Haplo of the Patryns

November 27, 302 AL

It was a cloudy morning in Gariland, and Frederick Akermanis was no longer tired.

No, he decided, at this point he was utterly exhausted, having caught perhaps all of 3 hours of sleep over the last two days. Having found the baby on his doorstep, Frederick had taken him in, and had decided to nurse and look after him, at least until Alexander returned home.

It was a task that was easier said than done, for as Frederick quickly realised, raising a baby was something he knew very, very little about. He tried to feed the baby, but he didn't seem to like what Frederick was offering. He tried nursing the baby when he cried, and instead wasted his time. His sleep was broken by the baby crying in the night, and he'd inevitably spend hours trying to put the baby back to sleep, before returning to bed to catch an exhausted hour or so.

And so, early one morning after a sleepless night, having finally managed to put the baby to sleep, Frederick sat in his bedroom, eyeing the baby's cot (luckily, his father kept his own cot in storage) and wishing he knew how to raise a baby...

Of course, he then realised that, whilst he didn't know how to raise a baby, he definitely knew someone who did.

And so, he'd quickly washed, dressed, groomed himself and headed across the street, to his brother Hannibal's house, where he knocked on the door several times. He wasn't there for his brother; Hannibal was out, anyway, on a business trip with their father. No, Frederick was instead seeking out Hannibal's wife, Ophelia, who had been at this point a mother for over a year.

The white wooden door opened shortly after Fred's knocks, revealing a rather tall young lady with bright green eyes and long, light brown hair. She wore an unadorned, yet well-made dress, and... Large mitts, the sort a person would wear for oven work. She gave him a bright, warm smile when she saw him. Ophelia Akermanis, his sister-in-law.

"Hello, Fred." Ophelia said warmly, giving him a tight embrace and a peck on the cheek. "I wasn't expecting a visit today, but I'm glad you came by, actually." She said, before Frederick had a chance to speak. "How're you?" She asked.

To an objective eye, Ophelia was a rather pretty woman (as objective as one can be on such a subjective topic), but to Frederick's young, enamoured mind and young, enamoured eyes, she was beautiful beyond compare. Her embrace left him nervous, and her kiss left him blushing. "Ah... I'm... I'm pretty tired, actually, heh." Said Frederick somewhat shyly.

Ophelia gave him a concerned look. "What's up? Are you sleeping alright?" She asked.

"Well... No, not really. It's actually why I came over." He said nervously. Ophelia nodded.

"Alright. I'll be with you shortly, alright? I've just been, well, cooking." She held up her mitts and gave him a small smile. "Sorry."

"No, you're fine." Said Frederick, and he gave her an understanding smile. "I'll just be in the sitting room, alright?" He said, already in motion.

Ophelia nodded at that, and quickly left for the kitchen. Frederick instead entered the sitting room, a large, well-used yet pretty area, much like the one in his father's house; full of bookshelves and big, soft chairs. Frederick sank down into one of the chairs, suddenly feeling quite tired, when he realised he wasn't alone.

A young girl, maybe about one and a half, nearly two years old, was staring at him from behind a nearby chair. She had green eyes, perhaps not quite the same as her mother's yet, and somewhat long, brown hair- which was the same as her mother's. Frederick quickly recognised his niece, Lydia Akermanis... And of course, part of the reason he came here in the first place.

Lydia rose, uncertainly, still relatively new to walking, and grinned a bright, happy smile. "Unca Fwed!" She said cheerfully, walking- and breaking into a stumbling sort of run- over to him, nearly tripping as she grabbed onto his leg. "Unca Fwed, Unca Fwed, Unca Fwed!" She said excitedly. Frederick laughed, picked Lydia up and placed her on his lap. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

"How're you, Lydia?" He asked gently, hugging her lightly.

"Good, Unca Fwed." Said Lydia, who promptly reached up and grabbed his nose. "Gotcha nose, Unca Fwed."

"So you have." Said Fred with a grin. Lydia grinned even more and proceeded to pull on his nose, hard. Frederick scrunched his face up, laughing despite the uncomfortable sensation.

“Ah-ah-ah, not too hard, Lyddie.” Said Fred gently. Lydia stopped immediately, although she still held his nose. She rested her head against his chest and stared up at him.

“Sowwy, Unca Fwed.” She frowned. “Whatcha here for, anyway?” She asked, curiously. “Didja come to see me, Unca Fwed?”

“Ahaha. No, not exactly, although I do love seeing you, Lyddie.” Frederick said, putting an arm around her. “Actually, I came over to tell you about, well… I came over to tell you about your new cousin.” He said, somewhat sheepishly.

“Oooh.” Lydia cooed, her eyes wide with curiosity. She started to waggle Frederick’s nose to and fro.

It was at this point that Ophelia returned, now devoid of mitts. She entered the sitting room, a quiet little smile on her face at the sight of Frederick and Lydia. “I’m back,” Said Ophelia.
“Your daughter has seized my nose.” Said Frederick with a smile.

“So I see. Anyway, I have some fresh muffins for the both of you later on.” She said with a smile. There was a twinkle in her eyes.

“Oh, you don’t have to offer me that.” Said Frederick timidly, a slight blush on his cheeks.

Lydia’s response was far less shy. “Muffins!” She grinned, releasing Fred’s nose suddenly. “I love muffins!”

“Don’t be silly, Fred.” Said Ophelia, sitting down in a chair next to his own. “I was going to come over and offer you some anyway. I even baked a few of them especially. They have some honey in their mix- I know you rather like honey, so…” She gave him a sweet smile, one that made Frederick feel incredibly self-conscious.

“W-well, thank you. I’ll be sure to have some.” Said Frederick bashfully. There was a lull in the conversation as he fell silent.

“So… What’s bothering you, Fred?” Asked Ophelia finally. “You said you haven’t been sleeping well. What’s up?”

“Well…” Started Frederick.

“Unca Fwed’s gonna tell me ‘bout my new cousin!” Squealed Lydia delightedly, causing Ophelia to suddenly focus on her instead. Frederick felt a cold chill run down his spine as the conversation was suddenly yanked from out of his control.

“N-new cousin?” She asked, an expression of shock on her face. “Fred, you… You didn’t, did you? I can’t believe…” She trailed off. It took a moment for Frederick to catch onto what she was implying, and he suddenly blushed, shaking his head.

“N-no! No, not at all.” He said quickly. “I found him on my doorstep a few days ago. I… I think he belongs to Alexander.” Said Frederick, forcing himself to calm down. “He’s about maybe a month or two old… About this big…” Frederick made a rough approximation of the baby’s size. “I don’t know if he has a name or not. I’ve just been calling him ‘baby’.” Said Frederick. He paused, clearly hesitating.

“I see.” Said Ophelia, and she reached over and took Frederick’s hand in hers. A rush of emotion flooded his system at the touch. “Go on, Fred.” She advised gently.

“W-well…” He looked at his feet nervously. “I… I tried to look after the boy. I brought him in, but… But I don’t know how.” He said, hanging his head a little. “I try to give him food- I mash it up and spoon it to him, but he doesn’t seem to want it. I try to cradle him to sleep but it hardly works, and I haven’t been able to sleep for very long since he arrived. S-so…” He looked back up at Ophelia nervously. “I came to you to help, b-because you’re a mother, and a good one, too, and I really need the help.” He said quietly. “Y-you don’t have to, but…”

Ophelia sighed, but she smiled nevertheless. “Silly Fred. You should’ve come earlier. I’d love to help you, as always.” She said.

Relief flooded through his system at that, and he nodded eagerly. “Thank you, Ophelia. I… I really do appreciate it.”

Ophelia smiled sweetly. “That’s alright. Here, why don’t Lydia and I stay over for the next few weeks or so? Until your father and Hannibal get back.” She asked.

“I… I would like that very much.” Said Frederick quietly.

“It’s settled then. Come on, Lyddie! We’re going to stay with Uncle Fred for a few weeks!”

“Whee!”