Thoughts of Fatherhood
Dragonsfall Weyr
Amber Hills Hold
Vintner Hall
Healer Hall
Hidden Meadows
Dolphin Cove Weyr
Dolphin Hall
Emerald Falls Hold
Harper Hall
Printer Hall
Green Valley Hold
Leeward Lagoon Hold
Barrier Lake Weyr
Sunstone Seahold
Citrus Bay Hold
Writers: Devin, Halyonix
Date Posted: 4th February 2026
Characters: K'mai, I'serin, Sabia
Description: I'serin meets K'mai's daughter.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 11, day 20 of Turn 12
When Sebeth announced that Aluneth had arrived, K'mai turned to his daughter with a grin. "He's here!"
Sabia put her hands in the air. "Yay!" Her daddy's excitement was infectious.
K'mai squatted down so she could climb onto his back -- shards, she was getting big! -- and carried her to the ledge entrance. "Hi," he called as I'serin dismounted.
"Hello," I'serin greeted. He noticed Sabia hanging on to K'mai and paused, uncertain how to complete that greeting, even though he had been expecting (and looking forward to meeting!) the child there. But now he froze. Did Sabia know about them? Was it proper to kiss a lover in front of a child? Surely weyrmates did that all of the time but why did this feel different? What was he supposed to do?
"Sabia, this is my very good friend I'serin," K'mai said.
"Hi!" she said. "Can we eat now?"
K'mai laughed. "Sure, hatchling. Come on." He smiled at I'serin and then turned back toward the weyr.
'A very good friend.' I'serin mulled over the veiled meaning of those words as he followed K'mai. "It is nice to meet you, Sabia," I'serin said as they gathered to sit. "Did you help pick out the food for tonight?"
"Bubbly pies!" she said as K'mai bent down to let her scramble off.
"Should we have pie first?" K'mai asked her with a gleam in his eyes.
"Yes! Pie now!" Sabia bounced. She climbed into a chair and started reaching for the covered tray. Daddy let her eat lots of treats. He was fun.
K'mai laughed and then turned to I'serin. "Anything we do or say she might repeat, so . . . whatever you're comfortable with," he said quietly.
I'serin nodded to K'mai. "Dessert before our dinner? What a treat this is," he said, pitching his voice playfully to Sabia.
"Daddy lets me eat dessert first a lot." She tugged at the covering and K'mai moved to help.
"I spoil her." He lifted a still-warm pie and set it on her plate. "But that's what parents are for." He kissed the top of her head and gazed at her with a tender smile.
Seeing this side of K'mai was paradigm-shifting. Yes, I'serin knew that K'mai had a daughter but Turns of distance had kept him from seeing this interaction. Dragonriders were not full-time parents but what would it be like to return home in the evenings to a scene like this from time to time?
There was a wistful ache in his chest, the flutter of a dream. I'serin quickly packed it away.
"Yes, that is what parents are for," I'serin echoed, though it was a lie compared to his childhood. "Sabia, do you have a favorite subject in your harper classes?" he inquired.
Her face scrunched up in a pout. "I can't go yet. Ravyan gets to go. It's not fair!"
"Soon, sweetheart," K'mai said as he served I'serin a bubbly pie. "She wants to be like her big foster brother."
It was then that I'serin realized that he had little idea how child development progressed. He (erroneously) assumed that all children went to harper classes from the moment they could talk. Trying to cover for his blunder, he asked, "Sabia how old are you?"
"Four!" she declared proudly, holding up her bubbly-sticky fingers. Her foster mother and brother had taught her a little counting.
"She'll be five in month one," K'mai said. "I can't believe how fast the time goes." Sometimes it felt like yesterday he'd been holding a newborn Sabia and smiling down at Uetia.
"I...had never imagined you as a father," I'serin admitted quietly, then he laughed weakly. "I did not mean for that to sound impolite. She is absolutely adorable. Especially for four."
"With all the sex I have?" K'mai laughed. "A baby had to happen eventually."
I'serin's expression showed that he had considered the statistical probability of that. Turning his attention back to the little girl, he asked, "Sabia, what is your favorite thing to do?"
She paused, mouth stuffed full of bubbly pie. "Puhfuhnjaaubuh."
"Swallow first, honey," K'mai said mildly before biting into his own pie.
It took a moment for the little girl to finish chewing and swallow. "Play with Sirjath and Sebeth. I'm going to be a dragonrider!"
I'serin smiled indulgently. "Being a dragonrider runs in your family. There is a great possibility of that for you as well. Though you have some Turns yet." Decades almost. I'serin could only imagine what it would be like to see her grown up and how that would affect K'mai. "Is Sebeth a good playmate?"
Sabia nodded enthusiastically. "I love Sebeth! He lets me ride him, and swim with him, and he picks me up in his hand sometimes and lifts me reeeeeeally high!" She lifted her own hand to demonstrate.
It was not that high, from the perspective of an adult, but from a child's perspective, every thing in the world was big. "Does he also make snow dragons with you in the winter?"
She nodded and took another bite of her bubbly.
"Sebeth's always been good with weyrbrats and he's especially good with my hatchling." K'mai smiled and sent love to his dragon. "Do you want kids?"
There was a flash of...something...in I'serin's eyes. No, not one thing, a mixture of many things all at once: longing, panic, restraint, daydreaming, permission. And one tiny flicker of hope. "I...do not know," he answered honestly, slowly. Children were a complicated thing, especially for dragonriders. Moreso, I'serin felt, for him. "Perhaps one day," he said, but it was said in a tone edged in quiet rejection of an impossible dream.
K'mai saw the struggle. "There are ways," he said softly. "Whenever you're ready, we could talk about options." His heart beat faster at that 'we' and what he was implying. "But for now, would you like to be an uncle to Sabia?"
Both of those statements were so _complicated_ in I'serin's mind but the latter of the two sounded like a far easier start. "I would," he answered. He was not certain what uncles did but if it meant spending time with K'mai, that would be good enough. "But there will not always be bubbly pies," he informed them both. "We will find other adventures." Yes, that sounded acceptable.
"How about it, Sabia?" K'mai asked. "Would you like I'serin to be your uncle?"
The girl looked at I'serin and shrugged.
A shocked laugh escaped K'mai. "Kids can be so brutal."
They could. And yet, one could hold very little against them because children did not know any better. Yet. I'serin smiled with polite forgiveness. "Perhaps in time," he suggested. "Let us finish our bubbly pies and get to the rest of our meal, shall we?"
Last updated on the February 8th 2026