Celine's lower lip trembles as she nods her head.
Sienna takes Cyna's hand and chuckles. "Better than all the other crap we've dealt with lately. Come on, Lea and Fae, it's time to go see your parents."
"Parents?" Lea asks, confused but following Sienna and Cyna.
Magnus smiles. "Ahh, if it isn't Arista. Your daughter has been getting along well with my son. Nice to see you home."
Hjörr waves at Celine before going back to his meal.
Divitia walks in and spies Aliethia, Arista and Celine. She makes her way to the table and gives Aliethia a quick peck. "Sorry if I kept you waiting, Lili."
"Nonsense. Arista and I have been catching up," Aliethia says.
Divitia nods at the aasimar before taking a seat. "Welcome home. I'd be a little more talkative but I'm famished."
"Elsa still being overly grateful?" Aliethia asks as Hadrinn approaches.
Divitia glances at Celine, deciding to keep the conversation polite. "To the point where I almost dread going to work. Hello, Hadrinn, I'll have a lemonade and some venison stew."
The dwarf nods, putting a warm hand on Arista's shoulder. "Welcome back, stranger. What will you have?"
"I don't think I've asked what Lea's story is..." Sienna muses.
"You're going to get tired of hearing 'welcome home', dear sister," Aliethia giggles.
Magnus smiles. "Ahh, if it isn't Arista. Your daughter has been getting along well with my son. Nice to see you home."
Hjörr waves at Celine before going back to his meal.
Letting out a sigh of relief she nods, "It's nice to be home. I'm glad that they had time to play together while I was away. I was probably more worried about her than I needed to be, seeing as she was in such good care. Alright young lady, you can see Hjorr some other time. Right now it's dinner time and we're keeping your aunts waiting now." She says as she waves to Divitia, "Tell him goodbye Celine so we can go eat and let them get back to dinner." She smiles seeing Magnus and Hjorr together as they should be.
Celine gives Hjorr a little half smile and waves to him as mommy takes her other hand, "Bye bye Hjorr." Looking up at his daddy she asks, "Play tomorrow?"
Arista puts a hand up to her mouth as she snickers slightly. It would seem that Celine was trying to set up a play date for herself. Well...there were some people she wasn't so shy with.
Magnus thinks for a moment. "If your mommy says it's okay."
Getting herself under control she looks at Celine, "Only if you don't run off from me like that anymore. You scared mommy." Looking at Magnus she says, "It's okay, I'm glad she has someone that she likes playing with. It makes all the changes easier I think. Thank you Magnus, we'll see you tomorrow I guess." Breaking free from her mommy for a moment she takes a step toward Hjorr and puts her arms around him to give him a hug before giving him another smile and little wave.
Shaking her head and making sure she has Celine's hand in hers she heads back to the table.
When she gets back over to the table she looks at Divitia, "Oh that's okay, it's past her dinner time anyways."
Putting a hand on top of Hadrinn's she looks up at him from her seat after getting Celine settled into a seat next to her, "I think we'll both have the stew. Could I get some water for myself and some milk for Celine please?"
Looking at Aliethia she smiles, "I'm so happy to be home I don't care how many times I have to hear it...it's nice to hear. I also heard that Konstantyna had been worried about me, so I should probably go see her tomorrow so she knows that the baby and I are alright."
"I'll have the stew and some lemonade, please," Aliethia orders. "Oh, yes, just because she opened her clinic does not mean she has forgotten about you."
Hadrinn nods and heads off. He returns with the bowls of stew and drinks a couple minutes later. "I should really think about a menu for children. What do you think, Arista?"
Looking really confused during Aliethia's and Divitia's conversation she kind of jumps a little when Hadrinn asks his question. Clearing her head slightly she says, "Oh....well, that might not be a bad idea. I mean Celine might do okay with the stew and a spoon...but it might not be that way for all children and we do seem to have collected quite a few of them....maybe some easier things for them to eat like battered strips of chicken that you can fry, or sandwiches that are cut up into smaller pieces for them to hold easier. You could do a simple sandwich and like fried potatoes? You're a fair master mind in the kitchen, I'm sure you'll come up with something." She says giving him one of her award winning Arista smiles.
Looking at Aliethia she kind of blushes as she realizes what she's talking about, "Oh yeah...I'm sure."
Cyna and the rest find Gwendolyn, Orias and Gwen sitting down to dinner at home. Gwendolyn cocks her head. "You're home and you've brought friends."
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Gwen stands up and goes to her mothers. "Mother, you're finally home."
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"Yeah...wait, you speak Common now?" Sienna asks, astounded.
Orias nods. "We've been teaching her while you were gone. She was eager to learn."
Lea remains quiet, standing behind Fae.
Gwen nods proudly. "I was."
"If you want to see her after we eat, I'll show you where her shop/home is," Aliethia offers.
She thinks about it for a little bit and then nods, "I guess I should since tomorrow is already looking pretty busy."
Nodding to his Step-Mother, he turned and headed after his hurt wife. The first place he stopped was at home, but after not seeing her there, he went to Hadrinn's. It was crowded, but he was able to find her with Aliethia and Divitia. Carefully walking up to the table, the Elf asked, "Room for one more?"
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Cyna wraps her daughter in a loving embrace. "Sorry I took so long, little one." She finds the doll she purchased earlier and offers the present to Gwen. "I know it's nothing much but I got you something while I was away."
"There's no reason to hide, come on out and say hello." Fae says reassuringly though still quite nervous herself.
She takes a deep breath as she tries to suppress everything she's feeling. She knew he wasn't very good at social situations and from him talking in his sleep figured out that he was pretty nervous about becoming an instant parent. She also realized that this was the first time he was meeting Celine and maybe he really was so nervous that he didn't know what to say. Whatever his reasons for acting the way he did, at least he had the guts to come looking for her. She knew in her head that she needed to give him another chance to be the man that she fell in love with, but her heart still ached at the careless way it had been treated.
Not feeling confident that her voice wouldn't betray her still wounded feelings, she waits for Celine to finish taking the bite she was getting out of her bowl before picking her up and setting her daughter in her lap. Sighing a little she points to the newly vacated seat as she pulls Celine's bowl closer to her so she can continue eating. She had gotten better at using a spoon, but she had to do it slowly so she didn't spill.
When not the mommy comes in she doesn't even look at him as she's trying to concentrate on using her spoon to get the stew to her mouth without spilling it. She lets mommy pick her up and sits in her lap happily as she goes back to her food once mommy pulls her bowl closer to her.
Alethiro had been a fool, which wasn't an excuse for his earlier actions, but it was true all the same. With an apologetic look to Arista, and an acknowledging nod to Aliethia and Divitia, the Elf took his seat.
Still nervous, he looked at their new daughter, and smiled as he watched her concentrating on eating. At the appropriate moment and in a gentle voice, the Cleric said, "Hello Celine, my name is Alethiro. I'm your new Daddy." It wasn't much of a start, but hopefully, it was enough to start repairing the damage he'd done.
Finding Yulia wasn't home, Drago set down his pack, and headed for A Night's Respite. Perhaps she's getting it ready for opening.
”Yes, definitely the place to grab a good meal. We can probably get a good take on the best place to get you all set up as well. A good night’s sleep in a warm clean bed would do you both a world of good.” Sādhanā says to the two women. Breathing n the familiar evening air, the mags flashes her love a smile. ”t’s good to be home.”
She looked at mommy who nodded, but still looked a little sad. Finishing what she wanted of the stew she pushes the bowl away before turning in her seat to face mommy. Holding onto mommy's arms she stands up on her legs and puts a small hand on each side of her face as she brought her face close to mommy, "Don't cry mommy, don't cry. I'm good girl." She gives her mommy a big hug and kiss before looking at this daddy person.
Before Arista has time to stop her, she kind of turns and crouched before leaping into Alethiro's lap. Being careful where she put her feet she stood up in his lap to face him so she could get a good look at this daddy person.
She looks him over and uses her hands to feel his face and ears. Giggling slightly she looks back at mommy and nods before looking back directly into his eyes with her large violet ones. Putting her hands on each side of his face to make sure she had his full attention she says, "Daddy? Daddy be nice, no mommy cry." She squeezes his cheeks slightly to emphasize her point. She didn't like it when mommy cried, she really didn't like it when anyone else made her cry.
As she watches Celine pinch his cheeks she remains impassive and says nothing. If she was supposed to trust him to take care of Celine while she was gone, he would have to learn how to deal with her particular quirks and behaviors. This would give her a chance to see how he would be able to interact with her and deal with her.
Aliethia smiles at Celine.
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"Still sure you want a child?" Divitia whispers.
Aliethia simply nods in response.
Drago finds Yulia working inside her cafe, serving the three patrons that sit inside.
Taking Rhy's hand they walk back through the increasingly growing town and head back to the soldiers and villagers, "If you have all your things I think I can find my way to the common house where you'll be staying until something more permanent can be arranged." She says to them as she looks around.
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"Mmmhmm," Ylrhea hums. "Perhaps we can pencil in a 'Naked Gozreh' before heading off on another long adventure."
Lucy's stomach growls. "Lead on."
"Are there other Anizari in this town?" Celia asks Sādhanā.
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Gwen smiles at Cyna. "Oh, thank you, Mother! I'll treasure it!"