In the Middle of the Night

Writers: Jane
Date Posted: 9th August 2009

Characters: Lineal, Rahona
Description: Lineal and Rahona talk in the middle of the night.
Location: Elsewhere on Pern
Date: month 4, day 9 of Turn 5
Notes: Riverboat Sungazer.

Rahona snuggled back under the quilt after passing Jestlin to Lineal to put back in the cradle fitted to the base of the bottom bunk. She peeped over the edge of the bedding and watched father and son as the babe was settled under his own quilt and tucked in. Lineal bent to kiss the babe's head and then glanced into the top bunk before flipping the lid of the glowbasket closed. There were a couple of soft footsteps and then Lineal climbed into the lofted bed beside her.

"Nalin asleep?" she asked as her husband's warm body curled up against hers.

"Sound asleep."

They had been lucky with their elder son. He had always been a good sleeper and even if Jestlin's middle-of-the-night care disturbed the ten Turn old he seemed to have no difficulty falling asleep again.

"I'm glad the girls are back onboard," Rahona said after a short silence. "Did I wake you?"

"No," Lineal lied. He hadn't really fallen properly asleep in those few moments. He couldn't, in fact, remember when he had last fallen properly asleep.

He hadn't spent much time with his elder two children when they were infants - it just hadn't been possible with his life as a seacrafter on a coastal route that visited River Bluff Weyr once in each direction. When he did have a couple of nights at the Weyr with Rahona and his children, a disturbed nights sleep seemed to be neither here nor there. And before he'd had a chance to find it too annoying the little baby stage was over and Nalin and then Lihona were sleeping through the night when he visited.

He had (however foolishly) been looking forward to this, the first of his children with whom he would be around all the candlemarks in the day. And night. He hadn't really thought through the whole night feeding and nappy changing routine and, as much as he wanted to do his share and be supportive of Rahona and his newborn son, he did occasionally remember how easy it had been with the elder two.

Easy for him, at least.

"I'm glad they're back too, the wretches," he admitted before he fell asleep again.

The three 'little girls' of the riverboat, his own Lihona, his niece Jezz, and his cousin's daughter Linli, had crept out one morning to gather nuts at the waypoint. Anywhere else Lineal would have held the sailing of the riverboat for their late return but the waypoint was the family Hold for the Sungazer. Everybody there was family of some sort, and the girls would be perfectly safe if left behind.

And so the Sungazer had tooted a farewell and left the three little girls behind to be picked up after the run down to the seaport and back, some eleven days later.

"And they seem to have learnt a lesson," Rahona said, with more hopefulness than any real expectation that the three would become model children. She probably wouldn't want them too, she admitted silently, though learning which rules were inviolable was essential for their safety in their river life. "Do you think she minds moving out for Jestlin?"

With the fixed layout of the riverboat crews' staterooms there was only room for a maximum of four; either a couple sharing the lofted double bed and two children in the bunks, or four people of the same sex in four bunks. Rahona had worried about having to move Nalin out for the new babe. He was the eldest, and that was the usual option, but Nalin wasn't as easy-going as the rest of his family, and was slow to make friends. He was also only ten, and even though the men he would be sleeping with were all uncles and cousins, she hadn't really wanted him to be cut off from his family in such a way so soon.

While she and Lineal had been considering options - they could, for instance, have taken over another stateroom. The rooms were all fitted with doors between the port side rooms and those on the starboard side so that they could be opened up into one larger room for big families, but even just the idea of taking a whole extra four berths for one extra body had felt greedy in an environment where space was limited for all crewmembers.

In the end it had been the 'little girls' who had solved the problem with Lihona asking if she might go and sleep in Linli's room when the baby came. Linli and Tahna had no mother and were cared for primarily by their aunt, Neke, and shared a room with her, leaving one bunk space free. Lihona had been rather diffident about asking, Rahona and Lineal had been hard-pressed to restrain their pleasure at finding the perfect solution to their worries.

"I think she's thrilled to be in with Linli," Lineal murmured. "And even if she's talking half the night - like her mother - she's probably still getting more sleep than I am." He snuggled closer to his wife and kissed her hair. "So set her a good example _go_to_sleep_."

Last updated on the August 10th 2009

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In the Middle of the Night