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"Its gonna be fine, you know..." Zhane said to Sellexi from where he knelt, watching her as she swam lazy laps in the tub, pausing now and again to slap the surface with her tail or to grab for one of her ever-growing collection of rubber duckies that bobbed and floated on the surface.

This outing into town had happened to coincide with Lexi's naptime, and, with the understanding that they would not be gone long, and that Rose and Kayla likewise desired a nap, things had worked out well. Zhane had stopped in to say goodbye to her on his way out, but the brief check-in was going on a fifteen minute one-sided conversation.

"It won't be THAT big of a change. You and Seiji will always be our kids and we're not going to love you two any less, or the new baby any more."

The merchild was not even paying attention to him, and even if she was, she would not have been able to understand what he was going on about...

....which was exactly why he was talking to her. Because he needed to talk to -someone- about it, and it may as well be a someone guaranteed not to blow their stack. Lexi, it was turning out, was a good listener...sort of.

"And you know if you have any questions or anything about it, you can ask me, right?"

Splish!! The response was a fan of cold water washing over his face as her tail swatted the surface again, making her giggle a bit behind her hands. The ijiuo winced, mopping it out of his eyes with the back of his hand.

"You're lucky you're cute..." he grumbled, though it was not without its good nature as Lexi's giggles became a small peal of musical laughter.

He turned to look at Nani, giving her a smile. "Yeah, was just making sure she was settled in and all..."

Sellexi grinned, returning Nani's wave with the opening and closing of one tiny blue palm before returning her attention to the newest duck in her collection -- a large bright yellow one with blue eyes and a sailor hat. It was just big enough that she didn't quite have the strength to pull it under the water with her and watch it shoot back up to the surface as she enjoyed doing with the others.

....but that was not going to stop her from trying.

Watching her a moment more, Zhane shook his head and stood, leaning over to steal a quick kiss from Nani. "Where're we headed first?"

He hadn't been warned that there would be elves when they'd first shown up. He hadn't even been told that a new room was being built until he'd come back from a trip to his parents' house with a few boxes of his belongings to the sound of busy hammers and saws.

It was a little scary how things were already changing, and yet exciting at the same time.

"Sounds good." he said, linking his own arm around her waist as well as they left the bathroom, the light on and the door open so Sellexi could be easily heard by her babysitters if she needed anything.

Following Nani's gaze into the nursery being constructed, he set his jaw a bit. "Do Ren and Seiji know yet...?" he asked, lowering his voice a bit in case they were still somewhere nearby. He imagined they had to have asked SOMETHING about the new room by now, though neither of them had come to him about it.

Zhane didn't know how Seiji would take it either. After the way he'd reacted to him being gone for a few weeks, and the point-blank grilling him about his intentions with Nani, he half-expected the boy to hear his mother was pregnant and tell the both of them they were grounded.

With as rapidly as everything was being turned upside-down, who knew anymore, honestly?

At Ren's proclamation, Zhane gave her a grin "They are, huh? You better help us pick out what shades, then, if you're the room expert." Tinania's surprise at the statement was lost on him, having not given the room color much thought, himself as they headed up the stairs to join the two kids.

The way he saw it, he couldn't be expected to devote much thought to a nursery when they'd only JUST decided on what kinds of flowers they wanted at the wedding, after all.

His eyes narrowed in thought for a moment, going over the inventory at the house. They were okay on groceries, for once, they were okay on shower supplies...

All he could really think of was that he needed new batteries for his camera, but that was something he could do later. Would prefer to do later, in fact, as it would give him an excuse to pick up more things from home to transfer to the haven.

He was getting moved in....little by little, but it was happening.

"Nah, I think I'm all right for now." he told her, returning the smile and giving her a squeeze around her middle. "You feel up to driving today, or still queasy?"

He took the keys as she offered them, not really having been fishing for wanting to drive, but taking a hint. Relaxation really hadn't happened for either of them since the night they'd woken up bruised, scratched and puzzled, but it was moreso taking its toll on her lately.

As they neared the car, the location of Seiji's eyes was not lost on him....he imagined that the questions following were eminent. It was simply a matter of when and where they might happen.

Shaking it off, he fumbled the key into the lock on Nani's side, popping it open for her, and then moving to do the same for the back seats as well. "All right, let's get mov--" he trailed off, looking to Ren and chuckling at the scene he caught her in, cross-eyed with a butterfly on her nose.

Before it could be startled away, or she could move, he produced his camera from his jacket pocket, snapping a quick photograph. He tried not to be one of 'those' guys with a camera in everybody's face all of the time, but some moments were just too good not to keep forever.

A few moments later, the four of them were on the road. The roads were relatively clear as they had chosen the time for their outing in the lull between the morning crowd's rush to get to work and the lunch hour congestion and it made for smooth driving.

The rural, residential area began to give way to more buildings and shops before long as Zhane watched the passing signs. It occurred to him that he'd never been paint shopping before, and hoped Nani had some idea of where they were going as he kept his ears keened for directions.

Otherwise they were just going to end up poking around until they found it on their own.