Adding to the Crew

Writers: Jane, Vix
Date Posted: 1st June 2008

Characters: Rahona, Lineal, Vaheri
Description: Rahona and Lineal share some news with Vaheri.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 10, day 5 of Turn 4

"Vaheri," Rahona called, as the Sungazer's headwoman left the common room. "If you're not in a rush to get off to bed, could we have a word?" She didn't bother getting up from the comfortable wicker chair she and Lineal were sharing on the balcony just beyond the doors of that room. If the headwoman chose to join them there was another of the chairs at an angle to theirs and it was a peaceful and inviting spot now that most of the crew had gone off to bed.

Though tired from her tasks of the day, tasks that had increased with the upcoming increase of their crew with the addition of those from the Moonflower, Vaheri drifted toward the pair and sank into the nearby chair. "This sounds serious." "Not bad-serious," Lineal said, tightening his arm around Rahona's shoulders. "But we're - er - adding to the crew. Rahona's pregnant."

It took a moment for the words to sink in, but as they did, Vaheri smiled. "Congratulations. It'll be nice to have a babe aboard again." "Thank you," Rahona said with a smile. "But -" She glanced at Lineal, then back to his aunt. "I'm worried about Nalin. Lineal says he'll have to move in with some of the other boys to make room for the baby ... He doesn't have any particular friends onboard and the boys who are here are so much older."

"I've told her he'll be fine," Lineal said with a grin. "It was great when I moved in to the single men's rooms. I felt like a grown up."

"That doesn't take the worry from a mother," Vaheri told him. "When Vidon moved to another room I berated myself for that pregnancy and the separation it caused in my family. Even knowing ahead of time how it must be, it's not an easy change." "But Rahona didn't always live like this," Lineal said, his words for his wife, more than his aunt. "Nalin had his own room off the family's main room at the Weyr."

Rahona sighed. "I know I'm being silly. I _know_ it."

"At the Weyr there was more space and his room was still part of your own living space, wasn't it?" Vaheri eyed him critically. "This is difficult for your wife and you need to support her in it rather than acting as if it's nothing." "Sorry," Lineal said promptly, rather more through trained obedience to his aunt's authority than through an understanding of her point.

"It's been nice for us all, coming here to the Sungazer and being so much closer as a family," Rahona said. "And now - but I'm happy about the baby! It's just it seems such an awful thing to push one child out to make room for the next."

"But we couldn't take on another room and make a family suite unless we too another couple of children on, and Sungazer's not overrun with children right now."

Rahona nodded and smiled at Vaheri. "See? All logic and good sense. At least the baby will arrive after the Moonflower crew have gone back and there'll be a little more room."

"I'm glad for that," Vaheri agreed. "In fact, after they've all left, it'll probably be a relief to spread out a little bit and have more space." "If he'd made friends ... Like Lihona had. It'd be different. I wouldn't mind." Rahona shrugged. "I'm not going to worry about it. Not for a while, yet, anyway."

"No matter when it happens, it'll be difficult," the other woman told her. "But there are ways that you can help yourself and him, keeping regular mealtimes with him and the other family members, establishing a routine for before bed. And all of the rest of us will help to watch over him for you." The younger woman managed to chuckle. "That's more than we do now," she admitted. For their family just being together on the riverboat was such a change in their lifestyle that they hadn't made any effort to spend special time together.

"Families are important," was Vaheri's reply. "Both our larger riverboat one and the smaller one. We do what we can to support that, though some of our methods may seem strange to those from outside." "People say that about the Weyr, too."

This gave the headwoman pause, though after a moment's thought, she nodded. "In some ways the two are similar." "You think so?"

Vaheri nodded. "They're similar in that they are both their own environments and not generally known by outsiders. However, in some attitudes and practices they seem to be quite different." "I suppose so," Rahona agreed. She flashed a smile at her husband. "No wonder I feel at home here."

"And at home enough that this baby will be born here. On the river,"
Lineal said, surprising himself at how pleased he was about that but he knew Rahona's thoughts on the options their children would have. "Of course he - or she - could go to the Weyr when they're old enough to Stand." He nodded for emphasis and grinned at his aunt. "That's understood."

"Of course," the older woman replied, though she fully intended to give that child – and Lineal's others – every reason to remain with the Sungazer.

Last updated on the June 7th 2008

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Adding to the Crew