Ro's life was a bit hectic in the coming weeks. What with the twins to look after and time spent with Roc that was well overdue. He took a trip to Nenlante at one point as well, visiting with B'Rodyn during an afternoon before returning to Corin and his duties there. It was nearly two weeks after the argument with Silverthorn that he found the time to get away for a bit. Saddling up Ziv and heading out into the wilds. He hadn't gone far when he opened a portal and galloped on through, emerging on the Green Heart Grounds.

Ghet?, he searched along the web for the redhead woman, Are you here? I need to talk to you.

Ghet was startled by Ro's touch on her mind. She'd been sitting by the water, quietly talking to her baby. This would be her last trip outside Riker's before she went to S'Hea for the birth. Moving at all was simply becoming too uncomfortable. Of course, sitting still was pretty uncomfortable, too. And lying down.

But Ro had tracked her down, and she could sense some... tension. Something wasn't right. She struggled to her feet. Down here. What's wrong? She was kind of nervous herself. Ro hadn't actually seen her for a while, and it was going to be a shock. It shocked her every time she accidentally saw it: she was practically square. Her body was beautifully designed, but not for this. She hated how vulnerable it made her, how slow and helpless. And yet... she would not trade it. Absently rubbing her belly, she waited.

Ro made a small movement and Ziv automatically changed direction, his heavily muscled body was meant for heavier gravity and he almost seemed to float over Berelath's terrain. The Stallion slowed at the sight of Ghet, snorting in recognition of the woman he had carried many a time. The half-elf dismounted before the Black Obsidian had fully come to a stop, a soft smile on his face as he gazed down at the woman who was carrying his child.

"Hey you," he greeted, striding easily across the grass to join her. "I've brought you something. You didn't have to get up, you know." He leaned in to kiss her cheek, his hand automatically touching her abdomen in silent greeting to his son.

Ghet smiled. "Oh, I had to get up. Because you see..." And sure enough, as soon as he heard his father's voice, their baby squirmed, kicking hard. "That really hurts sitting down." She shook her head ruefully. "There's no accounting for taste, I suppose."

She sat again, gingerly. "So what did you bring me? Extra body space? I'm thinking of adding another wing, you know."

Ro couldn't help the grin that lit up his face when he felt their child respond to him. He chuckled softly and settled down next to her on the grass. Reaching into his doublet he rifled through his pocket, coming out with his flask first, blinking slightly, then producing a key. "Here we are. For you, from B'Rodyn. It is imprinted to portal right to the Cottage that is now," he pressed the key into her palm, "yours."

Emerald greens studied demin blue for a moment, "How are you? Are things ok? I know the baby is fine, but everything else?" Yes, he was putting off the inevitable.

Ghet took the key rather automatically, and blinked. "For me? From B'Rodyn?" There we go, pregnancy really did soften the brain. "My own cabin?" Her mind raced, immediately seeing the advantages, even though it made her think about things she'd rather avoid.

Finally she remembered to say, "Thank you. And thank him. It's so... I don't know what to say." B'Rodyn had always been so good to her, despite her rather irregular position in his family, the potential she held for disruption.

She felt awkward feeling grateful, so she changed the subject. "Your baby is fine. He's killing me. My back hurts, my legs hurt, I can't breathe, I can only waddle short distances..." She winced. "What about you?"

"I'll do that," he said with a smile, "B'Ro is a good man. He wanted to make sure you had someplace to call home there. Everyone of the 'blood' should have someplace there." The half-elf tucked his flask back into his doublet and just looked at her for a moment. "You're beautiful, you know. I'm sorry its uncomfortable. I'd help if I could."

It was a rather surreal feeling, seeing her this way, to know his child was growing, thriving in a woman he could no longer touch. Life had thrown him yet another curve ball, and he was going to have to life with it. The light in his eyes died a little, "Don't worry about me. You are the one doing the hard part here. I'm fine."

Ro had no idea how he was going to tell her. He had asked to be there when their son was born, and now he had to go back on that. Everything in him screamed against how wrong if felt to ignore his nature. Every natural instinct he possessed demanded that he be there for the birth of his son. Yet he was putting that aside for his wife's sake, to preserve Arianne's sanity. If it meant losing his own ... so be it.

"Ok ... maybe fine is the wrong word. Gods Ghet ... I couldn't be deeper in hell if I tried."

Ghet blushed when he told her he thought she was beautiful. He was insane, of course, but that didn't make her any less embarrassed, or touched by his kindness.

That something was paining him, she knew. To hear him voice that pain still hurt her. When there was pain, she comforted. She couldn't bear to do otherwise. Both her affairs had started that way. She had never stopped, she couldn't. She reached out and drew his head down to what was left of her lap, hugging him as best she could. "Ro, love, you'd better just tell me. You know you have to be much further away to keep secrets from me. I know you never asked for any of this." She stroked his hair gently, tender. She had tried so hard to escape from her feelings, but it seemed the Fates had other ideas.

Ro closed his eyes for a moment, taking comfort in something as familiar as breathing. Her tone and touch brought back memories best left in the past and he shuddered helplessly, gentle touching her abdomen and for one second ... feeling the connection of family between them.

Guilt hit him head on and the half-elf slowly sat up, removing Ghet's hands from his hair with gentle fingers. "I don't deserve your comfort," he murmured. "I did ask for one thing, Ghettie ... and now I can't have even that. I can't be there when our son is born. Silverthorn ..."

The Prince didn't know how to put it into words. For once in his life he looked incredibly small, beaten. "I've hurt her enough."

Ghet frowned. She'd found it hard enough to accept in the first place, what would happen when she gave birth, but she had. It had been a long process, she knew what the cost to herself would been, but she had made those choices. Not for herself, not even for him, but for the sake of their child.

Her hands tightened as she fought down her initial reaction, keeping her temper in hand for now. "Why, Ro? What did you ever deliberately do to hurt her? What did you do that cost her, when you could have done something differently?" She didn't want, at all, to get involved in a dispute between Y'Roden and his wife, but she also knew what Y'Roden was like with blame. "Why, Ro? What's her reason?"

Ro watched Ghet's hands, reading the tension there that she tried to keep from her voice. He was quiet for a moment, not sure how to voice what the trouble was. "What have I done?," he stared at the grass instead then. "I've put my own needs ahead of hers when she needed me most. I've damaged our marriage through some incredibly stupid decisions. The 'If Onlys' could choke a horse."

The half-elf looked up at his ex-lover, catching her gaze. "Ghet ... I know you don't understand the relationship I have with Silverthorn. I don't expect you too. But you, of all people, should know that everything is not always as it seems. What seems cold and hard on the outside often hides a completely different interior. She can't handle it, and I can't ask her too. Not now ... I can't do that to her."

His gaze dropped away from her eyes to her abdomen... their child, and his jaw clenched. "He'll hate me for it. Maybe thats what I deserve, eh?"

There was worse than Ghet's rages. There was her utter coldness, that held only contempt. "Get over yourself, Ro. This isn't about her needs, or your needs. You're not punishing yourself. This isn't about what you deserve, what she deserves, and it certainly hasn't been about what I deserve, has it? This is about your son. He's the one who's going to suffer for this, Ro, not you.

"I asked why, Y'Roden. Did you? What's her reason? What the hell gives her the right to hurt my child! No, I haven't understood it, I want to understand it. I need to know why it's such a big deal for her. I don't want you to tell me her secrets, any more than I wanted you to tell her mine, but that didn't matter, did it? But I need to know her reasons. This can't be between the two of you any longer. In case you haven't noticed, we're running out of time. What was it you told me about Galain? Grown men who could take care of themselves? That the welfare of your helpless child comes first? That flew out the window pretty damn fast, didn't it?"

She gave a bitter little laugh. "This is fascinating, this is. I'd love to know what the process was, that made your wife the victim here. Because, after all..." She caught his eye and held it, cold and hard. "What have you done to her that could be worse than what you did to me?"

"That was uncalled for," Ro snapped, his eyes suddenly flaring red, "And do you think that I don't know that if it had been Galain saying no, you would have slammed the door in my face without so much as a by your leave? It is all fine and dandy when it is you taking your husband's side, but let me take Silverthorn's and suddenly I'm a real bastard."

He took a shuddering breath, but it didn't help. "You have NO idea what Arianne has been through, and NO damn right to judge her! You aren't the only one that has been hurt, not the only one to be left broken and bleeding by some unfeeling bastard. Yes, the welfare of my child should come first, would come first, but I won't watch my wife have a mental breakdown because of it, anymore than YOU would just stand back and watch the same happen to Galain."

Normally, at this point Ghet would have stood up, hit him, and stalked about while abusing him. Right now, of course, by the time she managed to drag herself to her feet, she'd have calmed down. So she just cut straight to the abuse. She was hanging out to smack him one, though.

"Gods, Ro, what do you think happened? I went to Galain and said, hey, Ro wants to be there when our baby's born, and Galain said, yeah, whatever, have we got any more beer? He doesn't want you anywhere near me, ever, and you can hardly blame him. Have you got any idea how many people have tried to talk me out of this, what it could cost me? I've fought for this! I know I'm not the only one who got hurt by this. We all did, that's my point! You think this is what I want? And you realise I have no f'narking idea what the hell you're on about?"

She was beginning to wonder how she ever could have loved this man, so blind, so frustrating. Why couldn't he see? Her voice dropped, low but none the less determined. "I'm not putting myself first. I'm certainly not putting Galain first, and you of all people should know how big a sacrifice that is for me. I'm putting our child first. I'm risking my life to do that and dammit if you ever tell Galain I said that I'll kill you myself. And yes, I'd put the baby's welfare before Galain's. I don't know if you believe me, and right now I don't particularly care."

She shrugged. She was exhausted. "I asked him, ages ago, about you being there and he said he'd need to think about it. We haven't spoken about it since. Not once. But by gods, if he put his foot down, I'd rip it off. It's not like Y'Roce, Ro. Our baby knows you, he loves you. How do you think he'll feel if he's born and you're not there? How can you do that? How can she make you do that?"

Her face set, hard. She'd come to a decision, and surprisingly it was mostly about Y'Roden. He needed to not be caught in the middle like this, between two women with absolutely implaccable wills. "I need to talk to Silverthorn myself."

"I don't know!," Ro hadn't meant to yell, but it came out that way. His hands were visibly shaking by this point and if he had been anyone other than who he was, the half-elf would have broken down into frustrated tears. He managed somehow to get a grip on things and lower his voice. "I don't know why. All I know is that she is on the edge and I'm terrified that she is going to fall."

There it was. He was so damned afraid...

"It took me so long to find her Ghet. I love her more than life. If I lost her I'd ... I'd rather be dead." The flask came out and he tipped it back for a moment. "I want to be there Ghet, there is nothing I want more. I love our son. You just ... you can't imagine the position I'm in right now. It isn't like Galain is going to ..." He sighed, running agitated fingers through his hair, "Galain would be angry ... angry we can handle. What Arianne would be ... I can't. I don't know if I can let you talk to her Ghet. " He suddenly looked up, meeting her gaze with an utterly lost expression, "I'm too afraid."

Ghet winced. All these mid-argument course corrections were starting to make her head spin. She wanted to hold him, to let him know she felt compassion for him. She frowned, thinking hard. "You're telling me, what, that there's something locked up inside her, some secret, that's affecting her reaction to this? Something repressed that's making her... unbalanced? Rodi, whatever it is, it has to come out, you know that. Even if it wasn't for this, for our baby, it has to come out, for her sake. You did it for me, twice. You and I both know... you can't leave these things to fester. They don't go away. They break out sometime, the best you can do is control when it is."

She sighed. "You know me, Ro, you do, under all the anger. You know, if it were anyone but Silverthorn, I'd help. If it were up to me, I'd still help, but I'm the last person she'd want seeing her vulnerable, poking in her mind. You have to do it, Ro, you have to make her do it. You saved me, you can save her."

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Rodi, I am. If we had time... but we don't. I can't wait for the two of you to sort it out. You've had months. I don't. I have weeks. The fewer weeks I have the better, just believe me. I'm sorry. But I have to at least try to change her mind. I have to. Please understand. I don't want to hurt her, but I don't want my child hurt. Being hurt doesn't give you the right to hurt others. It might help, Ro. But even if it doesn't... I'm doing it."

Ro sighed and shook his head, "I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. I know what is locked inside my wife. I have seen, and one fine day, someone is going to die quite painfully for what they've done. We are dealing with it ... step by step, at a pace that she can handle without breaking. It isn't something that any amount of poking around in her head is going to fix. She is different from you or I, Ghet, Arianne has to find her own way. All I can do is be her rock, and I've failed miserably at that. What I don't understand, is why she doesn't want me to be there for the birth of our son. She finds the thought of it repugnant."

He shrugged helplessly, "I'm S'Hean ... I've never understood the males of other races that are not there for their mates ... or ... well, you know what I mean. The mothers of their children. How can bringing your child into the world be repugnant, or wrong? If I don't understand the problem, how can I make it right? I can't make her see, and the more I push... the more I hurt her. Hurting her right now, hurting her at all.. ever, is not acceptable."

His gaze caught Ghet's, a pleading expression in his eyes. "I can't stop you from doing what you feel is right, Ghetti. But please, for me ... don't lay into her. I know you don't like each other ... ok, that is an understatement. Just ... please. Agh! Could this be any more of a mess?"

Ghet gave a long, tired, frustrated groan. "Damn. I was really hoping you did understand, because it doesn't make the slightest bit of sense to me, either. I don't understand why she should draw the line here. It's like... no, there's no point in speculating. But I do have to know. If I can understand her reasoning, if it makes sense, then I'll agree to it. But if it doesn't... If there isn't a good reason for this, if it just 'hurts her feelings'... she's hurting my baby, Ro, it's too much to ask of me that I not be angry. Nobody gets a pass from me because they've suffered. No-one. Who do you know who hasn't? And who do you know who'd even ask to be treated differently because of it? Gods, I am sooooo sick of this."

She closed her eyes for a long moment, hands resting on her abdomen. "I'm sorry I can't give you, or her, any more time. I'm sorry anyone has to suffer, but they do. It's not my doing. Dammit, we all need to talk, all four of us. We've been fencing around this for far too long. I need to stop stalling and talk to Galain, he's got a right to be there. And I suppose we'll have to go to her?" Ghet winced. Whispin was not an attractive thought right now. It wasn't really at any time, but now... "Remind me to teach you people about gravity regulation sometime."

A look of concern flickered over Ro's features and one of his massive hands covered hers. "Alright Ghettie, we will give it a try. We will meet you in Nenlante. I can keep you fairly comfortable there, the magic can counteract the gravity a bit. Plus, it is neutral ground. Corin isn't a good idea, I don't want Arianne feeling like her home is being invaded. Just tell me when you want us there."

He suddenly put his arms around her the best he could, holding her for a moment. Something the redhead had said coming back to haunt him. Fear clutched at him. He may have walked away from what they had, but he still loved her in a way. The thought of Ghet risking her life for their child left him shaken. "I'm sorry Ghet, I'm being an absolute ass and that is the last thing you need." He kissed her forehead and drew back, managing a halfhearted smile. "You have every right to be angry. Gods, everyone in this mess has a right to their feelings."

Ghet flushed. Why did it hurt so much when he was kind to her? Life would be some much easier if it could just be over between them, if they could just get separate. Not that she would wish on her child parents who hated each other... she hugged him delicately to her, then let go. "You'll get no argument from me there," she said with a rueful chuckle. "It's probably the only thing we could get everyone to agree about, that this is just screwed."

She caught the look in his eyes, and frowned. "Ro, don't, okay? I've made my decision, and if nagging doctors can't change my mind, you won't. Yes, there's an element of risk, but on the other hand I could get run over by a truck tomorrow. Well, actually, right now a truck would probably just bounce off... I'll get Galain. You get Silverthorn. And Ro? Don't let her run, okay? Please."

"Hey," Ro said gently, "I won't try to change your mind, but I'm allowed to be worried. I still care, you know, and that IS my son in there. Not that you could possibly forget." His smile was rueful and a sigh shook his chest. "She won't run. Trust me. Now let me help you up."

The half-elf got to his feet, then bent and pretty much lifted Ghet onto hers. There was advantages to being a big fellow sometimes. Though by the looks of Ghetsuhm at the moment, there were certain disadvantages as well.

Well, there was nothing quite like not being able to stand up by yourself... Ghet gave an evil little chuckle as she found her feet again. Well, not 'found', it wasn't like she chould see them or anything. "Oh, I'm not going to forget. It's your name I'll be screaming, and not in the old way."

She kissed his hand, as that was easiest. She was pretty clear on how she felt. She loved him. She was no longer in love with him. It was a small but incredibly important difference. "I'll see you soon, then. I'd give a lot to not have to do this, you know."

She turned away, towards the inn. She paused to rub Ziv's nose on the way past: she was still very fond of the horse that had, bizzarely enough, looked after her when she was sick with grief. Then she moved away, without looking back, up to the inn where her husband was.

Galain, love? We need to talk. Why was that never a good thing?