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R A I S I N G ◦ A N ◦ N P C !

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▶ BOOK 1: M A K I N G ◦ A N ◦ N P C !
▶ CHAPTERS: 1

⊹˚₊·‧Chapter 2: Adjusting

After two weeks or so of being in the circus and bothering him constantly when Ragatha or Pomni weren’t holding her, he ultimately turned around, addressing her.

“What do you want, brat?” he said, roughly.

She reached her tiny arms out, signaling once again that she wanted him to pick her up.

Pomni tried to get up from the couch, worried. Ragatha put a hand on her leg, indicating to stay low. 
“He’s finally speaking with her. Give her a chance,” she had noted.

“You want to be picked up so badly, huh?” Jax continued, irritated. “Well, then, let’s see how you like this.”

And with that, he picked her up — but not carefully, with his hands under her arms, like everyone else did naturally.
No.
With sheer terror, Ragatha and Pomni witnessed how he lifted her up by one single leg; Quickly and crudely.

Wide-eyed, they both got up at light speed, but that’s when they heard it for the very first time: Pierrosie’s laugh.

She was giggling with the pure, undiluted joy only a small child could.

Everyone stared at her in disbelief. Even Jax.

A grin slowly spread over his face.
“You like that, huh?” He asked, shaking her around like an actual doll.

Pomni had to clutch her chest, in fear of a virtual heart attack, while Ragatha was gasping; but the giggle of their daughter prevented them from intervening.

The shaking made Pierrosie cackle even louder, impossibly cheerful, as if she were having the time of her life.

Eventually, Jax simply declared her as “cool”, and from then on, he adored her just as all of the others; Even though he showed it in strange ways.

Ragatha was, as expected, just as loving and caring as she had been during her pregnancy. It was clear to see that she loved that little clown doll with every polygon of her body. However, her love was not expressed in a performative or loud manner; It was silent and absolutely, irrevocably natural. She loved Pierrosie like a baby made from flesh and blood, and touched her without a hint of hesitation; A silent proof of the unique closeness only mothers could have. She presented so much mental flexibility, too; Never forgetting that her baby wasn’t human and that it might have different needs, eager to figure them out — often being quite good at that.
In a way, this form of interacting and catering reminded Pomni of an animal with its very first young. Nobody had taught them what to do; yet their unique attention and care could pick up on things others wouldn’t even notice, and ensure their offspring’s well-being. No matter how unconventional it might look to others.

That being said, Pomni's situation was… a little different.
She had the parental instincts of a 14-year-old boy.
Her awkwardness with human children (what even were they? Little weird handicapped bonsai adults) unfortunately conveyed to digital children, too. 
She did like Pierrosie, definitely. She was protective and curious about her, and when the miniature clown looked at her directly, with this curious eye and something that Pomni considered basic trust, she felt so many things, that were impossible to name, that she got dizzy. 
But if a stranger were to see Pomni with her, they probably would never have guessed that they were related — or maybe even knew each other.

Eventually, and embarrassingly, Pomni became the one in the group who behaved the most awkwardly around her. 

And while she was very ashamed about that and occasionally was made fun of it (mostly by Jax and Zooble), nobody truly shamed her for that, thankfully. And most importantly: The kid didn’t seem to mind.

In fact, she seemed to even grasp the situation somewhat — because every time they both were alone, and Pomni was awkwardly trying to do small talk, the little doll took over the lead and simply showed Pomni what she wanted, be it drawing together, playing something, or going with her to Kinger’s playground.

When Pomni was too overwhelmed and nervous, Pierrosie even occasionally petted her, apparently trying to comfort her.

It helped a little, while, at the same time, making Pomni feel like such a loser. 

When she was talking about this issue with Zooble the other day, they stated something that ultimately helped her to come to peace with this situation: “From my perspective, your kid is quite blessed. I mean, imagine if she were to experience the same taste of love from all of us. That’d be pretty boring, right? This way she gets all those different flavors. If she needs more motherly love, she has Ragatha; If she wants finger guns pointed at her while talking about the weather, she has her dad. You’re weird, but your kid is one hell of a smart bean who can appreciate your weirdness, Pomni. And I mean… if she can feel Jax’ f███d up way of caring, she certainly can feel yours, too.” They had said, and this helped Pomni to drop the expectations of how parents were supposed to be. 
For now: The only thing they are supposed to do is to care. However it might look. 
And that, Pomni definitely did.

After a few days of adjustment, Caine started adventures again — albeit just partially, for part of the group. Mostly everyone but Ragatha and Pomni, who gladly ditched them together. Not necessarily because they had to take care of their daughter (because at the end of the day, she really wasn’t high maintenance and slept most of the time), but because they simply wanted to be there in case something were to happen. They couldn’t even manage to leave the room when she was sleeping. They didn’t need to, either — with no need for sustenance or discharging. 
But thankfully, this situation relaxed after a little more than a week, when they left Pierrosie alone with somebody else for the first time.

They were drawing together with Zooble and Gangle, big papers spread around the floor. Gangle was teaching Pierrosie basic anatomy and faces in anime style, which she copied 1:1 at first, but then started to add things on her own. Though the parts she composed herself weren’t something like her own version of eyes or hair, but rather random, crisp shapes within the lines. As if she didn’t understand what drawing exactly was yet; Or as if she were unable to follow a straightforward process all by herself.
It was quite fascinating, really. 

After a while, Pomni yawned. 

“Are you tired?” Ragatha asked softly, taking her hand.

Pomni gave her a worn smile. “A little. I know we don’t exactly need sleep, but I guess that sleeping significantly less than usual requires some sort of readjustment after all?”

Ragatha squeezed her hand. “Of course. Why don't you go to your room? I’ll take care of the little button.”

“How about both of you go?” Zooble interrupted as they got up, walking up to them. “And Gangle and I watch Pierrosie? It’s been a while since you had any downtime, right?”

Ragatha’s expression changed into a surprised one; Almost shocked. As if she hadn’t thought of this as a possibility until now.

“R-really? Would that… would that be ok?”

“Sure.” Zooble answered and turned to look at Gangle and the doll, who were both so focused on drawing together that they didn’t even notice what the others were talking about. “Your kid is easy to handle. And nice to be around. Go and catch those Zs.”

Pomni played nervously with her fingers, looking at Ragatha. 
Ragatha seemed slightly anxious herself.
But then she apparently thought about something, because she eventually nodded enthusiastically.

“Okay. Let’s try it. But come to us the moment you feel overwhelmed or worried or you don’t want to—”

“We will.” Zooble interrupted Ragatha again, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Leave it to us.”

With that, Pomni and Ragatha wandered over to the sleeping area, with mixed feelings; Though mostly gratitude.

They passed by Pomni’s room first.

She grabbed the door handle of her room, but then hesitated. “Umm… so… we sleep alone, or…?”

Ragatha just looked at Pomni's door with a strange expression; A blank stare and a long, straight mouth, as if she were having some sort of argument in her head.
Then she turned towards Pomni, with her face not changing.

Pomni got nervous. Has she done something wrong? 

“Umm… uh… o-of course we sleep alone. S-sorry for assuming?” She tried to resolve whatever had just been going on.

Ragatha’s glance still didn’t change.
Was she… was she having second thoughts about leaving Pierrosie? Or even angry that Pomni didn’t intervene more? Or did she remember something about Zooble, possibly?

Pomni felt a single drop of sweat beading on her forehead.

In her slight panic, from all the possible paths from here on, she decided to walk down the probably least smartest; She opened her door.

“I’m….. going to sleep now… okay?” She announced silently as she walked into her room; Her tone including the unspoken inquiry for any objections.

Ragatha still didn’t answer.
Now Pomni was sure that she was angry about something.
However, she didn’t have any spoons left to set her wits on what it was. She would figure it out after her nap.

Just as she was about to close the door, something blocked it.
Pomni looked down to see…
Ragatha’s foot.

Oh sh█t.

⊹˚₊·‧🎪‧·₊˚⊹

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