exhaustion {seth/open}

[wren]

Life with a one and a half-year-old plus an almost two month old baby was tiring, but somehow Wren found that she was scraping by, although from lack of sleep she felt as if she were on auto-pilot most of the time. As it was, at the moment Wren had managed to scrape together a few moments of quiet. Ruby had been laid down for her afternoon nap, and she had just given Daniel a bath and he was quite contently laying atop Wren's chest- not asleep, but quiet.

Wren herself was fighting dozing off, it somehow felt irresponsible sleeping while one of her children was still awake. Though Daniel wasn't going to go anywhere but his mother's arms while being still heavily swadled. She stroked his head gently, Daniel so far was a surprisingly easy-going baby, he wasn't anywhere near as demanding as Ruby had been at his age. Wren had thought that he would need more attention simply from how active he had been in the womb.

Thankfully, she didn't need to fight off the inviting aspect of sleep much longer as the doorbell rang. Wren slowly got up, holding Daniel in one arm and using the other to push herself to her feet. Wren quickly walked down the hall so the person wouldn't ring twice, and likely wake up Ruby, so in a few steps Wren had reached the door and pulled it open to reveal...

[violet]

Violet had been looking down at her shoelaces, but when her sister opened the door, she looked up and grinned. She hadn't been to visit in a while and was feeling sort of guilty about it, but also Violet had a bit of news to tell Wren. She had already told Jordan, and of course he was thrilled, but Violet was hoping Wren could give her a bit more of the motherly advice. Pregnancy was a scary thing after all.

"Hey Wren," Violet said, smiling at her older sister. Her grin widened as her eyes landed on Daniel, who was being held in one of Wren's arms. Not seeing Ruby around, Violet figured she must have already been put down for a nap. She hoped she hadn't awoken the little girl, but Violet figured kids were sounder sleepers than adults anyway.

[wren]

"Violet!" Wren said happily, surprised to see her younger sister, though thrilled all the same. She gave her sister a one-armed hug, as she was still holding Daniel after all, and then ushered her inside, closing the door and locking it behind her. Wren was never particularly paranoid, she lived in what was generally considered a safe neighbourhood, though she felt that it was a safe thing to do, locking the doors, especially with little ones and lots of animals in the house. As if sensing a visitor Penny padded downstairs, her tags jingling with each step.

"It's so good to see you, come sit down," said Wren, keeping her voice down in the foyer as she lead the way back to the living room. It really was a mess, she had been letting things sort of pile up around the house, she would do anything short of murder to get herself a house elf or two. "What brings you by?" asked Wren, sitting back down on the couch, where Penny immediately joined her, flopping over in her way of demanding her belly be scratched. "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you, it's been way too long."

[violet]

Violet grinned, returning her sister's sideways hug. It had always amused her that Wren had to give hugs this way; previously because she was pregnant, and now because she was holding Daniel. Violet briefly wondered if her sister would ever get back to hugging people in the normal way. Dropping the thoughts, she followed her sister into the living room, giving Penny a little scratch on the head as she did so. Violet took a polite seat on the couch, still happy as always to see her sister.

"It's great to see you as well," she said with a grin. Violet was mostly glad it was the afternoon now, as mornings had been horrid for the past week. Something about throwing up in a toilet for several hours was just not appealing to the nineteen year-old. "Well, I did want to come visit anyway," Violet said, her smile turning a bit devious as she held Wren in suspense for a moment. "But I do have a bit of news."

[wren]

Wren scratched Penny's belly absently with her free hand, only then really noticing that her hands were very frequently busy with either children or animals. Except the cat, the thing seemingly hated her for no apparent reason, he was perfectly sweet with Ruby and Zach, but she couldn't so much as pet the thing without being scratched or bitten. "I'm glad that I'm tolerable enough to be visited," said Wren, half-smiling. She didn't get visitors often, though their mother came by at least once a week to help out, which Wren was very grateful for.

"Do you?" said Wren when Violet said that she had news to share. She wondered what it could be that she already didn't know about her sister's life. They might be busy, but Wren and Violet talked about almost everything together. Could it be...? If it was Wren would be thrilled.

[violet]

Violet's eyes couldn't help but follow Wren as she scratched Penny's belly. She supposed that Wren had to get awfully lonely at home, especially when no adults came to visit her. With Zachariah gone all day and two kids to care for, Wren's life was anything but easy. But as always, Violet's sister was making the most of it and had a smile on her face.

Violet grinned at her sister. "I'm pregnant," she said, unable to contain her grin. Sure, a baby would be hard work, but Violet was excited. She had been focusing on her career for a while and was finally a full Auror, so now was the perfect time to start having a family. Well, as perfect as Violet supposed it would ever be. No time was really perfect.

[wren]

Wren's life was a lot of work, though she thought that everything was all worth it. She loved her husband, daughter, and son more than anything in the world, it brought her a lot of happiness to be able to care for them and anyone else that she loved. Of course, she wasn't exactly enjoying having two children under the age of two, but they would keep each other company when they got older. Or at least she hoped they would, rather than bicker too much as young children seemed to do. But Wren felt she was very close with all her siblings, and wanted the same for her kids.

She emitted a squeal of happiness when Violet said that she was pregnant, her suspicions had been been correct and she couldn't have been happier. For this she would lay Daniel down and hug her sister properly. Wren carefully laid Daniel in his baby swing and went over to give Violet a real hug. "Oh congratulations! This is just wonderful!" Wren said enthusiastically, and then gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting back down again. "I've got all sorts of baby things you can use, I'll help wherever you want, oh I'm going off at the mouth again, but I' so happy for you!"

[violet]

Violet jumped a bit at her sister's squeal of glee. She knew that Wren had been hoping that she and Jordan would have kids for a while, but she hadn't realized her sister would be quite this excited about it. But Violet was excited too. She didn't quite know what it was about having kids, but they seemed to fill people with happiness.

"Thanks," Violet said, grinning from ear to ear. She let her sister ramble for a moment until Wren calmed down a bit. "I'm really excited too!" She laughed slightly, thinking of all the times she had told Jordan she didn't want kids just yet. But now Violet felt as if she was ready. Well, she would have to be anyway. There was a baby coming.

[wren]

Wren hadn't meant to squeal so loudly, she just loved anything to do with babies, and she got very excited when a pregnancy was announced, especially if it was someone close to her who was going to have a baby. She was sure it wouldn't matter if it was someone's first or twelfth baby, she would probably react with the same amount of glee- but there was something special about the first pregnancy, or at least she felt that way. "Oh you should be excited!" Wren said enthusiastically, "starting your own family is such a special thing. Oh I bet Jordan's thrilled too!"

Wren had known for a long while that Jordan had wanted kids, but for a stable home to be created Wren felt that both parents needed to be ready before they had children. That was what she and Zach had wanted from the very beginning, they had wanted children straightaway. Hence she had gotten pregnant on their honeymoon, but they hadn't exactly been planning on that... "If you need anything don't hesitate to ask," said Wren, "it'll be a little hard at first but you'll have so much fun!"

[violet]

Violet laughed at her sister's obvious delight; Wren wasn't particularly hard to please, but just the thought of babies seem to fill her with happiness. Violet was sure that Wren would have another child sometime in the future, though perhaps not soon since she had two little ones at the moment, but all children seemed to be angels in Wren's eyes.

"He's really excited," Violet assured her sister, enjoying the happy glow in Wren's eyes as they talked about Violet's pregnancy. Truthfully, she was a bit nervous, but the feeling was largely overwhelmed by her excitement. She had never expected to have a child while she was still so young, but Violet was quickly adjusting to the idea. "I'm sure I'll ask you for help all the time," Violet said with a laugh. "But it'll be great."

[wren]

Wren hardly felt tired anymore, the news that her sister was going to be having a baby had seemingly jolted her system. Of course, it didn't take too much she supposed, Wren was a naturally excitable person. But she did love children and babies more than she could say. "Oh it's hard not to be," said Wren. Hopefully the child might be able to help bridge the relationship between Violet and their parents again. It was hard on her, not having everyone in the family getting along like they should be doing. Everyone in her family was important to her equally, she couldn't choose sides.

Sure, she had been a little skeptical of Violet and Jordan's relationship, but only at first. Wren had been able to see the love between them, and she couldn't possibly have gone against it, she thought that all true love was beautiful. "I'll be happy to give it where I can," said Wren, "it'll be fantastic, and when he or she gets older there will be cousins to play with. That reminds me, did you have the healer tell you the gender?" Wren herself had been unable to wait a whole nine months and jumped at the opportunity to be told the sex of her babies, it had been the right choice for her to find out right away, especially with the kind of charms healers had come up with for determining whether parents needed to buy pink or blue.

[violet]

Violet couldn't help but continue to smile as she saw the happiness beaming from Wren. No longer did her sister look the least bit tired, she looked absolutely radiant. Wren had always loved babies, but Violet had never really realized it so much as she did at that moment. Her sister seemed hardly able to contain herself. Violet only hoped that the rest of her family would be half as happy for her. None of them really approved of Jordan, but perhaps a baby would help things.

Violet shook her head as Wren asked her if she knew the child's gender yet. Violet had nearly been too overwhelmed to even think about it after the healer told her the news, but in the end she had elected not to hear the gender. "No, I think I'll find out at the next check-up," she replied. "I'm hoping Jordan will be able to go with me to that one so we can find out together." Violet really had no preference as to the baby's gender, but she felt it would be good to know at least.

[wren]

Wren once again found herself petting Penny the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, the dog practically demanded attention just from that cute face of hers. Penny really was her dog more than anything else, the cat practically hated her. Of course, Wren was the one that was home all day, so it seemed only natural that the dog would buddy up to her the most. "How sweet," Wren commented as Violet said that she wanted to be with Jordan so they could find out the gender of their baby together. She hadn't been nearly so patient and opted to be immediately told, but it had helped her to plan creative ways of telling Zach.

With Ruby, Wren had bought a pink balloon that had "It's a girl!" written on it, then stuck it in the shower before he had gotten up in the morning, so Zach would find it later. And then with Daniel Wren had floated a blue pacifier in Zach's morning coffee. He had reacted nearly the same way each time, that being hilariously. He hadn't noticed the balloon until he had started washing his hair, and with the pacifier hadn't noticed until he nearly swallowed it. "How did you let Jordan know?" asked Wren, now curious to see if Violet had done anything creative, or had just told him.

[violet]

Violet glanced down at Penny, smiling yet again as the cute dog demanded Wren's attention. Violet liked dogs well enough so she reached down to pet Penny once again. She was awfully sweet after all, and seemed to adore Wren. Dogs were very family-oriented like that. Most of them loved to be around people.

"Yeah, I think he'll like coming," Violet commented, trying to think when that appointment would be. No time in the immediate future, but perhaps in a couple months she would need to go back to St. Mungo's to check on the unborn child's progress. Violet was excited to go, especially since she doubted she could work much until the baby was born. The field for an auror was simply too dangerous for that.

"I didn't do anything creative," Violet replied with a shrug. Wren had told her about how she had surprised Zachariah. While Violet had thought the ideas were quite amusing, she hadn't decided to implement one of her own. Telling Jordan had seemed like the simpler option. "He got home from work and I just told him. Still, it was exciting."

[wren]

Wren chuckled a bit as Violet petted Penny as well, the little dog looked like she had achieved ultimate nirvana or something because she was being paid attention to by two people at the same time. She really did love her dog, Wren just had a passion for life in general, but Penny was special. Not just because she was cute, but she was one of the most patient dogs that Wren had ever met. Very good with children, she never growled or nipped, even if Ruby started pulling on her ears. Of course, Wren wouldn't leave her toddler alone with any of the animals, Ruby didn't know her strength- especially with the more delicate rabbits.

Wren had gotten Winston for her nineteenth birthday from Zach, they had gotten Steve when the other rabbit looked like he was getting lonely. But gladly they had managed to get two male rabbits, Wren loved animals and babies, but they couldn't have droves of baby bunnies in their house. "That sounds like a good idea for you two," said Wren, smiling as she recalled how much she and Zach had bonded over both her pregnancies. Going to appointments together, going out shopping for baby things... It had been a fun and intimate thing for them to experience together.

Wren nodded, that was one of the places where she and Violet differed- Wren was more likely to have fun with it, while her little sister would more often go for the more straightforward route. "I bet," said Wren, "especially if he wasn't exactly planning on hearing it." Wren found it fun to surprise people, especially her husband and her mother. Her mother had cried both times.