Topic: Sea Legs on Land

Leilani

Date: 2017-11-12 10:23 EST
Brisk wind off the sea swept at clothes as two pairs of feet thumped down onto the sand of the beach, heedless of the weather around them. Of the two homes built on this sheltered spur of land to the north of city, one was uninhabited, or at least, it had been, until now. Hefting a bag on her shoulder, Leilani tugged on Cian's hand, not even trying contain her excitement. She'd never had a home before.

Cian had never really had a home of his own either. Even the cottage they'd shared until recently at Maple Grove hadn't really felt like home. Maybe it was the fact that there were still too many bad memories for him there, or maybe it was simply that both Cian and Leilani both loved the sea too much to remain away from it for too long. And so, they had decided to build a home of their own close to the sea, on the east coast of Rhy'Din, not far from where James and Ashlyn had built their own home. It was a simple home, a quaint home, but one that was comfortable and inviting and so close to the sea that the beach was right out their front door.

"I have the key, look!" Leilani declared excitedly, digging in her pocket to produce said key as she stumped up the steps to their front door. Several people had been involved in the building and furnishing of their new home, since Cian and his Syreni were more often at sea than not; everything inside promised to be a lovely surprise. She studied the lock for a moment before inserting the key, pushing the door open to feel a rush of warm air sweep over her. "Oh! They left the heat on for us!"

"Of course, they did!" Cian laughed as he stomped up the stairs behind her onto the porch. From what they'd seen so far, the house wasn't big or fancy, but it was theirs. "I hope they stocked the fridge. I'm starving!" he exclaimed, though that was nothing new. One couldn't tell by looking at his tall, slim form that he had a voracious appetite.

Giggling, Leilani dropped her bag inside the door, pulling it shut in his wake. It was warm and homely - not too big, definitely not too fancy. It felt ....right. "Is that bread I can smell?" she asked curiously.

For a young woman - or rather Syreni - who had never known such comforts as hearth and home for most of her life, Leilani certainly seemed to have embraced those comforts, if only for Cian's sake. He couldn't help but laugh at her question, amused by her enthusiasm over something as simple as bread. "I don't know," he replied, taking her hand and tugging her toward the kitchen. "Maybe we should go see."

Following his tug, and her own nose, Leliani happily trotted along at his side, busy eyes taking in the little touches that told her Miranda had been here before them. It was bread - freshly baked and cooling on a rack on the counter of the kitchen. Someone had known to within half an hour when they were going to arrive. "Oh, and fresh butter, too!"

Cian, too, suspected Miranda, possibly with Gabi in cahoots, but no matter. So long as no one was going to jump out from the shadows and shout, "Surprise!" he didn't mind. In fact, he appreciated the welcome they'd left them and the way they'd both welcomed Leilani into the family. "You and your bread and butter," he teased, touching a kiss to her cheek, but there was more than just bread and butter.

A small tray had been left on the counter upon which had been arranged bread and butter, along with various cheeses and sausages. A bottle of sparkling wine with two glasses sat nearby, and a vase full of flowers, along with a small neatly-written note that simply declared, "Welcome home!"

Leilani had come late in life to the vast array of tastes in human cuisine, and was still learning, but her favourite by far was the simple pleasure of warm bread and melting butter. She beamed as he kissed her cheek, reaching out to take the note from where it lay to concentrate hard on reading the words. Literacy did not come easily to her. "Wel ....welcooom ....welcome ho ....Welcome home!"

Cian recognized his Aunt Miranda's writing, but he had a feeling Gabi had been part of this little welcoming, too. That little branch of the Granger family had come a long way in the last few years, as they healed from tragedy to find peace and happiness. "Welcome home!" he echoed with a warm smile. He'd been working hard to teach Leilani to read, sharing with her all the stories of adventure he'd so loved as a boy. He took up a slice of cheese and popped it in his mouth with a mumbled, "Good!" It was hard to tell if he was praising her reading or the cheese or both.

She laughed, rolling her eyes at him as she undid her coat, shrugging out of the heavy layer to let her hair shake loose over her shoulders. Like him, she smelled of sea salt and spray, a life lived both above and below the waves, toeing out of her shoes to let her bare toes wriggle against the warm floor as she snagged a warm piece of bread to chew as she sniffed a sausage curiously. "This is pig, right?"

"Um, maybe," he replied, uncertainly. He knew sausage could be made of different kinds of meat or even soy, if it was a vegetarian variety. He took up a bit of the sausage and took a bite. "Definitely pig!" he declared with a grin.

"That was my pig!" his mermaid mate protested laughingly, batting his hands away so she could claim a piece of sausage entirely for her own. She even guarded it as she nibbled, hiding behind her own hand, green eyes bright and laughing at him.

"Are you hogging the sausage, Lani?" Cian teased, making a pun he wasn't she'd get and laughing at the way she was hoarding the sausage for herself, as if she was afraid he might steal it from her.

"Only a little bit," she answered with her mouth full, his pun going completely over her head as he had suspected it would. She crammed the rest of the sausage in her mouth, wiping her hand absently on her hip. "Don' vey fing we ea' on'a shi'?"

Cian smirked, grabbing a napkin before reaching for Leilani's hand to wipe it clean of sausage. "They probably think we get sick of eating fish," he told her, though their ship was equipped with all the modern conveniences, including a kitchen, electricity, and a refrigerator.

Her fingers wriggled in his grip as she grinned around her mouthful, letting him wipe her skin clean while she looked around the little kitchen. The children on the Grove had apparently been involved in providing decorations - the fridge was covered in erratic drawings from little hands, each piece of paper rustling as her clean hand skimmed over them.

"What is it?" he asked as she turned quiet, curious what exactly she was grinning about and turning to find the fridge covered in drawings from all the various Granger children. There were drawings of ships and mermaids and swashbucklers, obviously meant to represent them.

"Family," Leilani said simply, her fingertips stroking over the largest of the pictures left for them. It had obviously been done by Gabi's boys, and a lot of love had gone into the pirate and the mermaid, if not much finesse. She bit her lip, looking up at Cian with a smile. "They're here, even when they are not here."

"They're always with us, so long as they're in our hearts, Lani," Cian assured her gently, smiling warmly at the drawings their nephews and cousins' children had made with them in mind. He didn't say as much, but his thoughts turned briefly to those they'd lost, their memory safe in their hearts, as well.

Turning away from the pictures, she curled her arms about his waist, hugging close into him. "Can we see all of the rest, too?" she asked hopefully. "The bed and the bath and the couch?"

Leilani

Date: 2017-11-12 10:24 EST
"Yes, of course!" he replied, popping another bit of cheese into his mouth with a grin, before reaching for her hand again. "After you," he said, letting her take the lead.

Somewhat predictably, she made for the stairs, clinging to his hand as her bare toes navigated warm wood and soft rugs to begin the rise to the top of the house. Though she had lived on land for the majority of her life, it was only these past few years that had introduced her to the basic pleasures of human habitation. Everything she found here seemed to be luxury to her, made all the more so because it was theirs. No one else had staked their claim or stamped their memories on this house. At the very top of the stairs, she hesitated, looking around curiously. "Which way?"

"Whichever way you like!" he replied, as eager to explore their new abode as she was. They were both possessed of an adventure spirit, after all, and their new home was just another chapter in their ongoing adventures.

Leilani laughed, tugging on his hand as she skipped across the landing, pushing open the furthest door. This opened onto what must have been a spare room - neutral in its decoration, with a view not toward the sea but inland, toward the rolling hills that protected this little bay from random visitors.

It was like a game of "What's Behind This Door?" as they explored the second story, not only in search of the bedroom, but in excited exploration of their first real home together. "Spare room!" he declared, pulling the door closed. Maybe they'd make use of that room someday, but not today. "Pick another!"

"What?" Leilani laughed - this was a new one on her. But she trusted Cian with everything she had, and she loved to see him playful like this. "Umm ..." Scanning the other doors, she picked the one opposite, dragging him in that direction. Pushing the door, she revealed ....a tiny room with just a toilet, a sink, and a mirror in it.

"Hmm, spare bathroom," he murmured, giving the small room a quick look before closing that door, too. The house had that new smell about it. Each room, even those that weren't yet decorated or furnished, were bright and airy with a fresh coat of paint on the walls and soft, springy carpeting beneath their feet. "Which now?"

"But there isn't a bath," Leilani pointed out as he closed the door. "How is it a bathroom if there is no bath in it?" Her head tilted curiously as she considered him, absently walking toward the third of four doors around them.

Cian shrugged, unsure how to answer that question. "I don't know. That's just what they call it. Would you rather call it the toilet room' We can if you want," he teased, a smirk on his face. He didn't bother to explain who "they" were either, assuming she'd know that he was referring to people, in general.

She made a face. "The toilet room' That sounds rude." She giggled, though, pushing that third door open. "Oh! I found a bath!" And what a bath it was. Enormous, for a start, with a built in waterfall of a shower, the room itself large and spacious with a door in the left hand wall that had to connect to the main bedroom. Right"

"What's behind that door?" Cian asked, with a nod of his head toward the door in the left hand wall. It was as though he knew the answer to his question already, but even so, he seemed as excited as she was to discover each new space for himself.

Awed by the sheer luxury of the bathroom, his little mate trailed across the room with her mouth open, blinking when she found her own reflection and abruptly shut her mouth with a snap. She pushed at the door, but it didn't open. "Oh ....is it locked?"

Cian frowned, seemingly surprised by this, too. "Hmm, maybe it is. Let's try the last door then, shall we?" he asked, backing out of the room and waiting for her to follow. There was only one door left, which had to lead to the master bedroom, which was logically connected to the master bath.

Turning, she pottered after him on those bare feet of hers, pausing to sink her toes into the thick pile of the rug on the landing before heading toward the last door. "Do you think Gabi or Miranda did something ....special ....with this one?"

"It's not just this room, Lani. This whole house is special because it's ours," he said as he came to a halt and turned to face her in front of the last door. "But this room is the most special of all," he said, not entirely knowing what to expect, except for one thing. He paused momentarily with his hand on the doorknob, before removing it. "Close your eyes."

Her eyes darted from his hand on the knob to his face, her chin lifting as she obediently closed her eyes. She did open one briefly to make sure he was still there, before closing both tight once again, her hand groping toward his to link her fingers through his own. "Why am I closing my eyes?"

"Because it's a surprise!" he exclaimed as if she should know this already. He waved his free hand in front of her face to make sure she couldn't see before tugging her forward. "Ready?" he asked, his heart beating fast with excitement. There came a very faint noise from behind that door, but it was muffled and hard to identify.

Leilani's head tilted curiously at the sound, uncertain quite what to expect. "I'm ready," she promised, holding a little tighter to his hand. It wasn't a dog, was it"

He studied her face a moment further, as if to make certain she wasn't peeking, and then he turned the knob and pushed open the door to lead her into the private retreat of the master bedroom - their bedroom, a room that had never belonged to anyone else. No one else had ever lived here or slept here. Everything was fresh and new and just waiting for them to make theirs.

Blue and green mingled and stood stark against one another; thick-pile carpet blanketed the floor around a wide bed that was more than capable of swallowing them both up if they allowed it. Fresh oak furniture in drawers and free-standing closets touched the walls. But the eye was drawn to the far wall, where floor to ceiling windows showed a view of the sea and their own little yacht where she bobbed at anchor, and a balcony they could step out onto whenever they wished. It was ....beautiful.

It was a lovely room, peaceful and calm, in shades reminiscent of sea and sky. The bed was covered in a hand-made quilt that might have been a family heirloom of some sort. There was chest to one side, not unlike a treasure chest, where they could keep their own personal treasures. It was an open and airy space, and yet, at the same time warm and cozy. As her eyes were drawn to the view at the balcony, she might notice a small basket on the floor, from which came a quiet mewling sound.

Bare feet skimming through the thick, soft carpet, Leilani inched toward the wide windows, some small part of her that was always tense away from the sea relaxing at the knowledge that it was always just within sight here in their home. Until that soft mewling sound caught her attention, a faint frown touching her brow as she glanced curiously toward the basket. "Why is that basket complaining?"

"I don't know. Maybe you should have a closer look," Cian suggested, following her into the room and toward the balcony and the basket, a nervous smile on his face. He wasn't sure what she would think of what she'd find there, but he was hoping she would not only be surprised but pleased.

Biting her lip, Leilani felt herself smile curiously, sinking down onto her knees to gently lift the lid of the basket. There, nestled in a soft fleecy blanket, was a tiny ball of tabby fur and big blue eyes, complaining as loudly as he could about being trapped in the dark for too long. "Oh ....aren't you adorable?" She reached into the basket, lifting the wriggling little kitten out to cuddle him close to her cheek.

Cian watched quietly, almost fearfully, as Leilani found and then greeted her little surprise. "Do-do you like him?" he asked, indicating by his question that the kitten was a boy. He'd obviously had help arranging this little surprise, but he had picked the kitten himself with Leilani in mind.

Leilani

Date: 2017-11-12 10:25 EST
Her green eyes were alight with warm delight as she nuzzled the wiggling creature, lifting him up to look him in the eye. A small paw batted her nose as he complained at her, making her laugh softly. "He's so fierce," she exclaimed with a giggle, letting the kitten down onto the floor to watch him strut about curiously. "And handsome." Her hand reached out to catch Cian's as she looked up at him. "Can we keep him?"

Cian's fingers closed around her and he sank to the carpet beside her, tucking his long legs beneath him and pulling her close. "Of course, we can keep him. I got him for you. I thought you might like him. You do like him, right?" he asked, uncertainly.

She giggled, nestling into his arms happily. "I do like him," she promised, watching as the little kitten staggered over his own front paws and booped his own nose on the floor. "He is beautiful." A soft meow from the floor objected to the rough treatment it was giving him.

"He's still pretty young, so we'll have to take good care of him for a while," Cian explained further, knowing the kitten would require a lot of love and attention, but the was sure they were ready for it.

"But much less work than a dog would be," Leilani pointed out, leaning forward to scoop the little kitten up from the floor and place him in her lap. "May I name him?"

Cian laughed. "Yes, less work than a dog," he confirmed. There was no shortage of dogs at Maple Grove, where they had lived on and off since returning to Rhy'Din, until now. "Yes, of course, you can name him. He's yours, Lani. I want you to have him."

"He's ours," she corrected him lightly. Her fingers rubbed through the tiny kitten's fur as he stretched out over her thigh, delighted to hear the soft purr that declared he was satisfied with her attentions. "I shall call him Harper," she said, with an impish cast to her smile. It was a name that connected them - her father's name, the name of the man who had sent him to find her in the first place.

"Harper," Cian echoed, mulling the name over a moment before smiling in agreement. "I like it," he said, understanding why she might choose that name, wishing to honor or remember him in some small way. "He looks like a Harper, doesn't he?" he said further, reaching over to rub at the kitten's ears. "What do you think" Are you a Harper?"

Aware he was being spoken to, the newly named Harper stretched out and rolled onto his back, peering at Cian upside down as his paws flexed and relaxed. Leilani giggled softly at the adorable little display. "Is he really ours?" she asked, not wanting to annoy Cian but somehow needing to be reassured. "He can come on the ship with us, too?"

"Yes, Lani, he's ours," he reassured her with a smile as he leaned over to brush a soft kiss to her lips. The house was theirs, the ship was theirs, the kitten was theirs - and Cian's heart was hers. "I think so. I mean, there's a tradition of having a cat on-board ship, though I don't think we have to worry too much about rats."

She smiled into his kiss, nuzzling close. "We don't have rats," she pointed out. "He could go fishing with me. But he doesn't breathe underwater, does he?" She tilted her head, inspecting the kitten that now had her fingers in his paws and was chewing on them.

"No, he can't breathe underwater," Cian confirmed with a small frown. "But that doesn't mean he can't swim. Maybe if we teach him while he's little," he suggested, though he assumed cats - like dogs - instinctively knew how to swim without being taught.

"Oh, we could teach him in the bath!" Leilani exclaimed excitedly, tilting her head toward the door to the bathroom, which was obviously locked from this side. Evidently it had been left that way to assure them that even a guest in the house wouldn't be able to startle them in bed if they remembered to lock the doors.

It wasn't so much that the kitten needed to learn how to swim as he needed to get used to water and not become wary of it, but starting him off in the bathtub was a thought. "We can try, anyway!" Cian agreed, watching while the kitten batted at his finger.

"What do we feed him?" she asked then, curious and a little concerned. She didn't know much, if anything, about land mammals, beyond the fact that dogs were a little frightening and always seemed to want to play with her.

"Cat food," Cian replied. "Well, in his case, kitten food, but they like other things, too. Tuna, chicken ....but mostly cat food." He smiled as another thought came to mind and he answered her next question before she had a chance to ask it. "Don't worry. The kitchen is stocked for a while."

She had already opened her mouth to ask, her lips closing in a tempered smile as her eyes sparkled at the way he predicted what she might say next. "Have you eaten today, little Harper?" she asked the kitten, scooping him up in both hands as he mewled sweetly. "Is your little tummy all empty and grumbly?"

Cian was pretty sure the little guy had eaten at some point, especially if he'd been in Miranda's care, who was no stranger to cats, having one of her own at home, but he doubted it would hurt to offer him another meal. If he wasn't hungry, they could save it until later. "Shall we see?" he asked, unfolding his long legs and moving to his feet to offer her hand.

To be fair, he was still small. It was likely he would be on a few small meals a day rather than two big and a bowl of food down at all times for a while. With Harper tucked close to her chest, Leilani took Cian's hand, letting him pull her up onto her feet as she grinned impishly. "How long have you been planning this?" she asked her husband curiously.

Cian shrugged, an almost shy smile on his face. "For a little while," he replied vaguely. It wasn't something that had been a spur of the moment decision, but something he'd been mulling over for a while. Then, it had just been finding the right time and the right kitten. "Do you like him?" he asked, uncertainly, a slightly worried frown on his face.

He had already asked, but she understood the need to be certain, to be reassured constantly. She felt it herself. "Of course I do," she promised, rubbing her cheek against the little fellow's head as her fingers wriggled between Cian's. "He's wonderful. And all the more wonderful for being from you."

Cian couldn't help but smile at that. There had been another kitten once and another girl who'd broken his heart, but that was years ago, and it was his gentle Leilani who had healed that wound once and for all. "I love you," he told her, for what had to be the gazillionth time, and leaned close to rub his nose affectionately against hers.

She beamed into the affectionate gesture, laughing as a little paw reached up to pat against Cian's jaw as he leaned in close. "I love you back," she whispered, rising onto her toes to kiss the tip of his nose. "But my boys are hungry. I should feed them."

"Let's see what Miranda left us in the kitchen," he said, in agreement, naming at least one of his co-conspirators by name, though Leilani likely knew it already. Miranda had become like a mother to them both, and Gabi was the sister Leilani had never had.

"I knew she was involved in this!" the little Syreni crowd cheerfully. "Her hands are everywhere in here!" As well they might be - given the opportunity to design the interior of an entire house, and knowing the pair who would live there as she did, no doubt someone would have had to pry Miranda's hands off the plans to get a look in themselves.

"You didn't think I did this all by myself, did you?" Cian laughed, eyes crinkling in amusement. Of course, he'd helped some, but the decorating, the stocking of the kitchen - that had been all Miranda and Gabi.

"Well, you did ask me about colors," she pointed out in amusement of her own, padding down the stairs at his side easily. "You might have been using magic, how was I to know?"

"Magic?" Cian echoed, chuckling a little. "I don't know any magic, Lani," he told her. At least, not the kind she was talking about. He'd been many things, but never a magician.

"Yes, you do," she argued playfully. "You made a mermaid want to walk on land. That's magic." She twisted to back toward the kitchen, green eyes glittering with warmly tender affection.

Leilani

Date: 2017-11-12 10:26 EST
"That wasn't magic, Lani. That was love," he pointed out gently, a soft smile on his face. But wasn't love like theirs a kind of magic" Hadn't this been the thing he'd been searching his whole life for"

"Isn't love magic?" she asked softly, tilting her head down to look Harper the kitten in the eye. "It is magic, isn't it?" The little feline mewed back at her, and she raised her eyes to meet Cian's soft smile playfully. "See" Even he says it's magic."

"Is that what he said?" Cian asked, dark eyes glittering with happiness and more than a little amusement. "I didn't know you could speak Cat. I guess I picked the right pet then," he teased back.

She giggled, handing the tiny cat into his larger hands. "You cuddle, I will find the food," she declared, turning to investigate the kitchen cupboards with an air of seriousness usually only reserved for attempting to read or trying to behave herself in a crowd.

Cuddle, thought Cian. He briefly recalled another kitten who had briefly found its way to his heart, there and then almost as quickly lost again. Love, it seemed, had always been elusive, and yet, in a way, he had never really lost it either. His father, his sister, his aunt - they had never stopped loving him, even when he'd thought himself undeserving of love. It was Leilani who had showed him he was worth loving and who had pledged her own love, everlasting. All of these thoughts went through his head as he took the small kitten they had dubbed Harper into his hands, and he found himself having to tell her something he had only told her once before.

"He loved you, Lani. He never forgot you," he said of her father.

"I know." She straightened from the cupboard she was investigating, a small tin of something that declared itself to be mackerel and seaweed in her hand, and offered Cian her familiarly soft, tender smile. "He sent you to me."

"I wish ..." Cian frowned a little, though this was no time for sadness. The past could not be changed, and the pirate captain who'd given Cian the treasure map that had eventually led him to Leilani was no more. "I think-I think he'd be happy for us, don't you?"

"So do I," she agreed softly, moving to stroke her fingers gently along his cheek. "He would have been very pleased for us, I am certain. He promised that he would send someone to love me, and he did." Her smile deepened as she lifted up to kiss him in her soft way. "I loved you as soon as I saw you. He was right."

"Maybe there's a little magic in that," Cian admitted, smiling into her kiss. Cradled in Cian's arms, the kitten mewed, either for attention or in sympathy, and reached up to touch his little gray nose to theirs, as if to remind them that he was still there.

Giggling, Leilani dipped her nose to rub it over the kitten's, her smile broadening as he licked his nose curiously. "All right, little man, I will feed you," she promised, turning again to rummage for a little saucer to spoon some of the food out onto.

Cian chuckled again, in part at the Eskimo kiss they'd both just received from the kitten, and partly from Leilani referring to the kitten in the way she just had. "I hope you're not talking to me," he teased, since he could in no way be defined as "little".

"I could have been talking to a part of you," she teased playfully, tapping the little spoonful out onto the saucer as she set it down on the counter. "Dinner, little Harper."

"Which part' My little finger?" Cian asked with a smirk as he set the kitten down on the counter so he could investigate what Leilani was offering.

"That little mole on your bottom," she countered impishly, running her fingertips over the kitten's back as he sniffed at the offering before attacking it with entirely too much enthusiasm for something that small.

"What mole?" he asked, never having looked at his own bottom before. At least, she hadn't been talking about the part of his anatomy that might have hurt his ego the most.

She giggled softly. "You have a weeny little mole that sort of looks like a sunflower on your left bum cheek," she told him in a sweet voice. "Right next to the dimple when you flex."

Cian narrowed his eyes at her, unsure how their conversation had turned from that of the kitten to a supposedly strange-shaped mole on his rear. "If that's true, why hasn't anyone ever commented on it before?" he asked, thinking he had her now.

"Because I'm the only person who has ever taken the covers off when you're sleeping and studied every inch of you when you're not looking?" she suggested.

He widened his eyes at this revelation, unsure whether or not he believed her and then he was laughing. "Why did you do that?" he asked, a little incredulously.

"Well ..." She shrugged, rubbing her fingers through her hair. "I didn't really know what men were supposed to look like, and I like looking at you. And I was bored."

"So, I assume I met with your approval?" he asked further, the hint of a smirk on his face, amused the thought of her secretly studying while he slept.

She blinked, looking up at him with wide-eyed innocence. "Of course you do!" she insisted, incredulous that he would think she found him anything but perfect. "Don't you look at me when I'm sleeping?"

"I look at your face," he admitted, absently smoothing the kitten's fur with a finger while the little creature lapped up his dinner. "So, when was this?" he asked curiously, wondering just when she'd taken a peek at him.

Leilani's cheeks slowly turned a rather endearing shade of pink. "You ....you think it only happened once?" She bit her lip, wondering now if she had done something wrong in her innocent examination of him virtually every time she woke up in the middle of the night.

"It didn't happen only once?" he asked, a little confused. He wasn't upset by it, though it was a little embarrassing to know she'd been sneaking peeks at him when he'd been sleeping. On the other hand, it was also a little flattering.

She shook her head shyly, looking up at him through her lashes. "I-I wake up when the tide changes," she admitted softly. "And ....and sometimes I can't fall asleep again, so I, I look at you. All of you. Because I love you."

His expression softened at her explanation, confused embarrassment turning to almost shy wonder. "Lani," he started, reaching to touch his fingers to her cheek. "Why don't you just wake me?"

"Because you are sleeping," she said simply, tilting her cheek into his touch. "It does not seem right to disturb your sleep just because mine is elusive. The moons and tides hold a sway over me still, and always will do."

He frowned, a little saddened that she was unable to sleep as he was, and yet, there didn't seem to be much that could be done about it. She was only half-human, after all, but why was he only learning now that she had difficulty sleeping sometimes" "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, no anger in his voice, only concern.

"I did not know I was supposed to," she admitted. For all her experience at his side, there were still many things Leilani did not understand about the world in which they lived. Her fingers reached up, stroking his cheek tenderly. "Have I done wrong, Cian?"

He was still frowning, but not because he was upset or angry in any way. "No, of course not," he assured her gently, reaching up to press her hand against his cheek before turning his face to kiss her fingers. "I just didn't know you had trouble sleeping. If I'd know ..." He broke off. What then" What could he have done about it, if he'd known?

She shook her head with a soft smile, stroking her captive fingertip down the line of his nose as he kissed her skin. "It does not trouble me," she promised him faithfully. "Sometimes, when the tide turns, she holds in place for an hour before changing her course. So I stay awake with her, and when she breathes again, I sleep."

Leilani

Date: 2017-11-12 10:26 EST
The way she spoke of the sea, it was almost like the sea was a woman who Leilani knew as a friend. He could not deny that there were still things he did not know or understand about her or the sea she so loved. "How do you know?" he asked, curiously, wanting to know more.

"I .....I do not know how to describe it," she murmured thoughtfully. "The tides have always been a part of me. They tell me when it best to fish, when it is safest to navigate to the shore. A life lived along the edge of the ocean relies on the tides, and my life was always at the very edge before you found me."

"The sea is part of you," he said, in an attempt to understand. He could relate in a way. Though he could not feel the pull of the tides, the sea had always called to him in a way, and he had eventually answered that call.

"She is in my blood." Lani smiled faintly, rising onto her toes to brush a sea-salt kiss to the corner of his mouth. "But you are in my heart, always. Should I wake you, then, when the tides stall and I am awake?"

"You can, if you want," he replied, unsure just how often that happened or whether it would comfort her to have him awake with her. There was the kitten, too, but he wasn't sure how much comfort he would be in the middle of the night, and that wasn't why he'd brought him home.

She raised her brow, seeing his uncertainty even with his answer. "Cian ....you do not have to be awake with me when the night is dark or the dawn is just breaking," she pointed out. "I promise not to kiss your adorable bottom mole when you're sleeping again."

His brows arched upwards at her remark and then he chuckled. "You kissed my-my mole?" he asked, obviously amused, but a little embarrassed for some reason, too.

She nodded enthusiastically, her smile turning back to the more familiarly innocent cast of her playful sweetness once more. "And the dimples on both sides," she added. "I didn't bite. I was tempted, but I remembered what Miranda said about there being a time and place for biting the people you love."

"Miranda said that?" Cian asked, chuckling a little again. Oh, the things he was finding out that he'd never known. "Lani, if you would feel better waking me when the tides wake you, I don't mind," he assured her, leaning close to touch his nose to hers.

His little mermaid smiled her sweet smile as his nose brushed hers, leaning into him with that soft little sound that might almost have been a purr, a sound that told him without needing words how happy she was. She looped her arms around his waist, the kitten forgotten for a moment as she snuggled in close. "Some nights, I would."

"I will always be here for you, Lani, whatever time of day or night," he assured her further, not wanting her to think that she couldn't wake him if she needed him, even if it was the middle of the night. His arms went around her and he bent his head to touch a tender kiss to her forehead, just because.

She answered that kiss with her own to the bob of his Adam's apple, nuzzling close for a long moment. "I love you, Cian," she whispered softly, more sincere with those words than with any she ever spoke.

"I love you, too," he assured her quietly, touching his forehead to hers, as a tiny mew reminded them that they weren't alone. "See?" Cian said, turning to look at the kitten who had padded closer to see why his humans were suddenly ignoring him. "He loves you, too!" he told her with a warm smile.

That tiny voice demanding attention made her laugh, one arm untangled from about Cian's waist to reach down and scoop the little fluffball up once again. "You are going to be a handful, aren't you?" she asked Harper, who mewed and proceeded to struggle out of her hand and up onto Cian's shoulder.

Cian arched a brow at the kitten, one hand ready to hold the kitten steady against his shoulder so that he wouldn't fall. He winced a little as tiny needle-like claws clung to his shirt. "Maybe we should have named him Trouble!" he remarked with a smirk.

Lani giggled, reaching up to scratch the little head with a single finger as Harper sprawled on Cian's shoulder, all his short legs splayed. "He likes you," she told her husband fondly. "He has very good taste."

"He likes you, too!" Cian pointed out, looking sideways at the kitten sprawled on his shoulder. But at least, he was being prickled with those sharp claws anymore. "Are you comfortable?" he asked the newest member of the family, as if expecting a reply.

What he got in answer wasn't so much a "meow" as a "meep". Leilani's quiet giggle found voice again as she stepped away from them, snagging a slice of that still warm bread to munch on happily. "I think that means yes," she translated. "I cannot blame him. You are very comfortable to cuddle."

"I guess I don't have to worry about getting cold in winter," he pointed out, as both Leilani and now Harper seemed more than willing to snuggle with him, and who was he to argue with that"

"Does he have a bed all of his own, or is he sleeping with us?" she asked curiously through a mouthful of bread and butter, wandering away to peer curiously through the far door into the large room that was their very own living space on this lower floor of the house.

"I'm not sure. He has a basket, but I'm not sure what else Miranda brought over. Do you mind if he sleeps with us?" he asked, knowing it was probably going to be hard to keep the kitten away from the bed if that's where he decided he wanted to be.

"We should teach him to sleep in a hammock," she suggested with a grin over her shoulder, gesturing for him to come with her into the wide, warm living room with its wood fire and wide windows.

"A hammock?" Cian echoed with another chuckle, as he moved to join her in the living room, snagging a hunk of cheese for himself on the way. "That I'd like to see."

"If we made it very comfortable, perhaps he would prefer to sleep in his very own hammock," she said cheerfully, wrapping her arms about her own waist as she stood before the wide windows, looking out over the sea with a contented smile playing about her lips.

"I've never heard of a cat sleeping in a hammock," Cian mused aloud, wondering if she was serious or just teasing him. The kitten mewed, pawing his shirt as if to tell his human that he'd had enough and Cian bent down to set the kitten on the floor and let him explore.

Lani tipped her eyes downward, watching as the kitten unsteadily navigated the deep softness of the rug that filled the room with a fond smile. Her own bare toes stroked through the thick pile absently as she looked up at Cian. "We could start a fashion," she teased in a low tone.

"We'll have the only cat in the multiverse who sleeps in a hammock!" he teased with a grin as he moved back to his full height, his arms going around her waist, his chin coming to rest against her shoulder. He quieted, sighing a moment as he looked out on the view, feeling as content as a cat himself. "Do you think we'll be happy here, Lani?"

Her arms relaxed as he wrapped his own about her, hands coming to rest over his wrists as she leaned back into his embrace, tilting her temple against his own. "I would be happy anywhere, if I was with you," she murmured tenderly. "But ....this is our home. I've never had one before. I-I think we will be very happy here." She hesitated before adding, "All of us."

Leilani

Date: 2017-11-12 10:27 EST
Cian didn't think much of the additional remark, assuming she was including "Harper" into the mix. He was part of the family now, after all. Whatever she'd meant, he found himself smiling, not only glad she was happy, but happy himself. "I think so, too," he admitted quietly.

Leilani's lips curved into a soft smile as she realized her remark had gone over his head. She couldn't let the perfect moment pass, though. "How well do kittens get on with babies?" she asked softly, in the same tone she might have used asking him how toenails grow, or where magic comes from.

He didn't think much of the question at first, his thoughts focusing on the mention of kittens before his brain caught up with his hearing, and he realized she'd mentioned babies. "Babies?" he echoed, brows furrowing. Why was she asking about babies" Gabi's boys weren't babies anymore, and neither was Miranda and Rufus' daughter Ro. "Why do you ..." And then it hit him. Was she" No, she couldn't be. Could she" "Lani, are you ...?"

She twisted, hearing the vague edge of panic in his voice. Thankfully, Gabi had walked her very carefully through the pregnancy test and how Cian might react to this news, or she wouldn't have been so calm in the face of his disbelief. Instead, she simply smiled, her green eyes soft as she drummed her fingers on his chest. "We made an egg."

"An egg?" he echoed again, clearly confused. He knew how babies were made, or at least, he understand the biology behind it, but he had never really understood how Syreni children were made exactly. "I don't understand," he admitted, not panicked so much as confused.

"Like the humans do it," she tried to explain. "Like Gabi had her eggs inside, and they hatched into the boys. I have an egg we made inside me." For all her appearance of adulthood, in some ways Leilani was an eternal child in her naivete. It could be utterly charming or, as in this case, tremendously unhelpful.

"No, Lani, they didn't hatch," Cian started, unsure if he knew how to explain without confusing her further. "How-how did your mother have you?" he asked, though he wasn't sure if her mother, or father for that matter, had ever told her.

She blinked thoughtfully, not entirely sure how this conversation was going. Gabi hadn't said anything about Cian wanting to know about her mother giving birth. "In the water," Lani told him easily. "In her cave, you remember" And then she put me on the surface and Harper looked after me and taught me things."

"But ....She carried you inside her, right?" he asked, gently turning her to face him, so he could see her face and meet her gaze. It was a slightly awkward conversation, but if they really were going to have a child together, he needed to know what to expect.

Leilani nodded. "I wasn't laid, I was born," she told him, hoping that helped. "I had a tail, but then when they took me out of the water, I had legs. I do not know if I should have our baby in the sea or not."

"Okay, it sounds like it's similar to a human pregnancy and birth then," he said, feeling a little relieved by that, though he wasn't sure if he could explain it.

"Do humans not lay eggs?" she asked curiously. "Gabi said there was an egg in me, and she said something about bits of you swimming around it and magicking it into a baby. There isn't an egg?"

"No, yes ..." Cian sighed. "It's a little hard to explain, but in a way, yes, I guess they do." He paused a moment in thought, and then his expression brightened as a thought came to mind. Grabbing her hand, he gently tugged her away from the window. "Come on," he said, leading her back to the kitchen where he started searching for a pad and pencil.

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously, happy to be tugged along in his wake so long as he wasn't upset about their egg-baby-whatever-it-was. She cast a glance downward for Harper, smiling at the sight of the little kitten curled up in a sleeping ball in front of the fire.

"A-ha!" he exclaimed, triumphantly coming up with a pad of paper and pencil. He laid the pad on the counter and started scribbling something on the paper, which looked at first glance like a bunch of squiggly lines. "Look, here," he said, using the pencil to point out what he was showing her on the paper. "This is what a woman's reproductive system looks like. Sort of. I'm not very good at drawing. The eggs are stored here," he said, pointing to what was supposed to be an ovary. "Once a month, an egg is released and it travels down this tube to the uterus," he continued, the pencil indicating the route an egg would take. "If a woman and a man, well, you know, make love, after a woman releases an egg, then the man's sperm has a chance of entering the woman's egg. The egg travels on until it gets to the uterus," he said, indicating that too with the pencil. "Where the sperm and egg eventually grow and develop into a baby."

She watched curiously as he attempted to explain the birds and the bees to her. No one else had drawn pictures to explain, and they didn't look anything like anything she thought she had, but Cian was the font of all knowledge as far as she was concerned. Whatever he told her, she took as gospel. "What happens to the eggs if they don't get spermed?" she asked finally. "Am I all filled up with eggs that won't ever be babies?"

"Well, I-I don't know if your anatomy is the same as a human woman's, but a human woman has thousands of eggs inside her, but she can't possibly have thousands of babies, so I guess most of those eggs don't get used," he said with a shrug, not entirely sure what happens to them if they aren't fertilized.

Leilani's jaw dropped in astonishment. "Thousands?" she repeated in a gasp, her hands instinctively going to her flat stomach as she looked down, trying to imagine that in her mind's eye. "How is there room for the baby egg?"

He chuckled a little, knowing it was a lot to take in and very hard to imagine. "Lani, the eggs are teeny tiny," he said, holding up two fingers very close together, knowing that wasn't very accurate but hoping she got the picture.

Her gaze focused on the gap between his fingers, and slowly, her expression relaxed. "So ....there is lots of room?" she asked. "And I will go big, like Gabi did?"

"Not as big as Gabi, unless it's twins," he replied, wondering why she hadn't asked Gabi or Miranda these questions, but maybe it was that she simply trusted him to know. "Are we really going to have a baby?" he asked, a little incredulously.

Her shy smile blossomed up once again as she nodded. "I did tests," she said proudly, as though peeing on a stick and being patient for results was something only a great hero could do.

Cian's brows rose and he put two and two together, assuming she'd had help determining her present state. "Gabi?" he queried simply. "Have you seen a doctor yet?" he asked further, not meaning Gabi's husband George. He was a doctor, but not the kind that treated pregnant women and delivered babies.

Lani smiled. "Gabi knows all about the baby thing," she informed the woman in question's brother cheerfully. "She said I have to see a doctor who will stick things in me and take my blood and make me pee, and then there will be other doctor people who take pictures of the insides."

Leilani

Date: 2017-11-12 10:27 EST
"Yes, well, she's had two of them!" Cian remarked with a smile. "I just ....I don't know a lot about babies," he admitted, that smile quickly fading. He only knew what he'd learned from his sister in helping with her boys, and he knew that wasn't hardly enough.

Slender fingers curled into his palm. "We can learn," she told him, surprisingly confident for someone who still ran away from happy dogs that just wanted to say hello to her. Her head tilted curiously as she looked up at him. "Are you not happy about it, Ci?"

"Yes, of course I'm happy," Cian assured her, smiling again, though that smile seemed slightly tainted with worry. "I'm just surprised and ....a little worried is all." He didn't want to admit that, but he could never lie to Lani about anything. "Are you happy?" he asked in return.

She held his gaze for a long moment. "It isn't going to be a fish, you know," she promised him faithfully. "It might have gills, but I don't think it will be exactly like me. I think it will be more like you." She squeezed his hand, raising her warm smile once again. "I am happy," she assured him. "Am I supposed to be worried as well?"

"No, I'm just ..." He paused again, as if he was reluctant to explain. "Do you think I'll be a good father?" he asked, uncertainly. Whether his own father had been a good father was irrelevant. This was about Cian and how he judged himself as a potential parent.

That was a non-question as far as Leilani was concerned. "You're good at everything," she pointed out reasonably. "And you know how to hold them properly." This wasn't intentionally a joke, but it did conjure up images of the first time Lani had met Gabi's boys, and had attempted to hold both the newborn infants by one leg.

Cian frowned, knowing he wasn't as good at everything the way Leilani seemed to think he was. Or at least, so he believed. Wasn't that why Frank has started resenting him all those years ago' Because their parents had kept saying how good Cian was at everything? Though they hadn't been comparing the boys, Frank had taken it to mean that he wasn't good at anything. "I'm not good at everything, Lani."

She didn't understand his strange need not to acknowledge how good he was. Leilani might have grown up isolated, but that had left her with a solid knowledge of her own skills and pride in what she could do. She couldn't fathom why anyone would shy away from acknowledging what they excelled at. Holding his gaze, she stepped closer, her voice dropping to a shy whisper. "You're good for me."

That made him smile anyway. "You're good for me, too," he said, leaning in and touching his forehead to hers. Whatever worries and doubts he might have about himself, she believed in him and that made all the difference. "I'm happy here with you, Lani," he assured her. That was all that really mattered.

They'd figure the rest out together.