In the woods Tag: Eva

Ariel silently listened to what Eva was saying. After Eva was finished talking, Ariel said, "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll have to see how she is when she's older. Of course, I worry sometimes that she'll think it's fine to have a baby when she's a teenager or that she'll think that a boy is supposed to hit a girl."

She paused then said, "I can't really do much except wait and take things as they come. As for us getting settled in, it may take awhile."

OOC: No problem.

OOC: I'm back on now.
IC:
"She probably won't think that," Eva said comfortingly. "If watching Matt hit her made her cry, at least she sees that that's wrong. And you have plenty of time to teach her what's the better way of doing things. Besides, you didn't choose to have her when you did. Nothing that happened was your fault."

She paused and turned to look at Lila again. The tiny girl was starting to look a little sleepy, even though she was still absorbed in the toys.

"Speaking of sleep, do either of you two need it?" she asked.

OOC: Good.

Ariel silently listened to what Eva was saying. She was right. Nothing that had happened was her fault. She couldn't help but feel like it was her fault sometimes, though.

"Even though none of what happened isn't my fault, I still sometimes feel like it is," she said. "I couldn't have done anything about what happened, but I blame myself."

Ariel paused and looked over at Lila, noticing she looked sleepy. She then said to Eva, "As for sleeping, I think we both could use some. Lila may not want to sleep, though. Oh, and I have to figure out some way to get her to want to stop playing. If the trains are taken from her, she won't be happy. Any suggestions?"

Eva chewed her lip in thought once again, the venom of her teeth not making a mark since she didn't break the skin. She hadn't been around very little children much since she was a ten year old child and her first half-sibling was born.

Pequeño Antonio, she thought with a small, affectionate smile. He had been a sweet boy.

"Hm," she said aloud. "Maybe we should wait until she's a little bit more tired. If she hasn't had any toys in a while, it might be good to just let her play and enjoy herself."

"That's probably a good idea," Ariel said to Eva. "Especially since she hasn't had any toys in awhile. I wouldn't want to stop her fun. Besides, she may get ried soon. I hope. Then again, she may not. We'll have to wait and see."

Ariel paused then looked at Eva and said, "We're going to need some things like some new clothes and of course some diapers for Lila. I have a few diapers left, but she's going to need more. Unless, of course, I just use cloth diapers." She paused then said, "In anycase, we'll need some things."

Eva looked over Ariel once, sized her up, and decided that she was definitely right.

"Very true," she said aloud. "You're a good bit shorter than me, even if we are probably about the same clothes size, so you won't be able to borrow my things to go out. And of course Lila will need things too besides diapers. She might not like the food that I have in the fridge, and she might need something else to wear too." After a pause for thought, Eva added, "We can go shopping tomorrow."

"You're right. She'll need more than just diapers like new clothes, a crib, definately some different food, and it'd be really nice to have a stroller for her. That way I wouldn't have to carry her. She can walk, but it isn't like it's a far distance or anything. But, yeah, going shopping tomorrow would be a good thing."

Ariel looked over and noticed Lila had stopped playing. "It looks Lila's tired enough now," she said. "I'll probably need to change her diaper before she goes to sleep, though. Where's the bathroom around here?"

"Oh! Good question!" Eva said, laughing. She went over what Freddy had told her earlier that day. "Freddy said that it was upstairs and the first door to your right."

She looked over at Ariel and added quickly and reassuringly, "Don't worry about a strange man coming around. I'm not involved with Freddy, probably never will be, and he's only doing me a favor because I used to be...well, very, very close to his best friend. I needed a place to stay while I was in Forks, and he agreed to lease me this place."

Ariel was silent for awhile as she listened to what Eva was saying and then as she tried to figure out just how to react. At first she hadn't realized what Eva had said, but then she did. Of course, what Eva said, about not worrying if a strange man was there, didn't make her feel comforted.

After being silent for awhile, she said, "Eva, there's no way I'm going to be calm if some strange man comes here. You already know how my life has been. If there's a strange man in here I'll freak out. The whole time I'll be worried he'll hurt me."

"I realize that, Ariel," Eva said, realizing that she hadn't been clear enough. "Freddy's not going to come here at all. At the very, very soonest, he'll come here sometime next year and probably not even then. That's why I said not to worry. I'm sorry if I scared you. I should have spoken more clearly."

Ariel calmed down when she heard what Eva said and realized she had over reacted. It made sense, though, with everything she had been through and with the fact that she hadn't really been sleeping.

"Oh, ok," Ariel said. "I'm sorry I over reacted. It's just that it sounded like he'd come here." She paused then said, "I'm a wreck and at different times I feel like any little thing could set me off." She sighed then said, "What I could really use right now, though, is some sleep. I'l go change Lila's diaper then you can tell me where we can sleep."

Ariel slowly stood up and then walked over to Lila. After picking her up, she walked upstairs and went into the first door on the right. Now that she was in the bathroom, she went and checked Lila's diaper. After finding out it did need to be changed, she went and took a diaper out of her jeans pocket then changed Lila's diaper and got rid of the old one. Ariel then washed up a bit and her and Lila left the bathroom.

Ariel then walked over to the stairs, and said to Eva, "Where can we sleep?"

Eva sighed in relief when Ariel calmed down, and she made a mental note to be more careful about what she said to her. It would probably take a long time for Ariel to really feel safe again, and Eva intended to help her as much as possible.

She probably will need some kind of therapy later, Eva considered, but she does seem like a survivor too. She's gotten this far, and she looks better already now that she's eaten. I should probably try to get her and Lila back on their feet and physically healthy again before I try anything else.

"There's one bedroom down here, and there are two more upstairs," she told Ariel with a smile. "You can look at all three and pick whichever one you think would be best for you."

Ariel thought about what Eva said then said, "Oh, well I think I'll just pick one of the rooms up here for now. I can look at the other two rooms later. Right now, I just need somewhere to sleep."

With that said, she went and looked for one of the upstairs bedrooms and when she found it she went into it. Ariel closed the door with her foot, then went over to the bed and lay Lila down. She then lay beside her and put an arm around her, so that she hopefully wouldn't fall out of the bed or anything. Ariel then closed her eyes and went to sleep. Lila was awake for a little while before falling asleep herself.

While Ariel was sleeping, Eva went to the downstairs bedroom to put all the clothes and books that she had bought earlier that day away. Once that was done, Eva briefly considered going out to get some more diapers for Lila, but it looked like Ariel had more than enough to last them until a shopping trip until tomorrow, and Eva couldn't help but worry that Matt might just come for them when she was gone. She knew that it wasn't likely, but the idea of it...it made her blood run cold. Metaphorically of course.

Once everything was put away except for one new outfit, Eva decided to go upstairs and shower off. She was a little dirty from running around in the woods all day, and she wanted to get washed off.

And Ariel and Lila will probably want to wash too once they're awake, she thought as she closed the door, stripped down, and turned on the water.

Ariel had slept for a long time, not waking up once or getting disturbed. After actually being able to sleep, which was a rare thing, even though she had had a nightmare, she woke up and felt much better than she had before. She didn't feel nearly as tired as she had and she actually felt rested.

Ariel looked over at Lila and noticed that she was awake. It only lasted for a short time, though, before she went back to sleep. Lila didn't stay asleep for that long, though, before she was awake again. Ariel sighed as she got off the bed, picked Lila up and started rocking her and singing a lullabye. She hoped it'd help Lila sleep. Ariel figured that Lila hadn't really gotten much sleep at all during the time Ariel was sleeping and she knew Lila needed to sleep too.

Eva had finished up in the shower, dressed in her new brown baby-doll dress and tights, dried and fixed up her thick and curly hair, and read the first ten chapters of her newest cheesy romance novel by the time she heard any stirring upstairs. That made her smile. The pair had managed a nice six hour nap, at least as far as she could tell, which seemed to be a good thing. To make sure though, she crept upstairs as quietly as a vampire could move and put her ear to the door. She wanted to make sure that they were both all right.

From behind the door, Eva could hear Ariel humming a lullaby to Lila, and her heart sank. The baby had been having trouble sleeping, it seemed. Hopefully, Ariel would be able to calm her. She was the girl's mother after all, and she did have a lovely voice.

And I don't know if I can help her sleep either, Eva thought.

She crept toward the foot of the stairs and sat on the bannister. If Lila didn't get to sleep soon, she might go in there and offer some help.

Ariel had walked around the room for awhile, rocking and singing to Lila as she did. The whole time she was hoping that Lila would go to sleep soon. That wasn't the way it was happening, though. Lila would close her eyes and look like she was going to sleep, but not to long after she'd wake up. That happened more than once, so Ariel kept singing. She hoped it worked soon, because she wasn't sure what else to do.

After about ten minutes, Eva walked toward the door. She made sure that her footsteps were louder and more human, and she slowly pushed the door open, peeking in as though she were just checking on them.

"Oh!" she exclaimed softly in feigned surprise. "Is she having trouble sleeping? Do you need any help?"

OOC: Hey, sorry for not posting. I was sick. I'm back on now, though.

Ariel looked over when she heard footsteps and the door open. She stopped singing to Lila and said, to Eva, "Yes, she is. I tried singing to her, but it's not working. I'd really appreciate some help. Maybe you can get her to sleep for awhile."

After she said that she went over to Eva and handed Lila to her. She wasn't sure if there was anything that she could do to help, but she was hoping there was.

OOC: That's totally fine. I'm just glad that you're feeling better.
IC:
Eva took Lila into her arms and held her very gently. She was glad that she still remembered how to hold small children because that might make this easier. At least she hoped so.

"Maybe rocking will?" she asked, slowly swaying back and forth with Lila in her arms and rubbing the child's back soothingly. If she had to, she'd try singing too, though her voice wasn't as pretty as Ariel's.

OOC: Thanks.

IC: Ariel watched Eva rocking Lila, before saying, "I've already tried rocking her and singing to her, but it hasn't worked yet. She falls asleep, but doesn't stay asleep long." Ariel watched Lila to see if she was falling asleep or not. At one point she did, but didn't stay asleep for very long and woke up again. "I know she's tired, but she won't sleep. I really wish she would, though," Ariel said.

Eva chewed her lip again as she pondered what to try next. She decided to ask Lila what she needed. Maybe she needed some more food or something to drink, or maybe she just needed a bath. She didn't look like she'd had much of an opportunity to have on lately.

"Are you still hungry or thirsty, sweetheart?" she asked Lila.

Lila hesitated a short time before saying, "Thirsty. Want water." She sounded really tired, but right then she wasn't about to sleep.

Ariel heard what Lila said and said to Eva, "I hope her having something to drink will help. Sometimes she just can't sleep and I hope this isn't the case. I've asked her if she has bad dreams, but she won't tell me. I think she does, though."

She sighed then said, "You know, I wish there was some kind of manual or book or something that said what to do when your child won't sleep. It'd help a lot."

Eva laughed softly and sympathetically. She could understand Ariel's sentiment.

"I would have liked that too," she said softly. "My stepmother always liked to make me calm her babies and put them to sleep when they couldn't." Ana Días de Rios had certainly not been a nurturing or maternal woman, and she'd enjoyed giving her shameful, bastard, half-Indian step-daughter extra tasks. That had not been the worst of her treatment, but at least Eva's teen years had been easier than Ariel's had been.

"Let me get her some water though," she added, handing Lila back to Ariel.

"Ok," Ariel said as she took Lila back. "We'll be here. I don't think it'd make much sense for me to move Lila from in here. Especially if the water helps her sleep."

She paused then said, "I'm sorry your stepmother made you calm her babies and put them to sleep. It's not really fair to you. Oh and I hope it didn't seem like I was trying to make you get Lila to sleep, or anything. It's just that I really have no idea what I'm doing and making things up as I go along, hoping I'm doing things right."