Sylvia Chapter 5 (WIP)
Sylvia looked around curiously as she stepped through the teleportal, then blinked and looked with even more interest as she registered her surroundings. She had not come out into the usual teleportal room, bare but for a few decorative holos on the walls. Instead she found herself turning in a slow circle as she gripped her bowl of vegetable chips, trying to understand exactly what she was standing in. At first glance it looked like an atrium, but the air was dry rather than green and fragrant, and there were... the outside of rooms? instead trees everywhere that she could see.
And then she felt a small thrill as she finally registered what she was looking at. Houses! These were houses! The Archaists evidently carried their fascinating archaic practices even to the setting up of their communities, with open space and foot paths between the different buildings rather than having buildings set right next to and on top of one another in a design that was accessible only by teleportal and emergency tunnel.
A soft murmur sounded softly behind her; something scuffed quietly on the gently rough rubber pavement, and she turned quickly, her eyes widening as she came face to face with two girls about her own age.
The nearer one was several units taller than Sylvia, and even thinner in build, with a frame that was just starting to bloom into rangy long-leggedness. Her smooth straight hair was twisted into a neat braid, the end of which was gripped in the hand of the chubby baby who rode on her hip. Girl and baby both shared aquiline noses and large black eyes that sparkled with curiosity. It was also easy to see that the baby's rounded features would mature to match the angularity of the girl's.
The other girl was about Sylvia's own height, though considerably rounder. She had astonishing curls the colour of burnished copper, and a pale, freckled face. However, the bright blue eyes that sparkled in a friendly manner at the visitor looked out from beneath Asiatic lids with heavy folds. She and her companion both sported simple, knee length dresses and bare feet, while the baby wore only a shirt and diaper.
"Hello," said Sylvia shyly in common, but then both girls smiled and her nerve failed her and left her blushing and looking down at her bowl of chips.
"Hello." The soft voice was accented heavily with something that Sylvia had never heard before. "You are Sylvia? Here for ze Bible study?"
She looked up, curiosity overcoming her shyness as she analyzed the sound of the taller girl's words. "Yes... yes I am. Is... will this language be alright? I know others."
The black-haired girl laughed, the sound cheerful and good-natured. "No, no. Ve need to practice vith ze Common." A lanky boy slightly shorter than herself arrived at about this time and was greeted with a good natured kick to the rear that made him grin and grab the baby before running away. "Ach, Stephan!" She shook her head and laughed, then indicated her copper-haired companion. "Zis ist Esther, und I am Hannah. You vill be in our class."
"I'm looking forward to it." She hesitantly held out the bowl in her hands. "Are vegetable chips a good thing to have brought?"
"Ach!" Hannah took the bowl and peered through the cover. "Hah! Ve vill get to eat zem vithout having to vorry about my brozer playing ze vacuum cleaner und making zem all go avay before ve get to zem." Then she looked up, her smile making her large eyes dance. "Do you like golden spice cake?"
"Oh. I... don't know. I've never had cake," said Sylvia uncertainly.
Both of the other girls stared at her as though unable to believe their ears.
"I..." She blushed right to the tips of her ears, wondering how she'd managed to offend. "Sorry?"
Hannah shook her head and passed the bowl to Esther, then looped her arm around Sylvia's and turned her around to lead her toward a comfortable looking green building a short distance away. Sylvia soon found herself seated at a desk with a notebook, a sparkling green pen, and a fat copy of the Bible in front of her. She couldn't look at them right away, however, because her hands were occupied by a huge chunk of a lovely smelling, crumbly moist substance topped with a delightfully sweet and sour creamy frosting.
"Here ist a plate." A girl with brown hair and friendly eyes that that were two different colours offered the beautifully painted item. "Und a napkin. Hannah, you are so zoughtless."
"No. I am only not as fast as you are, Shirley." The tall girl laughed, then settled in the desk next to Sylvia's. "Zere ist ze bell. Tante Marda vill be here soon."
"Aunt Marda?" Sylvia looked up from getting her cake situated and licking her fingers, brows lifting quizzically.
"Yes. Our teacher. It is ze polite zing here to call ze ladies older zan you Tante," explained Esther as she slipped into the seat behind Sylvia.
"Ohh. I understand." Sylvia nibbled cake and lost the battle against the urge to peek inside her notebook, then grinned with delight when she saw the flower shapes that decorated the pages.
"Und she is old," warned Hannah, her dark eyes going serious for a moment.
"That's alright. She's probably younger than my grandfather," responded Sylvia without looking up.
Hannah's eyebrows lifted, and she exchanged a relieved look with Esther. "Your grandfaz... your opa is part of your family?"
"He's all of my family. My parents were killed while I was still in vitro. Grandfather didn't get custody of me till their right to me had expired."
Hannah's face held confused sympathy. "You haf no tantes or onkels to help your opa care for you?"
"No." Sylvia looked up. "Most people in mainstream society only have one child. And Grandfather's family has never been very big."
"But..." Esther frowned slightly, as though she were carefully considering what she had been about to say. "Ach, is it alvright to ask a personal question?"
"Sure." Sylvia nodded, absently nibbling cake as she did.
"If your parents vere killed before you vere born. Who carried you? How vere you born?" Esther absently leaned down and scooped up a baby that came crawling up between the desks, then cuddled the tiny wanderer close.
"I grew in an incubator. A lot of babies do now. Grandfather stayed close so that I would be able to hear him and snuggle against him." Sylvia smiled slightly as she remembered her grandfather's accounts of finding just the perfect material with which to strap her incubator to his chest where she would be able to hear his systems running without being shaken too badly by his engine. The steady beat of his fuel pump was still the most comforting sound that she knew. "The incubator walls are soft, and he says when I got older I would try to push my way out if I saw something that caught my attention."
Hannah laughed despite her surprise. "Babies do zat vhen zey're inside the bellies of mamas, too, if zey hear or feel zomesing interesting. It is probably a very gut zing for zeir mutters zat sey cannot see."
"Ach!" Esther shook her head and held the baby over to where the little one could get the piece of cake that Sylvia offered. "So many bruises vould happen. It makes me ache to zink of it."
"Vhat are ve aching about?" asked a cheerful voice from the front, followed by, "Ach! Somevone give zat girl a fork."
"A fork?" Hannah shot the teacher a look of surprise even as she, Shirley, and three other girls all rose to comply.
"Ja. She's sitting at a table." Kindly brown eyes sparkled at Sylvia's startled face.
Sylvia's surprise furthered as she realized that Tante Marda's hair was only a few shades darker than her own, though the woman's face was tanned from years of working under grow lights.
"Here now." The teacher walked over and put a kindly hand on her newest student's shoulder. "Have you not seen ozzer people vith yellow hair before?"
"Not outside of pictures," said Sylvia slowly, as she accepted the fork that someone offered to her handle first. "I thought the gene had died out, other than in my family."
"Nein." Tante Marda gave her head a slight shake. "Zere are still a few of us here. It came from ze same source as ze German langvuage."
"Ohhh." Sylvia absently offered the reaching baby more cake, and was surprised again as Tante Marda took the little one and set her in Sylvia's lap.
"Zer. Not so much vreaching now." The teacher smoothed the baby's fuzzy black hair and smiled, then turned the friendly expression back to Sylvia. "So zis is your first time to look at ze Bible?"
"On, no. I've read it several times. In English, Greek, and Hebrew. But I don't think I understand most of what they call the Old Testament yet."
Tante Marda grinned. "How much do you know of ze times vhen it vas written?"
"Not a lot. There doesn't seem to be very much information about that period in history in the library database." Sylvia hugged the baby, who looked up and fed her cake.
"Ja. It isn't interesting zeeze days, I guess." Tante Marda looked around. "Vhat do you zink of studying ze times of ze Old Testement, kinder?"
Sylvia startled at the full-hearted cheer that greeted the proposal. "But... I don't want to... what about your lesson plan?"
The teacher shrugged one shoulder, laughing softly. "Zis vill be more fun zan trying to learn how to say the name of Doktor Luke's friend, vhich is all ve'd been doing before." She looked around and clapped her hands. "Alvright, kinder, make a circle. Ve'll start now."
* * *
Sylvia laughed as she spun around, then squeaked softly when hands caught at her and the baby in her arms.
"I'm alright." She wobbled slightly, then scrunched her face up and closed her eyes as little Miriam patted her face with plump, slightly sticky hands.
"Mattias vants a turn." Hannah laughed and bounced her baby brother on her hip as the little one reached and made small hopeful sounds.
"Alright." Sylvia traded babies for the sixth time during the short walk back to the teleportal, her cheeks flushed with happy laughter and with the patting of little hands. "Hello, Mattias. Are you going to try to kiss me again?"
"Nup!" Tiny teeth flashed in an adorable grin as he proudly showed off his Common word. Which was also his only word, according to Hannah. But for a boy his age the single word was an amazing vocabulary.
"May I kiss you?" She grinned at him, her eyes dancing.
A smooth little brown cheek was presented, and she gave it a peck, then cuddled the baby boy close as she gave a couple quick twirls. Hands once more reached out to steady her, and she was surprised to realize how welcome and comfortable she felt. The realization made her stop and look around.
"Is zomezing ze matter?" asked Stephan, pausing from where he'd been carrying Sylvia's refilled bowl and walking alongside his siblings and Esther as they escorted their visitor back to the teleportal.
"No." She shook her head and looked at Mattias, then around at the others. "Nothing's wrong. That... feels strange."
Hannah and Stephan both laughed, which set Mattias off. But then Hannah sobered and squeezed Sylvia's shoulder. "Vell, if it doesn't feel strange here, zen you must come again. Und not just for ze Bible study. You are velcome to visit after lessons, too."
"Und at my house too." Esther grinned. "I could teach you how to make ze golden spice cake. Und strudel. I am good enough at zoze to be able to show ozzers."
"May I come to take care of leftovers?" asked Stephan hopefully, then laughed as Hannah pulled his hat down over his eyes.
"Ja. Und I can show you how to make zome good zings too," said the tall girl to Sylvia. "I am not so good at ze baking, but my cabbage vrolls are sehr gut."
Sylvia's eyes were wide. "You mean you want me to be part of your peer group?"
"Nein." Stephan laughed. "Zey vant to be your freundin. Und so do I und ze babies."
"Ja." Hannah grinned. "Und your opa can come und visit too. My opa vould talk vith him, und ve could listen."
Sylvia winced. "Oh... Grandfather can't leave the house. He can't have visitors, either."
The three oldest faces around her sobered instantly and showed deep concern.
"Is he sick?" asked Esther softly.
"No. Just... very old," said Sylvia uncertainly.
Sympathetic looks were exchanged, and then Stephan brightened and turned back to her.
"Our opa vreally likes to vrite mails."
"Und ve'll all pray for your opa," said Esther, grunting softly as she caught Mattias when the baby jumped to her.
"Grandfather likes to send mails too." Sylvia perked, wobbling slightly at Mattias' kick off. "And... thank you for praying."
"Hey, it's our job!" Stephan laughed and offered her bowl to her. "Danke... zank you for coming."
"Yes, zank you." The girls smiled. "Gut bye."
"Byea!" Miriam waved enthusiastically, which got Mattias started.
Sylvia felt a little overwhelmed, but she managed to thank the other youngsters before turning and nearly hopping through the teleportal before she'd finished getting her code keeper to tell it where she was going. Her gaze was a little shaky as she looked up at the comforting and welcoming eye that was there as always.
"You are frightened." Grandfather's eye lightened with alarm as his fingers gently enfolded her. "What happened, Sylvia?"
"No, not... not frightened." She curled up, shaking slightly with amazement. "Grandfather... they want to be my friends! They invited you to come and visit their grandfather and talk to him. And... they let me play with their baby siblings and cousins." A hand went up to wipe at one eye as a tear trickled from the corner of it. "...But I don't know why that's making me cry."
She closed her eyes and curled more closely. "They gave me food to bring home, and Esther and Hannah want me to come visit so that they can show me how to make new sorts of things to eat..."
Grandfather rumbled as the surprised and breathless rambling continued, then gently brought his overwhelmed grandchild to the living room, where he settled down in his chair to just hold her till she was calm.
It took a few moments, but finally Sylvia fell silent and held out the bowl and her pretty new notebook and pen.
Grandfather took them with his free hand and studied them for a second before smiling and looking down at her again. "I don't have recipes for most of these food items."
That got a little chuckle out of her. "You will soon, I bet. The cake and the cabbage rolls are two of the things that Hannah and Esther want to teach me how to make."
"Do you like them?" Grandfather set the bowl and writing materials down on the table beside his chair, then picked up the blanket that lay there and tucked it over Sylvia with painstaking care.
"They're very good, though the cake is different from anything I've had before. The spicy apple sauce on the rolls is my favorite part, though I don't think it would taste as good if it weren't cooked with the other kinds of food."
"Rice, various spices, and gluten based protein crumbs," said Grandfather. "And I do not recognize all of the spices. This arouses my curiosity and interest."
Sylvia took a deep breath, then smiled. "I'll bring my computer pad tomorrow, so that you can watch what happens."
"Yes. I am agreeable to that plan." Grandfather nodded, looking satisfied. "And I will use my avatar image, so that I can converse with your friends if they wish."
"I'd forgotten you had that!" Sylvia sat up excitedly, but then winced and put a hand to her belly. "Ohhhh. Why should I feel sick?"
Grandfather rubbed her back soothingly with one finger. "You have had an exciting experience, and also have consumed larger amounts of food than you are accustomed to. The food was also of a variety that you were previously unfamiliar with. You will recover quickly. Rest for now and process the activities of the afternoon. If you find yourself hungry later your snack can serve for your supper."
"Alright." She ducked her head sheepishly, but then sighed and closed her eyes, feeling soothed by the softness of the blanket and the beat of his fuel pump. The peaceful, comforting situation and the excitement of the day conspired together and soon sent her to sleep.
And then she felt a small thrill as she finally registered what she was looking at. Houses! These were houses! The Archaists evidently carried their fascinating archaic practices even to the setting up of their communities, with open space and foot paths between the different buildings rather than having buildings set right next to and on top of one another in a design that was accessible only by teleportal and emergency tunnel.
A soft murmur sounded softly behind her; something scuffed quietly on the gently rough rubber pavement, and she turned quickly, her eyes widening as she came face to face with two girls about her own age.
The nearer one was several units taller than Sylvia, and even thinner in build, with a frame that was just starting to bloom into rangy long-leggedness. Her smooth straight hair was twisted into a neat braid, the end of which was gripped in the hand of the chubby baby who rode on her hip. Girl and baby both shared aquiline noses and large black eyes that sparkled with curiosity. It was also easy to see that the baby's rounded features would mature to match the angularity of the girl's.
The other girl was about Sylvia's own height, though considerably rounder. She had astonishing curls the colour of burnished copper, and a pale, freckled face. However, the bright blue eyes that sparkled in a friendly manner at the visitor looked out from beneath Asiatic lids with heavy folds. She and her companion both sported simple, knee length dresses and bare feet, while the baby wore only a shirt and diaper.
"Hello," said Sylvia shyly in common, but then both girls smiled and her nerve failed her and left her blushing and looking down at her bowl of chips.
"Hello." The soft voice was accented heavily with something that Sylvia had never heard before. "You are Sylvia? Here for ze Bible study?"
She looked up, curiosity overcoming her shyness as she analyzed the sound of the taller girl's words. "Yes... yes I am. Is... will this language be alright? I know others."
The black-haired girl laughed, the sound cheerful and good-natured. "No, no. Ve need to practice vith ze Common." A lanky boy slightly shorter than herself arrived at about this time and was greeted with a good natured kick to the rear that made him grin and grab the baby before running away. "Ach, Stephan!" She shook her head and laughed, then indicated her copper-haired companion. "Zis ist Esther, und I am Hannah. You vill be in our class."
"I'm looking forward to it." She hesitantly held out the bowl in her hands. "Are vegetable chips a good thing to have brought?"
"Ach!" Hannah took the bowl and peered through the cover. "Hah! Ve vill get to eat zem vithout having to vorry about my brozer playing ze vacuum cleaner und making zem all go avay before ve get to zem." Then she looked up, her smile making her large eyes dance. "Do you like golden spice cake?"
"Oh. I... don't know. I've never had cake," said Sylvia uncertainly.
Both of the other girls stared at her as though unable to believe their ears.
"I..." She blushed right to the tips of her ears, wondering how she'd managed to offend. "Sorry?"
Hannah shook her head and passed the bowl to Esther, then looped her arm around Sylvia's and turned her around to lead her toward a comfortable looking green building a short distance away. Sylvia soon found herself seated at a desk with a notebook, a sparkling green pen, and a fat copy of the Bible in front of her. She couldn't look at them right away, however, because her hands were occupied by a huge chunk of a lovely smelling, crumbly moist substance topped with a delightfully sweet and sour creamy frosting.
"Here ist a plate." A girl with brown hair and friendly eyes that that were two different colours offered the beautifully painted item. "Und a napkin. Hannah, you are so zoughtless."
"No. I am only not as fast as you are, Shirley." The tall girl laughed, then settled in the desk next to Sylvia's. "Zere ist ze bell. Tante Marda vill be here soon."
"Aunt Marda?" Sylvia looked up from getting her cake situated and licking her fingers, brows lifting quizzically.
"Yes. Our teacher. It is ze polite zing here to call ze ladies older zan you Tante," explained Esther as she slipped into the seat behind Sylvia.
"Ohh. I understand." Sylvia nibbled cake and lost the battle against the urge to peek inside her notebook, then grinned with delight when she saw the flower shapes that decorated the pages.
"Und she is old," warned Hannah, her dark eyes going serious for a moment.
"That's alright. She's probably younger than my grandfather," responded Sylvia without looking up.
Hannah's eyebrows lifted, and she exchanged a relieved look with Esther. "Your grandfaz... your opa is part of your family?"
"He's all of my family. My parents were killed while I was still in vitro. Grandfather didn't get custody of me till their right to me had expired."
Hannah's face held confused sympathy. "You haf no tantes or onkels to help your opa care for you?"
"No." Sylvia looked up. "Most people in mainstream society only have one child. And Grandfather's family has never been very big."
"But..." Esther frowned slightly, as though she were carefully considering what she had been about to say. "Ach, is it alvright to ask a personal question?"
"Sure." Sylvia nodded, absently nibbling cake as she did.
"If your parents vere killed before you vere born. Who carried you? How vere you born?" Esther absently leaned down and scooped up a baby that came crawling up between the desks, then cuddled the tiny wanderer close.
"I grew in an incubator. A lot of babies do now. Grandfather stayed close so that I would be able to hear him and snuggle against him." Sylvia smiled slightly as she remembered her grandfather's accounts of finding just the perfect material with which to strap her incubator to his chest where she would be able to hear his systems running without being shaken too badly by his engine. The steady beat of his fuel pump was still the most comforting sound that she knew. "The incubator walls are soft, and he says when I got older I would try to push my way out if I saw something that caught my attention."
Hannah laughed despite her surprise. "Babies do zat vhen zey're inside the bellies of mamas, too, if zey hear or feel zomesing interesting. It is probably a very gut zing for zeir mutters zat sey cannot see."
"Ach!" Esther shook her head and held the baby over to where the little one could get the piece of cake that Sylvia offered. "So many bruises vould happen. It makes me ache to zink of it."
"Vhat are ve aching about?" asked a cheerful voice from the front, followed by, "Ach! Somevone give zat girl a fork."
"A fork?" Hannah shot the teacher a look of surprise even as she, Shirley, and three other girls all rose to comply.
"Ja. She's sitting at a table." Kindly brown eyes sparkled at Sylvia's startled face.
Sylvia's surprise furthered as she realized that Tante Marda's hair was only a few shades darker than her own, though the woman's face was tanned from years of working under grow lights.
"Here now." The teacher walked over and put a kindly hand on her newest student's shoulder. "Have you not seen ozzer people vith yellow hair before?"
"Not outside of pictures," said Sylvia slowly, as she accepted the fork that someone offered to her handle first. "I thought the gene had died out, other than in my family."
"Nein." Tante Marda gave her head a slight shake. "Zere are still a few of us here. It came from ze same source as ze German langvuage."
"Ohhh." Sylvia absently offered the reaching baby more cake, and was surprised again as Tante Marda took the little one and set her in Sylvia's lap.
"Zer. Not so much vreaching now." The teacher smoothed the baby's fuzzy black hair and smiled, then turned the friendly expression back to Sylvia. "So zis is your first time to look at ze Bible?"
"On, no. I've read it several times. In English, Greek, and Hebrew. But I don't think I understand most of what they call the Old Testament yet."
Tante Marda grinned. "How much do you know of ze times vhen it vas written?"
"Not a lot. There doesn't seem to be very much information about that period in history in the library database." Sylvia hugged the baby, who looked up and fed her cake.
"Ja. It isn't interesting zeeze days, I guess." Tante Marda looked around. "Vhat do you zink of studying ze times of ze Old Testement, kinder?"
Sylvia startled at the full-hearted cheer that greeted the proposal. "But... I don't want to... what about your lesson plan?"
The teacher shrugged one shoulder, laughing softly. "Zis vill be more fun zan trying to learn how to say the name of Doktor Luke's friend, vhich is all ve'd been doing before." She looked around and clapped her hands. "Alvright, kinder, make a circle. Ve'll start now."
* * *
Sylvia laughed as she spun around, then squeaked softly when hands caught at her and the baby in her arms.
"I'm alright." She wobbled slightly, then scrunched her face up and closed her eyes as little Miriam patted her face with plump, slightly sticky hands.
"Mattias vants a turn." Hannah laughed and bounced her baby brother on her hip as the little one reached and made small hopeful sounds.
"Alright." Sylvia traded babies for the sixth time during the short walk back to the teleportal, her cheeks flushed with happy laughter and with the patting of little hands. "Hello, Mattias. Are you going to try to kiss me again?"
"Nup!" Tiny teeth flashed in an adorable grin as he proudly showed off his Common word. Which was also his only word, according to Hannah. But for a boy his age the single word was an amazing vocabulary.
"May I kiss you?" She grinned at him, her eyes dancing.
A smooth little brown cheek was presented, and she gave it a peck, then cuddled the baby boy close as she gave a couple quick twirls. Hands once more reached out to steady her, and she was surprised to realize how welcome and comfortable she felt. The realization made her stop and look around.
"Is zomezing ze matter?" asked Stephan, pausing from where he'd been carrying Sylvia's refilled bowl and walking alongside his siblings and Esther as they escorted their visitor back to the teleportal.
"No." She shook her head and looked at Mattias, then around at the others. "Nothing's wrong. That... feels strange."
Hannah and Stephan both laughed, which set Mattias off. But then Hannah sobered and squeezed Sylvia's shoulder. "Vell, if it doesn't feel strange here, zen you must come again. Und not just for ze Bible study. You are velcome to visit after lessons, too."
"Und at my house too." Esther grinned. "I could teach you how to make ze golden spice cake. Und strudel. I am good enough at zoze to be able to show ozzers."
"May I come to take care of leftovers?" asked Stephan hopefully, then laughed as Hannah pulled his hat down over his eyes.
"Ja. Und I can show you how to make zome good zings too," said the tall girl to Sylvia. "I am not so good at ze baking, but my cabbage vrolls are sehr gut."
Sylvia's eyes were wide. "You mean you want me to be part of your peer group?"
"Nein." Stephan laughed. "Zey vant to be your freundin. Und so do I und ze babies."
"Ja." Hannah grinned. "Und your opa can come und visit too. My opa vould talk vith him, und ve could listen."
Sylvia winced. "Oh... Grandfather can't leave the house. He can't have visitors, either."
The three oldest faces around her sobered instantly and showed deep concern.
"Is he sick?" asked Esther softly.
"No. Just... very old," said Sylvia uncertainly.
Sympathetic looks were exchanged, and then Stephan brightened and turned back to her.
"Our opa vreally likes to vrite mails."
"Und ve'll all pray for your opa," said Esther, grunting softly as she caught Mattias when the baby jumped to her.
"Grandfather likes to send mails too." Sylvia perked, wobbling slightly at Mattias' kick off. "And... thank you for praying."
"Hey, it's our job!" Stephan laughed and offered her bowl to her. "Danke... zank you for coming."
"Yes, zank you." The girls smiled. "Gut bye."
"Byea!" Miriam waved enthusiastically, which got Mattias started.
Sylvia felt a little overwhelmed, but she managed to thank the other youngsters before turning and nearly hopping through the teleportal before she'd finished getting her code keeper to tell it where she was going. Her gaze was a little shaky as she looked up at the comforting and welcoming eye that was there as always.
"You are frightened." Grandfather's eye lightened with alarm as his fingers gently enfolded her. "What happened, Sylvia?"
"No, not... not frightened." She curled up, shaking slightly with amazement. "Grandfather... they want to be my friends! They invited you to come and visit their grandfather and talk to him. And... they let me play with their baby siblings and cousins." A hand went up to wipe at one eye as a tear trickled from the corner of it. "...But I don't know why that's making me cry."
She closed her eyes and curled more closely. "They gave me food to bring home, and Esther and Hannah want me to come visit so that they can show me how to make new sorts of things to eat..."
Grandfather rumbled as the surprised and breathless rambling continued, then gently brought his overwhelmed grandchild to the living room, where he settled down in his chair to just hold her till she was calm.
It took a few moments, but finally Sylvia fell silent and held out the bowl and her pretty new notebook and pen.
Grandfather took them with his free hand and studied them for a second before smiling and looking down at her again. "I don't have recipes for most of these food items."
That got a little chuckle out of her. "You will soon, I bet. The cake and the cabbage rolls are two of the things that Hannah and Esther want to teach me how to make."
"Do you like them?" Grandfather set the bowl and writing materials down on the table beside his chair, then picked up the blanket that lay there and tucked it over Sylvia with painstaking care.
"They're very good, though the cake is different from anything I've had before. The spicy apple sauce on the rolls is my favorite part, though I don't think it would taste as good if it weren't cooked with the other kinds of food."
"Rice, various spices, and gluten based protein crumbs," said Grandfather. "And I do not recognize all of the spices. This arouses my curiosity and interest."
Sylvia took a deep breath, then smiled. "I'll bring my computer pad tomorrow, so that you can watch what happens."
"Yes. I am agreeable to that plan." Grandfather nodded, looking satisfied. "And I will use my avatar image, so that I can converse with your friends if they wish."
"I'd forgotten you had that!" Sylvia sat up excitedly, but then winced and put a hand to her belly. "Ohhhh. Why should I feel sick?"
Grandfather rubbed her back soothingly with one finger. "You have had an exciting experience, and also have consumed larger amounts of food than you are accustomed to. The food was also of a variety that you were previously unfamiliar with. You will recover quickly. Rest for now and process the activities of the afternoon. If you find yourself hungry later your snack can serve for your supper."
"Alright." She ducked her head sheepishly, but then sighed and closed her eyes, feeling soothed by the softness of the blanket and the beat of his fuel pump. The peaceful, comforting situation and the excitement of the day conspired together and soon sent her to sleep.