House of Cards Series # 3 One Shots (QoS, KoH)

Combat of Wills (2)

Ophelia was trying to quiet the wailing little Nathaniel down, but he didn't seem to calm down any. She was holding him out and away from her, not wanting the little guy to grab her hair and pull it out again. However, his little feet kicked and his arms fussed and Ophelia was rewarded for her efforts to calm him by his face turning a nearly purple colour and his screaming got louder.

"What is wrong with you?" Ophelia demanded, knowing he couldn't respond.

"You do realize it's gonig to be a while before he can talk back right?" Honey asked from the door to her room, sticking her head out to make sure the crying was the baby and not her little sister.

"Honey, I'm actually smarter than I look remember? I know he's not going to answer me yet." Ophelia rolled her eyes and her sister laughed.

"Can I hold him?" Honey asked, biting her lip and ignoring her sister's irritation.

"Oh alright. I'm supposed to be doing this on my own Honey..." Ophelia reminded the beautiful sixteen year old who was her sister. Although they didn't share the same colouration at all, Ophelia and Honey had the near exact same features, so Opi already knew what she'd look like at sixteen. She was looking forward to it. Passing the still enthusiastically screaming baby over to Honey, Ophelia ran to her room and grabbed the list she made for a moment like this.

Why babies cry and how to stop it

1. Hunger -> feed

2. Dirty diaper -> change

3. Overtired -> reduce stimulus, rock gently

4. Wants to be held -> hold

5. Tummy pain -> lay on back, hold feet, gentle bicycle motion with baby's feet

6. Needs to burp -> hold up right and rub back

7. Too hot/cold -> adjust layers on baby

8. Unknown -> check for hairs wrapped around digits, scratchy fabrics

9. Teething -> West says to put brandy on the soother, Alice says to heat teething ring

10. Over stimulated - > calm, quiet room

11. Under stimulated -> reverse number ten

12. Ill -> call phone list asap

Looking down at the list, Ophelia looked back up in shock as little Nate quieted right down once he was in Honey's arms. Opi frowned, trying to figure out what it was that Honey was doing that worked so well. Honey was cuddling little Nathaniel to her chest, cooing at him and babbling the inane baby talk that adult still liked to coo at Ophelia once in a while. Since Ophelia had tried those same things herself, she dismissed them and pursed her lips, trying to figure out what it was that Honey had that she didn't. Maybe it was her boobs, Opi knew that babies were breast fed and since she was a long way away from being THAT old, he didn't know she was trying to comfort him? No, because Malcolm had no boobs and Nate didn't cry all over him all the time.

As soon as Honey saw Ophelia come back, she gave Nate a messy sounding kiss to the forehead and handed him back over. Opi had tied her hair back, and now mirrored the hold that Honey had been using. Nate looked up at her for a minute, not crying but no longer laughing. Honey tried to keep the amused smile off her face but Ophelia looked as rigid as a statue, waiting for the screaming to begin again. Instead they both heard the unmistakable sound of little Nate letting out a not so little fart.

"Ewww." Ophelia muttered, making a face.

Honey laughed and carefully hugged her sister's head to her chest, careful to not disrupt the baby. "Just wait until you have to change what caused the fart." she warned, then slipped back into her room, door left slightly ajar. Ophelia frowned at her sister but didn't get a chance to respond because Nathaniel had started to burble at her and try to stick his foot in his mouth, without taking the bootie off first.

"See, you think I can do this." Ophelia stated with an air of triumph when the baby didn't start screaming again right away. That lasted less than ten minutes, only this time Honey didn't come out to stop the wailing. Ophelia looked at her list and figured she could handle it. Until nothing worked that is. Nate was too fussy to eat, he didn't stop crying even after Opi changed him, he'd already farted and got cuddled. Nothing stopped the crying and Ophelia even took him into her room so she could review the books and see if she missed anything.

"Pllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssse stop crying!" Opi whined back at the baby, her usually collected demeanor breaking and she started to sound like a normal ten year old. She resisted the urge to stomp her foot, but only becasue she was still holding out hope that he was just tired and could fall asleep if she only kept quiet.

Opi felt her eyes go wide when he did quiet down for a moment, but then she hear him make a weird hiccup sound and the screaming started again. Her list of 'solutions' was crumpled up in her hand and she tossed it on her floor so she could hold Nate exactly like Honey had. She burbled the exact same things she heard Honey say and yet Nate kept screaming. Finally Ophelia tried something she only ever saw in Disney movies and the family friendly films her parents let her watch. She tried singing to him. It wasn't pretty sounding, Ophelia knew that at best her voice was little girl and high pitched, but somehow, for some reason; it worked.

Nathaniel stared at her, looking absolutely amazed that she was making these sounds, and he shut right up. Encouraged, Ophelia bounced him a little and swayed like she saw Alice do, and Nate started to yawn. "Looks like you're in love." Honey teased softly from the door frame.

Opi looked up at her big sister, eyes wide and surprised looking. "He's a baby, of course I love him. How could I not?" she asked as if it was a stupid thing to say. As if to answer that question for her, Nate started to cry again when she stopped singing. But now he was trying to chew on his own fist as well, and Opi knew that usually meant the baby was hungry.

Honey followed along silently, having this satisfied smile on her face as she watched her little sister take care of their "nefew". Nathaniel wasn't in any way, shape or form related to them, but everyone knew that the Vega baby was going to spend an awful lot of time in the James' household. Ophelia grabbed one of the bottles Alice had already prepared and tested the temperature against her wrist like the books suggested. It felt neither hot or cold and Opi shrugged, letting Nate decide if he wanted a warm dinner or not. Since the baby happily suckled on the bottle without it being warmed up, Opi figured that was good enoguh for her.

The ten year old wasn't in charge of the baby the entire night, but by 6 pm, she was nearly exhausted and wished they would come home early. She'd fed him, tried to burp him and bathed him. Playing with a baby in the large sink was actually a lot of fun, though Ophelia wouldn't tell anyone that she had fun watching Nate try to figure out bubbles. She dried him off, put a fresh diaper on him, got him into the onesie he was supposed to sleep in and picked him up. Which is when Nathaniel burped. Only he didn't just burp, he also threw up a lot of frothy liquid all over Ophelia's back and himself.

Bathing the baby the second time around was a lot less fun for Ophelia, and she was stuck smelling like sour milk and spit up because she couldn't take a bath herself. It was in her hair too....

Alice, Malcolm, West and Maddison came home to find Nathaniel asleep and well taken care of, and a very tired Ophelia who desperately needed a change of clothes and a hug herself.  Nathaniel 1 Ophelia 0.