Welcome to Gaia! ::

Keeta stuffed a final book into a box, before grabbing the tape and sealing it shut. This was the third box she had filled with just books and there were still quite a few books to pack. It seemed she had accumulated quite of few of them since her move to Gaia. And now she was moving again.

The house was in general disarray with boxes and random things piled everywhere as Keeta tried to organize her packing. Funny how it always seemed one had to make a bigger mess before getting something truly tidy.

The blue-haired elven woman didn't look much better. Her hair, that was growing out quite a bit had been secured with a handkerchief and she was dressed in her "grubbies." Dirt and dust was smeared on her clothes and even her face. Such was the fate of one who was packing.

Keeta was about to greet Jiao'lan when the patter of little feet and a shock of blue hair came from behind her, and then past her, heading straight for Jiao'lan.

"Ji-an!" was Joel's greeting as he skidded to a stop in front of the Keikancho-Jin. He face broke into a wide grin and he wrapped himself around her lower body. He hadn't seen her since the birthday party and he had been too busy playing with the other kids to really say a proper Joel hello.

"Hi!" he said happily.

Camille followed him down the hallway at a much more reasonable pace. They had been playing with blocks in their shared bedroom while Keeta had worked on packing boxes in other rooms of the house. She waved from a ways back, knowing better than to get in her brother's way.

Keeta rolled her eyes, but smiled at Joel's enthusiasm. She was glad to see him back to his old self. Regardless, she stepped forward and started to remove Joel, so Jiao'lan could move freely.

"Joel, honey, no one wants to get bowled over the second they come inside. Give them a chance to sit down first at least." She smirked and looked up at Jiao'lan.

"Guess it would be kind of redundant for me to say hello at this point."

Joel reluctantly removed his grip on Jiao'lan, only to transfer it to Keeta. She rolled her eyes again. While the boy was hyper and exuberant, he was also clingy.

"I've mangaged to get a lot of the kitchen stuff and my bookshelves started. I think in the end though....I made more of a mess than I started with." Keeta made a face and then laughed.

"I can't say I envy you the moulting though. I'd take packing over moulting any day." She made a sympathetic face.

Camille, feeling like it was safe to come forward now, gave Jiao'lan a soft hug, before pointing at the stained pink cloth.

"What's that?" she said curiously. She wasn't used to Jiao'lan wearing pink. She pointed out the very thing that Keeta had been politely trying to ignore.

Keeta wasn't fazed in the slightest by the cloth. Being a mother herself, she was used to things of that nature. She shrugged. A few more little kid germs were not going to affect things in the house one way or another.

"Just throw it anywhere. We'll just have to be sure we don't pack it on accident," she said with a chuckle and a wink. Disentangling herself from Joel, she set him on the floor and scooted both him and Camille back towards their room.

"Go on and play. Mommy and Jiao'lan need to work on packing out here and I don't want you to get hurt. And if you're good, I'll make spagetti for lunch." The two small children headed back to their room, peeking behind them as they went. When they were in their room, out of earshot, she whispered to Jiao'lan.

"I'd make spagetti anyways. It's their favorite and I feel bad having to coop them up in there while I tear down the only home they've ever known so that I can move them to a new one, with a man I want to be their daddy..."

"Thanks Jiao'lan. I appreciate hearing that come from someone outside the family I'm marrying into. It seems I spend most of my time among them nowadays, so it's good to hear it from somewhere else. Not that I mind being with his family, it's just overwhelming at times. There's always chaos of some variety at his mother's house." She cocked a half smile and glanced down the hallway towards the children's door.

"I'm glad they have a lot of energy though, because they'll need it keeping up with Joel." She chuckled.

"I just can't believe I'm finally getting married and moving and all that....I mean I thought I was getting married once before, to Kael, and that fell through...Makes me a little nervous as we get closer, so it's good to hear someone else have faith in what Rhine and I have."

"Oh yes, Ceres is always looking out for them when I bring them over to her. I dunno if it'll be weird for the kids to call her grandma though, or if she'd even want that, because she and I were friends before Rhine and I were together. Makes things just that much more complicated....." She smiled and gave Jiao'lan's shoulder a squeeze when she noticed the slight longing in her eyes when she talked about grandparents. Keeta hadn't forgotten how Jiao'lan had cried out for her mother and how she had 'lost' her, when bringing Mi'Ako into the world. She sighed before continuing.

"I just can't wait 'til the wedding gets here and is over with though. It will be both a joy and a relief. We've got most of the major things taken care of...the wedding and reception are going to be held at Rhine's cafe, and the catering done by the cafe staff. I have my dress and the rings have been picked out. We've got a place to live, hence the packing....there's really only one major thing I haven't taken care of on my end."

"Well Rhine's done a lot. It's been easier than other weddings I've heard about, because the ceremony, the reception and catering are all being taken care of by his business. No having to search endlessly and put deposits down on things, blah, blah, blah." She smirked.

"Makes things run more smoothly when you have connections like that. As for the other thing...well..." Keeta suddenly became fidigty and looked down, as if nervous. She chided herself for her behavior but couldn't change the fact that for whatever reason, she was uncertain about what she was going to say next. Maybe she was afraid her friend would say no?

"I haven't selected a Matron of Honor yet...and well...I was hoping you'd fill that role and stand there next to me on my wedding day....Will you? Will you be my Matron of Honor?" Keeta hoped this was a concept that was familair to Jiao'lan. She didn't expect that the customs were the same where she was from, but she was already nervous enough about asking, without having to explain it to her on top of things.

"Oh....well..." Keeta reached up a hand and scratched her head, only casting intermitant, brief glances at Jiao'lan. Her cheeks flushed slightly and she felt even more embarassed knowing how odd this must look to Jiao'lan. Why did she find this so damn difficult to ask and explain? Probably because when one laid it all out there it didn't sound as glamourous as it did to people familiar with the concept.

"It's...normally considered an honor to be asked. The matron of honor....you, if you say yes.....would... basically be my support up to, and through the wedding. Umm...you would help me plan things and put them together.... help keep me sane.... and when the day comes you'd stand up there with Rhine, myself.... and a person of his choosing to be witness to our wedding." Keeta frowned slightly and looked up, hoping that her explaination made sense, first of all, and that Jiao'lan would be agreeable to it.