Tiny Little Treasures

Keep trying to catch you ear

Chapter Text

Sleep my little one, sleep my pretty one, sleep.

--Alfred , Lord Tennyson, The Princess, 1847

* * * * *

The first morning Jack woke with the warmth of the eggs beside him, he buried his face in the pillows and smiled. This was a trend that would continue for weeks, and then it would change itself to a soft look of utmost affection, and a tender sigh.

Jack had duties to deal with, of course. A few final touches as winter made its way out the door. He always made sure to heat the stones before he left, and checked on them often. But it wasn't his usual workload, so he had plenty of time to spend with his eggs. He ran his hands over them, mindful of the burns that littered his right from handling the stones, tracing the patterns with the tips of his fingers. Sometimes he sat in the basket and arranged them around him, and would take turns cradling each in his lap. One day he decided to speak to his eggs aloud, feeling it was a little too quiet in this cave he'd made their own.

"I'm so glad you're here," he told them. "I can't wait until you're here, and you can hold me back. I wonder how big you are in there? Are your eggs oversized, or just right?"

He brought the egg in his lap, the smallest of the bunch, close to his face, and kissed it sweetly. This egg had a white base, with red and blue diamonds and triangles, some of which weren't filled in and were only outlines of the shapes. He cradled it to his chest, nuzzling the top. "I already love you so much. It's impossible for me to love you any more than this." All five had already wormed their way into his heart so fully, with their gentle ambient magic and soft warmth. "I know you won't have another daddy to help raise you, but that's okay. I didn't either. I can be mommy and daddy."

A small part of him held out hope that one day, in the future, when Bunny was ready to see him again and Jack managed to get the old Pooka to come around, that might change. It would be nice to have a partner in this. To present his precious treasures to Bunny, and have Bunny love them just as much as Jack did. To share responsibilities and affection like the ocean shares a breeze. Simple, constant, reliable. It would probably take years and years and years, but Jack had a patience to rival glaciers hidden under all his excitable layers, and he could do it.

Jack sighed against the egg's shell. "I can't wait to name you."

The baby shifted in its shell.

Jack gasped. "You moved!" He laughed, and it shifted more in the egg. The more he laughed and spoke, the more it moved.

He placed his forehead against it. "Can you hear me in there?"

It didn't move for a moment, and then he felt the bump against the shell from the inside as it shifted. He grinned in disbelief. "You can." Granted it wouldn't understand what he was saying, but he remembered hearing something about things like this from pregnant women whose babies recognized their voice.

Jack shivered he was so excited. "Would you like me to talk to you more, little one? I can get some books and read to you all."

The baby shifted, and it was the best thing ever.

"I agree," he said.

* * * * *

Jack borrowed a few books from Jamie and Cupcake, which he began reading to the eggs at night when he went to bed. It took a little longer for the other eggs to start recognizing his voice, the white one having been the first, but eventually they all began to respond to his voice when he read to them. It got to the point that he spent most of his time just talking to them, or singing, or reading.