Don't spoil The Boy[Kire blitz]

He had just managed to get Florida to relax into a light sleep and was dozing himself when there was a knock at his door. At first he had thought he imagined it, after all Florida - who normally woke easily - was still sleeping, but then it came again. With a deep sigh he pushed himself up, doing his best not to disturb the toddler, and made his way to the door. A look through the peep hole revealed one of his sisters, and he took a moment to fumble with the latch before opening the door. "Fawn," he tried to make it sound like he was enthused she had come, but the few hours of sleep he had gotten the past days made it hard, "good to see you." It was good to see her, especially considering it was nearly the three year anniversary of Jabber's death, and a short couple days later would be the two year anniversary of Storm's passing.

The Games, which had never been much of a Game to his mind, disgusted him even more than they had and he refused to watch them. Especially now that he had to take care of Florida, and the fact that all of his relatives were safe - at least for now - kept the television off. He wouldn't permit Florida to watch the bloodshed, the boy was much too young to have to learn about the horrible thing he would eventually be exposed to. As a child the age of three, Florida didn't seem to care about much of anything but everything still caught his notice. "Come on in." He opened the door in and allowed his sister to enter, silently eyeing her shoes as a warning to take them off. "Flowwy's asleep at the moment, I finally got him to rest." Or that was his hope, but as the front door shut he could hear Florida's burbling starting up from the living room. "Or at least he was sleeping."

Silently he kicked her shoes into place in the neat line of footwear beside the door. As she entered further he couldn't miss the almost guilty look she had to her, and it took him a moment to realize it was probably because of Florida waking up. He was not surprised the toddler had woken, though, as it took little to wake him. Sometimes his own movements, despite how he tried to be silent, would cause the child to stir. "Wess, if you ever want me to, I can look after Flowwy for a while, let you get some sleep." Her kind words were accompanied by a smile and he knew she was being genuine. Even so, he felt a reluctance. It wasn't because he didn't trust Fawn, or didn't think she would be able to manage, there was just something in him that didn't want to give Florida over to someone else, even if that someone was his own sister.

About to say it was a kind offer, but unnecessary, he was interrupted by Fawn's gentle voice. "I'll try not to spoil him, much." He tried to keep the grimace from his face, and he realized that that was another thing he was worried about. He didn't want other people giving Florida the wrong ideas. Already he was a curious child, and the last thing Wess wanted was to see him grow up to not know how much was too much, and how far was safe. He didn't want another Mick on his hands - he was very tempted to not let his brother spend time with the child to avoid the same recklessness developing in Florida. It might not have been fair, but as life would have it Westimer was turning into an overly-cautious parent. "That's very kind, but I've managed this long." He fought hard against the yawn that was creeping into the back of his mouth and barely managed to succeed. "I'm not sure how Flowwy would take it." It was true, in some part, but the child was so friendly that he surely wouldn't care.

Having a child was still so new to him that he wasn't sure he would fully adjust to it for a long time, and he wasn't sure how much he would ever trust anyone but himself to take care of Florida. If anything, he wasn't even sure he trusted himself.

There was a flicker of disappointment in Fawn's eyes for a second, but it was a second long enough for him to catch it and feel a twinge in his heart. It was something like guilt, except he knew it wouldn't change his mind. The overwhelming need to protect Florida - even from people like his own siblings - was number one in his mind. Confirming it with himself, though, made it all the more secure and so he was glad when Fawn changed the topic, if only slightly. "How has Flowwy been doing, anyways, it feels like it's been forever since you introduced him to us?" She was right, it had been a long time. Nearly eight months after he had first learned of his child - the same day he had unceremoniously been saddled with the task of being a dad - and it had been about that long since he had introduced everyone to Florida. It was amazing that the time had flown by, but for Wess it was almost a blessing. He had needed his time to get used to being a dad, though he wasn't sure if he had reached that goal yet.

Florida's gurgles were louder now as he entered the living room, and Wess peeked around the corner as though trying to sneak up on his son. When Florida looked over at him he made a surprised face and ducked back behind the wall. The sound of Florida's laughter was one of the most rewarding things he knew, and it more than made up for his acting like a fool in front of his sister. He did the peek-and-hide a second time before traipsing out from behind the wall, pretending to be sad. Florida clapped his hands before holding them out to his father and Wess took them. "You caught me again, Little Man. I don't know how you do it." The boy burbled again and tugged on his fingers. Some sound similar to "uppy" came from the toddler's mouth and Wess hoisted his son into his arms. It was then that he turned to look at his sister again, only then realizing he had never answered her questions - not with words at least. "Say hello to your Aunty Fawn, Flowwy."

He saw how she looked at Florida, the open smile pulling at her features. A seed of joy planted itself in his heart when he realized this was the first he had seen her smile, really smile, since Jabber had been reaped. "Hello Flowwy." He turned the child's head to look at his aunt, raising one of the boy's hands in an attempt to help him wave. Florida let him do it, eyes wide as he stared at this person that had - to his perception - suddenly appeared in front of him. Wess' smile was bright as he watched his son try to connect everything they had been saying. "Fa," it was all the child could do to make the sound, but Wess beamed. "Yes, Flowwy, Aunty Fawn."

Flowwy pulled his hand away and clapped, a smile formed on his own little face. "Fa, fffffa, Fafa." Wess's smile turned into a grin as he looked at his sister. "Looks like he's gonna call you Fafa." Flowwy had given him his own nickname, calling him "Dada" like most children usually called their fathers. As far as favorite verbal sounds, Wess found that his son loved the 'ah' sound. Often, during his babbling, the boy would stop the nonsensical noises and continually say 'ah'. Sometimes he would put a consonant in front, but mostly he wouldn't. Reaching up, Wess ruffled the boy's hair and continued to grin at his sister.