[For Susan]

[fears_nothing]

Settling into the easy rhythm of the island hadn't been simple by any stretch of the imagination but Niko had managed. Cal's presence, along with Robin and Ishiah, had helped immensely and helped to make it so that Niko had to worry less about the state of things in New York. He still didn't entirely trust the benign nature of the island, not

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[onceaqueen]

Susan hadn't been expecting any visitors, so she startled to hear someone at the door. "Just a minute," she called from the bedroom, where she was changing Helen; but Rickon had no such patience and went running to the door, flinging it open.

"'Wo," he said brightly.

[fears_nothing]

"Hello, Rickon," Niko said, watching the boy carefully. "Where's your mother?"

[onceaqueen]

"I'm here," Susan said, appearing a moment later with Helen cradled in her arms. "Just getting her changed. Come on in." Helen was awake, for once, but calm as ever, staring at Niko with big blue eyes. Rickon was off to the other side of the living room where Shadow was curled up with her wolf pups. "Pups!" he said happily.

"It's a bit mad around here," Susan said. "Between these two and the wolf pups... well."

[fears_nothing]

"I didn't realize your wolf was pregnant," Niko said, a ghost of a smile crossing his face before he relaxed slightly. "I guess it is a little bit of a madhouse. Need anything in particular?"

[onceaqueen]

"I didn't realize either for a while," Susan said. "But my guess is that it happened before my husband disappeared. He had a wolf, too." One of the pups was an albino like Ghost, all white with red eyes. It seemed to have taken a liking to Rickon and was the only one of the three pups that would allow itself to be held by Rickon for any length of time. Rickon was petting the pup now, making happy babbling noises.

"But we're fine," she added in answer to his question. It helped a great deal that Helen was such an easygoing baby, easy to please and easy to care for. She never cried or fussed, and Susan was beginning to wonder if she would ever make sounds at all. "Would you like some tea? I was just going to put on a pot."

[fears_nothing]

"Do you have green? I don't normally drink black," Niko said by way of an answer, never one to turn down tea. "I can make it if you like. I haven't been running around after children all day."

[onceaqueen]

"That would be lovely," Susan said. "The kitchen is very small, so you should be able to find everything easily. There's both green and black tea, so you're in luck, and I've already drawn some water from the well." She turned to Rickon to make sure he was only petting the pup, not pulling his tail or ears as he had been known to do, but it seemed he was being gentle with the pups for once.

[fears_nothing]

"It's no problem," Niko promised, making them both tea (green for him and black for Susan) and bringing the cups back. "Careful, it's still hot. I didn't know how you took it, so I brought sugar back for you."

[onceaqueen]

"You didn't have to go to all the trouble to make both," Susan said, holding Helen against her with one arm and taking the cup with her other hand. "Thank you." She normally took her tea with sugar but had been doing without of late. Once she'd finally started gaining weight with Helen, she gained a little more than she would have liked, and wasn't losing it as easily as she had with Rickon.

"I'm glad you came by," she said. "I don't often get out as much as I'd like. Helen's an easy baby, but I don't like to disturb her naps if I can help it--or Rickon's either, for that matter. And of course they rarely sleep at the same time."

[fears_nothing]

"Of course not," Niko said easily. "That would be far too convenient for a sleep-deprived mother. My brother's naps seemed to coincide with mine, as far as I remember. It was very convenient, considering we were both small at the time."

Niko sipped at his tea. He'd always preferred green to black, the delicate flavor something a little more refreshing than the comfort and familiarity of black tea. When he'd had the chance to be a member of a dojo, green was the only thing served, occasionally oolong.

"I know it must be difficult to be cooped up with small children all the time. I thought you might be starved for polysyllabic conversation."

[onceaqueen]

"Grown-up talk," Susan said with a smile. "It's a bit rare these days, yes. Thankfully my brother is wonderful about looking in on me and taking Rickon out to play most days, and another good friend likes to take Rickon 'fishing' from time to time." Susan suspected the fishing was in large part simply holding a pole and letting Rickon pretend, but Rickon seemed to like it well enough regardless.

"Fish?" Rickon piped up, his attention turned for the moment from the pups. "Papa Jack?"

"Not today," Susan told him. "Perhaps tomorrow?"

Rickon scowled and Susan winced. "I shouldn't have said it since he isn't going today," she said.

[fears_nothing]

Niko laughed a little. "Papa Jack? Is that a boyfriend or something or just a friend?"

Niko sipped at his tea, amused at how Rickon had perked up at the mention. Clearly it was someone he liked a good deal and considering Rickon mostly glared at him, Niko imagined it took a special person.

[onceaqueen]

"No, not a boyfriend," Susan said, smiling just a little. "More like an adopted grandfather to Rickon. Jack O'Neill; he takes Rickon f-i-s-h-i-n-g now and then, though I suspect it's mostly pretend. Either way, it keeps Rickon entertained and lets me catch up on chores and things about the house." She was careful to spell the word this time in order not to get Rickon's hopes up.

[fears_nothing]

"Ah. I can imagine it's just as productive as when Rickon n-a-p-s," Niko said, smirking slightly over the rim of his teacup. "Although, from what I've seen of Rickon, that does not happen very often. Was his father so...exuberant?"

[onceaqueen]

Susan shook her head a little. "No, not so much," she said. "He was far calmer than Rickon. Quiet at times, but friendly and loyal." It was still difficult to talk about Jon, and she had to put her teacup down while she cast about for enough of a change of subject that she could continue talking

[fears_nothing]

Niko put his own cup down and reached for Susan's hand, touching it lightly. He didn't normally step over such personal boundaries, not with someone he barely knew, but Susan had admitted something insanely personal and it had moved him.

In all the time he knew Promise, he knew very little of her life before he and Cal had come into it. He knew that she had several husbands who were much older than her, all of whom left her with more money than any person knew what to do with and Susan barely knew him at all and had admitted something deeply personal.

"Loss is difficult," Niko said, brushing his thumb over the back of her hand. "Especially for the one left behind. I've experienced it myself, but never anything so close as a spouse. I'm sorry, Susan."