I'm Going to Be a Father

Writers: AL, Ames
Date Posted: 20th July 2013

Characters: Meledei, T'nom
Description: T'nom tells Meledei the news that he is to be a father
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 2, day 8 of Turn 7
Notes: Mentioned: Pierka

T'nom

T'nom had woken not much better than when he'd gone to bed the night
before. He was dealing with so many thoughts and emotions that he
didn't know how he was going to simply get through the day.

Thankfully, he'd remembered that he had agreed to meet Meledei for
lunch. Not need to add more frustrations to his already mounting list
but forgetting something so important.

Entering the dining hall, he saw she was already there. He went and
got his tray, filled it with much less food than his usual and headed
in her direction.

"Hey, Meledei," T'nom said, trying to sound cheerful, but knowing he
wasn't succeeding all that well.

"Hey..." Meledei's tone was cheerful until she registered T'nom's.
She put down her fork and leaned forward to reach for his hand.
"What's wrong?"

His shoulders slopped when she'd registered something amiss. Dropping
his tray a bit, he heaved a tired sigh and sank into the seat next to
her. He knew he had to tell her. Gossip in the Weyr could spread like
a wildfire, but he needed to break the ice a bit first.

"Rough morning. I was distracted. Dropped a bag of firestone on my
toe, tripped one of the other riders by mistake, mixed up the flight
pattern in drills. It was_not_ a good morning," T'nom was grumpy. He
_knew_ why he'd been distracted, but he had no idea_how_ to solve the
problem at the moment.

"Wow." Yikes, a morning like that would certainly set her into a
gloomy mood. "I'm sorry. Anything I can do to help?" Probably not,
but if there was something she could do to make him feel better, she'd
be up for it.

He shrugged and heaved a heavy sigh. There was more. The root cause of
all his problems. He pushed at his food, but didn't eat it. How was he
going to explain what was going through his mind to Meledei? What
would happen when he did?

"I don't know. I've got a lot on my mind today," he managed to tell her

after a bit of a lengthy pause.

"Maybe you should talk about it." Meledei suggested. She let her
thumb run over the back of T'nom's hand. "Get it off your chest.
That usually helps."

He looked down at her hand on his and felt his heart constrict. What
if his news sent her away? She _had_ declared he had to be exclusive
with just her, but he felt the need to support Pierka through this.
**If she'll even let me,** he though grumpily.

Frowning he looked to Meledei. Well, what was done was done. He
_wanted_ nothing more than to be _happy_ about Pierka's news, but
right now it felt as though it was upsetting everything in his life.
His time with Meledei could end. He seemed to have lost Pierka not
just as a lover, but also as a friend. She'd all but told him to stay
away. T'nom felt like he had so many Turns ago when he was still
living with his step-father. He wanted to pull himself back inside his
shell and stay there, not feeling anything.

"I don't know how to tell you this," he started, then stopped.

"Just tell me, it's okay." Meledei wished she could read minds, maybe
that would be easier. She'd just have to wait for him to spit it out,
though.

He looked at her. Then looked down at his food. He pushed that aside
and turned to face her. He took her hands in his.

He looked her straight in the eye and said, "I'm going to be a father."

Well, that wasn't quite what she had expected, but it wasn't a
complete surprise. "Really? Is...that a good thing or a bad thing?"
And it was important to know. If things worked out, they would
eventually have children together...but did he _want_ children?
Meledei knew she did.

He looked at her and frowned. "That's the complicated part. It
_should_ be a good thing, but Pierka is upset with me." He sighed.
"She's sweet and been my friend through weyrling training and all. I
like her, too, Dei, but yet it's different. She basically told me to
stay away." He frowned. It had hurt him that she'd said that. He
understood her reasons, sort of, but it still hurt that he seemed to
have lost her as a friend over this.

"I'm sorry." At least he didn't have a problem with the child. "I
didn't realise you and Pierka had been together. Were you in a
relationship?" She paused, then asked softly, "Did...I break you up?"

"We weren't in a _relationship_, so to speak. Taldeth won one of her
Flights. We had a good time. After that I spent some time with her
here and there. It was a bit casual, but it _might_ have turned into
something more, someday." He shrugged, "I really don't know. Anyway,
since we started our relationship, I really haven't spent any time
with her. It seemed better that way. No temptations for me. We were
friends before this. I want to think we still can be. She's sweet and
kind. I like her Meledei. I don't want to hurt her." He frowned again,
"I told her about how we're not seeing other people, you and I. She
got upset and told me to just leave her alone then." He shoulders
slooped forward.

"She is sweet, and I think it's great you want to be friends with
her." Meledei frowned as she mulled over Pierka's reaction. "It
sounds kind of like she thought of you as more than a friend though.
Kind of like Z'ku did with me." And they had both hurt someone with
their relationship. It didn't make Meledei feel any better.

"Yeah, I guess. And I liked her too, but I hadn't thought about
long-term stuff or that with her." He frowned still, looking at
Meledei, "I think she's upset because I can't be with her _and_ be
with you. I probably shouldn't have stayed away from her for so long,
even as a friend. I was afraid you'd take it the wrong way." He hadn't
wanted Meledei to think he was breaking his promise to her.

"Gosh, no. I mean, I expect you to have friends of both genders. I
want exclusivity in our _romantic_ relationship. I don't expect you
to be exclusive in any other kind relationship!" Meledei shook her
head. "And...well, I'm sorry she feels that way, but that's just how I
am. To be honest, there may be a lot of people who do the whole open
relationship thing around here, but very few of them last long or
remain happy. I've seen it too many times. Jealousy begins to rear
its ugly head eventually - I know it would with me." Her thumb
continued its gentle caress back and forth. "So...what do you think
you're going to do?"

He looked down at where her thumb was moving across his hand. "Well,
I'd like to be there for her as a friend and a father to our child, if
she'll let me. It might mean that I will need to spend time with her
and such. I need to know you'd be okay with that. I'm not talking
about anything romantic between her and I, but I _want_ to be there."
He looked down at his hands again. "I have no family left Meledei.
This child _is_ part of me, and Pierka will be part of that. I'll want
to spend time with them. Will _you_ be okay with that?"

"Of course, T'nom! I'd be disappointed if you didn't partake in the
life of a child of yours." Meledei offered a tender smile. "You
know, there may be others in the future. I fully expect Taldeth to go
after other dragons. You may have more children because of flights.
It's a part of Weyr life." She leaned forward to gaze into his eyes.
"And don't I count as family now?"

He looked at her and gave her a small smile. "Of course you are," he
replied, reaching a hand up to caress her cheek. He let out his breath
and finally felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"I'm glad you understand. I wasn't sure what to expect. I was afraid I
would lose you over this. Maybe you can help me figure out what to do
so Pierka will talk to me again. I honestly don't know how to tell her
what I told you without her getting upset again." He left his hand on
her cheek and leaned towards her a bit. "Thank you for understanding

Meledei," he whispered, brushing his lips against hers.

"The only thing I can think of is to not annoy her by bugging her, but
maybe asking every few days how she's doing. Let her know you care
and want to be a part of the baby's life." Meledei had to admit, she
respected those riders who made sure to spend time and energy on their
children. Her father most certainly had. She returned the kiss and

smiled. "Why wouldn't I? It's just life. Let me know if I can do
anything to help."

"Thanks Meledei," He replied. Her advice and support meant a lot to
him. He would have to wait now and see how Pierka would handle things
when he got the chance to talk to her again.

Last updated on the July 24th 2013

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I'm Going to Be a Father