out.
Chapter 9
Dawn carefully cradled the infant as Maria passed it to her. It was snow white like her mother, but oh so tiny! With the eyes not open yet, Dawn could still imagine the child having the same beautiful eyes as her mother.
“ Lily, right?” Dawn asked.
Maria, thoroughly exhausted, nodded and smiled weakly.
“ It’s okay, Second Mother, I won’t drop her,” Dawn promised.
That lit up Maria’s face even more. “Now doesn’t that sound better?” she asked ever so faintly.
Dawn beamed back at her and caressed the infant lightly.
“ Can you spend the night, Rachel?” Ivy asked as Maria started to fall back to sleep.
“ All part of the plan, Ivy. We brought enough things for two nights in case we had to, but by the looks of things, we may be able to leave by lunch tomorrow. Both are healthy as can be,” reassured Rachel.
“ We,” s he had said. The second person in question was a strange girl of about sixteen. She was lovely enough, but quite strange in her manner, and she hadn’t spoken a word since they arrived. She had handled Lily expertly and with great care and poise, but had never even made eye contact with anyone. Gwen was her name, at least based on introductions. The only attempt at social interaction the strange girl had done was play mandolin with the twins. She was quite good at it! The twins seemed to really enjoy playing music with her as well, but just as quickly as she started, she stopped and wandered back to be with the infant again. Dawn wasn’t sure, but she could almost swear Gwen could hear the infant wake up all the way across the house. All the adults paid no mind to her idiosyncrasies and instead just enjoyed the skills she showed.
“ Besides,” continued Rachel, “It’s always nice to see Gwen spend time with the twins. She does so seem to enjoy being with them and Maria.”
“ I saw her playing music with the twins, but what is this about Maria?” asked Dawn, trying to be diplomatic.
“ Gwen is Maria’s little sister, so I guess in a manner of speaking she is your aunt. She has just been apprenticing with me as she does very well with small children and doesn’t seem to fit in many other places,” Rachel explained before quickly changing gears. “We are all just happy you have started to settle in. Everyone was worried for you.”
Dawn nodded, “I thank you for your concern. Speaking of which, how is Father?”
“ He is doing quite well,” offered one of the twins. “He should be right as rain in the morning―just still a little tired.”
The sudden voice behind her caught Dawn off guard and she visibly jumped. They were a sneaky pair! “With Maria out of action for a few days, I’ll volunteer to take Dawn into town tomorrow,” the other twin offered.
“ Thank you, May,” responded Dawn nervously. Dang! She thought she had gotten out of going to sword practice.
“ How did you know it was me and not April?” asked May both curious and surprised.
“ You are left handed and lead that way in your body posture,” Dawn replied matter-of-factly.
“ Excellent observation!” exclaimed May. “Hmm… now we will have to work on making that less obvious.”
They all had a good laugh. That was the twins for you, always scheming to maximize confusion.
“ Ivy, there is still the dance tomorrow night,” continued May. “April and I, and Gwen if she wants, can cover it if you’d like to stay here with Maria.”
“ I’ve gotten so wrapped up, I completely forgot about playing for that dance. If you two feel comfortable doing it on your own, I would indeed rather stay here,” said Ivy a little overwhelmed.
“ No problem. We’ll even take Dawn along. She’d do well on the dance floor with bells on,” snickered May.
Dance floor! Dawn started to squirm. Maybe this is what she got for publicly breaking the twins identity code! She needed to watch herself around those two.
“ She may be a little young for bells, but I
Chapter 9
Dawn carefully cradled the infant as Maria passed it to her. It was snow white like her mother, but oh so tiny! With the eyes not open yet, Dawn could still imagine the child having the same beautiful eyes as her mother.
“ Lily, right?” Dawn asked.
Maria, thoroughly exhausted, nodded and smiled weakly.
“ It’s okay, Second Mother, I won’t drop her,” Dawn promised.
That lit up Maria’s face even more. “Now doesn’t that sound better?” she asked ever so faintly.
Dawn beamed back at her and caressed the infant lightly.
“ Can you spend the night, Rachel?” Ivy asked as Maria started to fall back to sleep.
“ All part of the plan, Ivy. We brought enough things for two nights in case we had to, but by the looks of things, we may be able to leave by lunch tomorrow. Both are healthy as can be,” reassured Rachel.
“ We,” s he had said. The second person in question was a strange girl of about sixteen. She was lovely enough, but quite strange in her manner, and she hadn’t spoken a word since they arrived. She had handled Lily expertly and with great care and poise, but had never even made eye contact with anyone. Gwen was her name, at least based on introductions. The only attempt at social interaction the strange girl had done was play mandolin with the twins. She was quite good at it! The twins seemed to really enjoy playing music with her as well, but just as quickly as she started, she stopped and wandered back to be with the infant again. Dawn wasn’t sure, but she could almost swear Gwen could hear the infant wake up all the way across the house. All the adults paid no mind to her idiosyncrasies and instead just enjoyed the skills she showed.
“ Besides,” continued Rachel, “It’s always nice to see Gwen spend time with the twins. She does so seem to enjoy being with them and Maria.”
“ I saw her playing music with the twins, but what is this about Maria?” asked Dawn, trying to be diplomatic.
“ Gwen is Maria’s little sister, so I guess in a manner of speaking she is your aunt. She has just been apprenticing with me as she does very well with small children and doesn’t seem to fit in many other places,” Rachel explained before quickly changing gears. “We are all just happy you have started to settle in. Everyone was worried for you.”
Dawn nodded, “I thank you for your concern. Speaking of which, how is Father?”
“ He is doing quite well,” offered one of the twins. “He should be right as rain in the morning―just still a little tired.”
The sudden voice behind her caught Dawn off guard and she visibly jumped. They were a sneaky pair! “With Maria out of action for a few days, I’ll volunteer to take Dawn into town tomorrow,” the other twin offered.
“ Thank you, May,” responded Dawn nervously. Dang! She thought she had gotten out of going to sword practice.
“ How did you know it was me and not April?” asked May both curious and surprised.
“ You are left handed and lead that way in your body posture,” Dawn replied matter-of-factly.
“ Excellent observation!” exclaimed May. “Hmm… now we will have to work on making that less obvious.”
They all had a good laugh. That was the twins for you, always scheming to maximize confusion.
“ Ivy, there is still the dance tomorrow night,” continued May. “April and I, and Gwen if she wants, can cover it if you’d like to stay here with Maria.”
“ I’ve gotten so wrapped up, I completely forgot about playing for that dance. If you two feel comfortable doing it on your own, I would indeed rather stay here,” said Ivy a little overwhelmed.
“ No problem. We’ll even take Dawn along. She’d do well on the dance floor with bells on,” snickered May.
Dance floor! Dawn started to squirm. Maybe this is what she got for publicly breaking the twins identity code! She needed to watch herself around those two.
“ She may be a little young for bells, but I
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