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Post by Demeter on Jul 24, 2006 13:05:47 GMT -5
OOC: many months after Tragedy - Look out, rugrat! "That's it, that's it, you can do it," Aurelie cooed to her daughter. "That's it. Oh," she said, laughing as her daughter fell down and started to giggle. She walked over and scooped up the baby. She tickled the baby's stomach for a moment before walking over to the ice box to get a bottle for the baby. "That's my good girl," she cooed. She set Léa down on the ground and took a few steps away. She gestured slightly with her hands. "C'mon, you can do it," she cooed to her daughter. A half written to Demetrius lay on her desk - however... Rowen quickly headed to the front door. "Sh... She doesn't know I sent for you. Léa's starting to learn how to walk," he said, indicating that Demetrius should head for the kitchen where the pair was. OOC: tag, Demi  |
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Post by Sky on Jul 24, 2006 16:22:24 GMT -5
 In the months since Mena's death, Demetrius had taken a turn for the worse. Right after she had died, he had convinced himself that even though the experience was painful, he had learned a much needed lesson and that somehow things would end up okay - maybe even better than okay. He would be a better father. A better person. But as the days and weeks passed, he knew this wasn't so. He missed her. More than missed her. He needed her back. Life simply wasn't the same without her - something their children could certainly attest to. While he had managed to be a larger part of their lives, he knew that nothing he could do would ever fill the shoes left behind by Mena. And that realization dealt him a serious blow. For a while, he had managed to keep up an outward appearance that he was coping well. He knew that people had spoken of him admirably - had been relieved to see that he wasn't crumbling to pieces. That he was holding it together for his family. That he was being strong. But the truth was that whole time he had been everything but okay. On the inside, he had fallen to pieces long ago. He had been filled with self-doubt about his ability to be there for his children. Had faced overwhelming amounts of regret for the times he had been unfaithful to Mena. Had wondered how he could even keep going long enough to see the next day. Now, however, the outside was catching up to the inside. It was becoming clearly visible to those around him that he wasn't as okay as he had claimed to be. He was losing weight; his face had been gaunt and drawn; he had dark circles beneath his eyes from nights of tossing and turning, and his mouth seemed to always be set in an unconscious grim line. It was as though he had suddenly aged ten years. The strangest thing of all, however, was that Demetrius did not even seem to be aware of the change. He, once the vainest of the vain, would have noticed even the slightest line in his face but now it was as if he was blind to it all. So when Demetrius entered Rowen's home after several months absence, the strange look he received from his friend did not penetrate his thoughts. Instead, he only nodded once and walked heavily toward the kitchen. |
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Post by Demeter on Jul 24, 2006 21:14:25 GMT -5
Léa toddled to her mother before falling down and sitting there, glancing around. "Dada!" she cried upon seeing Demetrius walk into the kitchen. "Dada dada dada!" she repeated over and over again. "Up up," she added, almost demanding that he pick her up.
Aurelie glanced up and saw Demetrius - or the man that he had become. She masked a small grimace expertly before her eyes widened in surprise. "How, when? I hadn't finished sending you a letter saying that our daughter was starting to walk."
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Post by Sky on Jul 24, 2006 21:28:00 GMT -5
Bending down to pick up Léa, Demetrius answered simply, "Rowen." |
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Post by Demeter on Jul 24, 2006 22:46:08 GMT -5
Léa squealed with delight when Dada picked her up, and she snuggled close. "Dada," she softly sighed. She wrapped a hand in Demetrius's hair and giggled as she tugged it.
"sorry," Aurelie said sheepishly. "I probably should have warned you that she was in the hair pulling stage." It seemed that motherhood was finally agreeing with Aurelie, as she had slowly regained the weight she had lost during her carrying little Léa - she looked far more healthier now that she was away from the royal court and was with her family again. Her eyes sparkled with the life that had been missing while she was a lady-in-waiting to Riannon.
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Post by Sky on Jul 24, 2006 23:14:43 GMT -5
With a thin smile that did not reach his eyes, Demetrius answered, "You are both looking well." As he held his daughter, however, Demetrius seemed detached and the jokes he would have once made about the irony of Aurelie looking healthy and he looking worn down when only not so long ago it had been the other way around were the farthest things from his lips. |
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Post by Demeter on Jul 25, 2006 7:09:39 GMT -5
Aurelie was not so gifted with being demure as she had been. Her expression softened before she shook her head. "When the hell was the last time you ate? Hell, when was the last time you slept?" she asked, walking over to the icebox to see if she had the ingredients within to make one very thick soup - something that would stick to his ribs and help him regain weight.
She could feel his eyes on her and she smiled softly to herself. "I hope you're hungry, because this soup Wysteria taught me to make is enough to feed a small army."
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Post by Sky on Jul 25, 2006 14:56:51 GMT -5
"I'm fine," Demetrius said automatically for in recent months he had grown accustomed to having to answer many questions similar to those Aurelie had just asked. And as such, he had long ago stopped hearing the worry behind his friends' words. Now questions asking him 'are you losing weight? are you sleeping?' were answered just as routinely as those asked in polite conversation. Finally growing weary of holding his daughter, Demetrius set Léa down and then said tonelessly, "Her Majesty has insisted that I take time off so if you like, I can remain here for a couple days before I go home to see my boys." At the mention of his sons, Demetrius felt his spirits sag even lower. Ever since he had told them about their mother's death, their relationship had changed. His youngest, Damien, had grown more attached to him, but his eldest, Alec . . . wanted nothing to do with him. He knew that Alec blamed him for Mena's death and it killed him. Plain and simple. It killed him. Because deep in his heart, he knew that he was to blame. |
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Post by Demeter on Jul 25, 2006 15:19:42 GMT -5
Aurelie turned around and fixed him with a look. "And I call bull. You look anything but fine. You look like you're dead and just haven't realized it," she snapped. "Look, you still have people to live for, you can't give up and die on them now."
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Post by Sky on Jul 25, 2006 15:25:32 GMT -5
Not wanting to get into this discussion with her, Demetrius bent over and picked up Léa again. Ignoring everything that Aurelie had just said, Demetrius lightly bounced his daughter in his arms as he asked with forced cheeriness, "Do you want to play outside with dada?" |
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Post by Demeter on Jul 25, 2006 15:29:57 GMT -5
"Dada!" Léa chimed, snuggling close. Her dark eyes stared up and held his. She giggled and started to suck on her thumb waiting to see what was going to happen next.
Aurelie sighed. He was going to avoid her discussion, wasn't he. "Might as well, I need to make this and I can't keep her entertained."
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Post by Sky on Jul 25, 2006 15:40:52 GMT -5
Taking his daughter outside to the yard that was in clear view of the kitchen window, Demetrius sat her on his shoulders and then jogged around slowly. With the faintest of smiles, he briefly remembered how his own father used to carry him around like that. How he had laughed with glee at the strange sensation of being up so high. How it had made him feel as though he was on top of the world. Reaching up to lightly tickle Léa's stomach, Demetrius hoped that someday when he was long gone and dead that she too would look back upon this time with him as something dear to her heart. |
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Post by Demeter on Jul 25, 2006 16:01:26 GMT -5
Léa looked down and then around. She giggled at the sight - it was so different being on top of Daddy's shoulders. And when Daddy started to tickle her... she started to laugh harder. "Dada!" she cried, giggling with excitement. She liked Dada - but she wanted him with Mama.
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Post by Sky on Jul 25, 2006 19:11:41 GMT -5
After a while, Demetrius lifted Léa down off his shoulders and back into his arms. "Time to go inside, kiddo," he said, trying to push away dark thoughts lurking on the edges of his mind. Demetrius knew that children were very perceptive - more so than most adults gave them credit for. And the last thing he was going to do was to hang a black cloud over Léa's childhood just because of what he was going through emotionally. "Let's go see your mama, okay?" |
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Post by Demeter on Jul 26, 2006 6:20:15 GMT -5
Léa nodded in agreement - or would have had she understand everything besides the word Mama. "Mama," she chimed.
"Mama" was just finishing taking a pie out of the oven when Demetrius came back in carrying Léa. She offered him a warm smile and gestured to the table. "Sit, sit, take a load off your feet. Meal should be ready in a minute. You hungry?"
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