The following day brought a breath of new life to the orphanage that was only seen when there was a new addition to the family.
The first to wake up were the caretakers, whose first task was to prepare the orphanage for the swarm of children that would be woken up later. Unlike most days, however, Emeline woke up to her fellow caretakers having abandoned their tasks in favor of greeting Jasmine.
They were all surrounding Jasmine’s crib as they murmured back and forth about something or other.
Emeline approached the room and finally heard the conversation, which revolved around Jasmine’s cuteness and calm demeanor. Naturally, she joined in with her own comment.
“Jasmine is rather cute, isn’t she?”
After hearing her, the group went dead silent and, as a unit, turned towards the door. Seeing Emeline there, they all approached her and quickly overwhelmed her with questions about Jasmine.
“Who brought her? What’s her story? Does she have a full name? How old is she?”
Not being able to answer fast enough, her interrogation quickly turned into a speculation session as the group attempted to answer their own questions.
“Maybe she belongs to a noble house?” Someone asked out loud, only to be quickly shut down.
“No way, she can’t be a noble. There haven’t been any scandals recently, and if a noble did have an affair, the whole city would know by now.”
“She looks rather young, maybe a few days old at most,” someone threw out, answering one of the previous questions.
“Well, it really doesn’t matter. She is so cute!” Another caretaker exclaimed and was quickly met with nods of approval before someone else blurted out something else.
“Hopefully, she doesn’t grow to be a troublemaker like Rose. It's almost like we are feeding her pixie dust with every meal,” a statement that was also met with nods of approval and also helped to quickly derail the conversation.
“You know, I heard from Betty, who heard from Janice, that Janice’s sister-in-law's son accidentally ate some pixie dust from their shop, and they weren’t able to sleep for three days. Apparently, the kid got so jittery that they had to take him to the healers.”
Of course, that particular statement stirred the hornet's nest even more, which led to someone else asking the gossipsayer a crucial question.
“But was the kid able to fly?” Yet before the question was answered, they continued. “We all heard that pixie dust can cause things to fly, or was it float? You know what, never mind, I think it was fairy dust that did that.”
However, before the whole thing derailed even more, the entire group was interrupted by Jasmine’s cries of displeasure, and all of them turned towards the crib once more. It seemed the group had gotten a bit loud. The group, who were all staring at Jasmine, then heard a sound they knew too well. Something that scared them all and caused them to turn back around towards Emeline.
“Ahem.”
Now, seeing Emeline’s displeased face, a chill went down their spines. They had messed up. Emeline, seeing she had their attention once more, took a deep breath and calmly spoke, attempting to be reasonable but direct.
“You know, I overlooked the fact that you weren’t doing your assigned tasks. I understand. There is a new member of the family, and you went to greet her. That is acceptable.”
Pausing, she looked at the group before continuing in a much louder, annoyed, and reprimanding tone. “But what is not acceptable is the fact that you swarmed me like a bunch of gibbering rats assaulting a wheel of cheese. And then you ignored me like a bunch of good-for-nothing howling monkeys.”
Then, finally, losing a bit of self-control, she yelled. “What is even worse was that you howling idiots woke up Jasmine!”
Pausing to rein in her temper, Emeline continued. “She is young and needs her rest, and as some of you know, she got here late last night, meaning she only got a few hours of sleep before being rudely awakened by all of you!”
Hearing Jasmine’s cries, Emeline's passion for scolding reignited, and she lost it once more. “Now, so help me, Zefree, if you all don’t get going, I will personally make sure that you aren’t allowed in any tavern in the city for the next month!”
Like prey attempting to hide from a predator, the group had frozen in place and did not want to make a move that might alert the beast in front of them. Unluckily for them, it didn’t work, and their idiotic stares burned Emeline’s last nerve.
“Why are all of you still here!?!” Emeline yelled before moving towards them while clapping her hands. “Come on! Chop! Chop! Get moving! The day is not getting any younger!” With this last comment, the group unfroze and hurriedly left their sleeping quarters.
After getting her fellow caretakers moving, Emeline went and picked up Jasmine.
“Aww, poor baby, did those mean and lazy bums wake you up?” Emeline said in an exaggerated and playful tone.
“It's okay, it's okay. How about we go get you something delicious for your tummy wummy?” As Emeline spoke with her playful voice, she lifted Jasmine in the air, giving her a few slow swirls.
Jasmine, swayed by the tone of Emeline’s voice, finally got over the shock of being suddenly woken up and calmed down. Seeing she had managed to calm Jasmine down, Emeline placed her on the changing table as she had gotten a whiff of unpleasantness while lifting her.
After changing Jasmine’s diaper, Emeline left the sleeping quarters and headed to the laundry room. There, she saw Eleneth.
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Eleneth Pinith was a young, tall elf woman with flowing brown hair and hazel eyes. And, like most days, she wore a simple yet well-made white shirt and shorts that contrasted against her flawless bronze skin.
Though she was older than everyone in the orphanage at 107 Years old, Eleneth had only been there for a total of seven years.
Like most elves who found their passion at 100 Years of age, she had found her passion was helping and caring for those in need.
Then, because Eleneth was a follower of the Goddess of Freedom and Peace, Zefree, she was directed by the deity to come and assist the orphanage. Since then, Eleneth had taken the mantle of cleaner and was put in charge of that aspect of the orphanage.
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Emeline approached the busy elf who was in the process of folding some clothes that had been left from the previous day.
“Hey, Ely,” Emeline greeted.
Eleneth, hearing Emeline, quickly stopped her task and turned towards her, responding in kind. “Hey Emy, glad to see you got Jasmine to calm down. Also, sorry about earlier. I think we all got a bit too excited.”
“It’s alright. She is fine now, and it’s understandable. I have been in the same position quite a few times,” Emeline replied with a smile.
“Oh, I can only imagine. This is my first time dealing with such a young one. Do they give a lot of trouble?” Ely asked.
“Well, not really,” Emeline answered quickly, then pausing for a few seconds to gather her thoughts, she continued. “At such a young age, they can only do so much and aren’t really an issue. However, that does not mean it is easy. Since they can't speak and are rather fragile, all infants require constant attention, which can be daunting.”
“Hmm, I see.” Replied Ely, as her face took a serious look of contemplation.
Emeline, feeling happy over Ely already showing interest in raising Jasmine, couldn’t help but reassure the elf.
“Don’t worry, Ely, I will use this opportunity to teach and reinforce everyone on the many things needed to raise an infant. After all, I am not getting any younger and want to ensure everyone is well-prepared for the future.”
Emeline's statement brought Ely back from her contemplation, and she responded with a frown.
“Ah, come on, don't say that. You got plenty of life left in ya!”
Emeline, not wanting to derail and possibly sour their conversation, just agreed with her fellow caretaker.“Well, if you say so, after all, elves probably know more than most folk about life longevity.”
“That's right, and this elf is telling you got plenty of years left in ya,” Ely answered with a bright smile.
Smiling back at the elf, Emeline could feel how restless Jasmine was becoming, which probably meant she was getting hungry, so she decided it was time to wrap up her pleasant chat.
“Ely, I would love to stay and chat with you about babies, but this pretty baby right here is getting hungry. I honestly just came by because I had to ask you to please wash all our stored baby clothes.” Pausing, Emeline pointed at the bundle of clothes she had taken out last night before continuing. “I already took some out, so can you please wash those first?”
“Ah, okay, will do. Now go ahead and go. I don’t want to be the reason why little Jasmine starts crying again,” responded Ely as she got back to folding clothes.
“Alright, well, I will see you at breakfast.” Replied Emeline then, grabbing Jasmine’s tiny hand, she said. “Alright, Jasmine, say bye-bye to Aunt Ely,” and pretended to wave while playfully saying, “Bye Bye, Aunt Ely.”
Entering the kitchen, Emeline was met with the usual controlled chaos that was expected when attempting to feed 24, now 25, children with the addition of Jasmine. As usual, the oldest kids were in the kitchen helping Amelia cook as she seemingly danced around with her floral dress and dirty leather apron.
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Amelia Zefree Hilless was a human woman with short black hair and tan skin that matched her light brown eyes. She had grown up in the orphanage along with the rest of the caretakers, except for Eleneth.
Like some of the kids in the orphanage, when she was brought in, she had been old enough to understand that her parents had died in a monster attack. She had also known who she was, which also meant she knew her and her parents' names, but even so, she followed the tradition of adopting the Zefree name to represent the goddess who helped keep her safe and fed.
Much like Emeline, Amelia grew up to enjoy helping others, so when she turned 14 Years old, she decided to stay in the orphanage and become a caretaker. Even 20 years after her decision, Amelia never looked back and enjoyed every day like it could be her last.
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The chaos in the kitchen came to a halt a few moments after Emeline entered as everyone stopped and stared at the baby in her arms. Then, as fast as it had stopped, it began once again as all the young cooks put down their tools and rushed Emeline.
Luckily, before the incoming horde of children trampled her, Amelia stood before Emeline, stopping the excited children with what Emeline knew was one of her angry stares.
“What are you all doing?! Hm?” Amelia said in a scolding tone, gesturing with her index finger as a scolding mom would before she continued. “First of all, what have I told you about leaving food unattended?!? Not only that, but you rushed her like a bunch of eel hounds chasing a catfish! What if you had knocked her down, and Jasmine got hurt?!? Huh!? Huh!? And what? You thought you were going to touch Jasmine with your dirty hands?!? Not in a thousand years! Now get to work, or none of you are getting crispy lime cookies!”
After ranting and seeing her children walk off, she turned around with the biggest and most innocent smile as if her little rant had never happened. Then she proceeded to gently pinch Jasmine's cheek, leaving a bit of flour behind before she also walked off.
Emeline, unable to hold back her smile, shook her head and spoke up. “Didn’t you just say not to touch Jasmine with dirty hands!?” Sadly, her words didn’t reach Amelia, as the cook was already back in her own little world.
Not wanting to stay any longer in the kitchen, Emeline quickly grabbed some milk from the cooling storage and a clean heating pad from a side counter before heading towards the sleeping quarters. In the sleeping quarters, she heated the milk and fed little Jasmine before cleaning her a bit with a damp, warm towel.
Soon after cleaning up Jasmine, she left the sleeping quarters and moved to the dining hall, where she was greeted with the usual murmur of voices as all the children made conversation while waiting for breakfast to be served. The murmur soon stopped as a few children saw her holding Jasmine, and a wave of shushing spread, causing the hall to fall into silence.
Smiling, Emeline moved from the doorway where she had been towards the front of the dining hall. On the way there, she was joined by the three other caretakers of the orphanage.
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There was Geodurith Zefree, or Geo as he preferred to be called. He was a young, stocky dwarf at 35 years of age and had a mix of dark blond hair, red ruby eyes, and caramel skin. He also wore his usual handy overalls and a belt filled with various tools, from hammers to chisels.
As his attire promoted, Geo was the handy dwarf of the orphanage and was in charge of fixing mostly everything. However, he also helped round up the children when necessary, explaining his attendance at the dining hall.
Next up was Harps Zefree, a lanky beast folk with feline-like features and a coat of light yellow colored fur marked with black dots. Harps was the playmate for all the children and the one who ran most of the errands in the orphanage. Naturally, this responsibility came to him due to his need for speed and natural aptitude for running.
Like always, Harps wore no shoes, along with tan shorts and shirt that allowed for greater freedom of movement. Much like many of his feline brethren, he had slit pupils and was great at climbing a variety of things.
All in all, Harps loved playing with the children, and luckily, he still had the plentiful energy of youth as he was only 25 years old.
Finally, there was Fosco Zefree Halgbo, a dark-skinned halfling with brown hair and light blue eyes. Fosco was a short, chubby guy who enjoyed a nice and quiet place to read his books. This baffled everyone in the orphanage as it made no sense for him to live in a place filled with unruly children.
However, what Fosco enjoyed more than a nice and quiet place to read was a pleasant and fulfilling life. And for him, a child of an odd mix of elf and gnome parents, he saw this stage of his life as just part of his journey. In truth, Fosco, with the gods willing, would live to see 500 years or more, and he wanted to spend his first century living a humble life and simply helping those in need. So, at only 40 years of age, Fosco intended to enjoy his journey as he lived an unassuming life.
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Joined at the front of the dining hall by the other three caretakers and holding the attention of all the children, Emeline spoke.
“Good morning everyone.”
“Good morning, Aunt Emeline,” replied the children in unison.
“As all of you can see, we have a new family member,” continued Emeline before pausing to lift Jasmine so all the children could properly look at the newborn. Then, seeing she still held their undivided attention, she continued.
“Her name is Jasmine. How about you all say hello to Jasmine?” Not needing to be told twice and smiling, all the while, the children once more spoke in unison.
“Hello, Jasmine!” This, of course, was followed by a unison of giggles before another wave of hushing quieted them once more, and Emeline was able to continue.
“Now, I do have to go and make sure she is as healthy as possible, but you all will have plenty of time to befriend her in the coming days.” Then, right as she finished, Amelia and her apprentices walked into the dining hall pushing carts, which caused the audience to peel their eyes off Emeline and onto the warm food.
Using that distraction, Emeline told the three other caretakers of her plans for the day, quickly left the dining hall, and returned to the sleeping quarters. There, she quickly changed into more suitable clothing before departing for the local church of Zefree.