Happiness Is...

Xanadu Weyr - Dragon's Rest Farm
In contrast to the gigantic barn is the smaller homestead. The structure is a small two-level cottage, complete with a covered porch that sweeps around the exterior. The wooden slats of the house seem freshly painted, as if this old place has been brought back to life by careful hands. A chair-swing sways beneath the shade of the porch, moving with the slightest breeze off the sea. Inside, the quaint space has been decked out with the comforts one might expect. Fluffy rugs cover hardwood floors, and finely carved furniture dominates most of the spaces. A few things here and there seem older, heirlooms that now have a new place to call home.

Everything within the cottage is comfortable, rather than elaborate. Though it may have once been empty, there is now a warm, welcoming feel to the place. Many large windows and sliding doors look out upon both the training field and across the road, a view of the beach and the sea beyond. Even on the hottest days, these can be opened to let in air and leave the rooms cool and comfortable. Set back a ways from many of the other Weyrbarns along the roadway, there is plenty of room for those who need a bit of space and privacy. There is plenty of space, leaving room to grow, to learn, to expand, and most of all… it is a warm, safe place to come home to when the day's tasks are done.


Ka'el is home, and it's not even his rest day! Or maybe he's deemed it a rest day just because he wanted one and he can do that sort of thing if he wants. The Weyr's not going to fall apart just because he isn't behind his desk or attending a meeting! Truth be told, he was seen around the office area earlier in the day. Working, in fact! But at some point in the early afternoon, he slunk off to do who knows what, who knows where. And now, that early afternoon time has waned to late afternoon, and even that is leaning towards evening. There's still light in the sky, bold and beautiful near the horizon, gradually darkening the further one looks away from it. It's still cold, though the bite of winter is beginning to loosen its hold a little. The days aren't quite as chilly (though by no means are they warm!), but the nights still get quite so. Ka'el is settled on the porch, resting on that chair-swing which he rocks back and forth a bit by pushing against the balls of his boots. He wears a large hooded sweater over his clothing. No jacket, as he's just outside a place of warmth which he could retreat into if he needed! Alloy lays nearby, but just how long he stays is questionable given the chill. The Weyrleader watches the road, eyes only half-focused.

It's not Soriana's rest day either. She's been at the office - and going about the Weyr for the parts of her work day that aren't located in her office - for the whole of it. There's plenty to occupy a Junior Weyrwoman, even one who's… starting to show signs of an upcoming junior version. It means she can't go out and do the diplomatic work at other Weyrs, or off at the Holds, but that just means it gets shuffled around to the other Weyrwomen and she does the things they'd be doing instead. But, as afternoon drifts toward evening, her workday drifts to a close as well. Her time at the office - and about the Weyr - is over. It's time for her to come home, so… she does, walking down the road with slow steps of feet that are more sore than they should be. She's only been walking around half the day! She does that all the time! …not… while pregnant. That's the secret twist of why she's more tired and her feet are more sore, but still. Soriana doesn't feel like she should be this tired, but as she turns the corner from the road onto the path leading back to their weyr where Ka'el sits on the porch… she is. At least she's almost home.

Ka'el is definitely not sitting here waiting around for Soriana to come. Pft, that'd be … crazy. Heh! Just like the Junior Weyrwoman doesn't need someone to make sure she doesn't slip and fall to her death down the steps to the cafe, she definitely doesn't need someone to wait and watch to see that she makes it home without stumbling or slipping on slush or something so common. He just happens to be out here, that's all. And his eyes just happen to be on the road at the moment that Soriana happens to show up on it. It's all circumstance! The slow rocking of hte chair gradually pauses, and he grins to himself as he rises from it and moves to the porch's edge. That's her, isn't it? WIth the distance, he's not positive, but with the way she's walking, he's pretty sure it is. The little changes in her mannerisms…her appetite…he's starting to grow accustomed to them. So that…er.. pregnant swagger that she's starting to adopt makes her recognizable to him. He clomps down the stairs, Alloy looking after him with a questioning chirp. Treats, what? Ka'el heads to meet her halfway down the road, his grin still on his face. "Hey, you look amazing." ..Random. But there are worse ways to greet someone, right?

That would be crazy, and Ka'el is definitely not crazy. Neither is Soriana! And also, she doesn't need his help. True fact! But she still smiles when she sees him approaching. Because he just happened - by sheer coincidence - to be walking this way. He's not here to help her, he's just here to… uh… coincidentally walk out halfway to the road and then back again. For exercise. …yeah, okay, it requires suspension of disbelief from Soriana, but she's willing to do that for the sake of Ka'el and the Coincidences of Happenstance. "Hey," she says, and her lips curve into a smirk. Amazing, huh? She eyes him for a moment. "So what'd you do?" Because while this certainly could be an unprompted display of affection, it doesn't hurt to ask before she gets back to the weyr and discovers… uh… something. That she wouldn't want to discover. So she's asking!

Yup, amazing. That's what he said! And Ka'el means it too … and not because he…did something… He glances away for an innocent moment, brows lifting. "Whaaaat?" He looks back at her. Shock. And. … Er, more shock. Not awe. "Why do you always think that I've done something when I'm nice to you? Have you ever for a moment thought that I'm nice to you just because I want to be nice to you?" he says with a grin and that too-innocent look still on his face. He looks back towards their weyr. Alloy's still there, waiting their arrival, clearly practicing the 'let them come to me' version of a welcome home. "Though, whether your favorite klah mug should be classified as either 'broken' or 'badly cracked' is still up for debate…" A glance to her, then a smirk as he sidles up to her and slips his arm around her waist. "Come on, I've a surprise for you. And it has nothing to do with broken shards of a mug either." Hooray!

Ka'el is completely awed by her. Soriana knows this! So she smirks at his shock. His innocent, innocent shock. She's so cruel. Also heartless. "…sure, sometimes," she agrees. "The times when you haven't done something." Which are… most of the time? Shells, where's the trust in this weyrmating! Just because she's agreed to be with him in both the best and worst of times doesn't mean she has to expect the worst. She glances back to their weyr, which… hasn't burnt down. Excellent! Alloy doesn't look panicked, either. She looks back to Ka'el, just in time to arch her brows. "Is it." Not exactly a debate she would look forward to having, assuming it's actually up for debating, buuuut not that major a one. It's easy to get new mugs. Also it's not like she gets to drink klah right now, so… "You're just trying to distract me, I'm sure." She grins, leaning in against him. "But I'm okay with that. Distract away!"

He's trying to distract her from her own awesomeness, obviously. Poor Sori! It must be a challenge to be so awe-inspiring all the time. "You've figured out my plan. I'm done for. Ruined. Defeated!" He snickers and squeezes his arm around her before he heads on down the path with her, towards home. Up the steps to Alloy, who finally gets to his clawed feet before chirping what could be a greeting to the Weyrwoman. Or .. maybe it was a plea for lizard treats. Rolling his eyes, they head inside their cottage which …. looks like it does every other day, really. Maybe just slightly cleaner, as Ka'el hada little time to tidy up this afternoon, and thus he did, to keep hands from being idle. Surprise, a clean weyr! … Well. That's not really the surprise, and Ka'el steers her through the living area and towards the kitchen. And it's in there, upon the tbaleset aside for sharing meals, is a medium sized box with a simple bow tied around it. Well, the box is more like a basket with a lid. The picnic variety, made from tightly woven wicker. The bow tied around it is a cheerful yellow, and Ka'el inclines his chin a bit, proudly. He tied that bow all by himself! "Surprise!" he says, guiding her to that table and the gift that's waiting for her. "Happy turnday, Turnover, festival, harvest, graduation, and clutching!" He's covered all future events, right?

But what if Soriana wants to wallow in her awesomeness? To luxuriate in it and roll around in awesome and… uh… soak in it? Ka'el… well… he'll just have to deal with it if she does. It'll be part of the ruination and defeat she's going to wreak on him. For now, though, she's going to go along with his attempt to distract her. Because, uh… it amuses her to do so? Or maybe because there's not actually any horrible anything. Maybe. Soriana grins to Alloy, wiggling fingers to him as she passes. Just fingers. There's no lizardtreats involved, so it's not something actually important. Soriana's glances around the weyr are mostly just curious ones. She doesn't actually expect disasters. She does follow him in to the kitchen, arching her eyebrows curiously at the box. "Huh." It's a basket! Does it have things inside? And is it because… wait. "Really?" All of those at once? "Just how many presents are in that thing?" Because some of those occasions demand separate gifts. Or at least, Soriana demands extra gifts for those occasions! Becaaaause… she's greedy? But she's not saying no to a gift now. (Because she's greedy.) And so she peeks into that basket!

It is a basket with things inside, yet it is a closed basket for now. So for now, it’s a basket with a bow that Ka’el has so lovingly tied all by himself. It’s just waiting to be opened! “Enough presents to last a while,” he says smugly, releasing her to give her room to investigate her turnday/turnover/festival/graduation/harvest/clutching gift! Greedy Soriana opens her gift! And inside of that basket, there are….things! Lots of things. Lots of little bundles of things. Ka’el grins as he moves up behind her, arms slipping around her middle while he watches on over her shoulder. Inside of that basket, Soriana will see something that looks vaaaaguely familiar. It’s those bundles of herbs that were on the Treetop Cafe’s tables that one day! They look a little more festive than before. Each little cloth bag is tied with a ribbon of a different color, and attached to them is a little tag with writing on it. Fancy weed! Or rather, after looking at those tabs, fancy tea! Loose leaf tea of different varieties and flavors, collected from different places, likely. And there’s .. a lot of them in there. A basketful of flavors! “I know you can’t have klah. I heard some teas can have the same sort’ve effect, and some taste really good..” Or so he’s told. “I wanted you to have a lot to choose from. Maybe find one you really like, and I can get you more.”

…for that matter, whose turnday gift is this? Soriana's, or little baby… uh… whoever. The kid will need a name, won't it? Unlike dragons, human babies don't emerge knowing what they should be called. That's up to the parents! (No pressure.) But Soriana doesn't ask, maybe because she doesn't want to. Or maybe it's just because she figures the answer is 'both!' - given that he's got every other holiday accounted for, it would only make sense! She opens the basket to find… leaves! Also, branches? Maybe. If there are (and some of those tea-type things are probably made from bark of some sort) they're crumbled up finely. But hey, at least they're neatly labeled instead of just being the result of bringing that picnic basket outside last autumn and letting the trees contribute. No indeed, these leaves have been carefully gathered and selected to… "Huh." That's Soriana's comment on the first couple of bags that she looks at. But wait, there's more! More bags. More kinds of… tea? She glances up to Ka'el and listens to his explanation, then nods. She smiles, only a bit crooked. "If it does the same as klah, I probably can't have it either." Because being awake and alert isn't allowed! …maybe they're afraid if pregnant women were in full command of their faculties, they'd change their minds. "But I'm sure I can try them." And hopefully find one she likes that the healers don't utterly forbid her to have. Soriana leans over and kisses at Ka'el's cheek. "Thank you." And then she looks back to the basket to continue investigating her loot!

Huh. Ka’el apparently hadn’t thought of that, considering the way his grin falters. Duh. If some of these teas work the same way that klah does, then of course it wouldn’t be good for her! He glances to the basket, as if the ones that could possibly be not so good for her would be seen differently. Maybe they’ll be wrapped in neon cloth bags? But, nope. They all look exactly the same! Except for the tags and such, but they’re of no help. Hmmm.. The vaguely troubled look remains til he’s kissed. Cheek kiss! He grins and tightens his hold around her a little as she continues to investigate. Yup! Lots of teas! And also in there, different types of cookies. Because who doesn’t like cookies with their tea? It is /highly/ unlikely that Ka’el himself made these cookies, but they seem fresh. And that is the extent of his turnday-and-everything-else gift…which likely isn’t really covering all of those other gift-giving days. “You’re welcome, baby. I told them you were..pregnant,” whoever ‘they’ are, “so, I don’t think any’ve these would be bad for you.” He grins a bit. “You nearly ruined it all showin’ up in the café the day you did, you know. That was the last place I expected to run in to you.”

Cookies are excellent with tea. Also without tea! Fortunately the healers haven't told Soriana she's not allowed to have cookies. They've… muttered things about a balanced diet and that she's supposed to eat greens and lean meats and stuff like that, which cookies aren't, but they haven't actually told her to not eat the cookies. Just that she should eat other things to go with the cookies… or at least, that's what she's going to believe until they force her otherwise. So she peeks at those cookies and at those teas, and she probably does suspect that Ka'el's going to give her other presents on other days. As the gifting impulse strikes! She peeks up again at him, and nods with a wry smile. "I think everybody has the list of what pregnant people aren't supposed to do." Faranth knows that everyone seems to start giving her instructions as soon as she mentions it! "So I'm sure they left those out." No alertness for her! Just being dazed and tired and… pregnant. Ever so pregnant. Is it just her, or is it getting to the point where it's changing the outlines of her shirts even when she wears the loose ones? It's a good thing it's not winter anymore, because her good jacket is… meh. Enough thinking about that, she'll think about tea instead. "Rosehip. Huh." That's what the label says! She eyes it consideringly, then looks back to Ka'el and laughs. "You should've warned Den'l it was a secret. That, or not told him you were going in the first place." So blame him! Not that Soriana doesn't have a tendency to show up where she's not expected. She's dangerous like that! At least she didn't ask prying questions.

If the healers told pregnant women that they couldn’t have cookies…would there be less children in the world? Possibly. Cookies are amazing creations. Faranth knows that Ka’el likes his sweets. There’s rarely a time that dessert isn’t part of his meal! Except for breakfast .. because who wants dessert after eating eggs and pancakes with honeyed syrup? .. See, Ka’el’s otten around that. The pancake is the dessert! He’s pleased by Sori’s acceptance of his gift. Being pregnant doesn’t seem very .. fun, and so any little thing he can do to hopefully make the experience a little more enjoyable is what he’s striving for. He peers at the tea that she mentions, then points to another tag. “There’s a sort of ‘spiced’ kind. When you try that one, let me know. I want a taste.” He smirks then lifts his brows at the mentioning of the whistle-blower. “AH, that man can’t keep his mouth shut to save his life,” he snickers, exaggeratedly rolling his eyes. “Lesson learned.” He grins and moves nearer to her, chest pressing gently to her back and arms still looped around her middle, resting just above that curve of her belly. That prominent curve.. Or, a curve that at least is starting to becoming prominent. His head lowers until his chin rests upon her shoulder, and he angles his head to press against hers. “Can I feel?” he asks, voice softer now as his arms lower down so fingertips can hesitantly touch at the sides of her stomach.

A quick trip between with cookies after would be more appealing. Because… cookies! They make everything better. Also cakes, pies, ice cream with drizzly caramel… and tea. Tea (hopefully) also makes things better. It's got Soriana smiling, anyway. Her tiredness from the day isn't gone, but she's distracted away from it for at least a little while by tea, rosy and… "Spiced?" She lifts up the packet, sniffing it through the bag. Mostly it smells like… uh… bag. And ribbon! But there's traces of what might well be spice, lurking beneath it. Just enough to persuade her that, yes, this could indeed be a tea that's spicy. Like gingerbread! …no wait, those are cookies. Or molasses-spice… er. Also cookies. Pumpkin pi- pie. Not cookies, not tea either. Well, it smells spiced, anyhow. Soriana sets it back down, and she reaches for one of those packs of cookies - because cookies. Because she wants to nibble on one, as she nods to Ka'el about his taste (when she gets around to making it) and grins about Den'l the ever-so-eager. "Means well." Which doesn't mean he can keep his mouth shut. Just that he (almost) ruined everything with the very best of intentions. Her fingers, on the cookie-package, pause as Ka'el comes closer, and Soriana leans back against him, her eyes closing for a moment as she exhales, leans her head back to rest it on his shoulder and turn it slightly toward him. "…yeah."

Those cookies will likely be gone before the tea has been all used up, especially with Ka’el around snooping for handouts! But for now, his interest isn’t in the sweet treats for once. There are other places that he wishes his hands to go, and Soriana seems willing to allow them to. The edges of his lips quirk up at her answer, and the tentative touch to her bellow gradually grows less tentative as he flattens his hands against them. What was just the slight press of fingertips turns to the feel of an entire hand. Two of them, actually! One on each of her sides. They slide against her, following the gentle curve around to her front. “Wow..” he gently marvels. What a change in what seems like such a short span of time! There’s … a baby in there! Before, it was sort of just a thought. Soriana looked no different than her usual self when the news was first given. Now, it’s a reality. He can feel the difference of the growing being within her. His child. His fingertips rest slightly upon her bellybutton, and for a while he’s content to hold her like that, arms around her and their unborn child both with a smile he’s not aware he has. “Do you feel different?” he can’t help but ask because, well, curiosity. His hands move again, slipping down the curve of her stomach, down to the hem of her shirt that’s only partially concealing that belly bulge, to slip beneath. His hands are held to her stomach now without a film of fabric to separate skin to skin, and his eyes close with the contact.

"…I feel like everyone's staring at it," Soriana says with a faint frown. It's not accompanied by any pull away from Ka'el - she's still leaning against him, and the frown's not for him. If he wants to look (and feel), well… he's allowed. It's kind of part his fault anyway! Just like that shirt only partly conceals it. Obscures instead of hides, and that's just going to get worse as things get more prominent. As… okay, let's think the actual thoughts… she gets more pregnant. Because before? She was only a little. The thing is though, it's like an avalanche or a landslide or a flood. It starts with just a little, but once it does, there's not really a stop until the end. Things just keep growing and changing and being… more and more pregnant until pregnant… turns into a baby. (By someone waving their hands and doing magic, right? Hah, she wishes!) She's not there yet. She's probably not even to the point where everyone does notice it when she walks by. She will be! She feels like it, sometimes. But she's not there… yet. Soriana sighs a little. Different. Is it? Well… obviously. There's a baby in there! But… coming up with the words is hard, and so she's silent for a moment, frowning slightly as she thinks about it. What's different? Well… there's a baby in there. It even… sometimes… moves. Like now, when there's a shift beneath the surface of Soriana's belly, one that's a little flutter to Ka'el's fingers and is, for her, distracting enough to make it harder to figure out that difference… because it's demonstrating it.

“Nobody’s starin’ at it,” answers Ka’el without really knowing if that’s true or not. People could be staring at it. Maybe. He’s not with her all the time to know. When he’s with her, people ask about it… but those people are their friends who know about it already. The random resident on the street? Well, he isn’t being bombarded with congratulatory remarks by them yet, so perhaps their big news isn’t big news to everyone right now. It will be, eventually. Probably. Having a baby is already a big thing. It’s an even bigger thing when that baby belongs to a Weyrwoman, fathered by a Weyrleader. But at least it’s not a scandalous thing, which a story with that beginning usually is. “And if they are starin’ at it, it’s because they know that our kid’s bound for greatness.” Born awesome. Every baby’s dream! He falls quiet then, trying to imagine just what’s inside that gentle mound of a stomach of hers. What’s going on in there? This ‘miracle of life’ truly is a miracle, for Ka’el can’t even begin to fathom how part of him and part of her morph into a little human with eyes, legs, fingers, toes, and… Blink. His eyes blink open in the middle of his wondering thoughts, and his head shifts away from hers. He felt something. Something soft yet noticeable down there beneath his fingers. Bellies don’t make random movements like that! Unless they’re very upset. “..Shards..was that…?” Double-blink. His hands, while still gentle, press just a little firmer, seeking more of that..whatever it was. “Did you feel that?” Or is poor Ka’el hallucinating?

"Hah." There probably aren't as many people staring as Soriana thinks. Which is not to say there aren't people staring, but… sometimes, she's imagining it; assuming that they will stare or are staring when really they're wondering if they locked the door or dreading the meeting they have scheduled later that day. Eventually… oh, eventually the news will spread through the Weyr. Beyond it, probably! People in Fort and Ista and all those other places that have no reason to care about a normal Xanadu baby may care about a weyrleader-and-weyrwoman baby. Not directly, but because it'll make good conversation in one of those interminable meetings. Anything for a new topic! …even having a baby, apparently. It's certainly something for Soriana and Ka'el to talk about, but that's different than having everyone talk about. Even if this baby is (clearly) bound for greatness. Soriana smirks for that. "Or they're afraid of being assigned as nannies." Nursery duty! Because whether they foster or not - but especially if not - the kid's bound to end up spending some time in Xanadu's nursery. Soriana knows the place exist. She's walked by it, many a time! Maybe… maybe she should actually step foot inside, just to see. She can see how she feels about it… but right now, she's feeling how she feels about those movements in her belly, fluttery squirmings beneath the surface. There's a pause - long enough to wonder about hallucinating and think back to whether lunch had any mushrooms - and another movement. This one is just stronger enough that Soriana's face curves in a wry expression. It's not like she's in pain, or sick, or any of those things. "It's weird." She turns her head, looks to Ka'el. "S'started… doing that. The healers say it's normal." But seriously. It's weird. There's not only a little human growing inside her, it's moving.

Xanadu's Number one nanny! Who wants the job? There's still so much left for them to do. Really though, what have they done so far to prepare for this huge change in their lives? Uh. They might want to start making some decisions and plans and…things. Like the foster thing and/or the nanny thing. And the name thing. And the schedule thing. And the clothing thing. Babies need something to wear, right? And unless one of them has a hidden box of baby clothes, diapers, cribs, and all those other little extra things that babies need, they may want to get on that! But, Ka'el will think of all of that stuff later. Hopefully. Right now, he's thinking of the baby movements that he's definitely feeling. It's not a hallucination after all! It's really…moving. It's a…an actual living moving…thing. So weird! .. And kind of cool. But mostly strange. And a little exciting. For him at least. Enough so that there's a tiny grin on his face, but it's one that melts away with the noted expression on hers. Right. He often forgets what the appropriate way to feel about this is. Emotions range from giddy to what he's been told is 'normal' fear, and it depends on the day which one he feels. But to smile at something that has her mouth twist in such a way seems mocking and wrong, so his expression is adjusted to something more neutral, and his hands, with faint reluctance, fall away from her abdomen. Out from under her shirt. "At least it's normal," he says with a small smirk before stepping back from her, hands sliding in the pockets of his trousers. "I can make you one of these if you want," he offers, nodding to the basket. "You look tired."

Ka'el hides his grin away, but not before Soriana notices it. That. Right there. An expression that… well. If she didn't know better, she might call it excitement. But she… uh… actually. She doesn't know better. So far as she knows what it is that Ka'el thinks of all this, excitement… might well be the sort of thing that would show up on his face. His hands start to fall away, but she reaches to catch one of them. Only one of them, she lets the other one fall, but that hand… she keeps. She keeps it close and… well, on her belly. Because it's weird, but… not everything weird is bad. Being kicked in random organs? Yeah, she can make a case for that being kind of bad, but the kid doesn't have much leverage, so it's not as bad as it could be. Her lips curve up just a bit, some smile to go with her wry. "Is anything about this actually normal?" Because seriously. Baby. In. Her. Belly. "May've been happening forever, but…" not to her. It's been happening to other people for millions of years. For Soriana? It's new and weird. "I'm… glad you're happy about it." And she is. It's just weird, and… "Faranth, yes I'm tired." She lets go of Ka'el's hand, because she's tired and now she's remembering just how tired. "I should… sit." Because also her feet hurt. Fortunately, they've got a couch. "And… yeah. Tea'd be good."

Hand, captured. Ka’el doesn’t resist her as he keeps one of his palms where it is, pressed against her belly, skin to skin. Where those slight flutterings were happening and will continue to happen throughout her pregnancy. Little does he know what’s in store in the coming months. The continued activity that will be cause for future grins and hidden smiles in celebration of a life that hasn’t started yet. He’s happy to keep that one hand in place as he presses his lips to the back of her neck. Is anything about this normal? He snickers at the question, a breath against her neck before he pulls away. “Not really.” Not normal for them anyway, even if the world sees it as perfectly so. The feelings they’re having? Normal. The doubts? Normal. The tiredness? Mood swings? Moments of panic? Normal, normal, normal they say. But so perfectly abnormal to them! Ka’el is quiet for a time, his hand still in place even after hers has released it. He ponders something that she’s said. He’s happy. … He is, isn’t he? He wasn’t at first. Not really. But he’s had time to let it all marinate and settle, and..he is happy. It’s a quiet revelation, as he hadn’t fully realized it himself as those happy moments have been brief and sporadic.. But they’ve been coming a little more often now, especially in moments like these when tiny flutters causes his heart to do the same. “If you aren’t .. I’ll try not to be.” They have to be on the same side on this. He kisses her cheek, then nods to their oh so comfy couch. “Go. I’ll make you some tea. I learned how,” he notes. “Also part of your gift.” A personal tea-maker in the form of a weyrmate.

Soriana didn't think so. It's weird. It's strange. It's so very different. It's… good? Bad? …she doesn't know. She just knows that she's the one with the baby. Her baby, and Ka'el's baby, so she looks to him, watches him with a faint smile. Is she happy? She… doesn't even know. If she did, it'd probably change by this time tomorrow. But Ka'el is. Soriana's noticed that. He's not unreservedly so - if he was, she'd probably be sidling away from him even now - but he is. He's happy about it. And so… "You can show me how." To be happy about it too. To be - at least sometimes - excited instead of terrified. To look forward to this baby instead of dreading it, to think of all the ways it has and will changed their lives and still be… happy. Soriana can't have klah, but she'll have some tea. Ka'el will make it for her, and then they'll sit on the comfy couch and talk about… probably not the baby. There's only so much of it that Soriana wants to think about at a time - but even in their conversation about other things, it's likely to come up in little ways. Sidewise mentions, as this baby that isn't even born yet infiltrates all the aspects of their life. They've got a lot of planning to do, a lot of decisions to make, a lot… to look forward to? Yeah. That's the new plan. Step one: sit on the couch. Step two: have tea. Soriana smiles as she goes to do step one. She's got Ka'el to do step two. Together, they'll make things work… somehow.


Add a New Comment
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License