|Mianite| The Missing Woman

[Chapter 48] Robes

[Alva's Perspective]

I heard something shatter from within the house. The sound made me worried, but Martha merely looked exhausted by it.

"Wha-"

"Mot is watching the Ianitas," Martha said as if it was a question she had answered many times.

"Is he... alright?"

My question was answered by Mot shrieking from inside the house. "I can't take this anymore!" Mot yelled. "When is Martha getting back?!"

Martha walked briskly towards the front door, pulling it open. "I'm right here Mot," she said.

"How many of these darn things are there?!" Mot shouted, nearly out of breath. I heard Dianite laughing from somewhere in the room. "Stop laughing at me! I could barely handle one little girl, how am I supposed to deal with all of these?!"

Mot was clearly out of his element with all of the kids running around.

"There were only three when I left," Martha said.

"That does not seem like a good thing," I said as I entered the room behind her.

"Alva!" Mot said pleasantly. "How nice of you to come over, although you may not have chosen the best time to do so."

I surveyed the damage. One Ianita was in the kitchen and had found a tub of ice cream but no spoons, two were hand-in-hand jumping on the couch, and three exchanging glittering flowers next to a puddle of water; presumably from the vase we had heard breaking.

I smiled and walked over to the Ianita in the kitchen and picked her up, wiping her mouth and hands off with one of the towels folded neatly on the counter. Dianite tried to compose himself, but clearly found this situation highly amusing.

The Ianita I was dealing with yawned as I carried her back into the living room.

"Naptime!" Martha announced when she noticed how sleepy she and the others were. Mot's eyes went wide.

"Hush!" He said to her harshly. "Don't tell them tha-"

"But I not tiurwed," one of the Ianitas whined. Mot sighed and picked her up.

"Are you sure?" He asked her. He started rocking her slightly and she yawned, her head nodding off to one side. She started sucking her thumb as she closed her eyes. Mot lay her down on the couch and covered her with a blanket. Two of the others noticed how happy she looked and stretched their arms up towards him.

"Wow Mot," Martha said. "You're really good with kids. Alyssa taught you well."

Mot smiled to himself as he started rocking the two Ianitas. One of the couch jumpers had settled down on a spot next to the armrest and her friend gave her a curious look before curling up next to her.

The last Ianita, who had a yellow flower in her hair, walked over to me and tugged on my skirt. I looked down at her and she raised her arms towards me. 'Up!' I could almost hear her thinking.

I chuckled and lifted the smallest girl up. She put her arms tightly around my neck and buried her face into my shoulder. I shrugged when Martha looked at me questioningly.

"So what was your idea?" I asked her quietly.

"Upstairs," she whispered, then turned to Mot. "You watch them while we go upstairs Mot."

Mot nodded in acknowledgement without turning towards us as he continued to rock one of the Ianitas.

I followed Martha up the winding staircase and into her bedroom. Once there she shut the door behind us and walked over to a large trunk against the furthest wall. I sat down on her bed with my Ianita, who climbed into my lap and sat in front of my. She took out her ponytail and flower, shaking her hair out, and then sat facing forward expectantly.

"You seem to have found a quiet one," Martha noted.

"Seems so," I smiled as I began taking pieces of her hair and braiding them together. I could tell by the dimples on the sides of her cheeks that she was beaming. Remembering her flower, I began materializing wildflowers and braiding them in as well.

"That's a nice trick," Martha said. "Mom used to do that with my hair too."

"So did mine," I said reminiscently, "although she did not materialize the flowers out of thin air."

Martha chuckled as she began digging through the trunk again. "No, that is rather unique to my side of the family."

Finally she turned back to me, holding thick purple robes.

"A-Are those Ianite's," I asked hesitantly.

"Yes," she said. Martha lay them down on the bed next to us and Ianita seemed to take an interest in the hem of one of the sleeves.

"Get your grubby mitts off of me!" A male voice shouted. It sounded like it was coming from under the bed.

I pulled Ianita away from the garment. "What was that?"

Martha sighed. "Her robes; they always did have a bit of a temper when it came to children."

Ianita looked disappointed and almost offended, as if she knew the connotations that went along with being a child. I picked her up and sat her back down in my lap, where she seemed much happier.

"I wouldn't mind being on you though," the voice said. "You can inspect my sleeve any time."

My eyes were wide.

"Shut up you," Martha said to the clothes, folding them back up.

"Hey!" They shouted. "Not this again!"

"Maybe if you could behave yourself," Martha said threateningly. "Besides, you're meant for someone else now."

"You really want Jordan to wear those?" I asked.

"'Jordan' you say?" the robes asked. "Is she hot too?"

"And this is supposed to make him feel better?" I asked sceptically.

"He?! Oh well, I'll take what I can get I guess..."

"Ew," I said.

Martha shoved the clothes into her bag, effectively shutting them up, though I could still hear him trying to yell at us.

"He'll get over it," Martha said. "He'll probably just confuse it with all of the other voices in his head anyways."

I sighed. I had almost been able to forget about his insanity. Almost.

"Ianita?" I asked. She looked up at me. "How would you like to go to Jordan's tower?"

Her eyes went wide with excitement as she grinned from ear to ear, nodding vigorously.

"Well alright then," I said. I picked her up and carried her towards the door. "I'll wait for him at his house to see how he likes them."

"Alright Alva," Martha said. "See you soon!"

I waved with the hand not holding Ianita and headed out towards Jordan's towers.