Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 4)

Zander noted the warning. He wasn't sure what that meant, exactly, but it sounded like Aleth had put her through hell so he probably had this Tadaaki fellow as well.

Zander was a bit surprised at how big Tadaaki was. For whatever reason, he'd been imagining a slender wimpy boy. Not the hearty man that stood in front of him now, holding his presumable-daughter and guiding his presumable-wife.

Ky bounced happily, looking between them all, being struck with the realization that these were some of her very favorite humans on this entire planet.

"Tadaaki, this is Zander." Ky guided Zander towards Tadaaki, but stopped a few steps away, letting Tadaaki approach instead.

Tadaaki extended a hand. "An honor to meet you, sir."

"Psh, I'm no sir." Zander waved his hand, but then took Tadaaki's and gave it a firm shake, grinning at him. "And the pleasure's all mine."

"This is Aashi," Ky said, gesturing at her. Then she pointed at Tasia. "And Tasia, their daughter."

"Ma'am," Zander said, dipping his head as he offered Aashi a hand.

She shook it with a smile. "It's so nice to meet you."

Tomhas wondered offhand if Aashi would commit the same faux pas she had at dinner that night--if there was anything that would trigger Zander as easily as it did Tomhas and Gaius. Hopefully not.

Tasia looked at Zander skeptically. “You look like Ky!”

“Thank you!” Zander said with a grin. “I count any similarity to Ky a compliment… but wouldn’t she look like me since I’m older?”

Ky smiled at the interaction, heart bursting with pride at the compliment.

“No,” Tasia said, shaking her head. “Ky was here first so you look like her.”

“Fair enough,” Zander said with a laugh.

“Let’s sit down,” Ky prompted, gesturing at the seats.

Ky and Zander sat on a sofa. Tadaaki and Aashi took the one opposite them, and Tasia stood beside it with her hand on Tadaaki’s knee, still starting at Zander.

“Is he like you, too?” Tasia demanded, looking at Ky.

“He is,” Ky answered with a smile. Like how she used to be anyway. But Ky knew Tasia was just asking if he was trustworthy. “Better than me, even.”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE,” Tasia said accusingly. “You’re the bestest and you know it!”

Ky laughed at that. Oh, the innocence of a child. How young. How naive. She clearly didn’t notice how easily Ky flinched still or the anxiety that oozes from her every moment of the day. Zander had always been better than her, but doubly so now that she was so broken. There were very few good things left in Ky these days.

“Hey, hey, Ky!” Tasia said, not waiting for a response. She darted forward to slap Ky’s knee.

“What?” Ky said with a grin.

“Knock knock!”

“Who’s there?”

“Wahoo! Why are you so excited about?” Tasia dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Ky and Zander both laughed at that. The delivery had been terrible, but her reaction to her own joke was hysterical.

(Kiddo)

Tomhas chuckled; look at what he'd done! That was something he loved about being a father and being around kids in general--children always thought he was a riot, even if he did something absolutely ridiculous. It was refreshing not to have to pretend to be the grown-up all the time, even though he technically was one.

Tasia scrambled into Ky’s lap, being careful to take the knee further away from Zander. She snuggled into Ky’s arms as she wrapped them around her. Tasia made Ky feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The utter adoration; the cuddles. And she’d been won over so fast! Then again, Tasia had warmed up to almost everyone already — though she’d stayed skeptical of Ash and had been carefully kept away from the king so far. Gods knew they didn’t need that impending disaster.

“Who are you?” Tasia demanded once she was comfy.

“My name’s Zander. I’m Ky’s uncle.” He offered her a hand. “It’s nice to meet you, young miss.”

Tasia looked at him a long moment then shook his hand. “Why are you here?”

“To watch Ky’s adoption.”

That sent a flutter through Ky’s stomach. Right. The adoption. She wasn’t out of the woods yet — still had a ton of unwanted attention coming her way.

“I still don’t understand what that means,” Tasia announced.

"It means that I'm going to become Ky's father," Tomhas said helpfully. "Or something like a father. She'll be sisters with Oscar and Peter, and Raina and Lyra and Anneliese."

“Ohhh.” Tasia nodded, even though she still didn’t fully understand. “Can you adopt me too?”

“Tasia!” Aashi scoffed.

“What? I want to be sisters with Ky too!” Tasia snuggled back into Ky’s chest, earning another chuckle. “I’m sure Mr. Tomhas will adopt you and Papa too.” She looked back at Tomhas. “Right?”

Tomhas wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question. It seemed presumptuous to adopt an adult man who already had a wife and child. "I'm sure Ky is a sister of yours in spirit," he said carefully. "And I'm sure your mama is doing a great job of taking care of you both! You don't need me to step in, right?"

“Hmm…” Tasia said, furrowing her brow as she considered. Then she looked back at her parents. “Fine. If I can’t be adopteded then I want a little sister.”

Tadaaki snorted. “We’ll think about it.”

“Raina’s very cute,” Tasia persuaded.

“She is,” Tadaaki agreed, inclining his head.

“So you should adopteded a little sister for me too.”

Tadaaki smiled at her. “We’ll see.”

"Do you like to share your toys, Tasia?" Tomhas asked, resting his arms on his knees. "Cuz with little brothers and sisters sometimes you've got to share."

Tasia frowned at that. “My little sister wouldn’t do that. She’d be perfect.”

"But what if she thinks one of your dolls is fun? Wouldn't you want to show her how to play with it so you can play together?"

Tasia considered for a moment then nodded. “Yeah! That wouldn’t be so bad. I could teach her how to play cards and blocks and house!”

"See, there are good things about sharing! I had to share my books with my kids, for example, and now I can talk to them about them all the time, and we have things in common."

“What’s a book?” Tasia asked, cocking her head to the side.

“It’s something that has a story inside that you read,” Ky offered.

“I can’t read,” she stated.

“That’s okay,” Ky said encouragingly. “A lot of people can’t. It’s not a bad thing.”

“I want to learn how to read.”

Tadaaki and Aashi exchanged an uncomfortable look. For all they wanted to give their daughter, and ability to read couldn’t be one of them. No one in their township could teach any of them.

“How about I get you a picture book?” Zander cut in, feeling the tension. “Then you can tell us your own stories about what’s going on.”

Tasia considered them nodded. “That sounds fun.”