Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lore looked up, it was quite a different thing seeing her without a book in hand.

"Lunch sounds like a fine idea," Lore agreed.

He hadn't noticed he had become a bit cool in here, but then again the coolness wasn't that bad yet.

Elnara watched as Alyse built up the fire and headed to the kitchen, then turned to Lore and giggled softly.

"You know," she murmured, "in some ways ... she sort of reminds me of Kakko. A little whirlwind when she wants to be. But at least she's a helpful whirlwind - I feel warmer already."

Still, she pulled the blanket that was around her shoulders a bit tighter, adjusting it so that it would cover more of her.

Elnara's eyes grew thoughtful as she gazed at the fire. "Well ... I haven't heard from her in ... about a year before our wedding," she murmured, "so ... I really don't know what's going on with her."

Her eyes turned to Lore. "I still feel as though I should apologize for her ... she really has no sense of personal space ... she even made me uncomfortable at times."

Nothing compared to what her brother had done, but that was all in the past now.

Elnara blushed. "What with the preparations for the wedding and everything else that's been happening ... I'm ashamed to admit that I hardly noticed," she admitted. "But it is partially my own fault ... I went for so long without visiting the cafe, I should have opened it a bit more often."

Though to be fair, she did have many children who deserved her attention, and it had been hard enough as things had stood to get some private time with Lore. On the other hand, it made the past half-year in the Borderlands all that much more precious to her.

She laughed suddenly, thinking of Kakko and her brother. "Funny, isn't it, how far we've come since our first meeting?" she smiled dreamily at Lore. "I was so ... bitter back then."

Elnara laughed. "Trying to explain to Celebor what a father is ... wasn't that one of the first ones?" She giggled. "And now look at everything. He has a real father. He is a real father ... and us ..."

She leaned forward and reached across the chess board to take hold of Lore's hand and squeeze it tightly.

"Look at us," she whispered urgently. "We're about to be parents - not of children we've adopted, but a true and natural baby ..."

Those conversations about not having found the right person for them, about never having thought of having a family, or not thinking it possible ... they truly had overcome the impossible.

Elnara smiled warmly, her eyes sparkling brightly as she looked at Lore. There was no need for a reply ... the answer was obvious. How many conversations of the sort had they had during the first while they had known each other? Both of them doubting that they would ever marry, let alone have children.

She slowly let go of his hand and rose to her feet, adjusting the blanket around her shoulders again.

"I think I'm going to dress a bit warmer before Alyse calls us for lunch," she smiled at Lore. "I know it's not nearly as cold as it's going to get ... but I was raised in a desert, after all."

She giggled softly and shuffled off towards the bedroom.

"Elnara's just going to get changed into something warmer," Lore explained.

He had been watching her shuffle off when Alyse came in. Lore wondered if he should wait here or if Elnara would guess to come into the kitchen.

"So we'll wait a bit."