fandomhigh | Library [Sunday, March 23]

"It's okay," he said and let Edgar have one of his fingers, testing the grip by tugging lightly. "She's strong. Where'd the name Edgar come from?"

Edgar babbled something nonsensical and tried to pull Lee's finger closer, little fingers clinging to it as best they could.

"For Edgar Allen Poe," Adah explained. "I feel disappointed that you couldn't pick that up, for how much I read him. So she'd named after a drunken poet. I actually didn't think Karal would be so receptive to it, but..." she shrugged a shoulder. "It was going to be Ruth May if not that. Edgar fits her, I think, though I'm not sure why."

"That's why I asked," Fraser said, letting Edgar pull his finger closer. "I didn't know if it was a family name for this Karal guy or something. Has she been good besides the hair pulling?"

And Edgar promptly went to put the finger in her mouth, with no small amount of slobber and a little bit of babbling.

"I hope you washed your hands recently," Adah commented idly. "And, besides the hair pulling and slobbering over everything like that, she's been good, as far as babies go. I don't know; I was old enough when Ruth May was born that I should know, but my mother lorded over her, so I didn't pay much attention. She's smart, though. Very. She figured out how to open Bob's cage, even if she wasn't so quick to pick up on the fact that Bob isn't so playful and cuddly as I think she assumed her to be."

"She's cute," Lee said, amused at the finger biting and pulling. "I'd say she looks like you but I bet that gets me a glare. Maybe she looks like Karal before I punch him in the face."

Adah smirked again. Edgar toothlessly nibbled away. "No glaring, I promise. If anything, it would help me feel like I'm not insane for thinking the same. They're robotic, so, clearly, they could have been programmed to have been adapted to certain traits of their supposed mothers and fathers, but I'm honestly reluctant to give Skywalker that much credit in how much effort he puts into this particular assignment. I think he just does it because he wants to make us squirm."

"I don't know the guy but I can see that," he said, smiling at her. "Most teachers here seem to enjoy making people squirm. How long do you have this little bundle of joy?"

"She was assigned to me Thursday," Adah said with a small nod, "but I've had her since Friday afternoon. I'm a little surprised I'm still standing today."

"If you get too attached, you might just wanna keep her even after the assignment's over," Lee said and winked at her.

Okay, now he was definitely getting a glare. "If anyone's attached, it's her, because half the time I can't get her to let go of my hair. Believe you me, I'm counting the days until Thursday. Strapping a seventeen year old crippled girl with a robotic baby is not an alternate exercise in learning, it's a cruel and inhumane torture. At least he didn't slate me as one of the single parents, although he may as well have."

"Karal's that bad of a fake father?" Lee asked, frowning now.

"He was supposed to come get her at the clinic yesterday," Adah said, shoulders stiffening slight with a lift of her chin, as if fighting off any indication that she'd been even remotely bothered by this, "and he did not, and I still have her well past halfway through Sunday."

"Let me know if you want me to take her," Lee offered, wiggling his finger in Edgar's grasp. "I can if you need a break."

Adah's eyes shifted a little to the side in consideration of this offer. "We'll see how I feel after tonight; she's gotten a little easier. I don't know if it's just me getting used to her, or her tiring herself out, but she hasn't been as difficult today. If anything, though, I wouldn't dump her on you. You could be a terrible parent for all I know, and just dumping my kid on someone else isn't going to help my grade. But, if anything, help would be nice. I wouldn't turn that down. In this case."

"I'm always willing to help," he said, nodding. "I helped take care of my brother, after all and he didn't turn out bad, I promise."

"Well, it doesn't so much matter how this one 'turns out,' as she's likely to just be dismantled for parts once the week is over," Adah commented, "but I would be interested in talking to your brother and see if he would say the same about the effect of your care."

"Darn it all that Zak lives in Caprica and not here," he deadpanned. "I'm sure I'd love you two sharing stories."

"I'm sure we'd have a blast," Adah grinned sharply. "My sisters are closer, but they're more likely to talk about themselves than me in that respect..." Especially Rachel. Oh, Dog, picturing how Rachel would respond to the Eel was an interesting detour into the imagination, that was for sure, "...so maybe I'd luck out. I have a feeling that Zak's version of any of your stories might be at least a little bit different from yours."

"Well, he's younger and I kicked his ass a few times," he admitted, "so they'd be different. Too bad your sisters didn't come up for Parent's Weekend. I could've met them then."

"Well, I don't know if you'd have met them then, anyway," Adah pointed out. "Both our parents were there, and we didn't meet either of them respectively. Besides, they wouldn't come. Rachel wouldn't be bothered for something like that, and we still don't even know where Leah is." Or if she was even alive, really.

"Well, weren't we both hiding from our parents?" he teased lightly. "Or, I was. And then we kind of made ourselves known in the worst way possible but it was fun."

"I wouldn't say I was hiding from mine," Adah grinned lightly back, shifting a little as she noticed the weight of Edgar in her sling shifting, too. She seemed to have gotten bored with the Eel's fingers finally and made a slightly fussing sound as she tried to find something else to be distracted with or maybe settle in for a nap. Adah quietly hoped it was the latter option, and gave the baby a light swaying, guided by her arm. "Just not actively seeking her out. I have to admit, I rather preferred what I did instead that first day."

"You're pretty good with her," Lee remarked, pulling his hand back and smiling. "She likes you, hair pulling aside."

Adah's lips pursed a moment as if she couldn't decide whether she wanted to smirk at that or look affronted, but, for the most part, as she steadily tried to sway the squirm out of Edgar, she felt a little flattered. Last night, she felt anything but good with her, desperate, pained, nervous, flustered, angry, annoyed, but, really, in retrospect, all things considered, maybe she really hadn't done so bad after all. Edgar was still even in one whole piece, after all.

"Yeah, well," she muttered, looking down at the little droid baby, "hair pulling and screaming wake up calls and bunny bites and dirty diapers and flung food and excessive drooling aside, I kinda like her, too. Of course, it's easy to say that when she's being quiet like this."

"I'm sure it is," he said, keeping his voice quiet. "And it's easy for me to say this since she's not mine and you're doing all the hard work."

Library [Sunday, March 23]

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