Family Dinner (Part II)

Writers: AL, Kaysea
Date Posted: 22nd November 2008

Characters: J'gen, Irlani, Talliea, Calliea
Description: J'gen and Irlani have dinner with J'gen's two elder daughters.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 1 of Turn 4

Talliea stepped forward and took her sisters hand forcefully. "Calli,
sit, please. Just let's listen to dad. Please?" she pleaded, not
letting go of Calliea's hand.

"I knew it!" Calliea spat out at the older woman, "The moment I saw you
in the dining cavern with Daddy, I _knew_ what you were up to."

"I'll not tell you again..." J'gen warned.

Talliea finally managed to pull her sister to the couch, and over
balancing her, her twin toppled into a sitting position.

Calliea pulled her hand from Talliea's and turned to glare at her
sister. "You - you knew!" she accused.

Talliea couldn't meet her sister's eyes, she had never been good at
keeping things from her sister.

"I let Irlani tell you the news, but believe me, it wasn't her alone
that instigated this relationship." J'gen said finally. His voice was
hard, but he needed this headstrong daughter of his to understand,
once and for all, that he would no longer put up with her possessive
nonsense.

Irlani silently watched the exchange for a moment then stepped
forward. "Calliea, your father loves you. That will never change." A
weak attempt, perhaps, but the truth.

"Like he never stopped loving us when Syrita came back to him, I
suppose?" Calliea spat back. "What would _you_ know?"

"Of course I never stopped loving you." J'gen replied harshly. "Liking
you slipped a little, but I have never stopped loving you - ever."

"Calliea...why do you feel he doesn't love you?" Irlani pressed
gently. "What has he done to make you feel so?"

"He can say it all he wants, but if he loved up he wouldn't have left
the Weyr to come here. But he did that for Syrita and her little
brat."

"CALLIEA!" J'gen took a step forward again, "Gyta is your sister-"

"Half - or have you forgotten all about _our_ mother?" she asked,
attempting to stand up, but Talliea's hold on her returned. "We'll be
forgotten, and Gyta too, once you have your own child." She nodded,
convinced her words were true.

Irlani let her eyes drop. It was not the time to reveal the difficulty
that she had in bearing children. That was not the focus of the
evening.

Talliea sat like a stone, not able to move. Her complexion had turned
almost grey in colour, as she listened to the venomous words of her
sisters diatribe. She looked to her father and shook her head.
Surely he didn't think that this was what she thought, as well? It
had never crossed her mind that their father didn't love her - ever.
"Calli, no.... Dad loves us. He _does_."

"No he doesn't. Mother told me when we were little that he was leaving
us because he didn't love us anymore. That Syrita had stolen him from
us."

Irlani sat silent for a few moments, pondering words, wishing she could
make this easier on J'gen. She lifted her gaze, looking from one
sister, to the other, to their father. She was used to dealing with
troubled children - with troubled adults, however, the dynamics were
far more foreign. "Why did you leave, J'gen?" She asked finally,
wondering if she had started in the right place.

"I left because they were looking for a Master Dragonhealer here, and
there was nothing for me to do in the old Weyr, except help out during
fall. I was still recovering from my injuries when I came here." he
held out his hands in appeal to his daughters. "Leaving you there at
the Weyr wasn't my idea." he shook his head. "I wanted to bring you
both with me, but I was talked out of it by your foster mother."

Irlani turned her gaze to both Talliea and Calliea. It was their turn.

"That's not what mother said. And this was long before you left to
come here. This was when we were little. Before Gyta was born."
Calliea was being stubborn, she refused to listen to what her father
had to say.

"When did mother say this?" Talliea couldn't remember ever hearing her
mother say anything about her father. She could remember mother being
angry about Syrita but not about their father.

"When we were in the dining cavern one evening. We were about four I
think. Syrita walked past and mother said something, I don't remember
what, now."

J'gen could only imagine what the spiteful woman had said. How many
times had he regretted Suuth losing that flight, he wondered?

"Well you can believe me when I tell you, I have never stopped loving
you girls - ever. But-" he held up his hand to forestall their words,
"I _never_ loved your mother. There was never a relationship." he had
to give them the whole truth no matter how much they may wish it
weren't true. "Your mother and I - we lived together, yes. But it
wasn't my idea. Your mother - and I hate to admit it to you - but,
your mother was only with me once - after Suuth lost a flight."

"That's not true!"

***

The arguments went on for some time, but eventually Calliea settled
down - an uneasy truce was met between her and her father - but
towards Irlani she still held some resentment. Talliea had sat
through the whole thing wide eyed and stunned by the revelations she
had heard from her father. Neither girl had fully understood the
situation, being so young when Syrita and their father had been
together.

"So - do you think you owe Irlani an apology?" J'gen finally asked his
daughter, releasing her from the embrace he had her in.

She turned slowly and pasted a smile on her face, "I'm sorry, Irlani.
I'll try and behave better from now on." but the smile she wore didn't
carry to her eyes, and Talliea for one, wasn't entirely convinced by
her sisters words.

Irlani wasn't either. She gave Calliea a small smile. "I will not be
taking your father away from you." The woman insisted, though it
seemed as if the greenrider rather doubted her words, "In fact, I would
very much like to see more of you two and your brother." She cast a
glance over at the bronzerider. "Family is important."

"I couldn't agree more." J'gen nodded, smiling from one daughter to the
other. "And now, _this_ family will go down and eat a civilised and
friendly meal together, yes?" he asked, oblivious to the still underlying
tension.

"That would be lovely." Irlani's smile warmed a bit. Poor J'gen. She knew
very well it wasn't quite over just yet. Hopefully Calliea would get used
to the idea. Maybe they could even become friends.

Maybe.

Last updated on the November 23rd 2008

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Family Dinner (Part II)