âHmrmm.â<br/><br/>So he was a good guy one minute, and a moron the next. Fair enough.<br/><br/>It wasnât something heâd even seriously considered, marriage. That was what you were supposed to do when you knocked someone up. His parents probably would haveâ¦ well, they would probably have wanted to meet her, but who was he kidding, there wasnât a chance in hell they wouldnât adore Celeste. More likely heâd get all the negative attention for not taking care of himself, what the scars and are, and not throwing a ring on her the first time he slept with her. Not because they were that strict about that stuff. She was wealthy, smart, beautiful, and there were clearly mutual strong feelings for each other? She would have been the catch not to let get away.<br/><br/>And his mother probably would have gotten to know her real well, and tell her all about how the archeology and historic departments for public museums and research were all so under appreciated and unfunded, only the collections for rich menâs private show rooms and expeditions for things that were thought to be magic ever went onâ¦<br/><br/>He had to shake his head to snap himself out of it.<br/><br/>It was all stamped out in his head, him standing there, green-blueish eyes and devoid of scars, ushering Celeste and a little bouncing pudgeball into the shade, down in Barthavos, taking her out to show her the digs while the baby slept.<br/><br/>It was a bit much to hope for, but it was a beautiful image.<br/><br/>He heard the rest of what she said too, about the baby, about love, butâ¦ that didnât really come into it. She was talking to a man who looked like a living monument to masochism. Heâd known hard times, and there was a puff of proud denial in his chest that it was all worth it, his case, sure things wouldnât always go swell, but it would be beautiful through and through and worth it to the end.<br/><br/>He didnât really think she was talking to him anymore, though. He let her go, and sat and cleared his mind, letting all the rest of the words trail through his thoughts and settle before he just tried and let it all go blank for a little while. Not too much. Just imagine a beat in his head and let the rest drown outâ¦<br/><br/><br/><br/>When the bathroom door opened, heâd be standing not far away, relaxing, the only male sized bathrobe thrown over him, but fixed so loosely it barely kept closed enough to cover the goods.<br/><br/>âCel~â<br/><br/>He didnât ask her how her stomach was, but gave her a firm squeeze about the shoulders, high enough not to unsettle it, all grins.<br/><br/>âYou two were in there long enough I started to worry, I was missing out on something,â he teased, kissing the tip of her nose.<br/><br/>He was able to grin at Tellus too, but he didnât push the act for the moment. He still wanted to do her, of course. He was a man. But he hadnât cleared and refilled his mind quite so thoroughly yet to want to get cuddly and real familiar with him at the moment like he was with Cel. Doubted sheâd miss it too much anyway.