Not The Time For Pleasantries

Writers: Francesca, Paula
Date Posted: 4th July 2009

Characters: Lymria, Jadorin
Description: Lymria tells Jadorin she is pregnant with his child and they decide to get married.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 3, day 12 of Turn 5

The dining hall was loud, it being in the middle of the noon meal.
Jadorin rushed inside quickly, attention on the stacks of meat and
breadrolls. He had a client coming in that afternoon and still needed
to make some finishing touches on the commissioned tunic. However,
his stomach, and Tini, had reminded him that it was time to eat. The
green sat on his shoulder and he sternly ordered her to stay there,
promising a meatroll if she behaved. All he needed to do was take a
plate of food and return to his office, where he could continue his
work.

He almost stopped short when he saw a familiar face ahead of him.
Lymria. Since the event at the Weyr, he had been successfully
avoiding her. Their trip back to the Hold had been quick and awkward,
without much conversation. Since then he berated himself daily for
taking advantage of her. He was ashamed and convinced their
friendship was over. Now, it was too late to sneak away. She had
seen him. "Hi," he said, trying to sound relaxed. Maybe they could
just pretend nothing had happened.

"Hi, Jadorin," Lymria replied. It had hardly escaped her that he had
been avoiding her since the trip to to the weyr. It saddened her,
because she truly liked him. However, she absolutely must talk with
him. "I need to talk with you, in private," she said, glancing around
in the crowded room.

"Oh?" His heart rate immediately accelerated, wondering what she
wanted to discuss. The expression on her face kept him from giving a
second glance at the food and, sternly sending Tini away, he turned
back towards the door he had just entered from. "Do you want to take
a walk, or go to my office?" he asked, trying his best to remain calm.

"All the same to me," Lymria replied. She looked serious.

"Let's head towards the weaver's workshop," he suggested as they
walked through the door. There were few people on the path as they
left the Main Hold building so it was unlikely their discussion would
be heard. However, not knowing what to say, Jadorin remained silent.
This did not seem to be a time for pleasantries.

Lymria remained silent too until they reached the privacy of his
office and the door was closed behind them. "Jadorin. I'm pregnant,"
she said. There wasn't really any way to soften it.

Jadorin's mind went blank, unable to process what Lymria had just told
him. Slowly, he tried to make sense of the situation. Maybe Lymria
was just sharing happy news with him? No, that would be too easy.
And, she was not happy. The mating flight sevendays ago, when he had
lost control... but that had only been one time. Surely she wasn't
saying he could be a father.

"What?" he finally managed to ask, desperately hoping he had misheard her.

"I'm pregnant. For you," Lymria said, wringing her hands in
nervousness. She had thought about aborting it without out telling him
anything. Now, she regretted she didn't chose that way.

"Are you sure? Maybe-" but one look at her face stopped this line of
reasoning. "Pregnant." Saying the word made it seem slightly more
real. "What will you, I mean, what should we do?" There were few
options available to them.

"Well, I could abort it, but that is always risk in it. I could also keep
it, but that would endanger my position here in the hold, unless..."
Lymria lifted her gaze from hands to meet his..."we marry."
She had given it a lot of thought since she first started to suspect
she was pregnant.

Jadorin sat down heavily in his chair, his mind now overloaded with
possible courses of action. It was almost immediately apparent to him
that Lymria was right. There were only two realistic options. "I
can't ask you to abort." That would punish her for a mistake he
blamed himself for. But, marriage was a huge step. It would affect
the rest of their lives.

He thought back to their friendship over the past months. He
frequently thought of her as a member of the family and had missed her
company in the sevendays since their trip to the Weyr. They were good
friends and, in his situation, he could not ask for more. "Ok. Let's
get married."

"Just like that? No objections, no panic or hysterics?" Lymria was
surprised of how quickly he agreed to it. It wouldn't be a love
marriage, but then, neither had her first one been. It was better than
rising a illegitimate child alone, and being branded slut.

He could feel the beginnings of hysteria but thought he could hold it
off until he was alone. He could not explain it, but for the moment
he was predominantly feeling excited, energetic. Maybe it was the
adrenaline. "Lymria, I like you, a lot. And, I've always wanted a
family. At some point, probably months from now, or longer, I think I
would have gotten the courage to ask you to marry me."

As he spoke, he tried to convince himself that what he was saying was
the complete truth. "I think I am in shock at the news, but I know I
won't change my mind later," he said firmly.

"You have been a good friend, Jadorin. I think that is a good grounds
to build up a relationship. I'll be a good wife for you," Lymria
said. "And you know I grew up in trader caravan. When we struck a
bargain, we keep it."

Hearing the word 'wife' made the feeling of barely contained hysteria
more perceptible and Jadorin had to remind himself to appear calm for
at least a few more minutes. Not trusting his voice quite yet, he
just nodded.

"Do you want a moment for yourself?" Lymria asked, sensing his
emotions. "We can settle the practicalities and formalities later. But
we can't wait too long for the wedding. My pregnancy will show off
itself soon."

It was embarrassing that she had noticed his agitation. He thought he
had been masking it well. "Could we talk tomorrow? Or, how about
later tonight? We can have dinner together." He knew he was being a
coward, trying to get away from the situation. However, he needed
time to absorb everything, and even a few candlemarks would help. By
the evening meal, he hoped he would be able to calmly plan their
future together.

"That's fine, if you don't mind me taking the children along," Lymria
said. She had had more time to come to the terms with the situation.
She suspected his was in for a sleepless night. Faranth knew, she had
had ones, fretting over her possible pregnancy and it's implications.
It had been a sort of relief when she had her pregnancy confirmed for
sure.

"The children," Jadorin breathed. He had forgotten about them.
Marrying Lymria meant they not only had a child on the way but her
three children as well. He would soon be the father of four. "Do
they know anything about all of this?" What did they think of him?

"I haven't told them yet," Lymria replied.

"All right then. We can tell them tonight." Something else to deal
with. What was he getting himself into?

Last updated on the July 26th 2009

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Not The Time For Pleasantries