Bows and Belles

A story about Rhage and Mary, and babysitting... written by Mary Thorture

* * * * *

‘Umm, honey–I’m no expert, but I don’t think that goes there.’

Mary stifled a smile as Rhage attempted to dress a wriggling Nalla in her Rainbow Princess pyjamas. From the looks of it, Rhage wasn’t on the winning team. It had been an interesting evening all round…

A few weeks ago, during one of their talk sessions, Mary had strongly suggested to Z that he should take Bella out for dinner. Just the two of them. Sure, they needed family time together, but they also needed Grown Up time, without the distraction of Nalla. Bella hadn’t really warmed to the idea; she’d been torn between the need to spend QT with her hellren, and her reluctance to leave Nalla. She’d even been willing to take their young with them on their date, which defeated the object of ‘alone time’. It had taken a lot of persuasion and a barrage of promises to the parents about keeping the young one safe to make Bella change her mind.

So, this evening, the date was set. Mary and Rhage arrived at Bella and Z’s room right on time. Bella had continued to voice her anxiety, right up until Nalla had launched herself at Rhage’s kneecaps, and stated in a loud, and eerily grown up voice, that ‘Mahmen and Daddy should go do boring things’ and that she ‘wanted to play dress-up with Unka Rhage’. The stunned silence that followed was only punctuated by a snort from Z, and a twitch of Bella’s mouth, both of which were quickly covered up.

Mary watched the couple leave their room. They did look good together, Z dressed in a dark suit and crisp white shirt, and Bella in a figure hugging emerald green dress. She hoped this date would allow them to reconnect a little more. Z was turning out to be a fabulous father. His initial fears about his past somehow rubbing off on Nalla weren’t exactly silenced and forgotten, but he was getting there. Bella continued to firmly push Z to the limits of his comfort zone with love and acceptance. Mary had every confidence they would make it as family.

‘Oh NO! Where’s Nalla gone?’

Rhage sounded frantic, and Mary’s blood froze–surely they couldn’t have lost her? Less than ninety seconds had passed and already they were in trouble!

As she spun to face them, dreading what she was going to see, her relief was palpable as Nalla giggled.

Rhage was dangling Nalla down his broad back, holding her firmly by the ankles and twisting and turning his torso in an attempt to catch a glimpse of her.

‘Mary, MARY!!! Help me! Where is Nalla? I can’t see her anymore. Her Daddy is going to be really cross with me!’

Nalla, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind all the blood rushing to her head as she laughed and tried to tell him where she was. Mary couldn’t help but join in as she extracted the young from her hellren’s strong grip and turned her right way up.

With overly dramatic gesturing, Rhage dropped to his knees before Nalla and thanked the Scribe Virgin that she was safe and sound.

Mary took Nalla’s hand and crossed the large sitting room to the sofa.

‘What would you like to do Nalla? There are colouring books, reading books, and I believe your tea party things were delivered earlier’

Nalla looked around seriously, considering her options, and a sly smile formed on her face as she pointed at the tea party set.

‘You want a tea party Nalla?’ Rhage asked, his stomach grumbling at the thought.

Nalla giggled and pointed at his tummy. ‘You sound funny.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Rhage dipped his head in remorse, eyes glinting mischievously, ‘but it’s been a while since I last ate.’

Mary held her hand out towards the young. ‘Tea party it is then. Shall we go and see if Fritz has left any cake or cookies out, Nalla? I’m sure we can find something suitable in the kitchen.’

As Mary and Nalla walked towards the door a deep voice rumbled, ‘Don’t worry about me, I’ll just sit here and wait with Teddy and Dolly.’

Nalla turned to look at the large man who sat on the sofa with one long leg crossed over his knee; she nodded solemnly and walked through the door.

* * * * *

Rifling through the cupboards while Nalla sat on the table, swinging her legs, Mary found a large tray and piled cookies, a pitcher of homemade lemonade and some pretzels on to it. For good measure she grabbed a few freshly made bread rolls, peanut butter and a knife. Fully laden with goodies, the girls headed back to the room.

* * * * *

Rhage was now sprawled out on the floor, and looked deep in conversation with Teddy when they arrived back, he flashed Mary one of those killer smiles, and gazed longingly at the food they had brought back.

‘Awwwwwrrriiiiiigggghhhtttt!!!! TEA TIME!’ he bellowed, sitting upright and crossing his legs.

Nalla shook her head, her curls bobbing around her pretty face. Rhage looked crestfallen

‘What do you mean ‘No’??’ he pouted.

Nalla smiled, a little too knowingly for her years, and grabbed his big hand, trying to use her slight body weight to pull him to his feet. Rhage obliged and she led him off into the bathroom, presumably to wash up before they ate.

Mary busied herself setting up the table with the tea service, placing the cookies and pretzels on a serving platter and pouring the lemonade into the teapot.

Rhage and Nalla were taking an awfully LONG time in washing up, and she hoped they were OK in there, but she was confident Rhage would yell for her if she was needed, so she started on making peanut butter sandwiches with the bread rolls.

The bathroom door opened and closed very softly, and Mary heard Nalla skip across the room, towards the table. Heavy male footsteps were followed by a low growl of: ‘Not. A. Word.’

Nalla pulled a chair out and plonked herself in it, with a rather smug smile on her face. She knelt up a little and nodded approvingly at the spread Mary had put out.

A second chair pushed back across the carpet and Rhage lowered himself into it. Or at least Mary thought it was Rhage. As Nalla busied herself serving the lemonade ‘tea’ and distributing the snacks evenly to the plates, Mary risked raising her eyes. Her hand flew up to her face, and she had to stuff her fist into her mouth to stop her from crying out.

No wonder they had been so long in the bathroom.

Rhage had been well and truly ‘Nalla’d’.

THIS was a ‘make-over’ of epic proportions.

Myriad clips and bows had been childishly woven into his rough blond hair, and the longer strands had been carefully tied with ribbons, causing the hair to sprout from his head at all angles in short pigtails. The decorative colours had clearly been chosen with care to accent his natural highlights.

And it didn’t stop there.

Bella obviously kept some make up in the bathroom.

Rhage looked a little flushed…from the lipstick that has been used to colour his cheeks, accenting his strong facial features. The frosted pink that covered his generous mouth oddly suited him, and contrasted well with the blue lines that followed the contours of his arched eyebrows.

Eyebrows that were now drawn closer together over eyes that pleaded with her not to say anything, or at least not to laugh out loud.

Mary knew she should berate Nalla for using her mother’s things without permission, but that could wait. She wanted to enjoy this.

Her cellphone rang, and she excused herself from the table to answer it. Rhage kept one eye on Nalla and the other watched her nervously as she walked to the window to take the call.

‘Hi Bella, I thought you might phone.’ She’d been expecting the contact at least once throughout the evening. ‘Yes we’re all umm fine here. We’re having a tea party…and a bit of a girly night.’ She smiled at the puzzled response from the other female. ‘Yes, yes, Rhage is still here. He’s having erm fun too.’

Mary looked over at her hellren and laughed softly. ‘Oh I will, Bella, I will. Take care, see you later.’

On her way back to the table she raised her cellphone, and activated the camera. The click of the shutter caused Rhage to flick his head up from the sandwich he was devouring.

‘Tell me you didn’t just do what I think you did,’ he growled.

Mary forced her face into a picture of innocence and smiled serenely. ‘You enjoy your food, lover, and don’t worry about what I may or may not be doing.’ She sat back down and sipped her ‘tea’, watching Nalla, Rhage and Teddy discuss the best colours for the picture they were decorating.

Nalla yawned loudly, and Mary looked over at the clock. Time had flown by. It was close to bedtime for the young. Bella had left out sleepwear for Nalla with instructions she was to brush her teeth and toilet before bed. Mary carried the weary child to the bathroom and supervised while she brushed her teeth and hair. Scooting off the stool she used to reach the sink, Nalla grabbed her pyjamas and ran out to Rhage, demanding that the male helped her to get ready for bed. Mary smiled and started to clean up the watery mess that had been left behind on the counter from the washing and teeth brushing.

Wandering into the main room, Mary stifled a smile as Rhage attempted to dress a wriggling Nalla in her Rainbow Princess pyjamas. From the looks of it, Rhage wasn’t on the winning team.

‘Umm, honey–I’m no expert, but I don’t think that goes there.’ Mary couldn’t help but comment on Nalla’s attempts to foil the male

‘You think?’ he said, the frustration in his voice was clear. Rhage was trying to pull the top of the pyjamas over the girl’s head, but wasn’t having too much luck as Nalla refused to cooperate, knowing that once the nightwear was on, the fun was over.

Mary smiled; she loved seeing Rhage like this. Few got to see this side of him really. He was all about the killing and took the war against the Lessers very seriously. He and his dragon terrified most people; he was so strong and ruthless, but capable of immense tenderness and care–especially with her, and also with Nalla. All the brothers adored the young, and there was often all out ‘war’ as they battled to spend time with her.

Watching him with Nalla now made her heart constrict with the knowledge she wouldn’t be able to give him a child of their own. She shook the feeling off with effort. That was the nature of sacrifices. You couldn’t hand them back when it was no longer convenient. Although she hadn’t technically given up her ability to have children to be with Rhage, it was the one thing that had swung in her favour when the Scribe Virgin had healed her cancer. She had been allowed to stay with Rhage - her infertility deemed enough of a forfeit - rather than never see him again.

And he looked adorable with tiny ribbons and bows in his hair. She wouldn’t have missed that for the world.

After finally wrestling Nalla into her pyjamas, he’d gone to the bathroom and washed his face while Mary put the young to bed. She was overly excited and took a while to settle down. Only two stories and the promise that they would come to tea again soon had placated her.

Mary watched at the bedroom door as Nalla’s eyelids drooped and she fell into sleep. Bella and Z would be home shortly, and she hoped they’d had a good time. Rhage appeared behind her, wrapping his large arms around her waist and dropping his head to her shoulder. She could feel his warmth by her cheek, and the sound of his breathing was comforting. She turned in his arms and laid her head against his chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart under his shirt and he softly kissed the top of her head.

The main door to the room opened, and Bella and Z walked in, standing so close together, it was almost as if they’d been fused together. It was nice to see some of their intimacy back.

‘She’s just gone down.’ Mary said to Bella, ‘She was tired out. Thanks for letting us take care of her.’

The other woman nodded and melded herself to her male; Mary took the hint that she and Z wanted a little more ‘alone time’. Grabbing Rhage’s hand she pulled him through door, and grinned to herself when Z’s deep voice carried across the hall.

‘Nice hair ribbons you have there my man.’

Rhage growled a little, and swiped his hand through his hair, dislodging a couple more of the small bows. He gathered them in his hand and shoved them in his pocket to return to Nalla at a later date.

Mary yawned a little, and Rhage looked deep into her eyes. ‘Sleepy? Bath and bed for you then, my Mary.’ His voice was soft and seductive.

Leaning into her male a little more, a soft smile curved her lips, and Mary knew it would be a while before she got to sleep this evening.