I like that one

Writers: Eimi, Suzee
Date Posted: 12th October 2011
Series: It takes Time to Love

Characters: U'kaiah, Tavia
Description: U'kaiah visits and they talk names
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 18 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentions: Kaiafel

Tavia

U'kaiah had promised to come, but after two of his dragons were injured
in a minor collision during drill, he ended up having to go to the
dragon infirmary to check on their prognosis. Luckily he had been able
to send Tavia a note to tell her he would be delayed. He cringed when
he saw the candlemark as he gathered his things for the trip to Dolphin
Cove. Precious time, wasted. Well, not wasted. It was important and
couldn't be helped. But it was still time taken away from her, and he
hated that.

When finally he arrived at Dolphin Cove, most lights along ledges seemed
to have dimmed, and from those that still were brightly lit were the
voices of drunken laughter as riders partied into their well-earned rest
day. Tavia's room was still fairly bright, but he could tell even as
they approached the ledge that some lights had been turned down. He
crept quietly into the main area and saw a plate of food waiting for
him. Tavia's was no longer there. Looking over towards her sleeping
area, he could see the greenrider's form as she lay on her side,
breathing deeply.

The bronzerider sighed, kicking himself for not being able to come
earlier. Would she be angry with him? No, Tavia understood. Sometimes
it almost made him uneasy to think of just how understanding the
greenrider was. The pressure was on him to make an appearance, and so
was the fault when he could not, and yet she always seemed to forgive
him when he failed to show. She was just so accepting of him, it just
made him feel all the more guilty for letting her down.

Not being hungry, he kicked off his boots and peeled off his shirt, not
needing it in the warmer climate of Dolphin Cove. Sliding under the
sheet behind her, he was not surprised that she wore nothing. It seemed
to be her custom, and he could not blame her in the warmth of the
climate. Though he knew she could not hear him, he whispered, "I'm
sorry," into her ear before softly kissing her shoulder apologetically.
He brushed the hair from the side of her face, and took a moment to
watch her eyelashes as they fluttered slightly. Undoubtedly she was
lost in some sort of dream, and he did not want to disturb her. His
hand did slide over her side to curl around her bulging belly. As his
fingers lightly caressed her skin, he propped his head up on an elbow
and watched her for a while.

Tavia had spent the entire day in the records room cleaning up some
filing from the recent hatching. She'd looked forward to tonight for
the whole sevenday. As it was, she was deep asleep and though she'd
waited and waited she'd finally gone to bed and left a few glows
turned for when he got to Dolphin Cove. The time difference meant he
was always up later than she was anyway. Knowing he was a wingleader
and all the responsibilities that entailed she was surprised he was
able to make it to see her as frequently as he did.

What finally woke her was the warmth of his body on her back and his
fingers on her skin. But what was he saying? She twisted her head
sleepily. "Hey, I see you finally got away." She smiled up at him.
"Did you eat?"

"Finally, yes," he agreed, leaning down to kiss her temple softly. "I'm
not hungry yet." It was only a matter of time, he was sure, before his
stomach started growling, but for now he was content just to be close to
her. U'kaiah could feel the stress of the day slowly melt away with
every touch. "Don't worry about me. Go back to sleep. I'll be here
when you wake up."

She settled back down but reached back to stroke his thigh before she
started to drift off again. "Hmm?" she questioned when she heard him
murmuring.

"Oh, no, nothing," he quickly assured her, reaching up to stroke her
cheek soothingly. "Go back to sleep."

She turned over with a little difficulty getting her belly around but
after she did she buried her face under his chin in the fur of his
chest "Mmmm" she hummed softly and her arm went to his waist. She sank
back to sleep in the comfort of his arms.

U'kaiah held her close, rubbing her back and listening to her breathing
deepen. He liked the way her breath tickled the hairs on his chest, he
thought with a small smile. Because of the time difference, it was too
early for him to sleep himself. His body being very much awake, his
mind began to turn back to his original train of thought. "Kaiavian...
Uzrian... Uzrakian..." he whispered softly and slowly, concentrating on
not only the sound, but the feel of each one.

She didn't stay asleep very long with him whispering. Her brain tried
to interpret what he was saying and pulled her back out of her sleep.
"Tavian, Tavukai, Rakian," she said. Then she stretched and hugged him
at the same time.

"I guess I was being a little loud," he said apologetically, kissing the
top of her head as she wrapped herself around him. "You've been
thinking of names, too?"

"Yeah," she admitted against his chest. "I've been making lists." She
couldn't help the soft chuckle.

"Lists, huh? Like written down?" He hadn't gone that far. Just tried
a few on to see what he liked. "What's at the top of these lists of
yours?"

"Yeah," she replied. "I've been spending lots of time in the archives
instead of training or nursing. So I've had some time on my hands."
She'd had more than a little time to do what he'd been doing, trying
them on to see what fit. "It's going to depend on if it's a girl or a
boy but I like Avikaiah for a boy and maybe Kaivia for a girl."

U'kaiah hadn't narrowed down his choice for a boy yet, but he had found
a couple girl's names he liked. "I kind of like Avra or Avaiah for a
girl."

"Oh!" She looked up at him in the semi-darkness. "I like that one
Avaiah,." She said the name softly testing it like he had been
previously.

"You know, your name, 'Kaivia', makes me think of a boy's name. Like
Kaivian or Kaiavin." The last one especially he whispered once more,
liking the sound of it. "I do want to have 'Kaia' in there somewhere if
it's a boy. I think Kaiafel would like it if they had that in common."

"Yes," she exclaimed. "I like both of them." She smiled at the thought
of U'kaiah's son and nodded. "He's such a great kid." They weren't
exactly close yet but she really liked the boy, he was so much like
his father that she couldn't imagine him impressing anything other
than bronze when his time came.

U'kaiah's chest swelled a bit at the compliment. He really was proud of
his boy. "He is, isn't he," he agreed without shame. The bronzerider
felt pretty lucky to have him, though he admitted, "Most of that credit
goes to his mother. She's the one who is raising him."

"I was raised by my parents," she smiled. "Sometimes I think about
raising the baby even though I know it will never happen." She'd never
been one to dream about babies, she dreamed about flying through the
sky on a flaming dragon and protecting Pern. She knew it was the right
place for her to be.

"Aileyan has her son over night and on restdays. It's definitely not
easy. Really, the only alone time we get is right after Threadfall."
That girl was born to be a mother, though. Just as he could not feel he
was really living without fighting Thread and pursuing the Weyrleader's
spot, she could not be happy without experiencing motherhood. "I only
get Kaiafel sometimes, but I really enjoy the time we have together.
It's something tp look forward to. I don't think I'd really appreciate
it if it was something I had to do everyday, you know?"

She chuckled, "Yes! My friend Ranari does it and I don't see how she
handles it but her son is growing and happy. She just loves raising
him. I've already asked her if she'd foster ours. I'll have to clear
it with Qorri, of course. But I think she's be a great foster mother."

"Oh." U'kaiah was a little surprised that she had taken such a step
without even asking his opinion. After all, the foster mother that
would raise their child was one of the few and most important decisions
a dragonrider parent could make in their child's life! Hadn't she
always said how important it was for them to do this together? And yet,
he knew it only made sense. What did he know of foster mothers? And
especially ones at this Weyr? Pushing down the sudden flash of hurt at
being left out he tried to say in a neutral voice, "Well, I suppose I
should just trust your judgement on that score. You know these people
best."

She detected a tiny bit of stiffening and stroked his arm. "I'd like
you to meet her if you like." Her eyes brightened. "She's really the
reason we ever got together again you know. It was her son I was
transporting that first day you offered to show me your wingleader
sized bathing pool." She grinned at the memory.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, trying to feign interest while his mind was
screaming **Stop talking about that sharding woman!** He didn't want to
be grateful to her. He didn't want to like her. He certainly didn't
want to meet her. A bitter thread had wormed it's way into him, and she
was a symbol of that infection. Just how much a part of this child's
life could he really have? Was this just the start? She had already
picked out a foster mother. Maybe she had already decided on the name
she wanted and was just humoring him by letting him feel he had a say.
With him living half a world away, just how many decisions could he
honestly be a part of? How much of their child's life would he actually
be witness to? It was hard enough carving out time just to see Tavia,
but to see her _and_ a child? Had Tavia realized the futility of the
situation already? Was that why she was going ahead without him?

And what of her? When he wasn't here, who did she go to? What
tunnelsnake was waiting for him to leave so he could crawl in between
her bed sheets? They were not exclusive, it was her right to sleep with
who she liked. But how long would it be before she realized that she
could have a lover for herself and a father figure for her child right
here in this very Weyr? He couldn't believe she could do that to him.
But he had placed blind faith in Trae, believing she could never hurt
him. If Trae could betray his trust, any woman could.

**Stop! Stop this, you sharding fool!** he mentally berated himself.
U'kaiah knew his flaws. He knew that he was in danger of slitting his
own throat letting himself over react this way, but even though he knew
how to recognize his stupidity, the ability to overcome his short
comings still alluded him. The only thing he knew was escape. "Listen,
I'm a little hungry. Why don't you try to sleep and I'll have a bit of
that dinner you left me." He began unwinding himself from her with
deliberate gentleness.

"Sure, sure," she smiled and squeezed his arm. She helped to
disentangle their arms and legs and settled her head back down on the
pillow. Her eyelids were heavy "Kaiavin," she said softly. "I like
that one."

Last updated on the October 15th 2011

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I like that one