Magic lifted Sanria and Leandra to Claire and Gilean's cottage, where Gilean greeted them and ushered them inside. Sanria felt hollow, and oddly numb as Gilean asked about Colin and Orn - he knew something wasn't quite right. The five of them, including Askari once he found out Leandra was there, gathered in the dining room. Claire looked small, almost mousy, as though she were cowed in some deep way. Gilean appeared to be his normal self and Askari... Sanria gave a long inward sigh. The boy was moody, hormonal, and the father of her daughter's child. How in the nine hells had this happened?
"I... wasn't feeling good so... my mom tried to heal me..." Leandra began,
"I... kept feeling like I was gonna throw up, you know..."
"I'm sure my Mom can make you better, right mom?" Askari asked.
"I could try," Claire said slowly.
"There is more," Sanria interrupted. And she saw the shock register as she looked over at Gilean's face.
"My mom took me to the druid grove to... see if the Elders could figure out what was wrong... And... they... they... I..."
"You're with child," Gilean finished.
"Well... that's... I mean... why are you here, though?" Claire asked.
"W... wait... a baby?" Askari said with trepidation.
"Wait... no... no no... not... Askari?" Claire said, her voice in a tremor.
"Oh... oh yes, it is..." Gilean said quietly.
"But that means that... they'd... Askari?!"
"What Mom? I... I love Leandra!" Askari defiantly proclaimed.
Oh not this. Not love. Sanria felt a twinge in the pit of her stomach. All of this was just too fast, they didn't even know what love was... come to think of it, did she? "It appears we are to be grandparents. Well... I will be again, but..." Sanria trailed off.
Gilean, for all the world, seemed nearly happy for the children, which irked Sanria a tad. This was serious, not a time to be delighting in the world of kids bringing about more kids. She watched him heal Leandra of her morning sickness, and even tell them that their child was to be a boy. Both Askari and Leandra seemed wrapped in their own world, and Claire seemed void of even the air in her lungs. "It's alright," Gilean said. "We'll help them through. Believe me... I have seem many younger parents than them."
"Younger?" Sanria asked in disbelief.
"More often that you might think. At least these two have all of us to help support them... but Colin's not here."
"He isn't quite happy about this and... given his disposition recently... we thought it better he stay."
"Oh... I... I see..."
"I'll make sure no harm comes to Askari," Sanria offered.
After subduing Leandra and Askari's talk of getting married and moving out so as not to be like the adults that were in their lives, and reminding her daughter that she should not ask at the current moment to stay with Askari, Sanria took Leandra home where the grounding remained in effect. For herself, Sanria crept into her private study and closed the door behind her.
