Dunei - A Murtagh Love Story - Eldest Fan Fiction

Chapter 09

A shrill cry broke through the room waking the pair up. Lorena propped herself up on an elbow and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Looking at the fireplace she could tell they had only been asleep for a few hours, the flames still burnt bright, and she remained warm despite the absence of clothing. She turned back to ask Murtagh what was wrong and realised he was missing. She began to get to her feet before she noticed Murtagh walk out of the children's room, Selena tucked under his arm.

"The thrills of parenthood," he complained as he rubbed his eye with the back of one hand.

"Is she alright?"

"Yes, just hungry." Murtagh made his way back over to the fire and sat beside Lorena.

"Did you want me to get her something to eat?" Lorena looked at him confused.

"Of course," Murtagh handed the baby over, then chuckled when he saw her face, "she's still on the milk."

"Oh," she then realised what he said, "Oh! I don't really know how-"

"I'll help you." Murtagh repositioned the baby in her arms and help the baby latch on. "See, easy."

Lorena grinned when she noticed Selena staring up at her, eyes large and cheeks ruddy. She cupped the babies face, then kissed her lightly atop the head. She noticed Murtagh watching on silently with a tender smile. "Tell me about the children."

"Well, Tornac is five. I've started teaching him sword fighting but he prefers to listen to your stories. Jordane is close to three, he's got an interest for animals. You'll often find him outside watching insects or lizards, and he loves inspecting the game we bring in after a hunt, I'm not sure he understand what death is yet. And Selena is about eleven months old, she's teething so lately she's been pretty cranky, she's got about five or six teeth so far. As you saw yesterday all three laugh a lot, they're all generally happy kids, all healthy. There's not much to complain about."

"They're all gorgeous, I've fallen in love already." Lorena giggled when she looked back down at Selena, who yawned.

"I think she's done now. Do you know how to burp her?"

"Burp her? Why on earth would I want her to burp?"

"They get a sick stomach if they don't. Here," Murtagh repositioned the baby so her chin rested on Lorena's shoulder, "now just gently rub her back until she burps a couple times. Hopefully she won't vomit."

Lorena paused her rubbing to stare at him, "Did you say vomit?"

Murtagh burst into laughter, then covered his mouth and looked over at the boy's door. When they heard no sound he chuckled again, "I've seen you bury your sword into an Urgal's skull, blood sprayed all over your face, and you didn't even blink an eye. Then you are told you might get vomited on and you look horrified."

"That's completely different!" Lorena hissed, then began rubbing Selena's back again, "Blood's a normal thing to see, who doesn't grow up gutting and skinning animals. Vomit on the other hand is just repulsive, the sight, the feel, the smell." Her body trembled with repulsion causing Murtagh to laugh again.

"Well baby vomit is different to an adults, Selena is still on milk so her vomit actually smells rather sweet, so does her waste."

Lorena's nose scrunched in distaste, "You sniff her waste?"

"When you change her cloth-and you'll get the chance to sometime soon-you'll smell it whether you want to or not."

Just then Selena let out a particularly loud burp, and Lorena felt the odd sensation of liquid dripping down her bare back. "She vomited!"