. It gave him an idea. "May I?" he asked as he motioned toward the bowl of vegetables. He picked up a nearby spoon and dipped it into the bowl but instead of feeding the babe, he fed himself a spoonful. He chewed and made sounds like it was the best thing he ever ate, which was definitely not the truth but the wee one need not know that.

She watched him suspiciously as he took another small bite of the veggies, and he made a face at the girl, getting her to giggle a bit. He then raised another spoonful toward his mouth before pausing and looking at her. He made a funny little noise and flew it over to her like it was a broom. He watched as the child bit the end of the spoon with her three little teeth and pulled the vegetables off. 

Merrick smiled as she made a face as she chewed that suggested she didn't know if she liked it or not. He pretended to feed himself another spoonful before zipping a half spoonful back over into her direction and letting the child decide whether she wanted to eat more or not.

Gwen ducked her head, smiling when he tried the pumpkin and squash mixture. She knew full well that it didn't taste nearly as good as he made it sound yet it was a valiant effort, nevertheless. And a believable one, whereas Lora instantly took the first bite. She could hear the soft 'ting' of the infant's teeth gripping the spoon to clean it off. There was a look of confusion on Lora's face, almost as though she had been tricked.

Thus, she took the next bite, as though sensing something amiss. It wasn't until the fifth attempt that she finally wised up and had had enough. Turning her head away from the spoon, her lips clamped tightly together. Gwen quickly grabbed a rag to wipe the infant's mouth of orangey drool. "Congratulations! That is more than what I got her to eat. Though she has already had her milk..." Her cheeks blushed bright red, realizing that she probably should not have said such a thing in front of an individual of the masculine persuasion. It was just too easy to talk to him. He wasn't like a lot of the knights she had met.

Sighing, she took a chance to peek over at him, hoping he was not too disgusted and leaving. Of course he might think that the babe hadn't been weaned yet, due to her age, but that wasn't a topic mentioned spoken of publicly. "She is likely full. It is more than she usually eats in the morning." Gwen mumbled out the last of that, fully embarrassed now. "I should...I should get her dressed." 

It actually made Merrick feel a little accomplished to have gotten the child to eat a few bites of the vegetables. He set the bowl aside as she wiped her mouth and he grinned at the little girl. He wiggled his fingers again, hoping she would forgive his deceit. 

"Babes got te ea', tis nothin' te be embarrassed abou'," he tried to reassure her. It certainly didn't bother him, it wasn't like she was feeding in front of him or something. Even then there was something beautiful about the bond between a mother and child. He was glad that Gwen had that with Lora.

"Aye, I imagine ye mus'," he said with a sigh and an easy-going smile on his face as he leaned back in his chair. He had torn off another piece of bread and smeared it through a bowl of porridge that had appeared on the table from somewhere. House-elves he suspected. 

"D'ye wish te meet me back 'ere o' at the fron' doors?" he asked, having not forgotten about his assignment. He would do his duty and protect the woman next to him, though she likely didn't need it and might resent his company. He wanted her to think of it as going to town with a friend over an official escort.

His reassurance did not help much; just a reminder of how foolish she had been. Letting her mouth run away with her. It did that every time she was excited, or nervous, or hungry, or ... well, there were a lot of times that her mouth ran away with her. So often that it was hard to classify every time why it happened so what was the point? She held in the sigh she was feeling, bending her head down to kiss Lora's head softly, just as the little girl bobbed to reach for the piece of bread that Merrick was now eating. Bouncing back, she biffed Gwen in the chin, making the mother's eyes water slightly from the pain.

She hissed a very nasty word that she had learned from her brother. In Celtic, of course, to protect her daughter's virgin ears but likely one that the Irishman knew. After all, Godric had learned it from Salazar, who hailed from the same island.

After a few moments, Gwen tested her jaw and, sensing that there was nothing broken - just a bit painful - she stood, swooping Lora up and onto her hip. "Thank you for breaking your fast with us, Sir Raine. I will be just a few moments actually. My room is just down the hall a bit. I will have her trussed up and ready to go in no time. I will meet you back here so you can properly break your fast." She curtsied, as best as she could with a baby on her hip. It would just have to do.

With that she fled the room to ready Lora for the day.

Merrick looked over with concern as he heard a familiar oath slip from her lips and saw the near tears in her eyes. The babe seemed oblivious to the fact that she had cracked her mother in the chin. Before he could say anything she was standing and curtsying to him. He scrambled to his feet, his sword catching on the chair and yanking him a bit about the waist before he righted himself. He offered her a smile and bowed. 

"Then I shall awai' yer return, m'Lady," he said before he stood upright and waited until she left before he slumped back into his chair and sighed. He hoped today would go well and that he could prove to himself that he could think of things other than impure thoughts about her. So far so good, though having the child around helped.

Picking up his piece of bread again, he hurriedly dipped it into his porridge before taking a bite. He hurried his way through eating so that they could relax a bit before needing to leave. He wanted to get to know her a bit so they could truly be friends. It would make seeing her a lot easier, at least that's what he thought. By the time she returned he was wiping up the dregs from the bowl with what was left with his bread.

Gwen rushed to her room, talking to Lora about nonsense and silliness about how Merrick had been so kind to the little girl. How he was a true gentleman and would make someone a very good daddy someday.

True to her word, she was rather quick at this part - changing the infant's clout, then pulled on the simply, doe-hide dress Gwen had made with her own two hands. It was more easily cleaned than cloth was and with the house elf having to watch after two children so differently aged, the easier things were, the better it might be overall for her. While she doubted any of the house elfs would leave Helga, as much as they adored her, no reason to test their patience more than necessary!

Bundling Lora into a tight wraps to keep her warm, Gwen delivered the baby to the waiting hands of Rauble. Then she rushed back to the staff room, a bit out of breath but ready to go if Merrick was finished with his breakfast. While it was a bit earlier than she needed to go (judging by the placement of the sun), Gwen didn't mind taking the scenic route. When she'd opened the window earlier, it had felt like the most beautiful day with little wind. The sun had been shining and felt warm when she'd stuck her hand out. Perfect and unusual for the normally cloudy and rainy Scot lands.

Yes, today was definitely a good day for a long walk to hopefully clear her head and get her focused on her tasks. "I hope I didn't take too long," she said breathlessly, breezing into the room and closing the door behind her - though why that was, she wasn't so certain. After all, they should go...but if he wasn't finished with breaking his fast, it wouldn't be fair to rush him.

Merrick washed down the last of his bread and porridge with the cold juice and set the goblet aside. He wiped his mouth clear and hoped he had nothing stuck in his teeth as he stood, this time careful to not let his sword get caught on the chairback. 

"Nae atall, m'lady," he said with another slight bow. He knew that Lady Hufflepuff's smart house elves would clean up after them so he paid no mind to his dishes left on the table. "Were ye already ready te go?" he asked curiously, taking a look at the window to see the sun shining though only just. "Tis a bi' early is it nae?"

In any case, Merrick was hoping they could talk some more whether in the staff room or on the way to the wand shop was fine with him, though he supposed that fewer details would be spilled in front of students that they would be accompanying.

The knight rounded the table slowly and walked toward her, a kind expression on his face.

"Oh good," She smiled at him when he assured her that she had not taken too long. The last thing she wanted was to leave him waiting. He, too, looked to the sky, noting what she had. "Yes, I suppose we have some time yet. It will take some getting used to, getting everything ready on a schedule - eating, sleeping, dressing. I just hope that she adjusts quickly - as well as the students. This will be a new situation for them as well, if they are used to working physically all day and not mentally. Having to sit still for long hours can be sometimes wear on the nerves if you are unused to it."

As they had resolved to wait a little while before departing, Gwen returned to the table and poured herself a goblet of juice. She had only had a few sips yet this morning. Though she would have preferred some of the elderberry wine, personally, the juice would have to do. And truly, it was a bit early for the wine anyways. Hopefully there would be some at the feast tonight!

"So are your quarters to your satisfaction...your teaching rooms and the like? All set up?"

As she took a seat he backtracked back to his own and sank slowly down into it. He was nodding in agreement that he hoped everyone would get used to their schedules. Given he would be awake for part of the night time, it wasn't outside of reason for him to sleep in during the day. Though looking at how well that worked out today he wondered if that was going to be possible.

When she asked about his quarters he smiled and nodded again. "Aye, as long as I 'ave a bed tha' tis meown I be quite 'appy," he said. "I thin' I 'ave figured ou' wha' I'm goin' te de on cloudy nights tee."

Merrick leaned toward her as though he were about to share a big secret. "I 'ave figured ou' 'ow te charm me ceilin' te loo' li'e the nigh's sky," he said rather proudly. He had meant to share that with her the night before but it had slipped his mind as thoughts of her slipped in.