Family of the Heart

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 2nd December 2020

Characters: K'ran, Saidrene, Serra, Neja
Description: It's time to meet the parents.
Location: Barrier Lake Weyr
Date: month 4, day 14 of Turn 10
Notes: Mentioned: Alina, Corran, J'ackt

K'ran

Saidrene

Saidrene wasn't sure why it was important for her to meet K'ran's family. **I mean, we are having a child together but we're not weyrmates and we're not getting married, or anything like that.** She chewed at her thumbnail, a bad habit that she had yet to break herself from when she was truly anxious.

As she sat in his weyr, waiting for him to return with his family, she kept replaying all the things that K'ran had said to her since she'd known him. She specifically recalled how he had always thought his relationship would follow that of a typical hold relationship -- with the courting and the getting to know you bits. She wondered if his parents would secretly be wishing that she was a more "holder-like" girl or perhaps they would be appalled at the age difference between her and K'ran. After all, who wanted some young, irresponsible teenager as the mother to their grandchild?

}:Stop it. You are agitating even me and I am trying to sun.:{ Ashareth said, breaking into her rider's turbulent thoughts.

**Easy for you to say. You've never had to meet Rogueth's parents.** Saidrene equipped.

}:Everyone loves me, I am quite magnificent.:{

**And modest, too.** Saidrene sighed and dropped her hands to her lap, running her hands over her skirt once again. She normally wasn't the skirt type, but dresses and skirts had been far more comfortable as her belly grew, and perhaps, secretly, she hoped it would earn her some points with K'ran's family.

K'ran had visited his parents Serra and Neja for two candlemarks on every restday when he could get away, and had written them letters couriered by his brother's firelizard, and , as part of how he always let them know how his life was changing. He'd told them about Rogueth's injury and the queen issues by letter, and then sent a far more detailed report back with Corran when someone had been kind enough to bring his brother to visit and see him in person.

Not long after they'd seen him again in person and been reassured he was okay, he'd wound up telling them about Saidrene's pregnancy after he learned of it and that he was the likely father. They'd wanted to immediately come visit and meet her. K'ran had told them that there needed to be some time, though. He had to figure out what she was to him. They'd been so excited to meet Genna and welcome her to their lives, and then that had changed…

But now it had been long enough that he knew far more of what they were. He'd gone to her after their conflict after her fight with J'ackt and Alina; they'd made up after Ashareth's flight; they'd heard the baby's heartbeat and the two of them had begun to spend more time together. Then he'd known he had to have her meet them, and yet the idea of introducing them had still made him anxious, as well.

The final straw had come when on a visit home his mother insisted she had a gift for Saidrene, and she was going to have to pay a courier rider to deliver it to Barrier Lake and Saidrene if he didn't take her there. Faced with that threat, K'ran had laughed and told his parents, 'soon'. Then he'd asked Saidrene if it was all right for the next restday.

Now he'd picked them up, brought them through the cold of /between/, and was helping them down off Rogueth's back. Neja was down first, and he nodded at Ashareth. "Hello, pretty lady."

Ashareth gave the dragon equivalent of a feline's pur at the human's flattery. She fixed her large, whirling eyes on them, finding them interesting. }:I don't understand what you are so afraid of,:{ she said to Saidrene, }:they just look like ordinary humans to me.:{

Saidrene shot to her feet, and was standing when K'ran and his parents entered the room.

"Saidrene, this is my mother, Serra, and my father, Neja," K'ran said as he led them in.

Serra was a short woman with silver hair, sparkling green eyes, a small nose and a heart-shaped face with a pointy chin. She was carrying a large bundle in her arms and beamed over it. "Greenrider Saidrene and Ashareth, good to meet you and your lifemate at last," she said.

Neja was far taller than Serra or K'ran, though he leaned on a cane as he entered. His hair was white and whispy, and his face was seamed with both age and smile lines. "Your green is gorgeous."

Saidrene smiled at them both. "Oh, thank you," she said to Neja, "although I hope you didn't say that to her, it'll go to her head."

An audible dragon huff came from the weyrcouch. "It is good to meet you both," she bobbed a little curtsy.

"Oh, I told her that. Every dragon is gorgeous."

"Please, take a seat on the couch," K'ran told them. "And let me take the coats. And the package."

"Oh no, I'm giving it right to Saidrene," Serra insisted. She stepped up to the greenrider and extended the large package. "I wove you something, my dear."

Saidrene's eyebrows went up and she blushed a little. "Oh, you shouldn't have," she said as she took the package into her arms. Opening the gift, a woven tapestry unfolded and on it there was stitched the branches of K'ran's family tree - which now included Saidrene and a spot for the baby's name to go.

"You're part of our family now," Serra said, warmly. "Of course I want to make something that proves you're a part."

Whether it was the pregnancy hormones or the incredible gesture, Saidrene was left with tears in her eyes. "Thank you so much," she hugged the tapestry to her chest with one arm while hugging Serra with the other. There was every chance that the baby wasn't K'ran's, yet here was his family, welcoming her in as if this had all been planned.

"We're a generous family and we're happy to meet you," Neja said from over his wife's shoulder. "Ah, the scandalous stories we could tell of things we've seen."

Saidrene chuckled at Neja, and glanced at K'ran, wondering if he had known about the family tree.

"How did you even have the time to do this?" K'ran asked his mother. He had had no idea...

"There's a lot of time when you're retired, you know," Serra said. "A bored Weaver with idle hands is a danger."

--

The visit with K'ran's parents went much smoother than Saidrene had anticipated. Never once had the holders made her feel uncomfortable or 'less than' because of the unusualness of her and K'ran's situation. She sat curled up on the Weyrsecond's couch as he returned his parents to their home, and she smiled when he returned. "Well? Do they like me okay?" she asked.

"They loved you. They already want to know if they can see the baby when he or she is born." He settled on the couch next to her and took her hand.

"Were they anything like you expected? I imagine your experience with holders is pretty limited."

"Yes, my only real experience with holders is Alina." Saidrene loved her friend, like a sister, but Alina's general tolerance for things was what Saidrene had been expecting from K'ran's parents. "The family tree really surprised me."

"The tree is one of the heart, not of blood. I told them the child was mine, so you and they are going to be on it. And I think my mother was just delighted to weave properly again," he said.

"Well, it was very touching. I know family lineage means more to holders than it does to those of us raised in the Weyr."

He laughed softly at that. "It does, except when it doesn't. Serra is actually my aunt by blood, but my mother in all the way that matters. She covered up for her sister's indiscretion," he added by way of explanation.

Saidrene's mouth dropped open. "What? You have never told me this story."

"Well, now you know the family lore, and you can never tell anyone about our shameful secret," he said with a serious face… before shaking his head and smiling. "If it makes you feel better, Corran and I don't tell anyone about it. It's not something I really think about because it doesn't matter to my life. This was the first time it's ever seemed relevant to anyone else, because it's proof that our family is who we choose."

The thought warmed her heart. Family was who they chose.

Last updated on the December 14th 2020

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Family of the Heart