Redsand Canyon I got a hankering for four wide tires

Their talks were always open. It was the thing that made her the most comfortable about this, but there were time when Fennec wasn't sure what her own hangups even were. She'd said she trusted him and she knew that she wanted children. For some reason, she balked at the idea of having them with him.

The fact that he was okay to wait helped, but she knew it wasn't the pressure that bothered her. If she'd taken issue with his proposal she would have turned it down flat and walked away easily. He couldn't force anything from her; it was something else. Instead of responding right away, Fennec took a moment to sort out what it was she felt about all of this.

It was impossible to know what the next few months would bring. Maybe that was the problem.

I'm not against it. But I'd need a promise first. Fennec began slowly. She needed to lay her cards completely on the table or she could already tell that this wasn't going to work. There was a very big qualifier on her trust in Germanicus; the fact that Ruenna had not returned. As long as her reappearance was a possibility, Fennec needed to be able to trust him regardless. For that she needed his word.

With pups, it wouldn't just be us anymore. But if Ruenna comes back, and you are given a choice, I need you to promise you won't lie. If she's the one you want to be with, you'll choose her and let me end this. Regardless of any children we might have. Fennec's voice was level, though she was choosing how she said it more carefully than usual. This was sensitive but it was also tremendously important. You'd still be their father. I've been accused of blackmailing someone into a relationship they didn't want. I won't live like that again.

She couldn't stand the idea of everything they had - the good and the bad - becoming a lie. She didn't want him to become to her what Bronco had, a situation where she didn't know where the relationship began or ended, resulting in the entire thing becoming poisoned through the roots. She needed to know he would tell her what he wanted, even if when the time came, he felt she didn't want to hear it.