Life Hacks/Hallomod(tod-pre)/What the hell, let them both come
Well that idea went to hell. You don't suppose you had much choice in the matter anyway really. Even Nove's pull-up clad bottom nestled in your arm was giving rise to your erection once more. You have to admit, the idea of knocking up a three year old was more than a little intriguing. You recall that the youngest mother ever was Mina Ledina of Peru. She got knocked up when she was four, and had her baby when she was five. The tyke had actually been menstruating since she was eighteen months old. Knocking up Nove would break that record . . . well the pregnancy and birth thing at least. You shake yourself out of your brief distraction.
"It's fine," you say to Summer, "they can come play knight's and princesses with us. Right Octo?"
"Mmmkay," says Octo grudgingly, while still tugging on your hand.
"Okay, fine," says Summer. "I have to get lunch ready anyway. Will you be joining us Xander?"
"No," you say, "I ate before I came over. Thank you for the offer though."
"Alright you bunch," she says to her siblings in a commanding tone, "you play nice and listen to Xander."
With general acknowledgments of ascent from the children you soon find yourself nearly dragged bodily into the nursery. The floor is littered with toys, which you deftly step around as everyone finds their place. The room isn't small, but there are a lot of you in it. You set Nove down, and check on Hally quickly before you start playing. The infant is lying in her crib, peacefully cooing to herself at the moment. You find yourself idly wondering at the limits of Life Controller. Could you even knock up an infant? What am I thinking? you ask yourself. I'm not interested in babies . . . am I? Fortunately you're torn from the side of the crib by young Octo.
"Come on Xander," he says, holding out an old school, full-sized G.I. Jack doll with a twist-tie crown on it's head, "You're the king."
"Very well, good sir knight," you say, quickly taking your place among the kids and take the doll in hand.
"Here March," says Octo as he hands him an old roughly played with t-rex figure, "you're the evil dragon."
"Hey," says March as he takes the toy in hand, "I remember this. King Chomppy."
"He's not a king!" insists Octo. "He's the evil dragon."
"Maybe he's the evil king of the dragons?" you offer. "After all Tyrannosaurus Rex means 'terrible lizard king'."
"Fine. Here's your princess Nove," he says handing her an Illana doll from the Bizney movie Frigid, complete with a stained, sparkly, frost dress. He rummages through the toys for a bit, then comes out with a Darby doll with painted on underwear . . . 'My First Darby' as you recall. Meant to cater to young children that don't always dress up their dolls. Come to think of it, it seems to be one of the few toys that are actually safe for kids Nove and Decy's age . . . wait . . . where's Decy? You look around and finally see him hiding under one of the cribs. "Here you go Jan," says Octo as he hands her the doll, "you're a princess too." Jan takes the doll absently while her attention is still focused on you.
You make your way a bit away from the group, and look under the crib where Decy is hiding as Octo looks for more dolls. "Hey Decy," you say, remembering how shy the kid was with your newfound steel-trap memory. "It's just me, Uncle Xander. Do you remember me?" You didn't adjust the little boy's relationship to you when you did the others, and he was still acting like you were a stranger. Screw this, you think, and while the other's are still taking their orders from Octo you take out the duck and quickly max your relationship with the last of the Holidays: Nove, Decy, and even baby Hally. The effect is immediate, and Decy is in your lap before you even finish putting away the duck. You turn your attention back to the other kids just in time to pick up on a fight.
"I don't wanna be a princess," says July, "I wanna be a knight!"
"Yer a girl," insists Octo. "You gotta be a princess. Knights are boys!" Not this crap again, you think to yourself.
"Girls can be knights too!"
"Nu-uh. They ain't brave enough."
"I'm a lot braver than you are!"
"Nu-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Nu-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
"Then prove it!" says July finally. "Go touch Creepy Cora!"
The room suddenly goes silent. You don't recall anyone ever talking about "Creepy" Cora. Maybe some poor old woman who lived nearby? Whoever she is just the sound of her name seems to have sent a chill silence through the entire Holiday clan. Decy has even buried his face in your shoulder.
"Um, who's this Creepy Cora?" you ask. Everyone turns to you at once; looking at you as if you'd dropped the f-bomb in church. "What?"
"It's just a stupid doll in the attic," says March, trying to play it off. You can easily see through his bravado though. He is genuinely frightened . . . they all are. How very strange.
"Xander could do it!" exclaims Octo. "He's braver than anyone! Xander could get rid of Creepy Cora!"
Everyone is looking at you expectantly.
What do you do?
- Put this nonsense of the scary doll aside and just play
- Now you're curious, go see this "Creepy" Cora for yourself
Infinity Pocket
Loki controls the local area.
