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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 13, 2016 19:33:58 GMT -5
Saying that Esmeralda had been overjoyed when little Xander had come into the world was a bit of an understatement. She couldn't be happier for Belle. After having such harsh dealings with love for so long, she had finally found a man worthy for her, and now, they had a child. Esmeralda felt that Belle deserved this happiness, and this meant that she was very happy for her. Which was why she had been lending a hand whenever she could. Being a new mother was tough. Of course, having a kid was a lot different from adopting one, but still, Esmeralda knew what some of it was like. With a smile on her face, she knocked on Belle and Duncan's front door.
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Post by zuyuri on Mar 14, 2016 0:17:46 GMT -5
Xander was not quite ready for the crawling faze, but that didn't mean he wasn't trying. He was on all fours in the living room where Belle, curled up in a chair with a book on her lap, watched. She had set out several of his toys as a means to try and lure him into crawling. Instead, all Xander ended up doing was sliding backwards on the wood floor, his face showing a mix of confusion and excitement. As Belle shook her head at her son's antics, there was a knock.
"Hmm, wonder who that is?"
She scooped up Xander, who began waving one arm to practice his hellos to whoever was behind the doorway. Belle brushed aside his messy brown hair, which was getting messier as he grew more, with a smile and opened the door to find a wide-smiling Esmeralda.
"Why, Esmeralda! This is a pleasant surprise!"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 15, 2016 9:48:44 GMT -5
Belle soon greeted the door with Xander in her arms. "I'm just full of surprises, aren't I?" she said with a laugh. "I thought I'd check in on you guys, see how motherhood is treating ya." She gave a grin at Xander. "How are you doing, dragon-boy?" she cooed, ruffling the hair on his head. "Your Auntie Esme is here to see you."
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Post by zuyuri on Mar 15, 2016 14:08:08 GMT -5
Belle laughed with Esmeralda. Oh, her friend just always knew how to make her smile. Even if Belle was in a good mood, just the energy from Esmeralda was infectious and you'd be smiling with her. Xander must have felt the same because he was joining in with giggling and babbling. His big hazel eyes locked onto 'Auntie', and his teethless gums spread into a giggle.
"He always likes when Auntie Esme comes bay," Belle cooed. "Oh, look how rude I'm being not even letting you in. Come on."
She scooted aside to let her friend come into the foyer. "Watch your step. We've been working on crawling practice, so if you hear a squeak, it's probably one of his toys."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 15, 2016 18:07:35 GMT -5
When Xander smiled, Esmeralda could see a lot of Belle in him. It seemed like she could make him happy the same way she did with her friend. Of course, you could see some Duncan in him too. There was no denying that. She followed Belle into the house. At the mention of all the toys, she glanced around the room. It looked like her friend wasn't kidding. There were quite a lot of toys scattered about. But, Xander was a baby, so that was probably expected. "Kind of looks like Shanti's room," she said with a laugh. "She tends to be on the messy side." Shanti's room tended to fall into the category of "it looks like a mess, but she knows where everything is." At least, that was what she said.
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Post by zuyuri on Mar 16, 2016 0:07:59 GMT -5
Belle laughed, "Speaking of Shanti, has been doing okay since the..." she paused, trying to think of a way to word what had happened. The Alice thing was nothing to laugh about. As she was trying to wrap her head around it, she handed Xander a squeaky toy, which he fixated his eyes on and fiddled with. Better that than her hair. "..well, let me rephrase that. How's she doing, apart from being amazingly good at finding things in a clutter?"
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 16, 2016 10:56:40 GMT -5
That was a question people asked of Shanti lately, or any kid who had been abducted by Alice a few months back. Esmeralda knew that Shanti felt especially guilty about it, though. The little girl felt like it was her fault, since she had found Alice first and had kept her a secret. Not to mention, she had seen her die before her eyes. "She's doing better," Esmeralda replied. "I think being around her friends and family has helped her out a lot." Kids were pretty resilient, but they needed support in order to do so. Luckily, Shanti had two loving parents and a group of friends that cared about her. That definitely helped her heal from the experience.
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Post by zuyuri on Mar 16, 2016 11:46:47 GMT -5
Belle sighed in relief. "Okay, good." That was the right thing to do; surround yourself with the people who you loved, and ideally, loved you in return. "But how about we move onto a lighter subject." She set Xander down, who propped himself upright, still fiddling with the toy, which squeaked with each time he pressed down.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 17, 2016 9:50:03 GMT -5
Belle was happy at Esmeralda's answer, but she decided to change the subject anyway. Esmeralda felt like that was best. No need bringing up bad events of the past. She gave a little smile as Xander played with his toy. "Has he started hitting any of those baby milestones yet?" she asked. "You know, rolling over, talking, that sort of thing?" Well, he could probably roll over by now, but Esmeralda wasn't completely sure. She didn't really know when babies were supposed to do what.
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Post by zuyuri on Mar 17, 2016 10:52:37 GMT -5
"He's actually hit a few," Belle answered. "He's starting the rocking while on all fours, he's managed to roll a bit, and well, you witnessed it yourself, he's starting to imitate talking." As she spoke, Xander looked up and babbled in the incoherent baby sounds most little ones made when trying to 'talk'. "No signs of the dragonblood, at least not that are physical. But then again, being quarter dragon probably less worries about fire sneezes."
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 18, 2016 10:51:17 GMT -5
Esmeralda couldn't help but smile at Xander's babbling. It was pretty adorable. When Belle mentioned fire sneezing, she grimaced. "Ugh, that doesn't sound like fun," she said. Baby supernaturals could be fickle like that sometimes, though. When they were young, they didn't exactly have a good grasp on their powers. Esmeralda remembered what that was like. Heck, even as an adult, her magic powers could burst out of control if she got really upset.
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Post by zuyuri on Mar 19, 2016 0:34:58 GMT -5
Belle smiled at her son conversing with the two of them...or maybe he was trying to talk with the toy, who really knew? All that mattered was he was content and adorable. "Yeah, having fire sneezes is never fun. Duncan's so sweet about his; when he has the urge, just open a window or sneeze in the trash can. It's one way to get rid of trash," she laughed, pointing to the small flecks of ash that had made their way into the floor from dumping.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 19, 2016 15:28:06 GMT -5
Esmeralda had to laugh at the mental image of that. "Well, at least there's never a dull moment," she said. "The most Aladdin does is maybe teleport to some other time when he gets super spooked. It's only happened, like, twice though."
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Post by zuyuri on Mar 19, 2016 17:19:25 GMT -5
Belle laughed. "Oh, yes. There's never a dull moment. But then again, this whole circus never has a dull moment." She scooped up Xander, who begun groping the air in Esmeralda's direction. "Oh, you want to see your aunt? Okay, I guess I can do that," Smiling, she handed her babbling baby forward.
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Post by angelofmusic1992 on Mar 19, 2016 18:20:16 GMT -5
Belle had a point. When it came to the circus, there was always something new and exciting going on. Heck, they had gotten some new members not too long ago. Facilier hadn't mentioned their names, but he had said they were musically talented. Esmeralda hoped she could meet them herself. They sounded interesting. Esmeralda took Xander into her arms and rested him on her lap. "He's cute as a button," she said with a smile. "I bet girls are gonna be falling for him once he gets older."
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