Work Text:
If there exists an adult equivalent of being a nervous child staying a night away from their parents for the first time, today was it. A confusing mix of excitement, sorrow, relief, and definitely some guilt for that last emotion flickered in Ember’s middle. Though she sported her best poker face, she was ultimately betrayed by an irregular shift in her coloring. Since when did returning back to semi-normalcy become so emotionally conflicting? She’d been preparing for this day for over a month, stashing an ever-growing collection of graphite sketches into an overflowing folder starting the night she and her husband had agreed on a game plan. Ideas for pieces were practically spilling from her form, just begging to be spun into reality by her craft. And even though she wouldn’t admit it aloud just yet, she actually missed a few of her coworkers and their commentary. Wade’s support was always appreciated, but she could only gain so much critique from his praises. She needed some sort of constructive criticism to improve her skill, and Wade’s sincere but lacking “It’s too perfect” didn’t really suffice. All in all, she was more than glad to head back to work for some time now. So why now, despite all the preparation, was the moment of truth so gut-wrenching?
Ember of course knew the answer was simple, even if she’d like to believe she’d perfected her emotional mitigation over the years. Motherhood truly had turned her to kindling. Right in front of her were the two ironic obstacles obstructing a seamless transition back into a job she had no doubt she loved. In the entryway of the home Ember and Wade had nested stood her devoted husband cradling a onesie-clad steam cloud in the crook of his arm. Their three-month-old daughter, Misty, repeatedly clasped and unclasped pudgy, fog-like fingers, clearly an intriguing new discovery. Her pacifier bounced rhythmically against sucking lips, clearly helping the infant concentrate on the wonders of her own anatomy. Ember practically scolded herself for finding this simple movement so utterly adorable. At this rate, she’ll practically melt into magma by the time Misty hits any major developmental milestone if she gets sappy from just chubby fingers.
Ember is yanked from her maternal admiration by the sound of a rustling bag. An overstuffed lunchbox was thrust towards her from Wade’s outstretched arm, the slight trembles as he held back sentimental tears not going quite unnoticed. “I got up early to pack you lunch,” His voice quivered ever so slightly. “But I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I packed a little bit of everything.”
A bashful smile spread across her cheeks. It was almost embarrassing how easily he could still make her blush or swoon. “Thanks, babe. Guess I should get going, huh?”
Rogue tears breached the corner of Wade’s eyes, but he blinked them back quickly, afraid of shifting the mood of their very content daughter who was also very emotionally in tune with her parents. “You’re gonna have a great day, Em. We’ll be right here when you get back.” He shifted his elbow to angle Misty upwards, giving her a better line of sight to her mother. “Isn’t that right, Misty? Can you say ‘bye-bye’ to mommy?”
The movement of the pacifier halted as Misty eyed her mother. The edges of her smile peaked past the rubber, and she cooed, her hands shooting out forward and grasping at the air around her. The gesture only tethered Ember further to home, making the upcoming severance all the more imposing. Stooping slightly to reach her daughter’s eye level, Ember extended a finger, which Misty greedily accepted into an eager fist. “Bye-bye, cloud puff. I’ll see you later tonight. Mommy loves you so much.” She returned upright and nervously adjusted her portfolio bag on her shoulder. “What if I’m gone and I miss something big?” She admits, shocked instantly that the words tumbled out of her mouth before she had a chance to suppress them.
Offering a tender smile, Wade pulled her in by the hips for a chaste kiss, avoiding squishing their babbling bundle between their forms. “Don’t worry. I’ve already decided I’m going to send you text updates periodically during the day.”
“Periodically?” She asked with a quizzical raise of her brow. “How periodically are we talking?”
It was quick, but Ember caught the mischief in his mirrored grin. “Just periodically.”
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Ember had hardly left the house before her phone buzzed with a notification. Wade had sent a picture with a caption attached that read, “Have a great day at work! We’re going to experiment with a new oil blend for breakfast.” She couldn’t open up the image fast enough, cursing to herself when the train station delayed the loading. Her screen flooded with a selfie of Wade holding Misty in the crook of his arm, a bottle clumsily balanced in the baby’s hands. Raising an elemental hybrid likely the first of its kind came with some not-so-obvious challenges, the first being what foods she could eat. Though Misty seemed to favor foods that were hotter in temperature, she preferred them in liquid form as would be expected in a diet of a water infant. Traditional lighter fluid formula Ember had been raised on didn’t seem to work as well as anticipated and made the poor baby’s abdomen boil faster, leading to some very late nights with crying from an upset stomach. Wade probably cried just as much as Misty did in sympathy. Colder formulas for water children would tend to chill her, which while avoiding the uncomfortable boiling, made Misty lethargic. Misty’s trusted pediatrician who had been dedicated to their case since her conception, recommended the water formula be heated to a higher temperature with mineral oils added for nutrients. While this blend seemed to be the best, finding the best oils still took some experimentation. Luckily, Misty seemed to have an appetite appropriate for the task. After staring at the photo longer than she’d like to admit, she texted back, “Let me know how she likes it! I miss you guys already.”
Just as Ember stepped off the platform of the station, her phone buzzed once more. Another picture arrived in her inbox with a less-than-adorable caption. “So the petroleum went right through her. Literally. First blow out of the day, and it’s only 8:47 a.m. Guess it’s bath time for Baby Misty.” Luckily the photo spared Ember the visuals of a soiled diaper and instead offered a semi-blurry image of Misty in her reclining baby tub, kicking her feet against the boiling water. A slight black blur obscured the upper left-hand corner of the photo, no doubt Wade’s thumb clad by the rubber gloves they used for Misty’s steam baths. Even though Misty loved bath time, the temperature the water needed to be to boil dirt and debris from the baby’s form was just hot enough to evaporate Wade, but still watered down enough to extinguish Ember. The rubber gloves became an essential bath toy of sorts, but it was an easy enough compromise for a clean baby.
Right before approaching the large double doors of her work building, Ember replied. “Looks like we’ll be sticking to mineral and olive oil.” With a deep exhale, she plunged through the doors. The pictures of her two most loved people were enough to make her pine for home, but the welcoming smell of glass manufacturing and accompanying sounds of creativity sent an excited jolt down Ember’s spine. She popped into the elevator and pressed the 4th-floor button, her pathway to the design department. The young firewoman had barely walked through the door of the office before a familiar voice rang from the opposite side of the floor.
“Well if it isn’t the hot mama herself!” Ember’s supervisor, Billow Gust, or just ‘Billy’ as he demanded to be called, floated toward her with open arms. He placed two air smooches on each cheek and looked her up and down. “You sure you had a baby? That figure of yours bounced back like you’re made of rubber!”
“It’s good to see you too, Billy.” Ember laughed. Billy was one of the few people she’d ever allow to approach her so personally. He had an infectious and oddly not-so-serious tone about him that made him very easy to talk to, not too much unlike her husband back home. Billy had a much more biting and sassy approach, however.
“How is the little rugrat, Ember? Hopefully not draining that talent of yours. I could sure use it right now! Consumers are demanding something unique for the upcoming holidays, and I need that creative flame.”
Ember couldn’t help herself and immediately opened up the photo album on her phone, absolutely bursting with videos and snapshots of her beloved steam cloud. “She’s absolutely amazing, so much so that is hard to be away right now. But not to worry, she’s the greatest inspiration I’ve ever had. I’ve been dying to bring these sketches to life without the fear of boiling my daughter away.”
Billy scrolled through the pictures quickly, trying his best to look as amused as Ember did. “Quite a cute tyke you’ve got there. She looks like you already.” He handed the phone back to Ember with a devilish, but ultimately teasing grin. “But it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if she ends up taking after that dreamy hubby of yours.”
Ember rolled her eyes and playfully swatted at her colleague’s arm. “Okay, you blow hole. Get over to this desk so I can show you these designs.”
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It didn’t take long for Billy to pick out his favorite designs from Ember’s stash, his preference leaning towards those with rich contrasting colors and rounded features. “It reminds shoppers of the holidays.” He had justified. Ember was now back at her work desk, beautifully chaotic with her craft. She began to clean up some of the selected design sketches so they could be produced by the team later. She practically jumped from her seat when the wooden desk rumbled loudly under her. Her phone lit up once more, and upon inspection, Ember realized she had a few pictures and texts lined up for her to read, all sent only minutes apart from one another. She melted her cheek into her palm and scrolled blissfully in chronological order.
The first Wade had sent was just a few “We miss you”’s punctuated with kissy face emojis and hearts. He had then sent a picture of Misty on her stomach, her face nearly planted on the ground and her body stiff and awkward. It was captioned “We aren’t sure how to feel about tummy time.”
Sent less than a minute later was another picture of Misty flooding the floor with her recognizable angry tears. “Correction: we know EXACTLY how we feel about tummy time. We are not a fan.” Ember let out an audible giggle- as if she could hear her husband’s voice in the room with her. Just then her phone started to ring with a video call. She wouldn’t normally answer it at her desk, but the temptation was too great, or perhaps it was deep-seated worry.
“Wade, is everything okay?” Ember asked once the call connected. She could see the tears flying off Wade’s face but calmed when she spotted the unstable smile.
“Babe look!” He yelled into the phone as he flipped the camera around. “SHE ROLLED OVER. On. Her. Own.” He punctuated each word with a sniffle, the camera shaking with each shuttering breath he took.
Ember squinted at her screen, finally focusing on Misty’s little body, now on her back on the floor. She kicked her fat legs excitedly, rippling puffs of steam into the air around her. No doubt in the few short months of her life, she’d become accustomed to her father’s persistent crying fits. Her little coos could barely be heard over Wade’s proud babbling.
“Wade, honey, that’s great. But I’ve got to get back to work. I can’t be caught on my phone at my desk this early. But please take pictures. I want to send them to Ashva later.”
Wade scooped the baby up in his arms and turned the camera back to face them both. “Already done. I’ve sent the videos to the whole family. Your dad hasn’t replied yet, but I know it takes him a little time to get used to his new phone. I know you’ve got to go. Misty needs her first nap anyway.”
“Bye, Wade. I love you both so much.”
“And we love you too,” Wade replied from the side of his mouth in his best convincing baby voice, bouncing Misty to mime her speaking.
Ember reluctantly hit the silent button on her phone and returned to her work, a new burst of energy flowing through her body.
___________________________________________
For the rest of her shift, Wade kept his promise of sending updates ‘periodically’, perhaps a bit too much so. Her phone battery was almost drained by the time she was ready to leave for work. Each new image of Misty sleeping peacefully, ogling over her beloved mobile, drooling over the front of Wade’s shirt, or even her fussy moments gave Ember a little boost in motivation, and she knocked out a bunch of designs by the end of the day that were ready to be put into pre-production. Billy was so encouraged by her productivity, he joked that the rest of the male team should ‘get with the program and have a baby already.’
Ember received one final text before reaching their home. It read “Patiently waiting for Mommy to get home.” What met her gaze was another selfie, both Wade and Misty with big, eager smiles on their face (though Ember knew Misty’s was likely from gas). She was greeted with a rushed embrace that nearly knocked her over with a sloppy kiss that followed shortly.
“I missed you too.” She choked between laughs.
Wade offered Misty over to Ember, and she accepted her daughter greedily. She peppered sporadic kisses over the baby’s face, rewarding her with the most saccharine of baby giggles. Misty placed her hands on her mother’s face and blew cooing bubbles, a clear attempt to parrot Ember’s smooches.
Wade went back in for a second slower kiss. “Did you like the pictures? I told you I wouldn’t let you miss a thing!”
The matching grins between father and daughter gripped at Ember’s heart. “I did." She replied, adding her own, admittedly dopey grin. "It’s like I never left home at all.”