Catching up

Kallista squeezed Brenn's arm.

"You worry too much. I'm an adventurer, remember? Compared to that, this should be a breeze. And three ships is totally a fleet. I'll have to start calling you Admiral Aelindar in bed."

"I'll need a bigger hat," Brenn responded with a grin.

"I'm really glad the children are sleeping late," Ardith commented amusedly, returning from the kitchen with more coffee.

"Considerate of them, isn't it," Aleyn said with a smile. "And rare. But they were up fairly late last night, I suppose. I'm definitely enjoying it while it lasts... since the peace and quiet could end at any moment."

"They are a handful," Kallista said with a grin, "But at least they seem to all get along well. Not to mention the fact that there's three of you to split the kid-sitting. I have no idea how people make do with only two parents. They must never get any sleep."

"Well, they mostly get along..." Aleyn shrugged. "Saiya bosses her brothers around, and sometimes they aren't inclined to put up with that. Sometimes Mhireen just wants to do his own thing and not be pestered by the younger kids, but that doesn't always work out... But it's just typical sibling stuff." He chuckled. "And having staff to help also makes a huge difference. But somehow my parents managed - as I recall, mostly by having me look after the younger ones once I was old enough."

"Yeah, I got stuck with that job too. My half-siblings were always at each other's throats, sometimes literally. At least none of your kids have tried to stab each other."

"Yet," Aleyn said with a wary smirk.

Vedran smiled as he came in to the library, pleased to see everyone still gathered, and also that there was coffee available.

"Good morning, everyone - what hasn't happened yet?"

Aleyn turned to Vedran with a warm, affectionate smile. "The kids trying to stab one another. Speaking of which, could you tell if they were awake yet when you came in?"

"I thought I heard something, but they haven't reached the shrieking or streaking stages yet, so we may still have some quiet time."

Aleyn nodded. "Mhireen is normally pretty good about playing quietly or reading to himself if he's up before the others. It's when Saiya and Macen wake up that the, uh, shrieking and streaking, as you put it, is likely to start," he explained for the benefit of their guests.