In Which Laralita Addresses the Oddness

August 1, 1204

"So... you're about an hour away from being my stepmother."

And it hadn't been so long ago that Laralita would have thought that the last thing she'd ever have cause to say of her dear cousin and friend. Actually having said it did nothing to alleviate the strangeness of it all.

"That does look to be the case, doesn't it?" Holladrin grimaced as she fished a curl out of the woven back of Aunt Ren's bedroom sofa. Her dress was a beacon of pure white in Bandera Keep's otherwise dark master bedroom, and Laralita had spent the past several minutes struggling to look at away. "You and Roderick aren't bothered by it, are you?"

Laralita shook her head. It certainly didn't bother her to see her father happier than he'd ever been, nor did it bother her to think that she and her favorite cousin would be living under the same roof until she headed to Naroni for schooling. In a way, she was quite happy.

Or she would be, once she got over the oddness of it all.

"It... it's just strange. But I'll get over it, and I'll make sure Roderick does too. We love you, and obviously we love father, so we'll adjust."

"That's a relief to hear." Holladrin rose to her feet, and stretched her shoulders backward, eyes shut in welcome calm. "I'd been worrying about it, honestly, but I wasn't sure how best to bring it up. Regardless of the answer, though, I'm sorry I never cleared the air before the wedding day."

"It's fine," Laralita assured her as she too stood--what with the likely looming hug and all. "Just promise me one thing."

"For my stepdaughter? Anything."

Laralita indulged the voicing of 'stepdaughter' with a smirk, but it didn't last long. Her request was one that demanded deadly seriousness and a face to match it.

"Never talk to me about sex with my father. Ever."

Holladrin blinked, clearly not having expected to hear quite that. But, she didn't waste much time in nodding. "Fair enough. I'll just talk to you about sex with other men, then."

"Thank God." That settled, Laralita leaned in for that looming hug, not-so-looming now upon the act of the hug itself. "Congratulations, stepmother."

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