What If She Doesn't

Writers: AL, Chelle
Date Posted: 9th September 2012

Characters: Veerona, Irabel
Description: Irabel and the little girl have a talk about relationships.
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 9, day 12 of Turn 6
Notes: Mentioned: Milga, Jylanya, Naton

She almost looked like a little fish. It was sort of comical the way
she was tootering around in the water, doing what was probably a copy
of what a canine would do in the same situation. Veerona never went too
far from Irabel and Kerchek-her new almost-friend- but she was enjoying
her newfound swimming skills.

"You're doing great Vee!" Irabel laughed at the child. She didn't get
very far or go very fast, but the child could go a few feet before she
had let her feet down. Soon enough, she'd be swimming like a dolphin.
"Make sure you cup your hands."

"I got it!" she yelled before accidentally getting water in her mouth.
Spitting the saltwater out, she grimaced before trying to swim again.
That water had fish pee in it-Margit had said so. When she returned
from her recent lap, she decided to ask Irabel. "Bel, does the seawater
have dolphin pee in it?"

"Yep." Irabel laughed - it was an honest question and one only a
child would ask. "And fish pee and any other animal pee. But it won't
hurt you. The salt acts like a cleanser."

"So gross," she commented with a grimace on her face. "Just like boys-they're
gross too." That was very matter-of-fact, though Veerona had yet to have
contact with a lot of boys.

"It's not really as bad as it sounds. It gets cleaned out, trust me.
There are lots of organisms and animals that help clean the ocean, plus
there's the salt which helps too." Irabel giggled a little. "Don't
like boys, huh?"

"All they want to do is be all touchy-feely and that's gross. Or they put
their big fat gloopy lips all over you." The look on her little face was
comical. Clearly she didn't want any of that anytime soon. "Naton
puts his big fat lips on Lany."

"Oh really?" Well now, that was a bit of news that Irabel hadn't
expected. "Not all boys do that. And they certainly don't do it to all
girls. And not all boys are icky. Depends on the boy."

"Well I don't want them near me. I can do everything I need to. Plus I
think Milga might be my friend," she said hopefully.

"You can't have too many friends, and Milga seems like a fine friend to
have." Irabel liked to see older children interacting with the younger
ones. It was good for both sides. "Do you two do things together?"

"Sometimes. She helped me with my hair and I watch her do some things."
Veerona didn't really understand the concept of pestering just yet so she
didn't think anything was wrong with following Milga when she could.

"Sounds like you have had fun with her. You like having your hair
done?" Irabel didn't really do much with hers, she kept it far too
short. Frankly, it was better that way - less trouble.

"Yeah. Sometimes it can get in the way when I have to pick shells and
stuffs. So when it's done up, it's not." She looked at her plait,
considering.

"Well, you can always ask your foster mother to do your hair for you as
well so it doesn't get in the way so much. That way you don't have to
wait on Milga," Irabel suggested with a small tilt of her lips. "Maybe
she can teach you how to do it yourself."

"Yeah she does it sometimes. Me...my fingers just don't work well enough.
I always make it look bad when I try." If she looked bad, the other kids would
laugh. That was the unspoken rule. "Sometimes she's busy, though. I mean
she is headwoman." That was very important-Veerona knew.

"It takes time. Don't give up and practice. Look at how far you came
with your swimming because you practiced." Irabel pointed out with a
soft laugh. "And yes, I'm sure she's busy, but I bet if you ask to
spend some time with you to teach you she'll make time for you."

"Now she makes time for Naton too," Veerona gave a confused look over it.
"And he was calling her Lany and everything without even asking. He visits
more than he used to."

"Is that so?" Irabel didn't have to ask why. Just that little tidbitwas enough for Irabel to
know why. "Sounds like they really like eachother."

"I guess." She looked down and wiggled her toes. "Bel, I don't want a Da.
And if Naton has this funny idea that he's going to be mine and lord it
over me...I don't like that." In some ways not having a parent had given Veerona
a certain amount of freedom. She saw what fathers did to other children at
the hall and she didn't like it.

"Dads can be fun though...and I honestly don't see Naton lording it
over you. Now, if he becomes your father, he'll have the right to
discipline, but I don't see him sneering about it and making out like
he's better than you." Irabel tilted her head to the side to regard the
young girl. "Any particular reason you don't want a father?"

"Fathers aren't any good. They don't think girls should be crafters like my
Momma. All they wanna do is marry you off and tell you what to do. And
then, what if Lany forgets about me because she's so busy with him?" Her voice
got smaller then when her real fear came out. "I never did have a Da you know."
She hadn't exactly been told the real reasoning behind that one.

"That's not necessarily true. Some fathers have no problem with women
crafters." Irabel reached out to give a gentle caress over the young
girl's hair. "I did...but he died when I was ten." Irabel reached out
to take the girl, effectively stopping her from swimming. "What's wrong
Vee. What's bothering you?"

"My Da was never around. Then Momma went away. Now I have Lany but
what if Naton takes her away or what if she loves him more than me and
wants to have babies with him?" She clung to her fostermother-her only
lifeline for the most part these days. It felt like she might be
slipping away.

Irabel began to slowly make her way toward the shore. "I'm not going to
lie to you, Veerona. It may be that their relationship grows and they
decide to have children together." She reached down to make sure the
girl was looking at her. "But I also know that Lany would never love
you less. When a woman loves a man, it's a different kind of love from
the love she holds for a child. And when you love someone, that doesn't
mean there's less room for others, it just means your heart gets
bigger. Lany won't leave you, and she certainly would never love you
less. If anything, she'll love you more. As for Naton, I doubt he's
going anywhere any time soon - and you know, if you give him a chance, I
bet you'll find he loves you too and you might just grow to love him."

Her face screwed up into an unhappy serious look. She still didn't know
about all this and she wasn't sure if Irabel knew the whole story. She'd just
have to wait and see. Anyway, maybe Naton would do something dumb and
Lany might forget about him. Boys did dumb things sometimes like when Porlo
put mud in her hair.

"It will be okay, Vee." Irabel tried to be reassuring. She leaned over
and gave the child a kiss upon her forehead. "If you need to talk about
things, you just let me know. I'll always be here to listen."

"'Kay," she agreed as she started to walk back to the Hall. "Is it time for lunch
yet you think?" Her tone was hopeful. Right then her rumbling tummy overrode
her other worries.

"If not, let's eat it anyway." Irabel grinned as she took the girl's hand and walked
alongside her.

Last updated on the September 24th 2012

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What If She Doesn't