In Which Raia Doesn't Much Care

December 24, 1187

"Honestly, it wasn't as stressful as I feared it would be, though I'm relieved you'll be back come the new year." Nora tucked some of her hair back into place, the blue of her eyes in a slight upward tilt. Raia hadn't had any doubt that she'd manage well at the university, but Ellona's getting pregnant again while still on leave hadn't been a thing anyone had anticipated. Least of all, Ellona and Casimiro. If only Raia could have been there when Ietrin got that news. "Do you need me to stay on with you for a while?"

"No, I'll be fine. I wouldn't thrust you into the job on your own for so long, only to have you stay and help me after you ought to have been allowed to leave." Besides, after all the time off--well, she loved little Lonria as much as any of her other children, but it would be a relief to hand her over to someone else for several hours a day.

"All right, then. Though, know that I'll be willing to fill in again if you and Ellona happen to be expecting at the same time in the future--but I hope you plan on giving me somewhat of a break."

"Oh, if there's a next one, they'll have to wait a few years yet," Raia promised, more to herself than to her stepmother. Falidor, though he was too good to press, no doubt wanted a baby in every room of the house. If Raia decided she wanted one or two more herself, they'd at least be reasonably spaced out. She still wasn't sure she'd quite recovered from her first two being born so damn close together. Plus it was only a matter of time before her father's jokes about losing track of which grandchild was which were no longer jokes.

And the family had enough stress without having to worry about another pregnant daughter. "How's Jadin feeling?" She'd actually arrived early to her parents' Christmas Eve party in hopes of checking up on him, but Lyssa had said he was asleep.

"He... has his good days. He's napping so he can hopefully get up and join the party tonight." If the ever-energetic Jadin needed a nap before a family party--and that was a 'good day'--then that was a bad sign. Raia knew it, and though she wouldn't say it, Nora knew it too. "But I think he's come to terms with his situation, the poor boy. Cares more about making Xeta and the kids laugh than his own mortality. Honestly, they're the ones I'm more concerned for at the moment. I hope it isn't harsh to say."

"No, I know what you mean." She'd seen an example of it just the day before when she'd dropped in on Searle. Tragic as it was, poor Sparron probably hadn't feared death as most did. And here was the lover he'd left behind, healthy as ever yet still grieving the better part of a year later. And all Raia could hear as she looked at her second brother was that conversation she'd happened to overhear the day of the three royal weddings, walking past Sparron's dressing room door in search of Searle.

Her poor baby brothers. "Whether he comes down or not, I'll talk to him if he's up to it."

"Please do. It would do him well, speaking to someone who loves him but who won't fall to pieces if he's not the stronger one." Nora sighed. So she had tried. And so too had Raia's father. Neither had managed--not that she blamed them. "Xeta's been in a dreadful state. Camaline even gave her time off work and told her to take all she needed. I'm almost shocked she didn't lose the baby."

"I guess she's far along enough now that that's less of a concern."

"Yes. But I'm not so worried about the baby anyway. Not to the point where I am about Xeta and the kids."

"Of course." Raia scuffed her slipper against the floor. It couldn't have been good for the shoe, but she didn't much care. "The baby doesn't know."

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