The Princess' Arrival
SJMNGW Prompt: Pick a Trope | Big Brother Instinct
Word Count: 665
Summary: After months of waiting, Nyx finally gets to meet his little sister. He knows the second he sees her no one is going to hurt her. He'll always be there to protect her.
AN: I write about kids, but not through kid povs, so excuse the awkwardness. You might all find this terrible, but at least the moodboard is cute.
Nyx was frightened.
Everything had happened so quickly.
Just a few hours ago he had been sat beside his mother, talking about going for a walk down the Sidra after dinner. But then she had frozen, his father and Aunt Elain winnowing into the Riverhouse a moment later. Aunt Elain took him to his room, telling him that his mother would be fine in that soothing way she had. In a few hours he would have a sibling.
“Do you think you’ll have a brother or sister?” his aunt asked.
“I don’t know. I just want everyone to be okay.”
They didn’t think he knew what happened. And they were right in him not knowing much, but the healers talked. So did his aunts and uncles at times. And Nyx had always been quiet and clever. Something dangerous happened when he was born. Aunt Nesta had helped fix it. But it haunted his family. Especially after Madja had announced that his brother or sister would have wings too.
“Can you see if she’s going to be okay?”
His aunt stiffened slightly. She had come to accept her gifts, he knew, but she didn’t love it. “It doesn’t quite work that way, Nyx. But we have no reason to believe the birth will cause any trouble for your mother.”
He nodded, feeling somewhere between wanting to press his aunt to check on his mother and wanting to discuss a different subject entirely. And he knew he shouldn’t be a bother right now. So he’d sit. He’d wait. ~~~~~ “Nyx.”
He straightened with a snort. Uncle Cassian and Aunt Nesta had come to replace Aunt Elain hours ago, as as his uncle opened the wing curled around Nyx’s small frame, he spotted his father in the doorway. “Are they okay?!”
His father smiled. “Everyone is just fine. Your mother is exhausted and sleeping now, but she’s perfectly safe.” He held out his hand.
“Are you ready to meet your sister?”
Nyx grinned. “I have a sister?” He hadn’t realized that would make him so happy. His family still told him girls were gross. But they meant girls you kiss. His little sister wouldn’t be gross. She’d be an angel. “I want to meet her! Now, now, now!”
“Alright, slow down.” Ignoring his fathers offered hand, he bolted towards the Riverhouse’s master bedroom, knowing that was where he’d find his mother and sister. “Quiet now. Remember, your mother needs to rest."
Practically bouncing on his feet, he waited for his father to unlock the door, pouting when he took him by the arm to slow his pace. “Dad,” he whined.
“Walking feet now.”
“Yes sir.”
He made his way to the side of the bed, kissing his mother’s cheek before skipping towards the small bassinet where a bundle of pink and white slept all swaddled in a blanket—just as his parents had taught him to swaddle his doll. Practice for when the baby came. Now he could help take care of her.
“I want to hold her!” he whispered loudly.
“Sit on the foot of the bed, and cradle your arms like we taught you with your doll. That’s it.”
He kept his arms as steady as he could as his father gently set his sister in the cradle he’d made. “She’s so tiny.”
“So were you. She’ll grow, though.”
“Babies grow slow. She’ll need protection.” He stroked the dark fuzz that just peeked out from under her pink hat. “I’ll keep her safe.”
“I know we can count on you for that.” He turned at his mother’s voice, accidentally jostling the infant he held. She began to cry. “Oh dear. Rhys.”
Nyx frowned as his father took her from his arms. Still, he scrambled to the head of the bed, sitting cross-legged to face his mother as she soothed his sister. “What’s her name, Mama?”
“Roxanna. Our little star.”
“Roxanna,” he repeated. He leaned over to kiss her forehead. “I’ll always keep you safe, Roxanna. I promise.”
~~~~~
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