Adon was the proudest of all proud uncles in the world.  And deservedly so.  He had bathed the baby with gifts, already come up with several nicknames (ranging from Gabester, to 'Riel, to G-man), had bounced the baby on his knee with spirited enthusiasm on a regular basis--Dreogan's whining and worrying be damned--and had even--dare he say it--attempted "baby talk" to cajole the little man.  But Gabriel would have none of it.  He was either wholly incognizant or apathetic to Adon's efforts.

It seemed, for the life of him, that what Gabriel Eleor wanted to do most in the world was eat, sleep, and blink.  Adon couldn't very well be around for the feeding--he'd nearly turned a shade darker than Gryffindor when Akiva had begun fiddling with her shirt and mention it was time, and still felt slightly uncomfortable if he stopped to think of the source of the bottled milk he occasionally fed the tyke.  And Adon could only witness the incessant blink for so long before he felt his brain cells start to die off and atrophy.

But Adon knew how to look after a sleeping baby.  Yes, at this, he was expert.  So, one afternoon on his off-day, Adon treated Akiva to a well deserved day off, so that she could go buy groceries or get her hair done, or whatever it was that women did with their friends, and he. Well. He would watch the baby sleep.

Now, Gabriel had not been asleep when Adon had dropped by the house, but it had only taken several minutes for Adon to accomplish this.  After a bottle-worth of feeding, some low humming, a light stroke of the cheek or two, and sprawling out upon the couch with a soft blanket, Gabriel soon settled himself comfortably against his wonderful uncle's chest, heaved a sigh, and snuggled his head against Adon's neck.

Observing his handiwork, Adon had felt a warm, swelling feeling in his stomach that could only be described as, well love.  The feeling was so pleasant, the blanket so soft, and little Gabriel so warm, that it did not take long until Adon, too, was enveloped in a happy sleep.  And so the pair lay--that was, until the dog started to bark, the cats to meow and paw at the door, and the key to turn in the handle.

Adon jumped before he could recall the sleeping babe on his chest, and his first cognizant thought was that for all his expert care and babysitting, the first thing Akiva would see when she returned was her son in tears, in the arms of a bleary eyed uncle.

Clucking his tongue, Adon began to bounce the babe on his knee, raising the cries to a hysterical pitch.  "Moloch!" he muttered, just as the door swung open.

Akiva could rely on several things as she left the house.  Gabriel and Adon were in her and Dreogan's house.  It was like a fort.  Dreogan had made it that way, in fact, in part with Adon's help.  She had no need to worry about Gabriel's immediate safety, particularly against dark forces.  She would be lying if she didn't rethink every time she left the house with him, knowing that the world outside was a dangerous place.  But, she couldn't let that control her.  Besides, Raizel had taught her quite a bit, she felt confident that whoever dealt with her would not only get a taste of what Raizel had taught her, but also of a very seriously minded mother bear, of sorts. 

But, even mother bears needed time away and with safety as a non-issue, and having such a loving and doting uncle who wanted to be involved in so many aspects of his very new nephew's life, Akiva couldn't pass up the chance.  At least, that's what her mother said when she called to see if she wnated to a last minute mum-daughter afternoon. 

There answer had been unequivocably yes.  So, Akiva headed out only when she was certain that everything was set for Adon. Stepping out of the door and experiencing the sudden freedom of leaving was a bit oppressive, to be perfectly honest.  It was hard to imagine that leaving home without a squirmy, wonderful, warm infant was normal less than a year ago. 

She managed to do it, though.  Even if every conversation they had turned to the burbly little boy that Akiva could only see everyone having fallen in love with, it was still an afternoon without a tired arm or pram getting underfoot. 

But, even an afternoon away had its limits, and after a couple of hours, including a pedicure and some light shopping (really, window shopping - Akiva and Dree were not the biggest spenders), she was ready to go home.  It would be time for Gabriel to eat again soon, and she could shamelessly tell her mother that she missed him and his comforting weight in her arms.  Her mother could only smile in understanding, and they parted ways. 

Akiva was all too eager to return home and apparated at the nearest alleyway - something she was becoming increasingly more comfortable with - and to the outer edge of the yard (living in a wizarding neighborhood had its advantages).  Her key was already in her hand as she walked up the pathway, and she stopped on the main step, pressing her wand to the door (an extra measure) before pushing her key into the knob - the sound must have immediately alerted Lady and Akiva could hear muffled barks by the door. 

Of course, as soon as the barking started, she heard the piercing sound of Gabriel's surprisingly strong voice and her hands shook, irrationally, as she tried to open the door.  He was startled by the dog, she reminded herself, but couldn't help but rush a little faster, her heart settling just a little as the door swung and she saw Adon sitting with Gabriel, in one piece. 

Her shoulders dropped in relief and she leaned down to try to hush Lady, hoping it would calm her.  Of course, as soon as she did, dropping her purse, Lady was jumping and still barking, her tail wagging excitedly. "Oh Lady!" she scolded, trying to settle the dog, but finding her hands were only getting in the way and were being seen as toys for the excitable spaniel, "Adon! I'm so sorry!" she called over the sound of Lady's barking.

"Ah," Adon said, trying not to sound the least bit sleepy, but even he had to rub a hand over his face to get the muscles working.  "He was asleep..."  After a sheepish pause, added, "Well, we both were."  He cast a scowl at the oblivious spaniel, tail still wagging, whimpering excitedly.  It was a well-established fact that Adon was no lover of domestic (or really, other) animals; venturing into the Katz-Eleor house was always a gesture of good-will and tolerance on his part, but had yet to be acknowledged.

(This was not entirely true.  Dreogan had commended him once or twice on his bravery to venture towards the fierce animals, but the comment was so snide--especially for Dreogan, that it could hardly be taken as proper acknowledgement.)  So Adon kept a level of satisfaction in knowing that, through Akiva's apology, he was not being held accountable for the red-faced babe's tears and piercingly high screams.

Now seemed as good a time as any to hand Gabriel over to his loving mother.  Crossing the room to the entry, he did so, holding the child out rather awkwardly.  "Maybe he's hungry..." he added before frowning.  If he was, there would be that awkward moment in which Adon would eihter need to excuse himself from the room while she nursed, or to somehow feign a state of obliviousness as she did so, right in the open. It didn't matter if she had a blanket over to conceal, well... it was awkward.

Clearing his throat, he made an attempt at small talk over the shrill wails.  "Did you have a good time out?" he asked in a slightly raised voice, a hopeful but--alas--rather awkward smile on his face.

It was another few moments before Akiva was able to soothe Lady, brushing the top of her head with her nails, scratching behind her ears, and lulling her to the floor.  Gabriel, however, did not let up, despite Lady’s cease in disturbing the peace, and the woman stood, ready to accept the squirming, crying baby. 

It was not the first time he had been moved to a state like this, mostly in much the same circumstances.  She wished that Lady had been outside, and then she could have gotten a picture.  Akiva really appreciated how active Adon wanted to be in his nephew’s life, and she liked to get those moments on camera as much as her own or Dree’s.  Gabriel would grow up with a plethora of photos. 

Akiva mentally filed a note to bring a camera to Hanukkah dinners, just in case post dinner, all the boys decided to take a nap.  That would be headed straight for a frame in their son’s room – maybe even a mantle, depending on the quality. 

But, she had something else to deal with currently, and Akiva cooed gently into her son’s ear, rubbing his back as she swayed from side to side, a small bobbing motion also accompanying the swinging.  It was practiced, and slow without being unnoticeably so, and while Gabriel certainly wasn’t screaming quite as badly as before, he was still crying.  There was, at the very least, a noticeable step in the right direction. 

Besides, the baby shouldn’t be hungry yet – she’d fed him just before Adon arrived –and she knew how he felt about it, even though he might have tried to hide it.  She wasn’t so unobservant.  “It was relaxing,” she tried to be loud enough to hear, but not so loud she would disturb the still squirming and awkward.  “I hope… up until now,” she laughed awkwardly, “it was relaxing for you too…”

She continued to rock Gabriel, hoping that Lady would remain quiet and the cries would soften... sooner, rather than later.

Adon waved his hand dismissively.  Once he realized that it was Lady who was, more appropriately in the dog house--and not himself--it was much easier to be light-hearted about this, even over Gabriel's wails and screams.

Which made him think--Adon moved back to the couch where they'd been sprawled out just moments before and began to toss the sofa cushions about.  Retrieving a small, plastic-y thing from between two cushions, Adon inspected it, blew on it, rubbed off any couch fuzz on his t-shirt, and held it up victoriously to Akiva.  "Here," he said, crossing the space between them once more and holding up the mustachioed binky triumphantly.  Without time for a protest--for petty things such as hygiene or somesuch--Adon popped the pacifier into the screaming little mouth.  It took several seconds for the effect to take--the boy's brown eyes went wide, and Adon was sure he was going to spit it onto the floor, when suddenly, the crying stopped, and the little baby began to chomp contentedly on the thing. 

"Bam," he proclaimed heroically, grinning triumphantly. "And your friends at the shower said it was tacky..." he shook his head disapprovingly, teeth still showing in a perfect grin.