Fishblight Mire Flicker

He had heard enough of his mother's concave "I don't knows," that if Elphie were anyone else, he may have considered this some kind of soft denial. But her voice was a martini glass limned in sugar and hope, and Nox could not help but get drunk off of those dreams. Effortlessly, a smile swept the worry from his tight-pulled features.

That's okay, he replied, kissing her forehead. You don't have to know.

She was right, of course, about the responsibility of it all. There were things they needed to set in order before they could even consider it. They had to find a home, and make sure it could support them. And truthfully, although he secretly resented it — was afraid of it, how they might change — they needed to understand who they were outside of the container that had been so carefully built for them.

Once again, he is reminded of how lucky they are to have their youth and all the time ahead of them to figure things out. We can take our time. We can wait until it feels like it's the right decision for our family. He looks into her eyes with firm reassurance.

I think wherever we end up, there should be plenty of opportunities to learn. It was the season that children came. And if their cohabitants were as peaceful as the pair desired, they might get an opportunity to see how good parents treated their children, and to understand what kind of environment that kind of parenting was capable of shaping — something they had no model for yet.

Well, whatever you want to do... he wondered then what kind of images flashed in her mind, I'll be there to support you. Whatever that looks like, for us.