Is This Childcare or a Circus?
"Whew..."
Once I was sure So-eun had drifted back into a soft, even sleep, I let out a long sigh of relief.
"Man, I thought we were goners!"
I wasn't finished with them yet. The raccoons were already carrying on as if they'd been granted a new lease on life, so I snatched both of them up by the scruff.
"A little early to be calling yourselves survivors, don't you think?"
"Eek!"
"And what were you doing in there in the first place?"
"Th-that was, uh..."
Their eyes darted every which way, scrambling for an excuse.
"The treats, obviously, sir."
"Thought so."
Cheongho had seen it coming as clearly as I had. Holed up in the kitchen, the only thing those two were ever going to do was raid the bags of treats we'd stored so carefully. They were as helpless before food as Namcat, whose hunger for Churu could have carried an entire drama.
"You can both see where this is headed, can't you?"
"P-please, just this once!"
"We won't do it again, we swear!"
They still remembered the treat ban, that long miserable stretch of watching everyone else get snacks while they got nothing, and now they rubbed their front paws together and begged for mercy.
I watched them for a moment, then pressed the rattles they'd set down back into their paws.
"Then from now on, the two of you are So-eun's personal rattles."
"Wha..."
"Don't like it? The treat ban's still on the table."
"Heh! Only 'cause we love it!"
They looked ready to start shaking the things on the spot. I stopped them before the noise could wake So-eun again, and grinned.
"If it looks like she's about to cry, you two soothe her. Do that, and I'll keep the treats coming."
I held out my palm as I said it, and the raccoons lightly tapped it with their front paws.
That was when Cheongho, quiet until now, spoke up.
"Master."
"What?"
"The Young Mistress is... drooling, sir."
A thin strand had slipped from So-eun's mouth and was soaking into his back. There wasn't much of it, baby that she was, but he could feel it running through his fur all the same.
I lifted her gently. Sleep had loosened her grip, so getting her hand off Cheongho took no effort at all.
"Aigoo. Sleeping so well."
She breathed in soft little rushes, and just watching her filled me with a quiet, helpless contentment. I laid her down in the crib and turned to Cheongho.
"I'll wash you in a bit. That all right?"
"Yes, sir."
True to a military dog for whom bathing was simply part of the day, he didn't so much as blink at the offer. He'd been getting a thorough wash every few days lately anyway. There was no reason for him to mind.
"Ilgito. Watch So-eun for me? If she wakes up, press that button over there."
"Don't you worry!"
I left her with Ilgito—or rather, I ordered a close watch. It was possible only because I was using the call button again, the one I'd put in so Noona could summon me from anywhere in the house back when she was heavily pregnant and getting around had grown difficult. Even a rabbit could press it, which meant that if anything happened, I could come running in no time.
With Ilgito posted on lookout, I headed down to the first floor and took care of a late lunch. Noona had made sandwiches ahead of time, and once I ate them, the hunger I'd worked up rocking So-eun faded almost at once.
The meal was a simple thing. I went back up, and there she was, still sleeping with the face of an angel.
"Anything happen?"
Inhaling a sandwich hadn't even taken ten minutes, but plenty could go wrong in a span like that, so I asked.
"Not a thing!"
Ears standing straight up, Ilgito made a thorough job of advertising just how soundly So-eun was sleeping. I looked at the two of them and smiled again, warm and helpless. I couldn't seem to stop, not when I was looking at her.
In the end I gave in. I scooped her out of the crib and lay down beside her on the big bed I shared with Noona, patting her back where she rested against me. Drowsiness poured over me before I knew it, more than I could fight, and I slipped under right there at her side.
The nap didn't last.
"Master. Master!"
Cheongho, who'd been resting with us, nudged me awake.
"...What."
"The Young Mistress... I believe she has soiled herself, sir."
"Ghk!"
I shot upright and looked at So-eun.
She must have woken while I slept. Her bright, round eyes were fixed on a fistful of Ilgito's fur, and looking closer, I thought her little face was faintly scrunched. Cheongho was right. I changed her diaper at once.
His nose was so sensitive that he bolted partway through, but I had it handled quickly, and soon she was beaming.
"Kyahn!"
"You like that, So-eun?"
I tickled her belly as she laughed, clear and sunny. A rub across that plump little baby tummy set her off in peals of giggles.
"Ah. This is healing."
Dirty diaper or not, one look at her and every worry in the world seemed to melt away.
"Euuung..."
I'd been smiling at her without a thought in my head when she started to fuss again. She'd emptied out, and now she wanted to fill back up. Unlike an adult, who could get by on three meals a day, little So-eun needed to eat a bit whenever the chance came.
Just as I had at lunch, I rubbed her back once she'd neatly drained the bottle, coaxing out a burp. What followed was different. Instead of growing drowsy right after she ate, she looked at me as if she wanted to play. That was only how it seemed to me, of course. She might simply not have been tired.
"Hmm..."
I wandered slowly through the house, turning over what I might use to entertain her, and then something caught my eye. A powered baby bouncer, the sort you sit a baby in and let rock on its own.
"Power's... yeah. Still dead."
I switched it on. Nothing. A light push of my foot and the bouncer slumped over in a weak little slide. The dogs—every one of them except Cheongho—had charged it the day it arrived, fascinated by the rocking, and wrecked it before the day was out.
I stared at the thing for a moment, and an idea sparked.
"Cheongho. Afraid I'm going to have to work you again."
"Just give the order, sir!"
"I'm really glad I've got you. You know that?"
His tail wagged in open delight, and he puffed his chest out with no particular attempt at subtlety. I snorted at the proud display and set So-eun in the broken bouncer. She refused to let go of Ilgito no matter what I tried, so I loaded the rabbit in as well, and the seat was packed full.
"Ooh?"
She'd never gotten to ride it, broken as it was on the day it arrived, and curiosity lit her face as her eyes darted around.
"Cheongho. Rock it gently."
"Yes, sir!"
He understood me perfectly. One paw caught the bouncer, and he pushed and released, soft and steady, again and again. The seat that used to collapse the moment it was touched began to sway as smoothly as if it had never been broken at all, answering to nothing but his strength.
"Kya!"
She felt the gentle motion, squealed with delight, and kicked her arms and legs.
I wasn't done. I called the raccoons back over.
"What now?"
"You know what. Shake them."
"Nngh..."
Well aware they were still in trouble, the two of them groaned, but they set to shaking the rattles with everything they had, right in front of her. Jingle, jingle. So-eun's gaze locked on.
Little by little, though, discomfort crept over her face. The broken bouncer had been shoved off in a corner, and unlike the rest of the room, where the running air conditioner kept the heat at bay, a little warmth still lingered there. In short, So-eun was getting hot.
Move her?
I thought about shifting her into the path of the cool air, but a better idea came to me. Rather than sitting her directly in the draft, wouldn't it be nicer to fan her, light as a breeze?
I threw the window open and called out.
"Yubu!"
I waited about thirty seconds. Then, with a flutter of wings, Yubu dropped onto the windowsill.
"You called?"
"Yeah. Mind lending a hand? I'll set some food aside for you later."
"And what would you have me do?"
"Fanning."
"...?"
He didn't catch my meaning at first. Then he took in Cheongho rocking the bouncer beside So-eun, and the two raccoons shaking their rattles, and his fate dawned on him. A flicker of disbelief crossed his face, but he adored her as much as the rest of them did, and he moved at once.
He strode over on those long legs, spread one wing, and began to beat it gently toward her. The wings that kept a body Yubu's size in the air were enormous, and they drove a matching gust straight at So-eun. Cool air from the air conditioner, which hadn't been reaching her corner, washed over her. The discomfort vanished from her face in an instant. If anything, she burst out laughing.
"Heh heh heh! You guys are the best!"
Seeing her giggle, I lit up right along with her. There was no way I was letting a sight like that go unfilmed. So-eun riding the bouncer Cheongho pushed, kneading Ilgito all the while, watching the raccoons perform, with Yubu's wing fanning her the whole time—not getting that on camera would have been a loss.
As I filmed, I almost regretted that I couldn't call in the rest of the animals I'd sent to the cafe. For a moment I even regretted opening the place at all.
Not having gathered them all turned out to be a mercy.
"I told you to look after So-eun, not put on a circus!"
"Gaaah...!"
Noona, just back from her outing, had taken in the scene—So-eun's delight entirely beside the point—and delivered a full-power smack square across my back.
Hurt like hell. And of course she'd hit a spot I could barely reach.
Still, if So-eun's happy, that's what matters.
I squirmed, trying to shake the burn out of my back, but one look at her bursting into giggles and pain like that was already forgotten.