+- World of Pern (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum)
+-- Forum: Southern Pern (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Old Katila (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=96)
+---- Forum: Personal Huts (https://pern.second-pass.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=108)
+---- Thread: Father in Training [R'nd Solo] (/showthread.php?tid=1180)
Father in Training [R'nd Solo] - R'nd - 30.Dec.12
R’nd never thought he would be a father. He figured he would father children given his habits but his habits were also the reason why he didn’t think he’d have to play the role of a parent. He was completely okay with the assumption that most of the blonde children running around Katila were likely his but no one had made him acknowledge a single one of them
Until twenty months ago when Volfetti proved him wrong.
R’nd had somehow managed to convince himself he could be a father to that fat but adorable child, if only because Volfetti had asked him to be and he had always tried to get the woman to open up and be friends with him. No, that wasn’t the only reason; R’nd felt he could be a better person if he tried to help raise a child. Thankfully, Volfetti was okay with taking on the majority of tasks and raising their son while R’nd continued to behave as he always did and occasionally remembered to drop off gifts for his little family or to spend time with his son, as supervised as it was.
In recent times, Volfetti was letting R’nd hang out with Benden unsupervised a bit more while she rested or did some chores. Every visit was a learning experience but R’nd grew more confident every time and knew the brat he spoiled rotten was working his way deeper into his heart. Still, it was surprising to have Volfetti announce she wanted to drop Benden off early one afternoon and pick him up again late that evening after chores and just being a woman on her own, not a mom. Not a single protest was made from the flighty bluerider as R’nd felt he was ready for a large chunk of time with his kid, especially since he seemed to spend more time with B’jin’s daughter lately. He had warmed up to the chatter box but knew it was going to start to look odd if he was always with Amorandii but not Benden.
From past visits, R’nd knew how to Benden-proof his hut and when Volfetti came and did the over-protective mother thing of checking out the surroundings, he was rewarded with a chubby baby boy in his arms and a nod of approval. When Volfetti left, R’nd had the usual battle with Benden being sulky and asking for his mama but they never lasted long, especially now that the boy was remembering who his daddy was and he was the provider of toys and sweets. Thankfully the silent tears only lasted several minutes before R’nd was able to convince Benden they would have fun together and Volfetti would be back later on.
But that begged the question – what exactly would they do to pass the time and have fun? R’nd went to the small box he kept hidden behind the couch and pulled out some wooden blocks. Everyone loved those, right? Benden usually did though the bluerider knew it was more because they made for a good projectile during a tantrum. That screaming and violence definitely came from Volfetti. “Hey, kiddo. How high do you think we can build a tower?” R’nd wasn’t expecting too much in the way of verbal answers since his son was babbling a lot but he hadn’t mastered the art of full and comprehensive sentences just yet. He wasn’t worried though; he was a master wordsmith and knew his son would be as well. The ladies didn’t stand a chance when Benden was set free on the weyr!
The playing with blocks went over well but it wasn’t enough to keep either of them interested for the entire time together and soon enough Benden was growing fidgety and R’nd was wondering what else they could do. He hadn’t really thought the day through when he agreed to spend more time with his son. More toys were brought out but nothing seemed to be overly entertaining to the boy and R’nd finally gave up on the idea of staying. This was the child of two people that were of Sea-crafting families and loved the sun and water – surely Benden enjoyed the outdoors more than he did hanging out inside all day? With that idea now firmly rooted in his head, R’nd roused Ayyonth and did a quick preparation for a beach trip.
The only real question left to the bluerider that held a bag in one hand and a child in the other was, would Volfetti kill him slowly or quickly when she realised he took Benden on a dragon ride? He assumed Benden had been on a long trip with his mother before since he was aware of a few swimming lessons she was already giving the boy but R’nd hadn’t asked who the kind rider was or how much Volfetti trusted him. He liked to think she had trust in Ayyonth and him, though. Had he given her any reasons to fear for anyone with the cerulean blue dragon in the sky? With that bit of confidence and Benden’s giggling at Ayyonth nosing at the grabby little hands, R’nd carefully got them situated and they took off for a leisurely flight down to the beach.
It was a bit cool still for a child to splash around in the lake so even with Benden’s obvious delight at the idea of being at the water’s edge, R’nd settled them in a bit further up the lake to where the sand just started to go from wet to dry as Ayyonth sprawled out on the beach to continue sunning but to also block the light breeze coming from the west. “Do you want to see if we can turn our castle of blocks into a sand castle?” R’nd pulled out a bowl from the bag he had quickly packed and started dumping small handfuls of sand into it. Benden was soon helping and when they had it patted down firmly, R’nd flipped it over, tapped it – with Benden giggling as he helped, and slowly removed it to reveal the base of their castle. “Not a bad start, kiddo!”
They worked together for a bit with the same routine, switching out between a few bowls of different sizes, until they had a castle and four towers around it. It wasn’t the best one he had ever made but R’nd liked it all the same. There was a unique charm to it with some of the sides being a bit wonky and roofs having a child’s handprint on it. “I like that. We should do that as our signature – a sign to show that we made it.” R’nd smoothed out an area in front of the castle and pressed his hand down in it to show his print and then pointed to a spot where Benden should leave his mark. After that, R’nd used his finger to print their names under their respective handprints. He may not have been as worldly as the original riders or as well-educated as the Northerners, but he could still read and write and R’nd was comfortable with that fact of life but decided Benden would know that and more. If he was going to be an active father, then he was going to spoil his son and make sure he had the best in everything. In a few more turns, B’jin could take Benden into one of his classes and help guide his son.
“Do you like it?” R’nd questioned the toddler as they sat back to admire their work. Benden gave an enthusiastic ‘yeah!’ and left another handprint though this time it was a wet sand one on R’nd’s thigh. As much as he liked to always look his best, R’nd just laughed, never upset over sand getting on him. Well, almost never. He hadn’t been too thrilled when Indivara dumped sand on his head. That had been annoying to wash out!
“What do you want to do now? Should we head back?” R’nd imagined it was time to check on the kid’s diaper – something he absolutely hated to do but Volfetti had cornered him early on in how to do it – since Volfetti said she was thinking about starting the potty training soon and that sounded like a whole new nightmare. Benden pointed at the lazy dragon. “Ayonf!” R’nd laughed at the pronunciation of his dragon’s name, more because of Ayyonth’s startled curiosity over being addressed than Benden’s attempt on the strange name. He had to admit, he was glad the kid didn’t have to try saying ‘R’nd’ like Amorandii did. She had given up early on and went with ‘Uncle Orwind’ instead. Ayyonth and him made quite the pair with their names!
As Benden got to his feet, eyes glued on Ayyonth as much as the dragon’s were on the child, R’nd figured that meant it was time for them to go and stood as well. It would have been a successful plan if Benden’s excitement and sand weren’t a bad mix that sent the child falling forward after a few steps. Benden rolled over when R’nd knelt beside him and they stared at each other for a moment, both in shock. Would Benden cry? What was he supposed to do? “Oops,” R’nd opted to go with, since nothing else would come to mind. He figured it was best not to make a big deal out of it, especially since sand wasn’t exactly a rough landing spot and there didn’t seem to be any marks on the boy. The only thing that looked out of place was some sand stuck to pouty lips and R’nd wiped it away only to be rewarded with his still shocked son sticking his tongue out, showing it had sand on it as well.
Well, that sucked.
“Keep your tongue out, Benden. Like this,” R’nd demonstrated by sticking his tongue out and keeping his mouth open as he picked up and carried the wide-eyed child to the water. Benden copied his daddy like he often did, something R’nd took advantage of, like now, or in getting the boy to mimic him when it was time to be quiet with a simple finger to the lips. R’nd couldn’t say if Benden knew exactly what he was doing or why but he felt his son was rather clever for his age and at least knew when to keep secrets. Doing so meant more gifts, right?
R’nd set Benden down just out of reach of the water and used the end of his shirt it to wipe at the little tongue to get most of the sand off. Next, he scooped up some water in cupped hands, “I want you to sip a little water but don’t swallow it. Spit it out, okay? Like this,” again, R’nd demonstrated by sipping up the water, gave a quick swish and spit it back out, aiming away from them. Another scoop of water and he held it out for Benden who took a little sip. A wrinkled nose was the only indicator that the boy didn’t like holding it in his mouth and soon was spitting it back out as well – into the face of the man who was foolish enough to continue crouching in front of a boy drinking lake water.
Again they stared at each other with wide eyes. “Oooops,” Benden finally spoke and both were laughing again as R’nd wiped at his face with his shirt that was turning into a towel. “But is your tongue better?” When Benden showed it off and confirmed all was well, they packed up and made their way home again.
After a harrowing journey into the land of diaper changing upon returning to the hut, Benden seemed in better spirits but hungry. The staff in the kitchen would have helped him out and snuck him some food but R’nd didn’t want to make the trip over there and figured he could try to whip something together with the few ingredients he had already gotten out of his favourite kitchen workers. He wasn’t the best in the culinary arts, it was true, but R’nd figured he could make something simple for his son. How hard could it be? Putting Ayyonth on baby-sitting duties for a bit, which both dragon and child seemed happy with, R’nd set about his masterpiece.
An hour later, R’nd had nothing to show for his efforts except for a messy kitchen and a plate of burned food. He couldn’t serve that! He wouldn’t even eat that mess so there was no way he was making his son try it. “Ayyonth, a few more minutes, I promise!” As R’nd ran out the door in the direction of a neighbour he knew could cook, he spotted Benden climbing on Ayyonth’s tail and for a moment he hesitated, worried someone would get hurt and most likely it would be him when Volfetti saw that form of play. Quit worrying. Benden is fine and has been having fun for the last hour you’ve been destroying things. I didn’t think you hated food so much. R’nd answered with a glare and a, “stupid dragon,” mumbled good-naturedly under his breath before continuing on his mission.
Ten minutes later, R’nd had a plate of kid-approved – or so he was assured – vegetables, fruit, and a little bit of meat to share with Benden. It wasn’t a masterpiece but it was good enough for the bluerider that was losing energy after all the adventures of the afternoon. Benden didn’t seem to mind too much either. He pointedly avoided some of the items and gave the pout to end all pouts when R’nd tried pleading with the kid to eat a bit of everything. R’nd was starting to regret teaching his son how to pout so effectively. So far, from what he could tell, Benden only used it on his father to get more treats. The brat was good.
After tidying up Benden and making a small effort in cleaning up the disaster his kitchen had become, R’nd was wiped and Benden wasn’t looking much better. Volfetti would likely be by in an hour or so but R’nd decided nap time was in order all the same. A row of pillows was set up along one side of the bed, Benden was placed beside it, and R’nd crawled in after to create the other wall that helped to block the child in. He had no idea if any of that was necessary, but he wasn’t risking anyone rolling out of bed and getting a single bruise. He had no desire to add horrible father to the gossip about him!
R’nd tried to think about stories he had been told as a child but nothing was coming to him. Going off of the way Amorandii liked to tell her own stories and the way it sounded like B’jin just made things up about the people in their lives, R’nd decided to tell Benden about his aunt and uncle and he’d never get to meet but turned them into a prince and princess that grew up on the sea. He didn’t get far into the story before they were both nodding off and story time ended for nap time.
At one point, R’nd startled, woken by what sounded like someone coming in. Through sleepy blurry eyes, he spotted the figure in the doorway to the bedroom and lazily smiled at the visitor. He was far too tired to be embarrassed over being seen in such an adorable set up with Benden curled up beside him, fast asleep although he felt later on he would be given the expression B’jin wore as he took in the scene. The greenrider loved his brats and no doubt had experiences similar to what he stumbled upon. He likely would also want to know the details of the day leading up to that moment. Don’t worry, I’ll fill him in on those. R’nd would have groaned but instead went for kissing his fingers and blowing the kiss to B’jin. B’jin returned the gesture but silently entering the room, placing a kiss, on R’nd’s forehead, and slipping back outside. They would meet up again later on.
A few minutes later when B’jin was heard laughing outside, R’nd knew Ayyonth had indeed shared the adventures of the day and cringed. He would be hearing about it for a month, at least!
Not too long after that, Volfetti arrived with Ayyonth giving R’nd enough notice to crawl out of bed and start the process of getting Benden up and ready. When they got to the front door, R’nd paused before passing Benden over to his mother, “I’ll see you again very soon, okay, Benden?” The answer he was given wasn’t one he was expecting but R’nd smiled all the same when the boy threw his arms around R’nd’s neck and gave him a hug. Apparently their time together had been good for everyone.
“Thanks, Vol. For trusting me, I mean. I’ll come by soon, I promise.”
ooc: B’jin used with permission.