The First Step

Writers: Bree, Eimi
Date Posted: 6th March 2007

Characters: Miryene, Jio
Description: Miryene and Jio take a step towards fixing their damaged relationship
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 2, day 25 of Turn 4

"Shhhh... it's all right. It's all right." Miryene rocked Mio against her shoulder gently, trying to soothe the baby back to sleep. He'd woken up hungry in the middle of the night, but when she'd tried to put him back in his cradle after feeding him, he'd started crying again. She rocked him and rubbed his small back and whispered soothing words, wishing she didn't feel like crying along with him. Life had been uncomfortable since Ivy's mating flight. She could see the pain she'd caused in Jio's eyes every time she looked at him. The only relief was the fact that she didn't get as much of a chance to look at him as she had before--since that night, he'd found reasons to stay late at the Hall so often that sometimes she was already dozing off when he got home.

Mio's voice rose in another howl, and she winced and started rocking him again. Jio had come in late again, and usually rose so early that she felt bad when Mio woke him up. Of course, she slept poorly now that she spent much of the nights worrying, and had no time during the day to sleep at all--but she didn't complain about the exhaustion. She deserved it.

"Is everything all right?" Jio asked, blinking sleepily as he slipped into the room. "He's not sick is he?"

Miryene shook her head. "No, he just doesn't want to be put down. I'm sorry he woke you."

"'s all right," he reassured her as he reached out to rub the little boy's back. "Why don't you let me take him. You need your sleep too."

"No, you were up so early this morning..." She struggled not to make it sound like an accusation. Shards, it wasn't like she could blame him.
"And you got to bed late. I can take a nap when Mio does, at least."

"I hardly saw him today. It's all right. I'll take him this time." The one draw back of avoiding Miryene was that he inevitably avoided their son too. **_Her_ son**, he reminded himself.

After a moment she shifted and placed Mio carefully into her husband's arms, feeling slightly betrayed by how quickly he settled down once Jio had him. Despite what was happening between he and Miryene, he knew he really should make the effort to come home earlier, if only to be with the child more. He missed little Mio. He missed the evenings of mundane, but blissful family life. He missed his wife. "I'll come to bed soon,"
Jio assured her as he held the child to him. Miryene hesitated. "I could sit with you," she offered after a moment, her voice quiet. She wasn't quite sure what she'd do if he didn't want her to. Jio's affection had been so constant that she hadn't realized how much she counted on it until it was suddenly gone.

It wasn't that he didn't want to be with Miryene. Jio just didn't want to make her feel she _had_ to be with him. After she had made it so plainly obvious during the flit flight that she had only agreed to let him touch her out of some sense of obligation to him rather than any real interest, it had raised in his mind all sorts of doubts as to the rest of their relationship. If she had just pretended to enjoy his company in the bedroom, what other aspects of their relationship was she faking? "If you'd like," he finally agreed. "It would be nice to spend a little time with you," she replied, trying not to let on how relieved she was. He lead her into the living area and carefully sat down on the sofa with Mio in his arms. The little boy seemed particularly fascinated with his nose. "I didn't even notice when you got out of bed. Has he been awake long?"

Miryene picked up a quilt from the chair and brought it with her to the couch. "He was hungry, and then I couldn't get him back to sleep."

Jio frown slightly as he gently removed his hair from Mio's fist. "When will he start sleeping through the night, do you think?"

Smiling, Miryene reached out to smooth her son's hair back from his forehead. "Soon, I hope. The healers say that it's different for every child, though. And he is getting better."

"And he's getting so big too," Jio smiled softly as he bounced the little boy on his lap. "He's almost caught up with the other children his age, Talrian says."
It had been a particular worry of hers, since he'd been born early. But so far they'd been fortunate--there seemed to be no ill-effects, aside from the fact that he was a bit small for his age.

"Oh, well, there's nothing wrong with this little lad," Jio grinned as the baby started making happy gurgling noises. "He's perfect!" Even though he was tugging at his beard with drool covered hands.

The sight of the two of them together made her smile. "And he loves his father," she replied quietly. Ignoring her misgivings, she continued, "I think he misses him, too. I know I do."

They were heading down a very uncomfortable topic, one he wasn't sure he really wanted to discuss. Though it was good to know she missed him being home in the evenings, family time was not quite the part of their relationship that needed fixing. "Well... It's just so hard, you know?
Trying to get back to where we were before the quake... We lost a lot of time, and so much of my work was destroyed... I'm sure it won't take _too_ much longer..." She felt guilty almost immediately. "I know it's hard. Maybe Mio and I could come and have dinner with you at the Hall sometimes?"

"I'd like that," Jio quickly agreed. "Or I could try to come home at least for dinner." Dinner was safe. It was a start, anyway.

She wanted to try to talk to him, but she didn't know what to say. And she didn't know if he wanted to hear it, anyway. For now it seemed best to try to remind him that they had been friends first. "I would like that."

Last updated on the March 10th 2007

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The First Step