Iktome Plains You asked me how long

The question came from nowhere, and it did surprise Rosalyn enough to make her wonder why he had asked it. She wasn't savvy enough to immediately make the connection between Meerkat's new status and Sobo's frustration, but she could recognize that perhaps the man was the target of Sobo's ire. She was amused by the thought more than anything else, though a warning flickered in the back of her mind. Heaven help the man if he'd done something serious to earn it.

We allowed it of all of them, after the first. Njord was the only one who chose to take the offer. The rest left. She snorted unkindly. Most fathers are disappointments. They don't see the chance for what it is. Rosalyn hoped silently that Sobo would be different, if that day ever came for him. It had been so good to see Reyes with the children he had brought, the family he was creating. But she did not say this outright, and instead waited to see if this answer would satisfy him.