I gambled. “You go first.”
Thom just looked at me, then sighed, shaking his head. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing new,” I said, then sighed myself. I leaned into his chest. “I’m tired.”
“You’re always tired,” he murmured, then kissed the top of my head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a side effect of your being pregnant.”
“I’m sure part of it is,” I muttered, arms tightening around him for a moment before I looked up at him. “Though if your implication is that’s not what’s wrong with me right now—”
“You know that’s exactly what I’m implying.”
I smiled crookedly, a little bit of my tension and annoyance starting to drain away. “I love you, Thom.”
“I know.” He grinned back. “And we weren’t working on anything important. Mostly just talking. Matt’s trying to figure out at what point he’s going to get back to training. Jay told him he was batshit for even thinking about it right now.”
I frowned for a second, then it dawned on me. “Training with Thordin.”
Thom nodded. “He’s the best with axes and that’s what your brother’s working on learning.”
“I know.” I sighed again and closed my eyes, leaning into him, letting him hold me. “In some ways, that scares me.”
“That’s because you love him.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “He’s my brother.”
“In more than just this life,” Thom observed.
I nodded. “That’s true.”
He rubbed my back and I relaxed a bit more.
“Phelan’s sister is here,” I said. “That’s what I was dealing with when I came out here. There was a little too much bickering going on. I needed to breathe.”
“His sister,” Thom echoed, his voice quiet. “When did this happen? I didn’t hear any alarms or anything.”
“They kept it quiet,” I said. “He went out to the Arboretum with Sif and Seamus to make sure it was her before they brought them in. I didn’t know either.”
“I’m not sure whether to be upset or comforted.” Thom hugged me tighter. “At least we’re on the same page.”
“You have no idea,” I said, then buried my face against his chest. It seemed like the best place to be right then and there.
At least Marin and Thom are getting along right now. They can be… …contentious.
BTW: “Mat’s trying to figure out at what” Mat’s / Matt’s
Thanks–I’ll have to fix that. I’be got a “Mat” in the UNSETIC Files series, so I forget sometimes!
Happy to help.