Lion Head Mesa tinwork

tavina's face would by now be a common fixture above their cradle, and then now as they began to walk and vocalize.

"lady @Treva," she greeted, pulling a length of purest white mink from her shoulders. "a gift from pharaoh." wide enough to be used as a covering or smaller blanket, it was taken from thin summer fur which had simply not shifted with the season. 

the sesh turned now to little @Sethnakht and baby @Toula, crooning over them. "i never envisioned myself with children of my own," she commented idly, "and now i have helped to raise three sets of them." in one year!

toula was always delighted to hear tavina. and as she heard her then, she made a great effort to stand up. surprisingly steady when she stood, it was the walking that presented itself as her biggest challenge. thankfully, though, tavina came to her and her mirror image, who she looked to then with delight.
by the day her vision became clearer. she saw the beautiful white furs, and cooed at the sight of it. it had familiar scents, one of which belonged to her already adored father. tavina, her mother, her brother, ramesses; her heart beat for them, those that she knew! her attention was drawn to the new item, and toula made to reach for it—a mistake, as lifting one forelimb caused her to become unbalanced!

treva did not wish to speak about how much she adored the gift. it was gorgeous. it was stunning, of course, she expected nothing less when a gift came straight from the pharoah.

she wanted to wear it.

she wanted to wrap the babes in it.

it's beautiful, she finally whispered softly, a loose thought that would fall deaf on the babies' ears. it was these physical moments of proof that she truly wondered if this was her life now. mink pelts, princess and princes, royal airs. if she thought too long she might grow dizzy.

regardless, tavina said something far more interesting.

do you think you'll ever want to raise your own?

she smiled warmly as toula seemed keen to lose balance in favor of the new item in the room.

"oh, not at all. i never had the urge for my own."

come to think of it, she was unsure her heat had even come this year.

she thought of nala and her cheeks beneath their dark veil flushed.

"i suppose if i — began to court someone who wanted children, i would make the natural concessions. but not to carry them myself." she crooned at little toula and raised a dark foreleg to catch her.

she was saved! against tavina toula now leaned, but her eyes had yet to leave the gift that had been brought. toula unsteadily took one step forward, and  then another, the item in her sights. ababa, she babbled, and soon after made to copy the sweet-sounding croon of tavina.
now, the furs in her reach again! toula moved to lean against it, as though to claim the furs for her own. toula admired all pretty things (not unlike pharaoh), and did not know that she could possess any. to be near it, for now, was enough.

her heart grew steady as she watched tavina and toula.

it seemed her daughter cherished the doctor as much as treva did. all the more reason to keep the doctor close, she supposed. she silently gestured for the young girl to be given the fur.

you'll...court somebody but not carry the children? this she questioned with a small smile and a raised brow. treva was not oblivious to the beauty of the same gender, but she did not know this of tavina. she did not know what to expect of tavina.

perhaps the doctor secretly wanted her own harem!

tavina looked wryly toward the royal treva.

"some women want children. some do not. but — if i were to meet a woman who wanted them, then i would see about how this could be done."

her cheeks burned. and she thought of gucci, her feelings on him specifically not fitting into her current notions of women and nala and children.