'Baby! Baby!'

“Baby! Baby!”

Malcolm did not like to shake his screaming wife, but he did not know what else to do, and anyway she was already shaking. It was only then that she noticed he was there at all.

“Malcolm! What happened?”

“Nothing happened! Baby! You tell me!”

“What happened?” she squealed and twisted away from him again, looking around wildly for some hidden enemy.

'What happened?'

“Baby! Did you have a nightmare?”

“No! He’s hurt!”

“Who’s hurt?”

“Duncan!”

They both slammed their shoulders against the doorframe and into each other as they tried to squeeze into the turtle room at the same time.

He stood up in his crib.

But their little turtle did not appear to be hurt after all, though he stood up in his crib and had the miserable, crumpled face he wore when he was trying valiantly not to cry.

He lifted one pleading hand to his mother, and she scooped him up at once. She checked him all over for injuries, which apparently required a good number of kisses along the way, but finally pronounced her judgement: “There’s not a thing wrong with him, Malcolm.”

'There's not a thing wrong with him, Malcolm.'

“Of course there isn’t, Babe. You only had a nightmare. What kind of trouble can the turtle get into when he’s stuck in his crib?”

“I don’t know. What if he figures out how to set fire to things?”

'What if he figures out how to set fire to things?'

“Saints preserve us!” Malcolm groaned. “I don’t think he ever will, since his Da is only a stupid man. Wulf and Gils can’t do anything like that.”

“Are you calling my Da a stupid man?”

“Baby!” he sighed.

But if she could tease him, all was well. He flexed his tense shoulders and wiped his sweaty, shaking hands on the backs of his arms, though they felt damp again at once.

They felt damp again at once.

“What’s wrong, Malcolm?” Iylaine asked after a moment.

“You scared me, Babe! Don’t be doing that too often. I only had nine lives to start, and I’m running low.”

“Stupid boy!”

“Who are you calling stupid, Lady Baby? Look at this little turtle – even he knows the babies are supposed to cry and wake the mamas, and not the other way around.”

Iylaine did not look at the little turtle, but rather held his head against her shoulder and stroked his hair with her shaking hand.

Iylaine did not look at the little turtle.