Don't Tell Me If I'm Dying, Cause I Don't Want To Know (OPEN

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Clare sat on the edge of the fountain dominating the Forum and held Christy on her lap. Even Christy seemed to know this was not an occasion for playing, as she was making no moves to get to the water as she ususally did. Clare stroked her daughter’s soft blonde hair. She looked up towards the sun high overhead and shielded her eyes from it’s brilliant rays. Some day the little girl on her lap might be able to control that light to a degree. Like her father. The father who would not be there to teach her her gift. She took a deep breath, then another. Yet a single glistening tear still escaped. She missed Jason. When she was younger - heck, a year ago - she had this whole grand life planned out for them. Now she was alone with a baby trying to keep herself together. She needed to find a godparent for Christy. Someone who could take care of her if something happened to Clare. Who could be out there though? There was Marie, whom Clare now had decently regular sessions with to get over her depression. Marie was a good person. And she had Chris, very soon. She’d ask Marie next time she saw her. That and she needed to buy a wedding present. She was going to kind of be in the wedding. Her as a bridesmaid and Christy in a buggy with flowers as the flower girl. Marie had come up with that last time and thought it was the cutest thing ever. Clare was just happy to get something for her and Christy to look forward to after.…

It took Clare a moment to realize that Christy was nodding off in the warm sun - lathered in sun screen as she was. So Clare carefully tucked her into her stroller and put the visor up to shade her. Then she looked to the passing people as she rolled the stroller back and forth.

Words: 338
Tag: @ OPEN
Notes:

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Ronan had never quite knew what made people think that he was eligible to be a Praetor. There was so much that he wasn't sure about, he still had a load of self doubt. But he knew that there was someone who needed a little help more than he did right now. That was his Aunt? Was it Aunt? She was his family at any rate, His grandfather was her father so he was pretty sure Aunt was the proper term. They were the same age, he might have been older by a year or so, or at least he thought so. So it was really odd for him to call her an aunt. But still, it left to reason that she needed some help. He didn't know what exactly to do for her, but the Nuns would always say that best help came in the form of food. And to reason it out, having to not think about cooking food for her and her daughter was always a bonus, or at least that was the reasoning. So here Ronan was, wearing the praetorian cape, even if it felt weird to wear. It was proverbially heavy. It came with a lot of responsibility. He would manage, right now he had other things to tend to.

He waved the shop keeper before he had gathered up the bag that was filled with a few things for Christy, the baby. His cousin? Again with the issues of figuring out the parental familial connections. But it was a fish shaped teether that you could put in the freezer if cold was needed to soothe the gums, A maraca rattle that looked like a bit of a bumblebee, a few jars of dissolving puff treats and yogurt bites in all sorts of flavors, and a box of diapers. He figured that parents could always use diapers. Then he had a few boxed up freezer meals for Clare herself. If momma couldn't take care of herself then baby would suffer. So he got her about ten meals that were home made for the freezer from one of the restaurants in the city. So he walked towards her house, or where she was staying. He had the address written on his hand in bright green sharpie on the back of his hand. But as he passed by the fountain, he spotted Clare and Christy.

"Hey Clare. You doing alright?" He said as he greeted his Aunt? Again with confusing blood relations thing. "I got a few things for you and Christy." He said with a smile as he brushed a stray strand of hair behind his ear. This stuff wasn't heavy, just a bit bulky.

Tags: Clare Kyoto
Words: 452
Notes: helpful ronan is trying to help

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Clare wasn’t sure what to feel anymore. She didn’t like being alone. Her only company at night was the baby monitor. Some nights she would forget about sleep at all and just rock Christy for hours. The baby would be entirely unconscious, but holding her felt good. She felt like she was taking her turn at keeping her safe, just like Jason had. She was determined to make sure little Christina Kyoto had the best life ever. She already had a few allies. Neptune and Apollo, for one. Then Edmund Simons she certainly counted. Marie helped a lot. Okay, so her circle was limited. But it existed. That was all that mattered.

She rolled Christy back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. It was funny really. The stroller had big fat wheels, unlike any you’d see in a mortal store. Why? Because New Rome had so many cobblestones. They were smooth enough to walk on, but if you wanted to keep a rolling thing from waking up the child in the rolling thing, you had to beef it up. All in all, it seemed to fit right in here considering everyone in this city was either a previous military soldier… or would become one when they were old enough. So she supposed the strollers here had to kind of resemble Hum Vs too.

Then she heard her name and looked up from the stroller to see a familiar face in a not too familiar purple cape. The one similar to her late husband’s… She swallowed hard and smiled. “Hey there, Ronan. I’m…” she shrugged. “Well, Christy is asleep so what more could I ask?” Honestly it was kind of true. Her life was ruled by the child in the stroller. Christy was all she had left and she was devoting herself to her. The fact that he was carrying huge bags did not escape her, but she figured they were for the Principia or something. Until he said they were for her and Christy. “Wait, that’s for us? You know you didn’t have to do that! Here, let me help.” She stood and wheeled Christy over and took one of the bags and hooked it through her elbow. “Come on, let’s go back to my place. I can make some hot cocoa. I got a new recipe. And peppermint sticks that, if you stir the cocoa with them while it’s hot… let’s just say it’s magnificent.”

TAG: @ronan
WORDS: 408
NOTES: The irony that he's wearing a Praetorial cape. Totally didn't realize that until I was typing the post.

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Ronan figured that it was going to be hard to see the pratiorian cape that Jason one used. He respected Jason, and Ronan respected Clare. Being a mother was a hard job. He hoped that one of these days he could have kids of his own, but it probably wasn't going to work out that way. He was terrified of tiny little things that he could most likely break. But he wanted to help her in her time of need. He worried about her. In the family sort of way. The same way that brothers and sisters and cousins worried over each other. That's what they were, they were family. He never had family before coming to the legion. But now that he had family, he was going to make every moment count. He wanted to be there for his brothers and sisters and his family. That's why he was standing here with all this stuff. He probably could do it in a better way, but this was what he knew how to do right now. he didn't want to do something that would be out of the way.

Up close, he figured that Clare was probably tired. But he was going to do what he could. "I hope it isn't too much. I just wanted to help. So don't hesitate to ask me for anything." HE said as he shifted one of the boxes of diapers when she took one of the bags. He gave a small smile before he looked over at the napping baby. She then offered him some hot chocolate with peppermint stirring sticks, which he nodded his head in acceptance. "Sure." His Russian accent hadn't entirely fade with the amount of time that he had spent in the states. "I haven't had hot chocolate in ages." Which was the truth. Back when he was growing up, it was mostly a luxury that couldn't be afforded except for Christmas.

Tags: Clare Kyoto
Words: 326
Notes: sorry its short and ronan's 100th post

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Clare made her way over and nabbed the bag from him with a smile. “Thank the gods for you, Ronan. A hero in every sense.” When he said he hoped it wasn’t too much, she just laughed and nodded at the box of diapers. “Christy may look all cute and sweet, but she has it down to an Olympic sport to destroy diapers as fast as she can. And if you’ve got dark circle cream in one of those bags, you can be deemed him who understands women entirely. Kidding.” She saw him steal a glance at Christy and smiled, looking down too at the small bowed-headband-clad child. “She’s pretty cute, huh? Shame you can’t see her eyes. She takes after her father there. She’ll be a knockout when she’s older. I have no clue how I’m going to handle it.” She was half joking. Sure, she thought her baby was the most supremely beautiful baby ever. She just kind of chalked that up to bias though. But seriously, there would come days that Clare would have to face alone that scared her crapless. First onset of puberty. First crush. (They better go in that order or else.) First boyfriend. First kiss. First breakup. First everything.

As all this processed its way through her already haggard mind, she stopped entirely short and just stood there and watched the child. Ronan’s ‘sure’ seemed like a megaphone, snapping her out of it. It took her a second to realize what he was agreeing to and a second longer to react. She grinned. “Wonderful! You’re welcome as long as you like! Whenever you like too! Ever get tired of the Principia, stop by! Overnights are fine too, I’ve slept on the couch a hundred times. Sometimes impromptu. It’s surprisingly comfy. And I’ll make you the best hot chocolate you’ve ever had and maybe some muffins or cookies too! We’ll just make a little party of it! How about that?” Perhaps she shouldn’t be freaking out like this, but the idea of having another person her age was exciting. Christy wasn’t much of a conversationalist. Clare read to her all the time, but that was totally different. She remembered last time she invited Marie over. It had taken about 4 hours and lots of really good food. Put it this way. Marie was providing her sessions to deal with loss. She knew the whole story. Clare provided food for her and housekeeping tips and that sort since Marie was now a Mrs herself. Either way, Marie went into it knowing it would take forever seeing as Chris never called to see where she was, so she must have warned him or something.

TAG: @ronan
WORDS: 448
NOTES: Yay bonding!