Growing Pains

Chapter Seven: Choosing to Love

Watching the children of Berk while their parents were away was something Adrianna was beginning to enjoy quite a lot. Berkian children were old enough to take care of themselves within the village limits by age 3 (as long as adults were around) and outside of them by age 6. Thus parents were required to spend an awful lot of time with their youngest children and, as any parent knows, that can be a full time job in and of itself. That was why the parents of the village adored Adrianna. She wasn't expensive and she did a very good job entertaining their little ones while they were away. But now, no one loved Adrianna's childcare service more than Svala Thorston.

"I just fed her," Svala was saying on a sunny day two weeks after the fire, "so she'll probably be fine for the next couple of hours. She's likely to sleep through it all so feel free to sit by and read. Extra diapers are in the bag but you know that."

"We'll be fine." Adrianna said cheerfully, gently rocking her body so Ava would remain calm. "She's already falling asleep."

"If she fusses, it's probably gas. Let her get it out of her system. But if she keeps fussing, come get me." Svala added.

"We're all set, Svala. Really, if she has a problem, I won't hesitate to take her to you. But we've been lucky enough to avoid that so far." Adrianna gently lowered the baby into the crib. "Have a good time!"

"Bless you for doing this on such short notice." Svala said before waving to her baby and leaving the house.

Adrianna stretched before sitting down and getting out her book. She'd finished the spaceman book days ago and had moved onto one she'd found in storage written by the same author. She liked this one too, though it was odd to see such similar writing without the characters she'd grown to love. She was reading a chapter about a man who claimed he could tell the future using the position of the stars (as if anyone could really do that) and had become so engrossed in the story that she didn't hear a nearby window open up.

"Hiya!"

Adrianna let out a startled squeak and jumped. Relief flooded her when she saw Brandyn standing outside the window looking very amused.

"Oh, it's just you."

"How flattering to be greeted with such enthusiasm." Brandyn deadpanned.

"Don't start, it's too early in the morning." Adrianna grinned and walked over to the front door to let him in. "And keep your voice down; Ava's asleep."

"I wasn't going to ruin your fun." Brandyn whispered. He strode over and made a face at the sleeping baby. "Oh, she's a tiny, wrinkled thing, isn't she?"

"She's adorable." Adrianna smacked Brandyn's stomach, making him laugh.

"I guess if you're into that." Brandyn shrugged. "I dunno, I never liked babies. Smelly little things. They're okay when they're old enough to sit up on their own and don't drool all over everything."

"I think they're sweet." Adrianna gently stroked the baby's cheek. "So innocent and cuddly."

"Sure until they puke on you." Brandyn shook his head. "I could survive just fine without ever having changed a diaper."

"Oh come on." Adrianna giggled. "You're not seriously telling me you don't want to have kids one day."

"Well actually," Brandyn scratched the back of his head, "I kind of don't. They tie you down, don't they? I've got a life to live. Maybe when I'm 40, I can have a son and be done with it."

"Can't really decide that ahead of time." Adrianna bit her lip, a sinking feeling in her gut.

"Nah, I guess not. All the more reason to just avoid the whole thing altogether." Brandyn laughed. "Why do you look so disappointed? Is there something you need to tell me?"