Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 01:31 AM
Andre returned to his cabin, and sat, rifling through papers in the name of getting some work done, when in fact, he was spending all too much time glancing up at the door to actually read any of the documents in front of him.

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 01:46 AM
Spider rapped outside the door, then pushed in without waiting. "Me," she announced herself, creeping through the gap and shutting the door in back of her. "We've got rain coming in."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 01:49 AM
Andre looked up, and sighed. "Men taking care of it?" he asked. "We have enough of them, they might as well be good for something."

And he held a hand out to her.

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 01:55 AM
Spider crossed to Andre's desk and took his hand, then looked down over the scattered pages. "You haven't got anything done, have you?" With a squeeze to his hand, she took over the second chair in the room. "You can't do this, love. There's no reason to be nervous."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 01:58 AM
"I'm not nervous," Andre assured her, keeping a warm grip on her hand. "I was just waiting for you to come up. I wasn't sure how long you'd take, so I wasn't quite getting started," he explained.

And then he paused for a long moment. "Where did we leave off?" he asked. "I want to get married, you haven't written it off?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 02:05 AM
Spider laughed. "You don't jump streams easy, do you?" The girl leaned against her chair, considering Andre gravely. "I ne'er wrote it off," she replied. "I told you, it were something I were thinkin' about. I didn't want to write it off, it's . . . everyone's been bringin' it up late. Lang, Judes, Si."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 02:08 AM
Andre frowned, running his thumb over the back of her hand, then turned his chair to her. "Oh, come here," he said. "In another month, you'll be too heavy for my lap. So, what's the trouble? Does it bother you that everyone's talking about it? It's...I think, well, in Judith's case, she's thinking about the baby more than anything. That's how it seemed to me, at least. What did Lang say?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 02:18 AM
Spider hesitated, then pulled herself onto his lap, slipping her long arm behind his neck. With a sigh, she put her cheek against his hair. "Lang said I was being cowardly," she admitted. "After I stopped bein' pissed at her, I figgered she was probably right." She lifted her head to look down at him. "Andre . . . would bein' married be so different, really, then how we are now?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 02:27 AM
Andre smiled. "I've been telling you it wouldn't from the start," he reminded her, as he slipped his arms around her waist, putting one hand up against her belly where it now protruded. "It's not going to change anything. It's...that's the point, isn't it? It's promising we won't change, that we'll be just like this, always."

He nuzzled up against her neck. "Lang really said that? For God's sake, she's got no sense of hat marrying's about, with her--how-many-husbands? But it's nothing to be afraid of, promise. I'm not going to-- I'm not going to treat you any differently if we're wed."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 02:49 AM
"That isn't what I'm worried about," she insisted, tugging on his collar. "I'm . . . I don't know what I'm worried about." Her hand covered over his. "I don't know what I want. I want you. I want to keep sailing. I don't particularly want to settle down unless we just have to; I'd rather get the baby born and go on to be with Si."

She gave him a kiss on top of the head. "Do you still want to go on with it?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 02:57 AM
"With what?" Andre asked. "With you? Of course I want to go on with you. You're-- heavens, Spider, you're the mother of my child. I..." He turned his head to look a bit timidly at her. "I was hoping to settle down a bit after the baby," he admitted. "Not forever. I think I need some time after this, to decide what to do next. Having a little baby is a good excuse. If you'd rather do that in Africa...I'm just worried about you in the sun there. It's a little brutal."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 03:04 AM
Spider looked rueful at the thought. "That seems to be what everyone's said so far. You included. And it's not helpin' that we don't know when this kid's gonner decide to make an appearance." She bit her lip. "I guess what I'm tryin' to say here is . . . soon as this commission's done, we go to Mercer, we get married, we see what happens with the bairn?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 03:09 AM
"Go to Mercer, find the town we want to live in," Andre amended, "then go about fifty miles away, get married, come back so no one in town is counting months, especially since you're going to be early already."

He leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "If you want to," he added. "As long as we're pretend-married, it doesn't matter for the baby. I just need a ring of my own."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 03:18 AM
"I'm not worried about the baby. Well, not because of this." She cupped her hand beside his face so that he would look at her. "This is for you. It's something you want. I know it's been botherin' you."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 03:23 AM
And look at her, he did, with an expression of absolute adoration, as if he were bowing at an altar or scrutinizing a great work of art. "I want it to be for us," he said quietly. "Can it be for us?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 03:43 AM
And Spider, still not quite settled with that look, glanced away, smiling and nervous and pleased all at once, and tried to cover her face with her hand. "It's . . . of course it'd be for us. Of course it would."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 03:47 AM
Andre reached a hand up to take hers, squeezing it tightly. "May I ask you properly now?" he asked her. "I'm not going to make you get up so I can get on my knee again, but--" his eyes twinkled as he looked her over, still adoring. "Will you be my wife?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 04:02 AM
She let him tug her hand away from her face. "Didn't I as much as just say you 'yes'? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." She kissed him on the forehead. "Gods, you're such a romantic old man. You realise this'll be my second time runnin' two towns away to get married?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 04:07 AM
"It's my first," Andre replied, and he left a dusting of kisses over her cheeks. "Have some patience with me. This is going to be your first time not getting an annulment, though," he pointed out. "We'll celebrate. I'll make sure this is the best wedding you've ever had."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 04:20 AM
"The first one scarcely e'en happened." She giggled and tried pushing him off when his lips got to a ticklish spot. Suddenly serious, she pulled back far enough to stop him. "This is going to be the one that counts. I'm just . . . " She swallowed, then laughed again. "My mouth is dry. I'm scared as hell. I honestly didn't expect to come in here and say this. I feel like I've jinxed it."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 04:23 AM
Andre blinked. "Jinxed it how?" he asked her, frowning, and he reached a finger up to touch her cheek. "By saying yes? It-- love, it wouldn't happen if you didn't say yes. Scared is all right, but I promise you, you haven't jinxed it."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 04:36 AM
"I don't know! Everything goes wrong when we decide on a course of action, have you noticed?" She was grinning to hard to seem truly concerned. "Do you think it would be all right if we didn't tell anyone until it's all done and fixed and no one can meddle with it? Do you think the girls would be upset if we didn't tell 'em?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 04:45 AM
Andre smiled broadly. "We can do that," he assured her. "The girls don't care. If Judith were anywhere nearby, I'd call her over and ask her to just say the damn words and make it so. If we find another seacaptain, we can have them do it, on the docks, when we get to Mercer, first thing, if that's what you'd rather. We can tell everyone and have a big party later, the next time we're all in one place, how's that? Is your father going to be all right with it?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 04:52 AM
"My father didn't much care we weren't married when I told 'im I was pregnant," she pointed out. "As long as he still gets to be a grandfather at the end of it all, I don't think he'd mind he weren't invited. He'd probably say it was a waste of time."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 04:56 AM
"I meant with the not-being-invited part," Andre assured the girl, wrapping his arms back around her comfortably. "He'll get to be a grandfather. I've heard of people being fooled about the identity of a father, but it's a little difficult for the baby's mother to be anyone but you."

He poked her belly as if to show evidence. "Will he want to be there? When the baby comes?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 05:06 AM
"He'll probably be in the Erins then." The girl looked thoughtful. "He said he wanted to know, soon as we could get word, and that he'd want to see it as soon as we could manage, but nothin' about bein' there when it happened."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 05:13 AM
Andre nodded, flicked at a lock of Spider's hair. "That's easy enough to do," he agreed, then gave her a mischievous look. "You don't suppose he's got any interest in seeing Africa, do you?"

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 05:17 AM
She threw back her head and laughed. "I don't e'en think he's got any interest in seeing Mercer. Africa's a tall order. He hates the other seas. Poor man don't seem to like much of anything really." She suddenly felt the need to cuddle closer to Andre, shifting enough to prop herself against the floor with her bad leg and drape the other across his lap.

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 05:21 AM
Andre tugged her in closer. "He likes his daughter well enough, and he'll like his grandchild, and heaven willing, he'll tolerate me and I won't end up with any more broken bones. Maybe we can coax him out a little, if there's the promise of getting to tickle a grandbaby's feet."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 05:29 AM
"What is it with you and this baby's feet?" She settled in closer. "Look, if Da' decides at the last moment he wants to make a pest of himself, his loss." She did not say it with all the confidence she would have preferred. "I want him to come around so bad . . . I didn't want this to be the way it happened, though. I wanted it to be just for himself."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 05:33 AM
He sighed, and pressed a kiss to her nose. "Baby feet are precious," he assured her. "You'll see when you get them. And I don't know...maybe he will, still. Maybe he just needed a reason to try. I know, I know you wanted him to just choose to on his own, but sometimes people need a kick in the pants to start."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 05:44 AM
"What about you, though?" She gave him another serious look. "If he ne'er come around, if he stays stand-offish, will it bother you any?" She sighed. "I'm not gonner lie. It'll bother me. But it can't be helped; it's his own damn fault."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 05:47 AM
"I'm not marrying your father, I'm marrying you, cherie," Andre pointed out. "It...maybe not bother, maybe more, it would disappoint me, yes, but there's nothing I can do about it, is there? I can try being friendly. Your uncle likes me plenty well, I think, so I know it's not me, since he's as overprotective as your father, in his own way."

He sighed. "You'll forgive me for saying this, but sometimes I wonder if maybe there were some way we could find him a woman."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 05:57 AM
Spider sputtered, then lowered her face to his shoulder and cackled. "Now you sound like Gwydion! You have no idea how funny it is to watch my uncle and his buachail get on either side of Da' and try to point out women to him." She tipped her head up again, now simply thoughtful. "I think there's been more'n a couple," she said seriously. "But they've all been bought and paid for. As soon as I were old enough to realise what was goin' on, I tried not to pay too much attention."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 06:01 AM
"Well, that's naturally not the kind of woman I mean," Andre replied. "If my stepmother weren't such a conniving bitch, I'd introduce them, they've got plenty in common, he hates tallfolk, she hates men..." He mulled it over for a moment, then shrugged. "He just needs someone to mend his shirts and pat him on the head adoringly when he gets all gruff and agitated."

And he grinned. "Maybe I'll talk to Gwydion about it, then," he said decidedly. "Between the two of us, we've got to be able to come up with somethng."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 07:09 PM
Spider pursed her lips, looking miffed, and patted Andre on top of the head. Then she snorted laughter and shook her head. "I wish it were that easy." Careful not to tread on him, she extracted herself from his lap. "I think Da' just got a bad case of heart-broke a while back and ain't got the balls to get o'er it."

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 07:19 PM
Andre, in turn, gave Spider's rump a pat when she sat up. "I thought as much," he agreed, then gave her an amused look. "But there is one sure-fire way to get over that, as far as I know."

Then he sighed. "We'll work on him," he assured her. "The baby will help. No one can resist babies."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 07:32 PM
"I hope so," she said, a little worried. She put a hand on her stomach, then grinned at Andre. "No chance for callin' the kid Augryphon, is there?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 07:34 PM
Andre raised both eyebrows. "What's the 'au' part mean?" he asked. "And I thought we weren't allowed to speculate. I told you, you get to pick, but, ah..." He flashed her a grin. "That's sort of asking it to have a temper."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 07:36 PM
"I was teasing. I don't know what the 'au' means. Something like the next? Or the other? Which really is cursin' the poor little thing." She kissed her thumb to ward off bad luck.

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 07:39 PM
"We could just name it Hellion and have done with it," Andre suggested cheerfully.

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 07:52 PM
"We are not callin' it anything save for 'baby', because that's all it is at the moment. And we're certainly not naming it for a good deal longer." It was hard to tell if she was serious about that or not. She softened toward Andre. "So. We're really gonner do this mad thing?"

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 07:54 PM
Andre reached both hands out to her, then grinned. "I finally got a yes out of you. I think I got five of them, to be exact. You think I'm not going to make good on them?" His expression became more serious. "I would have asked you again without the baby, you know."

Posted by: Spider Ceallaigh Jun 22 2008, 08:15 PM
"I know you would've done. That's why I cut you off at the pass." She gave him a timid smile.

Posted by: Andre Romain Jun 22 2008, 08:18 PM
He smiled back. "Damn you clever thing," he retorted. "I would never have expected it."