Angela was sitting out on the docked gazebo on the beach of Elysia. She sat with her feet in the water. Her dress was a short ivory one with her red hair up and a hibiscus in her hair. The time felt right to celebrate summer and what more the baby was ready for it.

Myrra’s head was full of black curls and her grey eyes were looking wild. “Ready? Mama is gonna dip you into the water.” There was a shocked noise from Myrra as Angela put her feet into the water. At first, there was a cry and for a few moments, Myrra was displeased with her mother.

“Really? Water is special to us Myrra. Sularia worships water as much as we worship the soul-stream. But I bet it just feels really cold to you?” A fish swam up and touched Myrra’s feet to which the child screamed to all holy heavens.

“Shoo…” Angela did a motion and the fish was quick to swim away. “It’s just a little itty bitty fish Myrra… You don’t have to be scared of it.” She bounced the child who was in a red sundress. “Shhhh.” The redhead cleared her child’s tears from her face. “Nature is wonderful… You don’t need to be scared of little things like that.”

"So how is our little one doing with her first excursion outside?" came Drae's voice over the crash of the waves as he came the dock. His typical robes and fancy shirt and waistcoat had been abandoned for the day and he wore something a little more Sularian, an open vest and loose pants. Considering how pale he was, it looked a little awkward, but if there was any place he could change that, it would be there on the docks with his wife in the sun.

Myrra shrieked when she heard her father approach, and again the whole fuss over being wet started again. 

"Oh, little one, is Mama bullying you and putting you in the water?" he asked, as he came and sat down beside Angela. He placed a kiss on Myrra's head and gently took his daughter from Angela. "You will be fine, little one. There is nothing in that water that will hurt you. Not here," he promised her. "Your mother did tell you, that water is the source of all life, right?" he asked the infant. Myrra quit her tears and looked up at her father with her bright silvery grey eyes. "Yes, little one. All life comes from the water, that is one of the reasons Sularians worship it. All the gold and magic in the world cannot save you if you do not have water…" he explained. 

Green and red eyes found her love’s as she smirked a bit. “She hates it and I think she hates me right now.” Myrra gave an affirmative grump towards her mother as grey eyes glared towards her. “Oh, you can just keep glaring at me. You’ll find that I am not easily swayed nor scared. Especially of little things like you.”

Angela took the time to look over her husband and gave him a low whistle. “You look better and better every day. Remind me to make sure that women stay off of you. Flirting is fine but I don’t think I could handle them thinking they could steal you.” She chuckled a bit as her eyes went back to their small daughter who was now shrieking. It didn’t last long as Angela sighed once the fussing started once more.

“Oh yes, I am a total bully. Just a regular ol’ brute of a person.” Angela spoke with heavy sarcasm as she tilted her head and stared at the werebear who now sat next to her. Myrra let out a coo for a moment in between her fussing as Drae kissed her head and took her. As Drae spoke to her Angela watched as some gemstone fish come to the surface to get a good look at the Goddess’s youngest child. “Shoo… Don’t scare her.” Angela kicked her foot lightly as she spooked the fish off.

Reaching over the redhead gently ran her fingers through Myrra’s mess of black curls. She seemed so fascinated by Drae’s words that Angela was almost jealous. She really was her father’s little girl. “Your Daddy is right. Water is the lifeblood of all and someday you’ll understand what that means.” She poked the little girl in her tummy as she got a short laugh out of Myrra. “Water won’t hurt you unless it is filled with malice but that can be said for a lot of things.” She leaned over as she cupped the back of the child’s head giving her forehead a gentle kiss. “Nothing can hurt you here though. Your Daddy and I will protect you.”

Myrra gave a grin before her eyes went back to the water. There was now more fussing despite her parents’ easy words. Angela let out a sigh, “It’s like her and grass… It’s just something most babies don’t get.” It took her forever to get Poppy and Larkspur to touch grass without freaking out and now Myrra was showing the same signs with water. “Oh well, she’ll grow out of it like the other brats have.” Hopefully.

Drae chuckled at Myrra's grumpy sounds she made at her mother. "It won't work on her, Starbit, she's had too many children for it to effect her," he said as he lightly pinched Myrra's cheek. He smirked at Angela's low whistle at his new outfit and her claims that she was going to have to chase other women off. "I'm a fine wine my dear, just getting better with age, though I don't look it," he grinned. "Besides, robes aren't good water wear, and your realm here is much too humid to be comfortable in heavy fabric," he added. "As far as other women are concerned, I don't think you have to worry much. Unlike the young men who seem to come here frequently, I don't have to fend off any blushing beauties. That is something our sons have to do. Your only competition was Dalanesca, but she has Jarmyr these days," he reassured his wife. 

He bounced Myrra on his kneed to help her calm down from her most recent bout of fussing, and the infant girl looked up at her mother as she reaffirmed what Drae had just repeated to her, and reassured her that no matter what they would always be around to protect her. Myrra clearly wasn't convinced, and as another puff of ocean spray landed on her she fussed more and burrowed her face in Drake's vest. 

Drae looked thoughtful at what Angela said about babies and the frustration they had with grass, and how water must have been the same way. "Grass is prickly… water… this is just not the sort of water she is used to. It is loud, tastes bad, and is rather cold. She might just need to see it in a different way," he said. He handed Myrra back to Angela and slid himself off the edge of the floating gazebo, jeweled fish scattering at his splashing. 

"Myrra, look here at Papa," he called to the baby over the sound of the waves, and summoned some twinkling fairy lights to get her attention. Myrra's eyes snapped up from where she had been sucking on her toes and making faces at the salty taste the ocean water had left behind, and watched the lights that danced on the water. Drae lifted his hands as more ocean spray broke against the gazebo, and the droplets hung suspended in the air. The Keeper flicked his fingers and the drops consolidated into one large bubble, a single jeweled fish swimming in circles inside.

Myrra's eyes whent wide, her little mouth open in surprise as the water was suddenly doing something that was not loud or splashy. She watched as the bubble with the sparkly fish morphed into the shape of a bunny. Her gray eyes lit up with delight and she shrieked, clapping her pudgy little hands as Drae directed the bunny to hop around the gazebo and across the waves. After some hopping around Angela and Myrra, the bunny stopped just inches from the baby. Myrra leaned in and grabbed at the bunny. Her little hands passed through the bunny, and she pulled her hand free and shook the water from it before she leaned in again and tried to grab it, this time with both hands. The jewel fish came up and nibbled her outstretched fingers a second before it took a flying leap from the water bunny back into the ocean at the edge of the gazebo. The water bubble popped, lightly splashing Myrra and Angela both. Myrra gasped, the look of shocked surprise on her face priceless. 

“You look just as good to me as you did the first day we met. I don’t think I’ll ever change my mind on that no matter how old you think you are getting,” a wink came from Angela as her tone was soft while she soft. “I’m not too worried about Dalanesca.” The elder goddess chuckled a bit. “I don’t think she would tread on me like that anyways. She has far too much respect for me to pull something like that.”

Angela took Myrra back into her arms as Drae slid into the water. “Aye, this would be her first time experiencing such a thing. I can only imagine what’s going on in that little head of hers. Though her expressions are saying a lot right now.” Angela laughed as she watched the faces Myrra made towards her father. Angela put Myrra on the edge of her lap so that she could watch the fairy lights that Adraejen conjured for her.

The mother was watching as the child grew excited towards the bunny. It would make sense that she would love the shape of that particular creature the most. Finally, the bubble popped and it got mother and daughter wet. Angela laughed as Myrra sat there in shock for a moment or two. Finally, the girl went back to fussing now towards the fact that her father had gotten her wet. “Way to go Daddy look at how fussy you’ve made her… and this time I can’t even take the credit.” Myrra’s pudgy little face puffed out a bit before Angela held the child out to Adraejen. “Try putting her in the water and seeing how much she likes that… She might very well enjoy it… Though it’s much colder than the baths she is used to.”

Myrra fussed now as she looked down at the water she was now being held over. Stubborn little eyes watched her father as if daring him to even try and put her in such an infernal thing. “There’s only one way for her to learn and I am just as stubborn as she is if not more.” Angela nodded her head as put as she moved her feet and legs back into the water as she sat on the edge of the gazebo now. “Voice knows I don’t want to traumatize her from the ocean though… so I suppose we must be careful.”

Drae smiled and took Myrra from her mother, the infant kicking at the water that she certainly did not want to touch. 

"Come on, we can bounce a bit in the water," he said as he carefully lowered her down and held her so that just her feet were touching the water. Myrra at first, fussed and wanted to cling to Drae, which she did to the best she could. But when she realized that the water was now splashing because she was kicking it, she liked to see how the water moved. Instead of fussing, she was now staring intently at the starry water and blowing through her lips. Another of the jeweled fish came up to her as she kicked the water and swam around her and Drae, instead of nibbling her toes. The colors attracted Myrra's attention and she reached out to the water to try and touch. Drae carefully lowered her a bit more into the water. 

"There we go," Drae chuckled. "See, the fishy is nice," he said. The fish allowed Myrra's tiny pudgy fingers to brush against its brightly colored scales and soft fins. After a minute, Myrra looked up at Drae and babbled something before she reached back for Angela. 

"Well, I think that was enough. I think she was a bit worried about being dropped before," Drae mused as he waded back over to Angela and handed Myrra off to her before he hoisted himself back upon the floating gazebo next to her. 

The redhead watched contently as father sought to agitate his youngest. Or would he prove to her that water could, in fact, be fun? The goddess’s green eyes lit up as Myrra discovered how the water splashed when she moved her feet. It appeared the child quite liked that. It was sort of just like bath time. It was quite a sight to see as Drae lowered Myrra down more and the child didn’t scream nor fuss.

However, after a few moments, Myrra had quite enough of the water and held out her arms back to her mother. There was a chuckle that left the goddess’s lips as she held her arms out back and let Drae bring her back. She snuggled the child close as Myrra fussed at how cold she was. With a little chuckle and a kiss to the child’s head, a warm blanket appeared around her. Myrra seemed sated at that point and cuddled closer to her mother. “Now she should know I would never drop her… but children do have the silliest fears sometimes.” Angela pet Myrra’s black hair.

Angela leaned into her husband and put her head on his shoulder. Her green eyes were looking up at him. “You have quite the way with some of our children. Not all of them but some of them. Some of them are just pains.” She chuckled a bit. “But they tend to be more of your problem than mine… Like Poppy.” The goddess adjusted the babe in her arm gently and it had appeared like the excitement had made Myrra sleepy as she started to drift asleep.

“Do you ever think about what our next big adventure is?” She gently kicked her feet but not enough to bother the sleeping Myrra in her lap. “Our next child? Do you ever think about what they will be like before we even discuss them?” She was curious about what was going on in Drae’s mind at that moment.

Myrra babbled at her mother as she was passed off to her, before she started to fuss at the cold and snuggled against her mother to get warm. 

"Well, you and I both know that, but that is something that she has to learn for herself," Drae smiled and nuzzled her as she put her head on his shoulder. "Yeah, but they clearly got it from you. We all know that I am the well-behaved one," he teased. "Badger's not bad. She just got the difficult from both of us. Though, her sudden interest in boys is definitely different than any of her sisters it seems." 

He looked thoughtful and gently caressed Myrra's head as she dozed in Angela's lap. 
"No. Mostly because I try and focus purely on the ones we have now. Any future children I will take as they come…" he said gently. "I know you think about it enough for both of us. I more wonder what the future holds for the children we have. How things will change for Iva and Rohan as they have grown up… how Lark will come into himself and how Poppy will face the world. I wonder what Myrra will do with her incredible magic powers… I wonder a lot."