If Only

Writers: Eimi, Suzee
Date Posted: 30th April 2012
Series: It takes Time to Love

Characters: Tavia, U'kaiah, Kaiafel
Description: Two brothers finally meet
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 7, day 22 of Turn 6

Tavia

Kaiafel pulled off his straps and had shimmied his way down Kalamath's
neck so fast his father almost landed on top of his on his own way down.
"No rush there, son. Kaiavin's too small to move far on his own, you
know."

"But I want to see him! Where is he?" he asked as he shrugged out of
his weyrhide jacket and let it slip to the stone ledge carelessly. He
was just about to make a run for the curtain when his father's hand
firmly planted on his chest stopped him.

"This isn't your weyr, you know. Use the peg, son, that's what it's
there for," the bronzerider said with a disapproving look. He knew how
excited his son was, but manners were important.

"Yes, sir," Kaiafel said with a tolerant sigh as he picked up his jacket
from the floor and obediently hung it on a peg between his father's and
Tavia's. U'kaiah rewarded him with a ruffle of his hair.

Sawauth had announced Kalamath's immanent arrival so Tavia was ready
and had gone in to scoop up her sleeping baby. She held Kaiavin in her
arms and waited in her small living area for U'kaiah and Kaiafel. She
smiled a welcome as they came in.

"Hello Kaiafel," she greeted the boy even though she knew his eyes
would only be for his new brother. "This is Kaiavin."

"Hello," he muttered in greeting, though she was right - his whole
attention was fixed on the tiny bundle in her arms as he walked towards
her. "Is this my brother?" the boy asked, stretching to his full height
so he could get a really good look.

She tilted her arm so the boy could see the baby's face better. "Look
at all that hair," she said. "Just like you." She threw a grin at
U'kaiah.

"There is definitely no mistaking it," their father said with a proud
grin, reaching out to touch the tiny head tenderly. Shards, he was sure
little Kaiavin had grown in the time he was gone. He ached to hold him.

"It _is_ just like mine!" Kaiafel cried, feeling an instant connection
to his new little brother. "Did I look like that, Da?"

"I'm sure you did, son," U'kaiah assured him, though the truth was he
really didn't know. The bronzerider hadn't paid much attention to
Kaiafel at this age, much to his shame now.

She saw the look in U'kaiah's eyes and said, "here," shifting the baby
into his arms. "He just ate so he's probably going to sleep for
awhile." Just then a corner of Kaiavin's mouth pulled up in imitation
of a smile.

"I think he's happy to see me," his father grinned in response, taking
the baby with extraordinary care. He still did not have so much
experience with his young son to handle him with practiced ease. "Let's
sit down so we can all have a good look at him."

Tavia chuckled internally. **With his eyes closed?** She bent to move
a pillow out of the way for U'kaiah and Kaiafel to sit and admire the
baby on her small couch. "He must," she said.

His older brother studied his face curiously as he sat next to his
father, trying to see any other resemblance the two might share. "What
color are his eyes?" Kaiafel asked, rather disappointed that they were
closed.

"It's hard to tell at first," she said. "They could be dark or they
could be light." Personally, she hoped her son would have her green
eyes. That would be something spectacular with U'kaiah's coloring.

"Well, what color are they now?" Kaiafel asked, looking directly at his
father for an answer.

The expectation of an answer on his son's face made U'kaiah feel a
little uncomfortable. The truth was, the bronzerider didn't really
know. He hadn't seen Kaiavin for nearly two sevendays, and often when
he had been there the baby had been sleeping, eating, being held by his
mother. U'kaiah was still getting to know his little son himself, and
while he could not forget the black curling hair, the perfectly made
little toes and fingers, his tiny lips that so often seemed to be parted
agape as he took in the new world around him, the bronzerider could not
remember the shade of his eyes. And yet it was obvious that Kaiafel
expected that as his father, he should know. And he couldn't help but
feel a little bit like he was failing for not having an answer for him.

"Well, um..." U'kaiah looked up at Tavia a little helplessly, wishing
he could pick her brain and find the answer. "I should know this,
shouldn't I."

Tavia smiled and jumped in. "His eyes look kind of gray right now but
that is normal for new born babies. They'll change over the next few
months. I'm hoping for green like me," she nodded at Kaiafel.

"I wish I could see them," Kaiafel frowned, a little disappointed that
at the moment all his little brother was doing was sleeping. "I brought
him a present," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a
folded scrap of hide and holding it out to her. If Kaiavin couldn't
admire it, at least Tavia could. "I drew him a picture of me and Ravyan
for him so he can see us every day."

Tavia scooted in next to Kaiafel to look at his picture. "Oh that is
very good," she smiled as she held a corner of the hide. Then she
smiled and said "let's see if he'll wake up a bit." She reached out
with a finger and tickled the bottom of one of his feet.

Kaiavin pulled up his legs and twisted a little in his fathers arms
pressing his lips together. He even made a cute little groaning sound.

His brother wasn't entirely impressed. "He doesn't do much," he
whispered to his father.

"Well, you don't do much when you're sleeping either. But I'll tell you
what." U'kaiah leaned a little closer and whispered loudly, "Why don't
we ask Tavia if you can hold him."

"Can I?" Kaiafel asked, sitting up straighter and turning bright eyes to
the greenrider. "I promise I'll be careful."

"I tell you what," she said. "I'll put a pillow under your arm and you
can hold him for a little bit." She got up and retrieved the pillow
she'd moved earlier and put it next to Kaiafel. Then gathering the
baby from U'kaiah she put him carefully in his brother's arms. "Hold
his head like this," she showed him how to support it. "You tell your
dad or me when you're ready to give him back ok?"

"Shards, he's small," Kaiafel said with a touch of wonder in his voice.
He hadn't really seen a baby so young this close before.

Once he took his little brother onto his lap, his father reached for the
greenrider's hand to pull her down into his. His arms wrapped around
Tavia. It wasn't so long ago that he had found that a rather difficult
feat. He chuckled when his older son marveled at just how tiny Kaiavin
was. "He gets bigger every time I see him. Next time you meet him,
you'll hardly believe how much he's grown."

Tavia smiled and leaned against the bronzerider. She'd missed him more
than she had realized. "You're welcome to come visit anytime Kaiafel."
It would be great for her son to know his brother as well as he could.

"Or maybe you both could just move to Dragonsfall," Kaiafel suggested,
thinking that seemed a much more convenient solution. "Then Da and I
could see him almost every day."

"If only it were that simple," U'kaiah sighed, his arms tightening
unconsciously around Tavia. **If only...**

"It would be nice," she agreed and tucked her head into his neck. That
subject seemed to keep coming up but her whole life was here at
Dolphin Cove. She just couldn't see how it would work. **If only...**

Last updated on the April 30th 2012

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