Motherly advice

Posted on Thu May 25th, 2023 @ 11:48am by Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & High Priestess An'Dalus & Sovereign T'handu

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Marine HQ Tent
Timeline: will figure this out.
1585 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

"I saw you leaving her tent the other night..." An'dalus mused as she walked with T'handu by her side.

He remained silent at this, eyes going wide as he felt blood rushing to the tips of his ears even as they pinned themselves backwards. "I've not seen you smile like that before..." Anne added with a smile of her own.

"But don't forget your responsibilities to me... young Sovereign." She continued with a firm sidelong glance levelled in his direction.

"Of course Mistress."

"Good, now... stay here."

She then stopped, pausing for a moment and tilting her head to stare seemingly through the prefabricated walls of the marine HQ, the padded olive garb juxtaposed against the blinding white world around them.

"Colonel, may I have a moment of your time?" Anne snorted softly as she stepped around into the entrance, seemingly already aware of where she was.

Naxea sighed, setting down the PaDD containing the most recent patrol reports. Personally, she was growing tired of this cold. She looked up at the priestess and grinned. "How can I help you, Priestess?"

“Oh just your company will do,” Anne replies modestly, bowing low as she stepped under the tent. “And to see how you are… it was regrettable I could not be there for the birth. But you do seem well, all things considered.” Her voice trailed off at the end, her eyes trying not so subtly to look around before coming back to Naxea, a look of where is she? slapped across her equine features.

"I have been doing well. Thank you," Naxea began.

"Hey, I am so not a babysitter!" Gami protested, entering from an adjacent room, carrying Sle'anna in her arms. "I don't care how adorable she is!"

Naxea laughed before looking back at the Priestess. "Don't worry, Sle'anna is fine," she stated as she moved to relieve Gami of her cute burden.

Annes eyes lit up at the sight of Sle’anna, clutching her cloven hands together. “That much appears true… as for you,” She continued as her voice saturated the room, staring at Gami with dark eyes. “You might not be a babysitter… but you have the hips, and clearly the instinct.”

She smirked as she spoke, tilting her head down and raising her eyebrows before looking back to Naxea.

"Um, thank you," Gami replied somewhat nervously. She hated royalty, being afraid that she would unknowingly make some grave error and cause an interstellar incident. She looked at Naxea. "I'm going to grab some chow. Be back later."

"Alright," Naxea said as she hefted Sle'anna in her arms. She looked at Anne. "Would you like to hold her?"

"I would like that very much..." Anne beamed as she gently stepped forward, her hoof barely even making a sound as she did. "She is absolutely gorgeous."

"Thank you," Naxea said, smiling as she gently handed Sle'anna over to Anne as the baby yawned, blinking her large dark eyes open.

"Ohh dunes bless..." Anne swooned, cradling Sle'anna with the confidence and experience of someone who had raised countless foals. "I never get tired of seeing their little faces," She said smiling at Naxea before turning to face Sle'anna who was now staring, her little eyes wide and unblinking as she took in a familiar but new face.

"And yours is very pretty..."

She thumbed gently over the little one's face, starting from Sle'anna's nose and all the way up to her mane, counting the many Bajoran ridges that created little tufts of hair to protrude.

"Her ridges are so pronounced, it's wonderful... truly she is just as much you as she is S'hib." Anne remarked, looking between Naxea and Sle'anna in genuine adoration.

"Thank you, though I hope not," Naxea said. "It seems S'hib and I were both stubborn in our youth so I have the feeling, Sle'anna will be stubborn as well," she grinned.

"Oh my dear... that's a given," Anne remarked, her words almost mired with a cautionary tone as she began to examine Sle'anna, gently tilting her head left and right. "After all, your Stal... he can be quite hard-headed or so I've heard... which, isn't surprising."

She then hummed thoughtfully, continuing her examination of the little filly. Lifting her arms, moving her hooves about and testing her joints. But never once did Sle'anna complain, save for the odd snort or little whinny when something tickled or felt strange.

"How are you with feeding her?" Anne asked softly as she repositioned Sle'anna so her little head rested on her shoulder. "Is she biting at all?"

Naxea shook her head slightly. "I'm not breastfeeding her naturally. I did so after she was born due to the circumstances at the time and she didn't bite then. But I am storing the milk when I have time between taking care of her and running the detachment. Otherwise, Doctor Sthilg has given us a small mobile replicator for producing milk and other needed items for her in emergencies. But it's hard to get the milk to the right temperature in this climate." Personally, Naxea hated the idea that her baby had to endure the frozen hell of this planet as her first days of being in the universe.

"I do understand your concerns, Colonel, but... you are doing just fine." Anne assured Nax, taking a moment to gently sway on her hooves.

"Afterall I am somewhat of an expert on these things," Anne grinned. "You see I have helped bring thousands of little ones just like her into this world, raised many myself... but the first is always the hardest, no matter what... there would always be something to worry over or overthink. Even if we were still on the Elysium and none of this had happened, we'd probably still be having this conversation."

She paused for a moment stepping close, intent on passing back her child. "She is cold yes, just like the rest of us... and she may sleep a lot more as a result... but she's not unhappy."

"Thank you for saying so," Naxea said as Anne handed Sle'anna back to her. "But if none of this had happened, I would be worrying a lot less." She lightly bounced Sle'anna in her arms some while supporting her head. She had learned that Sle'anna seemed to enjoy it, or at least it appeared that she did whenever Naxea bounced her.

Anne hummed thoughtfully for a moment, watching the pair with a soft smile. "Perhaps... but then again, there is no point worrying over things we have no control over... not that I need to tell you of all people that, but a little reminder doesn't hurt..."

"Well, when we get off this planet and back home, We're going to go on a trip to someplace relaxing and warm," Naxea stated as she continued to bounce Sle'anna lightly in her arms.

"You should take the little one to see her homeworlds... connect with both her peoples." Anne smiled as she stepped back a little, taking a moment to admire the scene before her. "And when she's older, show her each other's star in the night sky... then she will always know where the other one is; never feel too far away from either."

"That's a good idea." At that moment, Sle'anna began to cry. "Let me guess, you're hungry," Naxea tapped her playfully on the nose as she moved to retrieve a bottle of specialized formula from a nearby shelf and placed it on a warming plate. It would only take a few seconds to warm the liquid to room temperature.

Anne watched with great interest as the new mother that was Naxea, tended to her child.

It was always warming to see, reminding her of her first time. Something that had happened a very, very long time ago.

Yet despite this fact, and the countless children she had raised or helped raise, she never felt superior to anyone that was experiencing their first. Like she was better at being a mother in any way.

After all, she had millennia of experience to fall back on. And yet, here was a woman going through it all for the first time... no guide, no preplanning or context to fall back on and doing just as good a job as her.

It was humbling.

"I wish I could say they eat less as they get older, they don't... but you already know that having a full-grown one." She smiled, her top lip curling at her own joke.

"That I do," Naxea said, grabbing the bottle of milk as the warmer beeped indicating the formula was at temperature. "I just hope there is enough food on the Elysium between the two of them," she chuckled as she held to bottle to Sle'anna, who began to suck on the nipple of the bottle eagerly, having seemed the now familiar smell of the formula. She soon began to calm as she continued to feed. Her eyes rested on Naxea, watching her intently.

Anne nodded thoughtfully, letting the quite moment last between the two for a moment longer.

“I shall leave you to tend to your daughter, Colonel… though should you need help in the future or someone to care for her in your absence I will do so…” She said before bowing deeply, her hooves already turning to leave before Naxea had a chance to respond.

"Thank you. I will," Naxea replied as she watched the Priestess leave out of Marine HQ.

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