[9]

Astra hushed the two smaller children next to her. They were hiding behind flower bushes as they spied on River and Geordo. The two men were sitting on a blanket having a picnic. River was teaching Geordo how to decode his writing. Geordo hummed as he wrote in the code, then handed the paper to River. "River Vida, hair as white as snow, eyes a stunning purple, and a such an intelligant man and wonderful father, will you give me, Geordo Solace, the great honor of taking your hand in-" His eyes widened, as he looked up he saw Geordo holding a dark silver band with a deep purple stone inbedded in it. "I have already recieved the blessings of Astra and Elios, and she might have told me off for waiting so long... though i thought i was doing the right thing by not advancing the relationship to quickly," He glanced away as his cheeks warmed, he was still nervous that he might be rejected. His eyes snapped back to the younger male, his purple eyes filled with tears as he gave a wet laugh while trying to wipe them away. "Sorry- i just am happy, Yes, my answer is yes," Geordo grinned as he took RIver into his arms for a tight embrace, thre three children behind the bush stood up as they cheered excitedly. They both laughed, they knew that they were there the whole time but acted as if they weren't.

The children hurried over, Sophia sat in Rivers lap as Elios sat in Geordo's, Astra sitting between them. "So does dis mean you will be my uncle?" She asked, and River nodded his head with a small smile. "And you are going to be my Dad? right? I want you to be my dad," Elios said as he looked up at Geordo, he ruffled the boys bright copper hair before turning to brush Astras light gold hair from her face. "I would love to be your Dad, and i am so happy to have had your blessings," He nuzzled his face against the boys head with a low grumbling purr, the children giggled happily as they were then given permission to eat with them.

Hannah giggled excitedly as she and her sister-inlaw looked at the ring on Rivers hand, the four brothers congradulated Geordo, Philo teasing him slightly over being so nervous. "Do you have any mer traditions when it comes to marraige?" Pyro asked as they all settledin their seats, the children were off playing, their excitement has filled them with more energy than usual. "Well, their is the promise song, each is personalized, it is basicly our vows to or spouse but sang in the mer language, but that is optional, if the song is not done during a mer wedding then no vows are done at all, just a ring or jewlery exchange, and a kiss, not much fuss in the ceremony or celebration after words... but um..." His ears turned pink as he looked away, Pyro hummed as he opened his small booklet. "You mentioned the mer tradition of hunting after the wedding, the two spouses spending time together, hunt, feast on their kills, and camp out, right? spending a week together after the ceremony?" He nodded, face red as he took a deep breath and straightening up. "Yes, but their is more to it, in this week they show eachother that they are dependable, and one tends to show off their skill and strength too... too arouse the other, sending them into an early heat, and then spending time consummating the marraige, the end result hopefuly being a pregnancy, of course this differs from each couple, and even postponed when one spouse brings in children," Philo and his younger brothers turned to look at Geordo, His face redder than the wine in his glass that was frozen mere inches from his mouth, his eyes wide as he was frozen. River sipped his white wine, face burning as he tried to ignore the two women giggling.

"Well, if you two are ready to start adding to your family, then we would be happy to look after Atra and Elios, they are perfect little darlings, but if you wish to have a private family trip and hold off on adding to the family, then we would love to help arrange that," Hannah said with a smile, River thanked her, but said they would have to discuss that later. Geordo was still frozen in shock, Pyro happily wrote the new information down in his book. "River, how are you liking your new home? Are the two attendants working well with you?" Philo asked, trying to change the subject to hopefully help Geordo recover. "Oh yes, Laurene and Gilbert are wonderful, i have slowly handed over more chores to them as i have taken of more paperwork and have began writing a teaching book, they seem happy to have more to do, and have finally adjusted to sitting with us for meals and having the children do chores as well, they have been a great help in teaching the children too," He said with a smile, Astra hurried into the dining room and grabbed her Papas sleeve. "Astra, what is it?" He asked, her cheeks flushed a soft pink as she looked down at her feet. "I... I saw a young lady knight in training, she called me M'lady," She covered her face, River held in his coo as he placed a hand on her head. "I bet she was quite dashing, maybe you will see her when we go out for our morning run?" Her eyes widened, cheeks even darker as a small squeak escaped her before she ran off. the adults all chuckled, all but Geordo who wore a stern look. "Oh, Daddy bear, calm down, she is still a child,and i know the young lady she spoke of, Miss Cleo Lambert, granddaughter of Duke Lambert, she is about twelve now, and she has one plan in mind, and that is becoming a knight," Roland said with a grin, Geordo grumbled a bit but soon relaxed, a now soft look in his eyes as he looked over at River who sat across from him. "This is her first infatuation, it is very cute, she is always so tough and acting older than she is," He said with a soft hum, Hannah agreed as she the brought up Sophia's fondness for Elios, but they are far to young to understand any of that.