Thoughts about Thorfinn

Mrs. Brubaker has concerns. Thorfinn plays with Reina. Hermione considers his proposal.

After all the parents had collected their children, Hermione and Thorfinn were the last ones in the room. Hermione knew there would be questions asked and they would expect her to have very good answers or she could kiss her substitute position goodbye.

"Hermione? A moment of your time, please?" Mrs. Brubaker asked. Hermione took a deep breath, knowing she was about to be grilled about Thorfinn and over Reina's show and tell this morning.

She kissed Reina on the cheek and hugged both her and Thorfinn.

"Reina, sweetheart. Show daddy some more of your drawings. Maybe you and daddy could color for a few minutes, all right?" she asked her daughter. Reina happily led her father off to the shelf where they kept their coloring supplies. Thorfinn watched Hermione worriedly over his shoulder. She smiled reassuringly at him.

"Hermione, dear. About what Reina said in show and tell, is it true? He's an ex-convict?" Mrs. Brubaker asked with concern.

"Yes. It's true. He's been in prison for six years in Britain. That's where we met as schoolchildren. He's served his time and he just wants a clean start. He doesn't want to hide his past. He's already been honest with both my mother and my father. And Reina. He says as long as we're ok with his past, that's all that matters to him. He wants to marry me and settle down as a family." Hermione told her. If Thorfinn was going to be brutally honest, so was she.

"May I ask what he was in prison for?" Mrs. Brubaker asked again.

"Arson. He was a firebug. He liked setting fires. A lot." Hermione quickly said, now seeing where the woman was going with her questions.

Mrs. Brubaker relaxed slightly. While arson was still a very serious offense, it wasn't half as bad as rape or murder, the two offences she'd feared. "And has he gotten all this fire setting urge out of his system?"

"Yes. He says he no longer has the urge to set anything on fire. He got it all out of his system. He admitted his crime. He did his time. Now he's ready for a fresh start. Part of that fresh start is a family and that's where me and Reina join the picture. He wants to marry me. He wants a family, me, him and Reina, possibly more children. He's vaguely hinted that he'd like to have more children." Hermione told her.

Mrs. Brubaker thought over what Hermione had said. It sounded like the young man was, in fact, settling down in Summer Bay for the long haul. She glanced over and found him thoroughly engrossed in coloring with his daughter. 'That was always a sign of a good father.'

"Well, my dear. Are you going to marry him? He's a very handsome young man. I wouldn't leave him unattached for too long. Someone else might snap him up, you know." Mrs. Brubaker smiled teasingly at Hermione. Hermione laughed softly to herself. 'Thorfinn apparently had a champion in Mrs. Brubaker!'

"I'm very seriously thinking about it. At first, I was dead set against it. But he already loves Reina so much. He swears he's wanted to marry me for years. I don't know. I'm just very unsure of him. I think it's mainly just insecurities left over from our childhood. I'm trying to keep giving myself pep talks but I'm not too successful yet." she confessed.

"Well. Whatever you decide, just know you have my full support, dear. Now, off you go. Take that young man and baby and hold them both close. Enjoy her childhood. Before you know it, she'll be grown up on you. Enjoy that young man. He'll give you a run for your money." Mrs. Brubaker laughed as she gently swatted Hermione's arm.

Hermione laughed and waved goodbye as she walked over to the small table. Thorfinn was so big that he was sitting flat in the floor and still easily able to color with Reina. She knelt down between them as she stroked Reina's cheek. "What are you and daddy coloring?"

"It's a dragon, mommy! Look! Daddy is coloring in the flames. He's breathing fire! Isn't it beautiful?" Reina chattered happily. Hermione laid her arm across Thorfinn's shoulder. He was quick to slip his arm around her waist.

"Yes. It's very beautiful. I bet grandma and grandpa will love seeing it, too. Come on. Robbie, Tasha and Kim will be there soon. Tasha and Robbie might help you build a sandcastle." Hermione told Reina. The little girl smiled widely. She jumped to her feet and ran over to tell Mrs. Brubaker goodbye. Thorfinn rose to his feet easily and looked down at Hermione.

"So how much trouble did I get you into just now?" he asked quietly, eyeing Mrs. Brubaker warily. She hugged Reina and waved at him. Hermione led them out of the classroom.

"Nothing that got me into trouble. She just wanted to make sure you weren't a rapist or murderer before allowing you around the children. I told her exactly what you told me and my parents. She was satisfied. You have a champion in her. She told me not to leave you unattached too long or someone would snap you away from me." she chuckled softly.

Thorfinn smiled. "She said that, aye? Smart woman. I like her. Reina said she's a wonderful teacher." he leaned down and whispered into her ear. "Maybe you should listen to that wise woman." then he pecked her on the cheek as he swept Reina into his arms again.

"Daddy, do you know how to surf?" Reina asked as Thorfinn buckled her into her booster seat. He brushed her hair back before he answered.

"No, I don't think I do. Maybe I should learn. I saw a surf shop when I was driving into town yesterday." he told her.

"I bet Kim would teach you. He surfs all the time. Then maybe you could teach me. Kim won't. He says I'm too little just yet. Am I, daddy?" Reina asked in a pleading tone. Hermione giggled, waiting to hear his response. He looked at her as he grinned.

"Right now, I'd have to agree with Kim. When you get bigger, then maybe you can learn. Until then, I just might see if he would teach me how to surf." Thorfinn told her. She made a cute little face as she accepted his words.

Hermione drove them back to her parents' home. As they got out of the car, they could see a surfer riding the waves. "Daddy, look! That's Kim! Can we go watch him surf? Please, daddy!" Thorfinn silently consulted Hermione. She nodded her head at him.

"Sure we can. Come on." he walked down to the beach behind his running daughter. Hermione went inside.

"She's already trying to get him to learn how to surf. Then she wants him to teach her because Kim won't." Hermione laughed as she told her parents. Robbie and Tasha were talking to them. The teens laughed as they left to join the father and daughter on the beach.

"Oh no! So does this mean she's tired of mauling Kim when he tells her no, I wonder?" Jean laughed. She and William were cleaning the fish he and Thorfinn had caught earlier.

"I don't know. I'd better warn Finn to wear ankle guards, though, just in case." Hermione leaned against her mother.

"So was there any fallout from this morning?" Jean asked. Hermione nodded.

"Some. Mrs. Brubaker wanted to make sure of what he'd been imprisoned for. Once I told her arson, not rape or murder like she was fearing, she was much happier about him. She told me not to leave him single too long." Hermione told them.

"Have you thought any more about his proposal?" William asked her. Hermione sighed and smiled at him.

"I think I'll let him court me. If he's really serious about marrying me, he won't mind letting me set the pace. That's what he told me, anyway." she wandered over to the picture window and looked down at the beach.

"He told me that as well." William told her. "He said and I quote 'she waited six years for me to get out of prison. It won't kill me to wait six years for her.'"

Hermione faced them. "IF I really do marry him, you won't mind, will you? I mean, about him being an ex-convict?"

"No, we won't. He's been honest and upfront about it and nobody can say we were misled about him. If he'd came in here, trying to hide his past and acting all sketchy, then we'd not be pleased. But he didn't. That's a big point in his favor." William told her. Jean nodded in agreement. "Go on down. Play with them on the beach. We'll get the food going and round you all up when it's time to dish up."

Hermione headed down to the beach. She could see the beginnings of a sandcastle forming. Robbie, Tasha and Reina were toting sand as Thorfinn actually built the castle. She could see Kim just leaving the water to join them. She knew now that she wouldn't be uncomfortable around him anymore. Not after seeing him and Finn together. They were both tall and broad. She could see, in Finn, how Kim would probably look in another few years. Kim still had a young babyish look right now. Finn had grown into his good looks while he was in prison. She kicked her shoes off just before she stepped onto the sand.

"Mommy! Look at the castle! It's going to be huge! Daddy says it's where you and him went to school! Is it, mommy?" Reina asked. Hermione looked at Thorfinn, raising a brow. 'He was building Hogwarts?! Really?' he motioned her closer and pulled a picture out of his back pocket. It was a picture of a real castle in Scotland. She could see where it did indeed look like Hogwarts.

"Yes, sweetheart. That's where daddy and I went to school. We had lots of adventures there, didn't we, daddy?" she asked him sweetly. Thorfinn grinned mischievously as he suddenly grabbed her and kissed her. Hermione squealed as he laid her across his lap. Reina was watching interestedly as the teens laughed.

Jean and William were watching them from the house. "So how long do you think it'll be before he actually gets her to the altar?" Jean asked. William tipped his head.

"Oh, I'd give him about a month, at least. I don't see her holding back from him too long. It's easy to see they're already crazy about each other. I figure it'll take him about a month to convince her that he really, truly wants to marry her. You know our girl. She's as stubborn as a goat." William said as he chuckled. Thorfinn was now tickling Hermione. They could hear her shrieks of laughter.

They got the fish going and set the outside tables. Once everything was done, they yelled down to the group on the beach. Reina and Tasha were the first two up, followed by Robbie and Kim. Jean glanced down the path and saw Finn had Hermione held close.

Thorfinn kissed Hermione right after the kids went up the path. "Stay with me tonight. It's the weekend tomorrow. Reina doesn't have school, does she? Didn't you say those kids help babysit her?" He nuzzled behind her ear. "Stay with me."

Hermione's head dropped back, baring her neck. He wasted no time in covering it with kisses. "Mmm, what happened to taking it slow? Letting me set the pace?"

"I know. I know. I had to try. I can wait, I promise. Just tell me this means you'll let me court you." he looked down at her.

"Yes. You can court me. You can stay with me and Reina tonight. If you want to." she offered. He smiled. He might not be able to bed her yet but she was getting there. He would take whatever she was willing to give him.