It has been six months since I reincarnated as Xavier Blackthorn.
I'm a couple of weeks away from my first birthday, and I've started to teeth, which hurts like hell.
I've grown a bit, and am now able to sit up on my own, stand, and walk for short periods. My bodily functions on the other hand, still elude my willful control.
Also, I've found out a little more about my father and the family business from his habit of having me play in his office while he conducted business.
My father, Lord Charles Blackthorn owns Blackthorn industries, a conglomerate that has dairy and pig farms, tanneries and slaughterhouses that produce beef tallow and pork lard, along with Uranium mines across the UK and Europe.
In addition, my father is aggressively expanding into nuclear energy and has started the construction of four nuclear power plants.
The Blackthorn estate is fairly large, but very efficient, and the family fortune is steadily growing, despite the constant attacks from both environmental activists, and government busybodies.
I also found out that Nina is not just my nanny but my 'governess'.
She is supposed to take care of me, and represent my father's authority in his absence.
The Blackthorn household staff consisted of Hans, our head of security, and his sixteen guards. Maria, the head maid, and the eight maids under her.
Jacques, the chef and his four kitchen staff.
And William, the groundskeeper and his twelve-man maintenance crew.
The staff are all relatively new, and from what I could glean, my father runs the main estate and his company with an iron fist, and a Draconian set of NDAs and contracts.
I spend most of my time playing either in the office, where I am watched by Hans, or in the nursery, while Nina watches me.
I've found out that her suit is actually a dress-code that my father strictly enforces, and that he now very carefully vets his female employees to make sure that they 'fit in' with the 'company culture', after he had split from my mother.
Well, I'm certainly not complaining! And I might just continue the tradition once I start running things.
For now though, I still have to deal with the mortification of needing a diaper change.
Time to trouble Nina.
"Nina!" I call crawling over to her. "Yes, master Xavier?" she asks, as she looks up from her book.
"Change!" I say, thankful that my vocal cords have developed enough to say 'change'.
She smiles, and picks me up, carrying me to the changing table.
She lays me down, and quickly changes my diaper. "There. All done, master Xavier" she says, as she picks me up and settles me down on the carpet.
I immediately try to make a grab for her heels, curious to know if they are metal or plastic.
"No, master Xavier! Those are not toys." she chides, pulling me away from her feet.
Defeated again, I grab both her lapels, in a futile attempt to pull her down to my level.
"Now, now master Xavier, I'm telling you for your own good. Those are sharp." she said patiently, as she gently removed my hands.
"Up!" I commanded grabbing her lapels again.
"Alright, alright. Up we go" she said, as she picked me up started to carry me around the nursery.
"Out!" I ordered with as much imperiousness as an almost 1-year-old baby could muster, and Nina complied, taking me out of the nursery.
Ah, the clip-clopping of stiletto heels on hard marble flooring. Music to my ears, I thought as I settled onto her shoulder.
I made Nina carry me while she clip-clopped around the house for a solid 10 minutes before falling asleep. When I awoke, I found myself in the nursery with father smiling down at me.
"So, you like Nina's shoes eh?" he asked, as he picked me up.
"Mmm" I replied in the affirmative, eliciting a chuckle from him.
"Looks like you're a true Blackthorn. I like them too" he said, carrying me to the dining room.
Now this is quite a revelation. Sounds like my daddy is a Renaissance man who enjoys the aesthetics of a hot babe in stilettos. And he seems to have the means to pull it off, given Nina's compliance with his dress code.
I wonder if he has a thing for Nina. I mean, she's hot, and he certainly has a great deal of trust in her abilities.
He set me in the high chair, and Nina brought over a bowl of beef stew. I was able to eat small pieces of meat and vegetables now, but still needed to be fed.
I ate and chewed carefully, mindful of Nina's suit. "How civilized" she murmured as I grabbed the napkin from her and wiped my own mouth.
"Maria, how are the preparations for Xavier's first birthday coming along?" inquired my father.
"Everything is in order, sir. The cake has been ordered, and the guest list has been finalized." answered Maria softly, dressed in a traditional maid uniform.
Yup, my dad is a true Renaissance man of wealth and taste. I wonder what the guest list is like. I've not met any other kids or gone on any play dates.
"Good. Nina, has Hans completed his security measures?" asked my father.
"Yes sir. Hans has reported that all security measures are in place." replied Nina.
"Very well, then. I have some business to attend to. Nina, take care of Xavier." said my father, as he stood up and left the dining room.
Nina picked me up, and carried me out of the dining room. She took me to the nursery, and settled me into the crib. I fell asleep, dreaming of the sound of clip-clopping heels.
----
So, this is the big day. My first birthday.
"Looks like my father's taste in aesthetics go deeper than just stilettos" I thought as I looked at my reflection in the mirror as Nina combed my hair.
I was in a navy-blue ermine coat with a cravat instead of a bib.
Looks like my dad picked up on how neat I am and decided to use it to his advantage - the sly old fox - Well, at least I look good in it, a baby Dracula if you will.
I turned my attention from myself to Nina.
She had ditched her normal skirt-suit and was in a sleek black knee-length dress with black leather elbow-length gloves.
Her hair was free from its usual ponytail, and she wore her signature tights and a pair of black stiletto heels. She looked stunning.
"Loo-Goo" I said appreciatively.
"Yes, you look good, master Xavier" she said, mistaking my compliment of her as an observation of myself.
"Alright, let's go" she said, as she picked me up and carried me out of the nursery.
We went down the grand staircase, and into the main hall.
The room was decorated with banners, and a throne - or at least a large chair - was at the far end of the room, with a long red carpet leading up to it.
Wait, the room seemed even bigger. Oh, the wall was fake! The main hall transforms into a damn throne room!
My father was seated regally on the throne, dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and a cravat. He looked at me, and smiled.
"Happy birthday, Xavier" he said, as he took me from Nina and settled me on his knee.
I looked around the room in awe. It looked like all the staff were present, along with a bunch of people I'd never seen before.
And they were all either in uniform or formally dressed. I felt like I was in some sort of Renaissance painting.
Nina stood at Father's right, and Hans stood at his left.
Hans was wearing some sort of ceremonial armor, and even carried a massive sword.
At a curt nod from Father, Hans declared in a loud voice: "The ceremony for Lord Charles Blackthorn's son and heir Xavier Blackthorn's first year of grace will now commence! Kneel before your lord!"
At that commanding, and frankly ominous German-accented tone, everyone in the throne room dropped to their knees and bowed their heads.
I looked around, confused.
"As your lord. I protect this realm! As my loyal staff and retainers, you give me the means by which I protect you. Today, that compact is renewed with the presentation of my heir!" thundered Father, deepening my confusion.
"Hans! Start the tributes!" he ordered, and the guests formed a long line to present my gift and offer their wishes.
It finally dawned on me that this strange arrangement was a just a themed birthday party with my dad acting out the whole feudal lord thing. I have to admit, it actually kind of suits him.
As the last of the guests presented their box and said "happy birthday", the party broke up into casual clumps of people socializing.
I decided to do the baby thing, and grabbed the nearest wrapped present.
Nina and Father watched amused and impressed as I pulled at the sellotaped parts of the wrapping paper, my fingers lacked the dexterity to pull off just the tape, so I settled for ripping the paper just at the tape. The present revealed a toy train set.
"Here let me help you assemble that" said Nina, and she pulled out the various parts and started assembling the large circular track.
I picked up the steam locomotive and inspected it.
It was fairly detailed, the wheels had a moving piston rod, and it was powered by a battery.
I found the switch and turned it on. The train started going on the track startling Nina.
"Oh! You figured that out? What a clever boy!" she exclaimed, as she watched the train go around.
A man dressed in a formal black suit approached my father. "An excellent party my Lord Blackthorn" he said, genuflecting.
"Getting a little too into character are we Schofield? If your colleagues in the House of Commons saw you genuflect to me, they'd probably die of apoplexy." chuckled my father.
Schofield snorted in derision. "I'd take your leadership style over the collective wisdom of those vultures any day of the week! At least the Reform party that I represent is a little better at serving the public! Did you see the new daftness that the Labour-Conservative coalition is trying to push through? They want to increase the carbon taxes! As if people don't have enough hardships!" he ranted.
"It's a party Schofield, I'd appreciate it if you refrain from talking shop. There will be plenty of time for that tomorrow" said my father coldly.
Schofield flushed and hastily bowed again.
"My apologies, Lord Blackthorn. I'll indeed make an appointment with you to discuss this on the morrow." he said, before changing tack.
"I must admit, it is refreshing to see that old-school British refinement is still alive. My faith in my fellow countrymen has been restored in some small measure, thanks to you." he said solemnly.
"Yes, well finding kindred spirits is always a pleasure, and not as easy as it seems. It was with your legal expertise that I managed to craft the contracts and NDAs for this sort of thing. Enjoy the party, Schofield." said my father.
Schofield bowed again, and scurried off.
Father chuckled quietly before turning to Nina and me. His eyes lit up at the sight of me playing with the train set. "I can see that you like that, Xavier. However, there are other gifts to unwrap." he chuckled, bringing my attention once again to the massive pile of wrapped presents.