frogs_of_war (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
frogs_of_war) wrote2012-06-11 09:30 am
frogs_of_war) wrote2012-06-11 09:30 am
Entry tags:
Uninterrupted, Part 5
A lady walked into the store yesterday with her four kids. She started to walk around the table in the lobby, but stopped and looked at something on it. Her older two girls (10 & 8 or so) followed her. Her two youngest (twins I think of about 6) walked on in. The girl stepped into the floral department (on the other side of the table), realized the others weren’t following, eeped, and hurried back to her mother. The boy twin walked about twenty paces along a walk parallel to the table and looked at the stuffed animals.
His mother looked up and started calling for him. He walked towards her but only until she could see him. (Which she could have simply by stepping around the table.) Then she called him over and gave him a talking to about being out of her line of sight. He plainly could not understand the fuss and thought she was overreacting. (I could tell not only from his face, but from his swagger.)
I got the feeling that she thought his behavior was because he was a boy, but I think it’s because after having two ducklings and a puppy, she had a kitten.
I also really hate parents saying ‘stay where I can see you’ because as a child you can’t understand what your parents can and can’t see. I prefer ‘stay where you can see me’. You are less likely to lose sight of your kid that way.
Title: For an Uninterrupted Date
Status: Part 5 of 10
Universe: (A Balance of) Harmonies Portland
Genre: m/m romance, family, city life, businessmen, kids
Content: kisses, frozen peas, wisdom, pronouns, measuring, a bib, dinner, a bath, shock, hope
Length: about 1,400 words
Master List
Zan and Autumn couldn’t get enough of Em. The child probably hadn’t had so many kisses in his life.
Autumn had two cloth cart covers to keep Em in the shopping cart. The finished one was pink astronaut/jet pilot contraption with a five point harness. The other was going to be a unicorn head and tail in rainbow colors and if Em was strapped in correctly, he would look like he was riding the unicorn.
And last year Autumn had redone the baby backpack her mother had carried her in for a friend who never used it because her mother-in-law bought one that was “more masculine” for her little boy. The pack, made small, fit Diemen perfectly. He could unload the car easily using both arms.
They also had a high chair for him, painted bright jewel tones. Em climbed up and refused to get down. Autumn strapped him in and sprinkled the tray with frozen peas.
Zan sat down on the counter. “If you don’t mine me saying…”
Diemen sat on a chair and waved his hand for her to continue.
“The clothes don’t make the man, or rather the gender. If little Em chooses to dress in male clothes, that doesn’t mean Em is fundamentally different than when Em wears a dress. There are ways around the male/female dichotomy.”
Diemen nodded. “That’s why I’m here: for your bountiful wisdom.”
Autumn laughed and leaned against the counter between Zan’s legs. “She’s full of wisdom, isn’t she?”
“Full of something, you mean.” Zan wrapped her arms around Autumn.
“Only good things,” Autumn insisted.
Zan laughed and kissed the top of Autumn’s head. Then she looked at Diemen. “Now back to pronouns.”
She led him over to her computer. “Gender neutral pronouns exist for just such occasions. Em’s pronoun can be a gender neutral as Em’s nickname.”
Diemen nodded. That would solve his sentence construction problems. “So what is it?”
Zan took in a breath. “That’s just it. There is more than one.”
She got up and gestured to the chair. He sat down. Zan pointed to the screen. “Read.”
He did. The web page had a chart on it with ranking at the bottom for neutrality, ease of pronunciation, and distinction from other pronouns. He leaned back. “I think the bottom three are out. I have to be able to pronounce them. And if I’m going to have to explain gender neural pronouns to the people at work and Em’s family, I want them to be as neutral as possible and for people to tell I’m using them. What do you use?”
“We use what the person in question wants us to.”
Diemen nodded. “I can see that, but what if they don’t have a preference?”
“Or you have to pick for them?” Autumn smiled.
Diemen got up and knelt in front of Em, so they were eye to eye. “What do you want to be?”
He got up and rubbed Em’s hair. “Ve sounds too sci-fi to me. I can’t imagine my family using it. So I guess ne it is.”
Em wiggled in nir chair. Diemen unfastened the tray. “Potty time.”
Em couldn’t wait to be let out. Ne slid to the floor, but then ne just stood there. Diemen picked nem up and carried nem into the hallway bathroom.
When they got out Autumn had put a pot on to boil and Zan was mixing melted butter and flour in a fry pan. Autumn turned from the stove. “I’ll need to take some measurements.”
She pulled a measuring tape from her pocket and Diemen held Em’s hands up or out or hanging at Em’s sides, so Autumn could get accurate measures. Em accommodated them and pulled off all nir clothes.
Autumn laughed. “I guess I could have asked you to do that earlier. Let’s see what I have that fits you.”
Autumn didn’t a lot of children’s clothing lying around, but she did have a bundle of creativity and oodles of fabric.
With a few snips and several rows of stitches, Em was dressed as a blue morning glory fairy minus the wings, but Autumn had the yarn and knitting needles to make these.
She also had a good gauge of Em’s favorite colors and textures and about a hundred ideas of things to make. Em would be showered with gifts even after ne went back to nir mother. Only now that Courtney had asked for a break once, she might need breaks again. Em might spend a few days a week with Diemen. He could hope. Diemen found he liked having a kid around.
Zan called them back into the kitchen. The food was done. Em let Autumn put a bib over nir clothes, which was something ne hadn’t allowed Diemen to do, but then the bib Diemen tried to use didn’t look like a beruffled christening gown.
Em was in heaven.
Ne daintily ate nir cheese sauced covered, shell shaped noodles in a way that kept most of nir fingers clean. Ne didn’t want salad dressing on nir lettuce and shredded carrots, but after watching Zan dip her salad into her homemade balsamic vinegar dressing, Em had to eat nirs that way even though ne puckered after every bite.
After dinner Em didn’t want to take the bib off. Autumn showed off a frilly nightgown sized to fit a much larger child. Em reached for it.
Autumn smiled. “Not yet. First you need a bath.”
Em couldn’t get nir clothes off fast enough.
Diemen raise his eyebrows. “You want Em to take a bath here?”
Zan grinned. “We have bath stuff. Em can try them out.”
She lead the way into the bathroom then stopped at her linen closet for pump bottles of baby soap and shampoo and a mesh bag of bath toys. Diemen decided not to ask why they had them. They must have other children in their lives, but knowing Zan she would say something racy.
Em loved the rubber ducky and the naked baby doll. Ne even insisted Diemen wash it when he washed nem.
“So,” asked Zan, “how permanent is Em?”
“In my life? I don’t know. But I wouldn’t mind if ne stuck around.” Diemen squirted a daub of shampoo onto Em’s fingers so ne could wash nir baby’s bald head.
“And what does Pavel think?”
Diemen was very glad he’d brought up the subject with Pavel earlier. “Pavel wants a family. He can’t imagine not having kids.”
He glanced up at her. She was looking at him in the mirror. “And did you want a family before Em appeared?”
Diemen shrugged and dumped a cup of water over Em’s head, careful not to get water in nir eyes. “I was hoping to get the boyfriend first and then the kids.”
Zan moved against the wall. “Autumn and I love kids, but we don’t want any of our own. We love being aunties.” She took a deep breath. “You’ve heard that Diego and Lavender adopted?”
Diemen grabbed the edge of the tub and took several deep breaths. Then he carefully washed Em’s hands taking care between all nir little fingers. “For a long time I thought that when Diego started a family, it would be with me.” He took another breath. “But I wish him the best. He must be very happy.”
Zan patted Diemen’s shoulder. “He’s feeling overwhelmed at the moment. Their little girl is younger than Em. They brought her home the day they met her.”
Diemen laughed. “Did Diego’s mother have anything to do with that?”
Zan grinned. “How’d you guess?”
Diemen offered Em a blue ducky. “She was nearly my mother-in-law. I know her all too well.”
“Feeling lucky you got away?”
Not lucky exactly. Diego’s wonderful personality more than compensated for his mother’s interference. “Pavel’s mother might be just as bad. His family seems really close.”
“But is she as Diego’s mother as Diego’s mother is?”
Diemen grinned and leaned back. “I guess I’ll find out.”
He was sure Pavel’s personality, and loving touch, would more than compensate for any deficiencies in his parents.
His mother looked up and started calling for him. He walked towards her but only until she could see him. (Which she could have simply by stepping around the table.) Then she called him over and gave him a talking to about being out of her line of sight. He plainly could not understand the fuss and thought she was overreacting. (I could tell not only from his face, but from his swagger.)
I got the feeling that she thought his behavior was because he was a boy, but I think it’s because after having two ducklings and a puppy, she had a kitten.
I also really hate parents saying ‘stay where I can see you’ because as a child you can’t understand what your parents can and can’t see. I prefer ‘stay where you can see me’. You are less likely to lose sight of your kid that way.
Title: For an Uninterrupted Date
Status: Part 5 of 10
Universe: (A Balance of) Harmonies Portland
Genre: m/m romance, family, city life, businessmen, kids
Content: kisses, frozen peas, wisdom, pronouns, measuring, a bib, dinner, a bath, shock, hope
Length: about 1,400 words
Master List
Zan and Autumn couldn’t get enough of Em. The child probably hadn’t had so many kisses in his life.
Autumn had two cloth cart covers to keep Em in the shopping cart. The finished one was pink astronaut/jet pilot contraption with a five point harness. The other was going to be a unicorn head and tail in rainbow colors and if Em was strapped in correctly, he would look like he was riding the unicorn.
And last year Autumn had redone the baby backpack her mother had carried her in for a friend who never used it because her mother-in-law bought one that was “more masculine” for her little boy. The pack, made small, fit Diemen perfectly. He could unload the car easily using both arms.
They also had a high chair for him, painted bright jewel tones. Em climbed up and refused to get down. Autumn strapped him in and sprinkled the tray with frozen peas.
Zan sat down on the counter. “If you don’t mine me saying…”
Diemen sat on a chair and waved his hand for her to continue.
“The clothes don’t make the man, or rather the gender. If little Em chooses to dress in male clothes, that doesn’t mean Em is fundamentally different than when Em wears a dress. There are ways around the male/female dichotomy.”
Diemen nodded. “That’s why I’m here: for your bountiful wisdom.”
Autumn laughed and leaned against the counter between Zan’s legs. “She’s full of wisdom, isn’t she?”
“Full of something, you mean.” Zan wrapped her arms around Autumn.
“Only good things,” Autumn insisted.
Zan laughed and kissed the top of Autumn’s head. Then she looked at Diemen. “Now back to pronouns.”
She led him over to her computer. “Gender neutral pronouns exist for just such occasions. Em’s pronoun can be a gender neutral as Em’s nickname.”
Diemen nodded. That would solve his sentence construction problems. “So what is it?”
Zan took in a breath. “That’s just it. There is more than one.”
She got up and gestured to the chair. He sat down. Zan pointed to the screen. “Read.”
He did. The web page had a chart on it with ranking at the bottom for neutrality, ease of pronunciation, and distinction from other pronouns. He leaned back. “I think the bottom three are out. I have to be able to pronounce them. And if I’m going to have to explain gender neural pronouns to the people at work and Em’s family, I want them to be as neutral as possible and for people to tell I’m using them. What do you use?”
“We use what the person in question wants us to.”
Diemen nodded. “I can see that, but what if they don’t have a preference?”
“Or you have to pick for them?” Autumn smiled.
Diemen got up and knelt in front of Em, so they were eye to eye. “What do you want to be?”
He got up and rubbed Em’s hair. “Ve sounds too sci-fi to me. I can’t imagine my family using it. So I guess ne it is.”
Em wiggled in nir chair. Diemen unfastened the tray. “Potty time.”
Em couldn’t wait to be let out. Ne slid to the floor, but then ne just stood there. Diemen picked nem up and carried nem into the hallway bathroom.
When they got out Autumn had put a pot on to boil and Zan was mixing melted butter and flour in a fry pan. Autumn turned from the stove. “I’ll need to take some measurements.”
She pulled a measuring tape from her pocket and Diemen held Em’s hands up or out or hanging at Em’s sides, so Autumn could get accurate measures. Em accommodated them and pulled off all nir clothes.
Autumn laughed. “I guess I could have asked you to do that earlier. Let’s see what I have that fits you.”
Autumn didn’t a lot of children’s clothing lying around, but she did have a bundle of creativity and oodles of fabric.
With a few snips and several rows of stitches, Em was dressed as a blue morning glory fairy minus the wings, but Autumn had the yarn and knitting needles to make these.
She also had a good gauge of Em’s favorite colors and textures and about a hundred ideas of things to make. Em would be showered with gifts even after ne went back to nir mother. Only now that Courtney had asked for a break once, she might need breaks again. Em might spend a few days a week with Diemen. He could hope. Diemen found he liked having a kid around.
Zan called them back into the kitchen. The food was done. Em let Autumn put a bib over nir clothes, which was something ne hadn’t allowed Diemen to do, but then the bib Diemen tried to use didn’t look like a beruffled christening gown.
Em was in heaven.
Ne daintily ate nir cheese sauced covered, shell shaped noodles in a way that kept most of nir fingers clean. Ne didn’t want salad dressing on nir lettuce and shredded carrots, but after watching Zan dip her salad into her homemade balsamic vinegar dressing, Em had to eat nirs that way even though ne puckered after every bite.
After dinner Em didn’t want to take the bib off. Autumn showed off a frilly nightgown sized to fit a much larger child. Em reached for it.
Autumn smiled. “Not yet. First you need a bath.”
Em couldn’t get nir clothes off fast enough.
Diemen raise his eyebrows. “You want Em to take a bath here?”
Zan grinned. “We have bath stuff. Em can try them out.”
She lead the way into the bathroom then stopped at her linen closet for pump bottles of baby soap and shampoo and a mesh bag of bath toys. Diemen decided not to ask why they had them. They must have other children in their lives, but knowing Zan she would say something racy.
Em loved the rubber ducky and the naked baby doll. Ne even insisted Diemen wash it when he washed nem.
“So,” asked Zan, “how permanent is Em?”
“In my life? I don’t know. But I wouldn’t mind if ne stuck around.” Diemen squirted a daub of shampoo onto Em’s fingers so ne could wash nir baby’s bald head.
“And what does Pavel think?”
Diemen was very glad he’d brought up the subject with Pavel earlier. “Pavel wants a family. He can’t imagine not having kids.”
He glanced up at her. She was looking at him in the mirror. “And did you want a family before Em appeared?”
Diemen shrugged and dumped a cup of water over Em’s head, careful not to get water in nir eyes. “I was hoping to get the boyfriend first and then the kids.”
Zan moved against the wall. “Autumn and I love kids, but we don’t want any of our own. We love being aunties.” She took a deep breath. “You’ve heard that Diego and Lavender adopted?”
Diemen grabbed the edge of the tub and took several deep breaths. Then he carefully washed Em’s hands taking care between all nir little fingers. “For a long time I thought that when Diego started a family, it would be with me.” He took another breath. “But I wish him the best. He must be very happy.”
Zan patted Diemen’s shoulder. “He’s feeling overwhelmed at the moment. Their little girl is younger than Em. They brought her home the day they met her.”
Diemen laughed. “Did Diego’s mother have anything to do with that?”
Zan grinned. “How’d you guess?”
Diemen offered Em a blue ducky. “She was nearly my mother-in-law. I know her all too well.”
“Feeling lucky you got away?”
Not lucky exactly. Diego’s wonderful personality more than compensated for his mother’s interference. “Pavel’s mother might be just as bad. His family seems really close.”
“But is she as Diego’s mother as Diego’s mother is?”
Diemen grinned and leaned back. “I guess I’ll find out.”
He was sure Pavel’s personality, and loving touch, would more than compensate for any deficiencies in his parents.