The news came as a crushing blow to Sanria and the world seemed to shift precariously beneath her feet. Her daughter was pregnant. How could she have neglected to tell her the way these things worked? Had she truly been so blind as to assume that she really knew? They walked home, Sanria's mind reeling - Colin was going to lose it - she'd have to step in, calm him, all the things she had to do all the time - things that made her weary.
"Colin, can you come to Leandra's room," Sanria telepathed, and she rocked in the chair, her chin resting on two steepled fingers, silent as Leandra sat beside her. When Colin arrived, things went roughly as she had expected.
"Pregnant?" he asked between clenched teeth. "No... no... you can't be. They must be mistaken. I mean, you haven't.. You haven't..." Colin looked to her. "She hasn't..."
"I... I didn't know... and... me and Askari... we..." Leandra said quietly.
"You... and Askari!?"
"Papa... I didn't... know that would happen... and things just..."
"That little..." and Colin let fly a punch into the wall that left a crack.
Sanria stood up with patience, tired patience, and went to Colin, laying a hand on his arm. "It took both of them to do this and what is done is done."
"What he did... to our little girl..."
"No, Papa... he didn't... I mean, we both did... it..." Leandra said.
"We should have known with Orn that we needed to talk to her, but we didn't."
"Oh... oh my little girl..."
"Papa... I'm not... hurt..."
Sanria heard the words. Leandra was right, she wasn't hurt. She was just a girl who was pregnant. Her daughter. The one she'd been neglecting as she tried to figure out her own life. She was guilty. For all the talk of balance, she'd forgotten this one crucial piece and life was obligingly filling in for her in ways unimaginable.
Much to Colin's chagrin, Sanria offered her daughter a way out. One which, like her father, Leandra balked at, saying, "I... don't think I wanna kill a baby, Mama."
"Then we will help you... but you need to tell Askari. Can you manage, or do you need to stay here, Colin?"
"I'm not sure I'm ready to see him quite yet."
"I'm sorry, Mama... Papa... I'm sorry," Leandra whispered.
"Everything will be alright... we'll make it through as a family," Colin said, rising to hug Leandra. And Sanria couldn't help but hear that as a clear indication of Colin's expectations.
