Ian felt more alert than he had in days, though admittedly it was a nervous kind of alert. Bethany, balanced on his hip with her arms around his neck, bounced happily-- she hadn't seen much of him, since her uncle Zale had come and "rescued" her, but now was perfectly content to just hang on him-- but he felt a little sick. Her bouncing didn't help, but he didn't stop her.

It had been two and a half weeks since Nova left, but it felt like much longer. Two weeks since he'd lost his job and his daughter-- the latter only temporarily, of course. Nine days since Nova collected the last of her things; he'd been careful not to look as bad as he felt, on that one day, so as not to make her feel guilty. Four days since Zale told him what he'd been signed up for and warned him to look presentable. Two hours since his brother, his neice, and his brother's dragon had showed up at his door, smiling hopefully, excitedly, and understandingly, respectively, to make sure he did look presentable, to take him out to lunch, and to bring him here.

He rather wished they'd skipped the "lunch" part, now that he was here. It felt uncomfortably heavy in his stomach, as he looked across the large, crowded bay at the half-dozen eggs.

"I'll take her," Zale said, distracting him temporarily. Bethany was reluctant to be taken, however, and Ian found himself a little reluctant to let her go. The feeling was fleeting, like most feelings had been the past two and a half weeks, but he was slow to turn her over, anyway.

"Don't let her get jostled," he warned. "Or get loose."

"We'll watch her," Zale promised, settling her on his hip, instead. She waved at hand at Ian, looking a little sad, but not making a huge fuss at having to let him go.

"Keep her away from smokers, it's bad for her to breathe it in. And don't buy her anything-- if they sell anything at these sorts of events."

"Relax," Zale laughed. "Let me be the big brother and look after things for once. I promise I'm able." Ian sighed and nodded, and Wiro gave him a gentle nudge with her muzzle towards the rocking clutch and waiting candidates.

::We'll be fine,:: she said in his head. ::Go on.::

So Ian went.

And he came back, feeling a little dazed and still seeing afterimages from multiple flashes of light, not even an hour later. It all seemed to have happened rather quickly. Eggs had hatched, the audience had cheered, bondings had happened... his own being the very first. He had a brightly colored little dragon-- well, Calixto's head came up well past his hip, for all he was still a baby, so maybe not "little"-- trotting confidently, if a bit clumsily on his hatchling-paws, along next to him.

"That's my brother and my little girl," he said, probably pointlessly, as he expected Calixto already knew that. "And my brother's dragon, Wiro. Apparently this was her idea."

"I think it was a good idea," Calixto answered with a pleased sort of smile. "Are you going to introduce me?"

"Oh. Yes." They closed the distance between Ian's waiting family-- and Ian obligingly took Bethany from Zale when she reached out a hand for him-- and said, "This is Calixto."

"Hey," Calixto answered, sitting back and waving one damp, fuzzy wing at them in greeting.

"Calixto, this is Zale, Wiro, and--"

"Beth'ny!" his daughter interrupted, waving a hand down at the hatchling.

"And Bethany," Ian finished with a little smile.

Calixto bobbed his head at brother and dragon, both of whom smiled, looking quite pleased with the situation, then sat up on his haunches to take Bethany's hand in his forepaw and shake it solemnly. Bethany beamed at him, and he couldn't hold the serious expression and broke into snickers. Well, at least he might get along with his daughter....

The whole lot of them went to Zale's apartment for a while, and the lot of them got involved in helping get Calixto's fur clean of albumen, then out to dinner. Calixto hadn't eaten much at his hatching, but he was ravenous by the time dinner arrived. Ian actually smiled some, took part in conversation, and held his daughter the whole time. The alertness hadn't faded, though he was no longer nervous, and he certainly didn't think about-- anything upsetting. Calixto seemed like a good sort, caring and friendly and cheerful, but not overwhelmingly so. The hatchling seemed to like him well enough, too, and that was good. He'd been a bit concerned, though really only a bit, since he hadn't really thought about it that much until today actually came. He was starting to think that maybe letting his brother talk him into bonding-- bully him into it, more likely-- hadn't been such a bad idea.

But then the door slid open to the apartment and the lights came on inside, and Bethany said hopefully into the empty living room, "Mommy?"

And it all came crashing back down again.

There was a moment of silence, where only Ian's shaky breathing and Wiro's dragon-sized-and-volumed breathing was audible. Then Bethany, not oblivious even if she couldn't understand what exactly was wrong, broke it with a little whimper. That seemed to release the others from the binding of wordlessness, but Ian didn't really listen.

::Oh, um, we'll go if... you want, Ian,:: Wiro said from outside, head ducked to door-level and mind-voice sad.

"Uh, and maybe we should...." Zale trailed off, whether out of discomfort or simply running out of words, and made to take Bethany, who was starting to look unhappy at the lack of a mother answering her and lack of a father comforting her.

"You can leave her here," Calixto said quietly. "We'll be fine."

Zale gave the hatchling a dubious look, but Ian was already setting her down, automatically to stop her squirming, and she took off at a clumsy jog further into the house. Probably looking for "mommy".

"We'll be around," Zale said.

::If you need us,:: Wiro added, as if finishing the thought for her bond.

"Thank you."

Ian echoed Calixto's polite words absently, drifting after his daughter. There was a held breath behind him, as if Zale was thinking of something else he might say, but then he backed out of the apartment and the door slid shut, and whatever he'd thought to say went unsaid.

The apartment was pretty quiet for a while. Bethany only asked where Nova was once, then when he didn't answer, let Ian get her ready for bed. He might not have gotten all the way through the bath and pajamas and tucking in, but Calixto helped, keeping him on track and at least a little focused, though he didn't say much, either. What he did say had nothing to do with an absent wife, or whatever he was getting across their new bond. He mostly talked about future plans, like when they'd move into a bigger place with a dragon-sized compartment-- "the sooner the better; maybe we can call movers tomorrow"-- and when dragon-bonder classes began-- "I think they kind of have a week of orientation then just kind of throw you in wherever you fit"-- and whether he could go to school with Bethany, instead-- "probably not, they don't really teach much there, do they?" He gave Bethany a nuzzle when Ian nearly broke down and cried instead of kissing her, and made sure her night-light was on before they closed the door.

Calixto could have slept on the couch, but he followed Ian into his bedroom when Ian decided he'd had enough of trying to read, watch the holo, and not cry and thought sleep might be a better option. Ian didn't bother to correct him. When the hatchling ducked under his arm a few minutes after the lights went out and let him sob into the downy fur on his shoulders and wings, he didn't try to pull away. When Bethany came in not long after, when he'd lapsed into hiccoughs, and wriggled between them, he let her. And when she then fell asleep under wing and arm, both, Ian actually dared to think he might feel a little better.

Just a little bit.

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