As a young girl, Kohelet had often daydreamed of what her life would be like. At first, she had imagined her prince charming and her pretty babies and her perfect life with the sort of abstract zeal that came with grandiose plans. She'd sketched her happily ever after, knowing that she would find someone to help her fill it in. And then, when she had met Fell, fallen head over heels and gotten immediately pregnant, her visions of her future had gained the vibrancy and color (albeit still very monochrome) needed to fill in the sketches.

Things had gotten extraordinarily messy in the last few years, and the family portrait she'd once cherished now bore the scribblings of her broken heart and fear and anxiety. What she loved was still there, but it would never again be as unblemished as it had once been.

Fell said nothing in response to her tear-filled queries but he had never truly needed to. Their communication was more clumsy these days, choked up by fear and misunderstandings on her part, but it was still a language that every fiber of her being spoke fluently. She leaned into his touch, relishing in the comfort that it provided to her like one settling back into a place they had always known that they truly belonged.

There were still things to fear of course, but the thing she had - selfishly - feared the most had not proven true. He did not hate her. He did not despise her. And perhaps, in time, he might even forgive her for her faults. There was still the possibly sticky problem of Amalia's existence, but she had faith that Fell would allow her to live in the Bay, at least until she was ready to go out on her own. Judging from the way her daughter had begun to act, Koh wasn't certain she had many more months with her precious baby girl.

"Then we'll stay," she murmured against the thick tangle of his mane, cracking an eye open to peer at their youngest son. He was pretending to graze nearby, but judging by the way he kept dropping each blade of greenery he picked up, she knew he was focused on them. It was hard to read his body language, but she could only imagine the chaos he must be feeling right now.

She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that - long enough that Ivo had stopped pretending and had simply settled for watching them in silence - before she pulled away just far enough to speak again. "There's something else you need to know," she said, trying to keep her voice neutral despite the unease rippling through her body. "I have another daughter," she said softly, giving him the space to pull away if he needed, trusting he would catch the emphasis and hoping he would understand.

"I... I left her in the Cove. I didn't know -" But her words stalled. Did she truly think that Fell would deny her daughter residence? And if she did, why was she here? She sucked in a breath, lips curling into a fleeting, apologetic grimace. "I'm sorry. I was afraid."

She adored Amalia too much to regret her existence, but she was ever so keenly aware of how unfair it was that the daughter who had spent the most time with her had been the one who wasn't even Fell's. "Do you... want to show Ivo around while I get her?" She asked hesitantly, her body gone still as she waited for some indication from him.

mare - mutt - black tobiano - 16.1h - solomon x sicily