As she approached Miranda's rooms, it occurred to her that the last baby she had even been near was Acorn, almost six years ago, and she barely remembered what it was like. Her memories of when Bram was a baby, almost seventeen years ago, were somehow nearer and clearer than her memories of when Acorn was born. Bram had always been hers in a way Acorn was not. And now she was a proper aunt--or aunt-in-law, if there was such a thing--who might end up with largely permanent possession of her own niece. It was a terrifying prospect.

"Mira?" She tapped on the door, hoping she had not caught either mother or baby in a nap. She understood those were important in the first days. "It's Niabheara. May I come in?"

The noises of a fussy baby signaled that no, she had not woken anyone up. "You-- yes, yes," came the response. Miranda was pacing the floor, baby in arms. "I don't know what to do with her," she lamented. "She's clean, she's fed..." She groaned. "Mama can get her to calm down, but she...it's like she knows I don't know what I'm doing."

"Ah--" Niabheara instinctively held out her arms for a transfer, even though she didn't know what do to with her either. "It's all right, it's all right," she said, addressing both of them. "You sit you down."

"Oh, thank t-- good neighbor! I mean good neighbor," Miranda corrected, as she handed over the baby, who kept fussing. "I'm sorry, I've had barely any sleep." She sat down, gratefully, and lowered her head onto a table.

Niabheara found herself the surprised recipient of a brand-new baby. She looked pleased, if a little confused. "Hallo, fussy-fussy," she told the baby, in Tuathailli. "Who are you? Are you my little niece? You are my second little niece in all the world." She relaxed a little, cupping the baby against her breast. "Poor thing," she said to Miranda. "It's no worry. Has your mother been seeing to you?"

Miranda nodded. "Mostly," she answered. "She took Portia out for a little while, Portia wanted to see the snow. I feel bad, cooping everyone up on my account."

The baby let out a healthy but distressed-sounding whine.

"Ah, husha-husha, I know, I'm not Mumma," she cooed to the baby. She turned the baby's to her shoulder and rubbed her back. "Don't feel bad. We have the first baby of the new year, months before everyone else. And your mother has her very first grandbaby. I'm sure she's thrilled." She gave Miranda a more sympathetic look. "How are you holding up, dear?"

"I don't think she has time to be thrilled," Miranda replied. She let her eyelids shut, for just a moment, as the baby kept whining. "And I think she would have preferred if I was married and taken care of first. I'm just tired," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "I'm too tired to be anything else. Everyone's been so kind, and helpful, but there's only so much they can do."

"I could find you a nurse," she offered, still rubbing the baby's back. "E'en just for the evenings, so you could get some rest at night."

The baby's whines slowly returned back to quieter fussing. Miranda gave Niabheara a hopeful look. "Would that be all right?" she asked. "I don't...I don't want to be a bad mother."