There had been times that Emer wondered if there would ever be a way to cure the illness but at last it seemed something was working. Cecily wasn't quite back to her usual self but she was definitely getting there. Their isolation period had ended just in time for the young girl to find her mischievous streak once more and she was likely out causing who knew what chaos with her siblings. A part of the mother longed to track them down though knowing how much they'd missed each other she had chosen to give them a little bit of fun first.
It was in her nature as Emer Lasair and as a mother to worry about them, they could grow and grow but already she knew that to her they would always be her babies and that worry would never fade completely. Slowly but surely at least she was becoming aware of the fact that the rest of the pack wouldn't allow them to get into too much trouble. Perhaps it was down to the further compassion that Erani had demonstrated to her during the epidemic but for the first time in a long time Emer felt somewhat relaxed.
She lay outside of her den, though she too was now free from it she still didn't have quite the taste for exploring that her children did she was happy and content lying where she was, even despite the snow around her. There was only one thing really that could make the situation better and that would be to have her little family around her, close by within her sights and if for no other reason but to watch their joy, see Cecily playing once more.
The epidemic had been terrifying, and he hadn't even been infected. At last it would seem that the healers would find a cure for it- a series of herbs that seemed to help fight off whatever was plaguing the wolves infected. Which meant, Cecily would soon be on her merry way back to the energetic wolf she was. Valerius was relieved- he had feared and spent plenty of night awake, in case Erani or Emer called, saying that the girl had passed. He liesurely walked through a now extremely familiar path back to Emer's den- to see if she needed anything and to check on Cecily. He hoped the little pup, a girl he was started to see as his adopted daughter, was out playing and back to normal.
As he approached the den, he let out a light bark of greeting as his cerulean eyes landed on the autumnal colored form of Emer, so he didn't startle her. Sniffing the air- he realized that Emer seemed to be alone, and he spoke warmly, as he drew close to her. "Cecily's out and about?" He asked with a smile, he couldn't deny that the prospect thrilled him. He wondered what trouble, she and her siblings would get into. Lowering himself to a seating position, near Emer, he sighed. He had to have a potentially awkward conversation with Emer, and he wasn't sure how to start it. His tail twitched as he mulled over his words in his head, waiting to see if Emer had anything to say first. Perhaps she'd give him an opening?
Of course Valerius was included in that mention of her little family, albeit in in a rather confusing way. What was the man to them really, he'd certainly become very important to them though Emer wasn't exactly sure where he fit in. Cecily herself had once concluded that he was like a father to them, a fact that had silenced Emer because the logic truly couldn't be faulted. Of course though he wasn't actually the father of the three children, though Cecily had planned on asking him if he could be a part of Emer had hoped perhaps her daughter had forgotten all about that.
There was the man now, at the sound of his call Emer would shift her gaze over to his form a small smile forming across her features. It would grow at his comment and she would nod in response. "Yes, and she's very glad about it." She answered. "For once I am too." She figured he would completely understand her words. She was after all quite the worrier these days but it had been awful seeing her cooped up, physically unable to go out and play.
Unaware that her daughter had not only remembered her little plan to ask Valerius to be her dad but actually put it in motion Emer was completely unaware of the fact that there was anything that really needed to be spoken about. Of course she had begun to realise that some point down the line things would need to be addressed, whilst she had always been grateful for his help she had never expected that she and her children would occupy so much of his time and drag him so deeply into their lives. He likely wanted a family of his own at one point, and hers was bound to be more than a bit of a burden in achieving that. For perhaps only the second time in her life she found herself longing to be a little selfish, not quite ready to lose him yet, not that he had expressed any interest in distancing himself from them yet anyway.
He chuckled at Emer's words. He understood the woman's worry for her children, but he knew that Cecily had to be thrilled to be out and about. She didn't seem one to enjoy sitting still, that was for sure. A large weight had been lifted from his chest, and he knew from Emer's as well, that Cecily was bouncing back from the epidemic. He didn't know what he'd had done if he'd lost her. Perhaps he was truly starting to see her as an adopted daughter. That thought reminded him of the conversation he needed to have with Emer. He would shift forward, until he was lying on the ground, and comfortable before he would look at her again. "Cecily and I had a rather... interesting conversation." He would begin, wondering if Emer would realize what he was about to say. "Cecily.. asked me to be her 'Dad'." He said simply, though the matter was anything but simple.
Valerius knew what implications his agreement with Cecily could have, and he wanted to see that he and Emer were on the same page... whatever that page was. He had started to see Emer's small family as his too, and he wondered if she was okay with that. The matter certainly was complicated.
Emer hadn't dared to think about the possibility of losing her daughter. Whilst she hadn't previously thought about children nor had she gotten her family in a way she had ever wished for she certainly didn't alter the amount of love she held for her children. To lose them now would be devastating and it wasn't something that she dared to think about, the thought alone was far too painful.
Valerius would begin to speak once more, the words suggesting a subject change though not one she would immediately guess until he continued. They were onto that topic that Emer had herself once found herself having to discuss with her daughter. It'd been an awkward matter then talking about it with Cecily and she had hoped it was something that would have simply been forgotten about. Of course it was a silly hope to have had really, clearly Cecily had remembered and spoken to Valerius and now apparently it was to be her own turn.
"Oh" She began simply, no surprise in her voice as Valerius perhaps may have expected. If she thought that the conversation with Cecily had been awkward she had a feeling that this one now was about to be even more so. A part of her longed for some sort of escape route right now, a way to avoid the matter though she knew there was no chance of that now, they'd need to talk at some point even if some emergency came along to distract them from it now.
She would pause before speaking again, unsure on how to continue. "She had spoken about that with me." She stated, voice a little hesitant, still feeling rather uncertain on what to actually say. "She actually thought you were her already dad." And the young girl had made a very strong argument on the matter.
The whole Cecily matter was confusing. Valerius wasn't sure what to make of it, and wasn't sure how it would affect his relationship with Emer, or if it would affect it at all. His ears pricked, on his massive head as Emer spoke, a simple 'Oh' leaving her. Apparently Emer wasn't too surprised. Her next words confirmed his suspicions. He chuckled slightly at what Emer said, before he would speak. "I told her yes." He said, glancing away as he blushed. "She's rather hard to say no too.. and I.. didn't want to say no." He admitted, his eyes dancing back to Emer. He wondered how the autumn colored woman felt about all of this. The situation that had caused the birth of Cecily, Taddeo, and Signy was so complicated. How could he deny Cecily's wish for him to be her father? She needed him... didn't she? And Taddeo and Signy... he needed to spend sometime with them- and give them equal opportunity.
It was all rather confusing, their situation was far from normal at best and it seemed that there was surprisingly a way to complicate things even further. Now he wasn't just helping her to raise the kids, he was considered a parent in his own right. It was fair enough if he was happy to accept the title though to actually officially name him as a father would only obfuscate the situation even more so. She would keep quiet now, pause and let him speak.
The soft smile would fall upon her features as Valerius confirmed that he'd granted Cecily permission to think of him as her dad. It was certainly nice to have some sort of family structure, both parents there for them though still she wasn't sure what this all meant for Valerius and herself if anything more at all. She certainly would agree with him on Cecily being difficult to say no to, though he didn't stop on that light comment. The next words were a little more serious; he hadn't wanted to say no. She was surprised but her smile remained in place, a little more emotional now though, touched that he would truly want to play such a role for her children. Their children in a way she supposed, though that thought certainly wouldn't be put out there just yet.
Her golden gaze would meet his still not entirely certain what else to say. Thank you for being so great through everything? She hadn't wanted such a situation though to find yourself suddenly stuck raising someone else's kids was surely far more unexpected for Valerius. But he wasn't stuck though really, through it all he'd chosen to help her and now he still continued to entwine himself further into the little family. To be honest it had gotten to the stage that it wasn't just the children that needed him in their lives, Emer did too.
