Like Father...

[Craig]

Ravak

"I know." He exhaled melodramatically. "A little bit too much my child. I mean, she's just following her father's example of being young and lustful. It's just I remember when she was Iain's age. Now she's a woman and I just hate how she's making the same mistakes I made." He paused, frowning. "At least I hope it was a mistake. Peace..."

Few things were more befuddling than Kaira. For the longest time they had been of a similar mind, but she transformed at some stage. There were general mood swings, but then there was resent and anger towards himself and Mirin. She'd never had the chance to know her mother, but Ravak refused to believe the source of Kaira's temperament was solely down to that. I could have done something different. Maybe she needed a real mother. Maybe I should have given her more of my time. Old arguments and thoughts spilt into his mind, but ultimately they could do nothing to alter the facts.

Rav leaned in towards Mia until their foreheads touched. "I wish I knew how to make it better, but I don't even know what she needs." He closed his eyes, focusing on the calming physical and mental presence of his wife. Her lips found his, imparting both love and hope. Whether real or imagined, Rav heard a message alongside that kiss: no matter what challenges were ahead, they would face them together.

Opening his eyes, he smiled. "My breath," he uttered warmly. It was a reference to a part of his speech on their wedding day: "You give me the breath to rise every day." Without Mia by his side, this crisis with Kaira would have consumed him. Instead, he felt there was a positive path forward, even if he didn't yet know the way.

"How much time should I leave it before visiting her? How was she when she left you?"

[Bella]

Mia moved one hand to touch his cheek, gently running her thumb along his skin. All he thought he sensed by way of silent message was there, and even more besides. She held his gaze, her blue-green eyes soft in a way no one but he and her children ever got to saw, and tender in a way that only he ever received.

"She was pretty upset when she left," she told him honestly, but gently. "I had to inform her that she could not remain a Novice and raise a child, so she'll have to choose. I gave her the rest of the day to rest and recollect herself, before she starts her new task tomorrow. I would give her until tomorrow before you seek her out."

Kissing him again, briefly and softly, she went on, "Right now, she needs your constancy. She needs to know you will not abandon nor forsake her because of this, or anything else. Her mother left her. No matter the details, that's what her daughter's heart says. That her mother abandoned her. She needs to know that her father will not do the same, even if she seemingly tries to make him."

[Craig]

Ravak

Ravak raised his eyebrows. The notion of abandoning his daughter was diametrically opposed to his core values. She couldn't possibly believe I'd give up on her. Yet even the idea she thought that clouded his mood. "Family always comes first." Neither of them needed to hear it, but he had to say it regardless.

The dilemma Miahala had-- No, the situation Kaira had put herself in raised an interesting point. He knew his daughter well enough to know she hated the spectre of her mother's shadow. What he didn't know was how she was going to approach that given this new choice. When she was young, Kaira had been interesting in everything he was interested in. Had she been born without the spark, she may have taken to the grey of the Warder Yards. Was this the moment Kaira broke free from being a novice, a path she never seemingly wanted? And if she didn't, what of the child? Family came first, but honour and duty was important too. He sighed. These decisions weren't his to make.

"Till tomorrow then."

[Bella]

"Till tomorrow," she agreed, her voice gentle as she continued to stroke his cheek.

She let it all settle in for a moment, let his unsettled mind take comfort in the steadiness that she would provide for him. When each one turned to their moments of turbulence, it was the other who provided the calm ground. Neither had to ask for it, it was simply the way it was, and it was why they worked so well.

However, there was something else that he needed to know about the conversation today. "There is something, though," she went on after a moment. "One option that other girls in her situation have taken, should they wish to remain as a Novice, was to give the infant over to the care of their family..." She let that trail off so he could come to the conclusion on his own.

[Craig]

Ravak

Tick. Tick. Tick.

"What?" He looked at his wife like she'd just set the drapes on fire, again. "You're not saying-- You're not implying--"

It was a solution to the problem, allowing for Kaira to remain at the Tower whilst also keeping his grandchild, but for them to look after it. Sure, they had Iain, and the age disparity wouldn't be too great, but still.

Ravak laughed incredulously. "I mean, are you even seriously offering?"

[Bella]

Miahala smiled patiently, waiting for all the wheels in her husband's mind to turn as the conclusion dawned on him, settled, and then was resisted. She had pretty much expected that, and just waited it out. By the time he asked his question, there was rueful amusement in her blue-green eyes.

"I did not offer anything," she said simply. "I simply told her that that's what other young women had done in the past, and I reminded her that she does have family here in the Grey Tower. I did not specify us, or your sister, or your other daughter...or my son, daughter, grandson, near-daughter..."

Yes, Kaira had plenty of family in the Tower, even if she didn't acknowledge most of them.

"The choice remains to her, however. And if she chooses to ask us if we would care for the child, I will admit I would be hard-pressed to say no. If she wishes to remain a Novice and chooses to give up the babe for the time, I would not be willing to see it consigned to the orphanage when it has family here."

[Craig]

Ravak

Ravak sat back slowly, moving carefully as to not unbalance the woman on his lap. One arm was around her waist, but the other stretched out over the back of the couch as he rolled his head backwards and closed his eyes.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Saying no isn't an option. I just wish..." If wishes were real there would be pigs with wings. He shook his head. "Ugh, there's no point worrying about anything until tomorrow."

He sat up straight, planting a kiss on his wife's shoulder. "You should get back to work. I'm fine now, more or less." He kissed her shoulder again. "As fine as can be at any rate."