Of Fire and Ice

C.7

By the next day before noon, we were at George Martins' house. I checked my reflection and made myself as cute as possible before ringing the doorbell.

He answered with a huge smile. "Beautiful Henley. Come in, come in, lovely. And introduce me to your friends!" He said. "Well, you already know Natsu. That cutie right there is Lucy, and that's Grey." I said, pointing them out. "Oh, and you also know Ari, of course. And Happy was here last time, too." I remembered the non-humans.

"Ah well, you all can wait out here while I discuss terms with Henley. Come, my dear." He said and I followed him to his office.

"Okay, formalities aside, what can I do for you?" I asked sweetly, giving my best smile. "Oh, the basics. Clean the house, water the plants, protect the house from destruction, oh, and sing my baby to sleep." He said and I tilted my head in confusion.

"I am sorry, your baby?" I asked. He stood and waved his hand for me to follow him. He lead me to a room with a baby asleep in a crib. "Oh. Baby. Boy or girl?" I asked. "Girl. Her name is Emma." He smiled down at her. "Okay. Just so I've got this down, clean and protect the house, water the plants, take care of Emma, and sing her to sleep." I said and he nodded, moving over to wake her.

She woke up with a small coo and stared at me with large sky blue and silver eyes. "Oh, she's beautiful." I said and he handed her to me. "Everything in this house is free for your usage. I have to go now, I'll be back in a week." He said.

He kissed Emma's forehead and walked out. I heard him say goodbye to my friends and leave. I walked downstairs, carrying Emma, and met up with them.

"What's that?" Ari asked. "It's his baby. Emma. Basically all we have to do is clean the house, protect the house, water plants, and take care of Emma." I hummed, bouncing her on my hip. She giggled a little and gave me a large smile. I grinned down at her and crossed my eyes, making her squeal and laugh.

"Aw, does that mean no parties?" Natsu said. "Natsu, if I weren't holding a toddler, I would slap you." I sighed. "I was joking!" He said.

"Okay, what do we do first?" Grey asked. "Uhm, well let's start with lunch, because I'm starving. How about you, Emma? You hungry?" I asked and she gave a soft nod. "Lucy, I think you should do the cooking, since I don't really trust either of them in the kitchen." I said and she laughed and nodded.

"Hey, what about us?" Natsu asked. "Uh, find things in the house that need cleaning. We'll start cleaning whatever needs it tomorrow." I said and they went off. I followed Lucy into the kitchen to watch her cook. "He doesn't have much in here. We can go shopping tomorrow before we clean. For now, stew sounds good." She said and I nodded.

"If you need help, let me know." I said and she got to work. "I think I've got it. Just keep Emma busy." She said.

It was quiet for a while in the house, just Emma's squeals and giggles and the sound of stew cooking. "You know what I just thought of, Henley?" Lucy spoke up. "Hm?" I looked over. "Most toddlers like to be sung to sleep. It's either that or bedtime stories." She smirked.

"Yeah, Martins mentioned I'd have to sing her to sleep. I didn't want to mention it around the guys in case they wanted me to sing to them." I shook my head.

"Whoa, you sing, Henley?" Happy said as he and Ari entered the kitchen. "She does. She says she's not good at it, but Henley is a pathological liar." Ari said and my eyes widened. "Ariadne!" I hissed only to have her laugh.

Soon Lucy was done with the stew and we sent Happy to get Natsu and Grey. We all ate up, and as usual, Natsu and Happy inhaled the bowls down. I gave Emma to Lucy and went to the bathroom with Ariadne to get a bath.

I ran the water and Ariadne built up her heart and dived in to get out boiling hot. I stripped and Ari got out and dried herself off. "Careful, Henley, it's hot." Ari warned me. "Fire can not kill a dragon." I said as I got in, slipping down and relaxing.

I hummed to myself and sat there, Ari was dozing off on a towel. I had tied my hair up, not wanting to wash that. By the old gods, this was relaxing.

I heard the door softly creak open and looked back to see Grey frozen in place. "Sorry, thought it was empty." He started wide eyed at my bare shoulders and back. I could only chuckle softly.

He ran back out and I was left, laughing to myself.

I got out soon enough and got in my pajamas, and went to go put Emma to bed. She was in her crib, Lucy trying to sing to her, but it wasn't working. "Oh thank god, Henley. I was about to call on one of my celestial spirits, but I really want to heart YOU sing." Lucy said. "Okay, move over. Just stand over there so she'll think you've gone." I said and she moved.

I leaned over the crib and started playing with her hair. Emma already looked a little tired. I started to sing softly in a high voice.

"When the cold of winter comes
Starless night will cover day
In the veiling of the sun
We will walk in bitter rain.
But in dreams
I can hear your name.
And in dreams
We will meet again.
When the seas and mountains fall
And we come to end of days
In the dark I hear your call
Calling me there
I will go there and back again."

Emma was now asleep and Lucy was in tears. "That was beautiful." She whimpered, and I just smiled sadly and went to bed.