Enough Training for Being a Father?

Writers: Jane, Kaysea
Date Posted: 2nd April 2007

Characters: R'haran, K'ldan
Description: R'haran talks to a friend, K'ldan, about being a father.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 16 of Turn 4

The midday meal was always a bit of a scramble for the weyrlingstaff but R'haran had the advantage of having no duties immediately after the break this day. He settled himself down at a table with a few loitering riders and looked forward to a leisurely meal.

"I'm surprised you're not still wrapped in your sleeping furs, I know I would be if I'd spent the day out in the snow." K'ldan stepped over the bench seat and plonked himself down beside the other rider. "Looked like cold work from where I stood." he smirked, "And being surrounded by weyrbrats..."

"Yeah," R'haran grinned. "But they were my weyrbrats," he said with some pride.

"Your...yours?" K'ldan cocked an eyebrow, "When did that happen?" He knew he hadn't been paying much attention to Weyr life the last few sevendays, he'd had too much on his mind lately, but surely he hadn't been so distracted with _other_ matters that he had overlooked such a monumental occurrence.

"Well, I didn't father them, if that's what you're suggesting. I inherited them when my nephew died. _Five_ of them." That was, he thought every time he mentioned it, doing things in style. Not just one unexpected child to deal with - but five of them.

"FIV..." K'ldan choked, "... five of them? Shards man, that would have been a shock! Better you than me..."

R'haran remember back to the afternoon when the five had been delivered.
"It was a shock, especially as I didn't think I had any blood family left. I didn't know about the nephew; had been told he had died in the plague."

"So this came out of the blue?" K'ldan gave an exaggerated gulp, "But _five_ of them - at once!" He shook his head in amazement, "I'm sorry to hear about your nephew, R'haran, but I don't think I could cope with one, let alone five." He shook his head, the whole idea of having even one nephew or niece to look after made him go weak in the pit of his stomach.

"Did you _ever_ want to be a father, K'ldan?" the harper greenrider asked. He hadn't felt any desire to be one himself - before the children arrived.

"No, categorically, definitely, no." K'ldan shook his head. "I rarely visit home these days with all the brats my three sisters have given the hold." The shiver that ran through his body wasn't exaggerated, "I'm hopeless around kids, always have been, ever since I was one myself. I _never_ fit in, and don't see that that would have changed through the turns."

R'haran nodded. There were many reasons why some people didn't want children in the face of social pressure to repopulate after the last great plague, but for some their very nature worked in their favour. He doubted he himself would have managed as well as his nephew Rarwen had and being in the Weyr had made sure he hadn't ever been put in such a situation. "Learning to deal with children is part of a harper's lot,"
he said, not bothering to add that he had always been more comfortable with people of all ages than K'ldan appeared to have been. "But it's still very different when they are - when they become - one's own."

K'ldan gave a shrug, "I guess so... I don't think I will ever find out, but good luck to you. With five of them, you'll need it." He gave a half laugh, and started to tuck into his meal.

R'harne smiled to himself, thinking that along with the luck he would need stamina. Being a dragonrider for over forty Turns hadn't been nearly hard enough training for being a father, too.

Last updated on the April 3rd 2007

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Enough Training for Being a Father?