1302 - Baby, Oh Baby...
Olyff pushed and pushed all night from the 31st of December into the dawn of the 1st of January before she could meet her new baby. Having experience from their first labor didn't prevent Byrhtnoth from panicking any less as he watched the miracle of childbirth happen before his very eyes.
In the last few moments before he brought his second born into the world he started seriously contemplating hiring a midwife if Olyff was to bear child again but the thoughts quickly faded when his wife groaned in agony.
After a longer labor than her first she finally welcomed her new bundle of joy into the world. As Olyff lay on their bed, gripping the sheets underneath her with every painful scream, Byrhtnoth scooped the baby into his arms as he delivered it from Olyff and gasped before telling her, "it's another girl!"
Olyff sighed with relief and happiness, another successful labor with another healthy baby born. As much as she'd love a son some day she will never deny having another baby girl to raise. The baby let out its first screams and Byrhtnoth began wrapping her in clean linens before passing her to his wife. He began cleaning up the mess of childbirth on their bed and Olyff gently rocked their freshly newborn daughter, thinking long and hard for a suitable name.
As soon as their bedroom was clean once again Olyff invited her husband to lay beside her and gaze upon their creation. Byrhtnoth took a clean finger and carefully caressed his child's forehead, gently brushing away thin and dark hairs that littered her head.
"Have you thought of a name yet?" questioned Byrhtnoth.
"Cyneswith," said Olyff with gentle confidence, her husband turning his head to meet her gaze. "Cyneswith, after my mother."
She turned back to look at her calmed newborn and understood that her decision was final. Although she was only a baby she could already see so many characteristics in her that reminded her of her mother, the dark hair, the bump in her small nose, the slight freckles... and many other features that will surely come with age.
Although the sun began to rise above the horizon, and neither of them had a wink of sleep yet, he knew his wife should have a warm meal to reenergise herself after a rigorous physical act, and so he kissed her before standing up from bed and walked to the kitchen to reheat some leftover porridge.
There he greeted his other daughter, Pipa, as she sat on the floor and played with some curiously shaped rocks he had been finding on the river banks where he fished. She was finally old enough to start moving around the bungalow on her own and curiously discovering the world for herself.
He was delighted to see that even through the long labor they endured she kept herself entertained, babbling away about Watcher only knows what. He caught himself on a thought that soon enough she will have a sibling to play with and he delivered the warm porridge with pride to his tired wife.
The bigger Pipa got the more urgent it became that she needed a bigger crib and so, only a few weeks ago, Byrhtnoth built a newer and bigger crib for his daughter. He could hear Pipa fuss, and he imagined she was very tired after staying up so late with their parents tonight, so he handled bed time with her while Olyff ate her porridge, doting on her newborn with every bite.
Once Pipa was asleep and Olyff's bowl was empty it was time for everyone else to rest up too. The mother put her newborn into Pipa's old crib and got into her clean bed with the father of the house. As the pair drifted off to sleep they heard the soft snuffles that came from their two young sleeping children and they felt at peace that night.
Family life quickly became hectic in the Chapman house. Byrhtnoth had to be in charge of cooking and cleaning while Olyff learned to manage two needy babies, each having different needs but very... needy needs.
Baby Cyneswith was harder to take to breast feeding than Pipa at her age and so Olyff struggled to have her daughter latch on and eat to grow big and strong. While her eldest demanded more attention, even through hours where Cyneswith would cry and cry. The mother tried her best to stay calm through all of the noise and chaos and just be as gentle as she could with her growing children.
As it was the dead of winter and the crops and lakes were still frozen over they were eating from their preserves but quickly running out, making each meal smaller than the last. They prayed to the Watcher hoping that the weather would be more gentle to them and bring them a bountiful year ahead.
In the moments when the house seemed tranquil, void of any screaming babies, the couple had time to rest on their bed and plan for the future.
"We're getting into the spring months," started Olyff one afternoon, "but this winter feels like it has been one of the longest we've ever had."
"I feel that too," sympathised Byrhtnoth, "but I have seen the ice get thinner on the river banks so it should lighten up soon, dear."
"It's been agonising forcing Pipa to stay indoors. She's an inquisitive one and is so curious to see what's outside but I fear she will catch a cold if she goes out into the frost."
"You're being perfectly mindful, my love. Soon the climate will lighten up and she can run around the farm as much as she likes." He gave his wife a warm smile, hoping to reassure her.
"Speaking of the farm," said Olyff as she shifted in bed, "do you think we will have the funds to add on an attachment to our home?"
"What sort of attachment?" questioned her husband.
"If we are to have more children in the next few years should we not have a separate bedroom to the children? We do deserve the privacy and I'm sure they will appreciate it in the long run."
"It's not a bad idea at all but... how are we doing on money?" Things have been going pretty nicely with the farming and fishing but children come with expenses and more mouths to feed means less produce to sell.
"Once Cyneswith is a couple of months old, and the frost is gone, I can carry her with me while I tend the farm and we can work a little harder this year to get all the materials we need for the extension," assured his wife.
"Hrmm... that could work..." nodded Byrhtnoth in thought.
They began exploring ideas of what kind of extension they should build for their home, a ground floor extension or perhaps building a second floor? They discussed striking another deal with the local carpenter for wood and perhaps a mason for some stone in the next village over.
It seemed they were left undecided after a half hour of figuring out the logistics before Byrhtnoth took Olyff's hand and kissed it gently, pulling her in closer to his chest. She gave in and spent this intimate moment with her husband while their children slept. As much as family life was proven to be chaotic for them they never failed to share an intimate moment once in a while.
The loving pair continued to find moments of peace where they could spend some quality time together, no matter how unconventionally romantic. As the ice disappeared from the rivers and the frost creeped away from the soil Byrhtnoth found himself reacquainted with his fishing rod and would come home late most evenings.
As he took his weekly bath Olyff would be getting ready for bed and so they would spend time discussing their days and what needed tending tomorrow, one partner soaking in the bath and the other cozy in bed. Occasionally, when Pipa wasn't asleep yet, she tried her best to join their conversations, even if the only words she knew so far were "mama", "dada" and, her favourite, "Pipa!"
Soon after Pipa learned her first words she began to confidently stand and take her first steps. Her little feet often led her to the hand-carved rocking horse her grandfather made for her 1st birthday. It was peaceful for her mother to hear her squeal with glee as she rocked back and forth, especially when she had to be in the other room caring for her fussy baby sister.
When Byrhtnoth would care for the family horse, Beauty, at the stable near the bungalow Pipa would waddle on out after him and watch him brush and feed her. She got comfortable among the hay and dusty soil in the stable and quickly got creative with anything nature offered her, playing calmly with a makeshift sandcastle.
Byrhtnoth found great peace among the trees and flowing water during the summer months and travelled the lands fishing for his family and for coin. It was settled between him and his wife that the extension to the family home would be an upstairs one and he spent one month travelling to various carpenters and masons to collect and strike deals for building materials.
But even in his busy schedule of travelling across the land of Praaven he made sure to give as much of his attention to his two children. He played with Pipa, tossing her into the air, spinning her around and making her giggle, and rocked Cyneswith, enjoying the serene moments when she didn't make much of a fuss.
Once Olyff felt the climate was adequate enough to sow seeds she did just that. But even with minimal work to do on the farm as the seeds germinated in the soil she felt waves of tiredness wash over her as the days went on, often taking naps after her farm work.
She wondered if it was just because of waking up in the middle of the nights to care for Cyneswith, who wasn't becoming any less of a fussy baby, or if it was an illness she was unaware of.
She wasn't left wondering for long before her usual symptoms of pregnancy started to present themselves and her belly began to grow. Her husband was delighted to be welcoming a new addition to the family so soon but he was concerned if he would have the new extension ready before the new baby would arrive, building is a lot of work and he would be the only man in the family to undertake it.
Life continued on smoothly into the coming autumn months as crops ripened, fish were caught and babies grew. As Cyneswith reached her 8th month of life she still wasn't any better at getting fed by Olyff and so her mother began to worry deeply for her health.
She was far smaller than Pipa when she was her age but the family was putting all of their funds into their planned extension and couldn't afford to bring her to a physician. Physicians were already hard to come by, especially when you were a mere peasant like the Chapmans, so it was quickly out of the question.
Olyff's best bet was to ask any locals for advice in the rare times she left farmstead. She started implementing these word-of-mouth methods of strengthening Cyneswith as soon as the first apples ripened on their apple trees.
As much as she focused on bettering the health of her youngest she didn't neglect her duties on the farm or taking care of her eldest either. She began to harvest all of her crops she spent the summer nurturing and even gifting an apple to Pipa to play with and nibble on on occasion.
She attempted to wean Cyneswith from breast milk and feed her thick porridge made with cows milk but that was no good. She also heard that making a smooth paste with a mortar and pestle from cabbage and carrots could help but Cyneswith rejected that also.
The stress of her daughter quickly growing malnourished made her pregnant belly cramp. She pushed past the discomfort as she focused all her efforts in finding the right formula for her weak daughter.
In those stressful nights when Cyneswith denied any alternative feeding methods Pipa would learn how to get out of the bungalow all by herself. She was tall and strong enough now to turn the handle of the front door and wander the property all by herself.
The first time this occurred Olyff near had a heart attack when she found her eldest daughter missing from the house. She ran outside shouting her name across the farm before finding her quietly playing in the dusty sand near a sleeping Beauty. Pipa put her hand to her mouth and voiced "uh-oh!" before being swiped up into Olyff's arms and getting a stern talking to.
One afternoon, as Byrhtnoth fished near the Praaven keep, he noticed that the shores started developing thin ice along the sand. It was a shock to him as it was only October, far too early for frost to set in this early in the year.
Soon after this shocking day England was thrust into a deep winter without much warning. All of the remaining crops in their garden froze over especially after, what would have been rain, icy snow sprinkled along the hills and plains of Praaven. This sudden snowfall urged Byrhtnoth to rush the upstairs extension that he only started a month ago.
CW: infant death & mourning ahead
Although Cyneswith wasn't getting any stronger as the days went on she continued to look more and more like Olyff's mother. Olyff was running out of solutions to aid her baby's malnutrition and in those hopeless moments she couldn't help but stare longingly at her child that was the spitting image of her mother. She stared and prayed to The Watcher that her child would be spared an early demise.
But The Watcher was helpless to what had already been set in stone, Cyneswith's fate was impossible to change. One winter morning, when the icy breeze was particularly drafty inside the stone bungalow and Pipa couldn't stop crying no matter how much attention her parents gave her, Cyneswith was dying in her mother's arms. Her pulse weak and her body frail she looked tiny in her mother's arms. Olyff held her close as she took her last breath and succumbed to unfortunate malnutrition.
Her parents mourned her for days on end, the pain of the loss just kept on getting stronger and stronger every day. With the frost at its peak and their pockets empty after their extension there was no chance they could give their poor daughter a proper burial at the local cemetery and so they went with their only option of burying her body in the soil near their chicken coop. The earth was soft there and they hoped that they would some day transport her to the Lughaven graveyard when funds allowed it.
CW over.
The nights that followed them into the end of 1302 were long ones filled with Olyff weeping into the arms of her husband. With every heave into his chest she felt her baby kick in her belly, reminding her that even with every death comes a new life.
"This is the last time I will name my child after a deceased relative," sobbed Olyff.
"We won't do it again," supported Byrhtnoth, "I promise we won't do it again..."
A belief solidified in the family, a deceased relatives name passed onto an infant only brings bad health, and they vowed to never do it again.
The couple supported each other through the remaining days of the year and made sure that the unnaturally cold winter wouldn't take their other offspring from them.
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