*Takes place after Stay

I was sitting in a chair in the corner of the bedroom, tugging my boots off when she walked in.

"Karth did not want to go to sleep" she said as she rummaged through the wardrobe looking for her night dress. "I don't know where he gets all that energy from." She continued.

"He's stubborn. Like his mother." I said, pulling my shirt over my head.

She laughed, "I'm stubborn? More like his father. At least Lucia just takes her mudcrab and curls up. What's the lifespan of those things anyway?"

I just shrugged as I made my way to the bed. Nelcara let her dress fall to the floor as she found her night dress. I got behind her, sliding my hands onto her waist before she had the chance to put it on.

"Moth…" she gasped. "I just got him to sleep" she said with obviously fake annoyance.

"Then you'll just have to be quite." I said burying my face in her neck to kiss it.

She pushed me back and turned around to face me with a wicked smirk. "Oh, you know it's not me you have to worry about" she whispered. We feel into the bed intertwined.

I rolled over, my head hurting and neck stiff from a bad night's sleep. I threw my arm over, reaching for Nelcara. When all it hit was air and then bed, my heart started racing. I opened my eyes, to see the empty side of the bed. For about five seconds, I started to worry. But then reality came crashing down on me. She wasn't here. I let out an exhausted sigh as I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I didn't have time to think about this now. I needed to get up and light a fire so I could start breakfast, get the kids up, and start work. As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I felt the wetness of tears. I definitely didn't have time for that. There were two kids who needed to be taken care of. No time for mourning.

I forced myself out of bed and down the stairs, my movements slow and stiff. It took several tries with the match before the fire finally started. It was going to be a long day. I filled a kettle with water and placed it over the fire before walking back upstairs.

Karth was still sound asleep as I passed his room and so was Lucia. Pincer was at the end of her bed. How long did a mudcrab live? This one had gotten big enough for Karth to ride, which he had done on several occasions.

"Lucia" I called as I walked into her room. I heard a grunt as she rolled over in the bed, followed by the scuttling sounds of Pincer's legs. "Time to get up." That was followed by a groan. I left her to get ready as I went to Karth's room.

I nudged his arm "Karth, come on. Get up." He opened his sleepy eyes and blinked a couple of times before he rolled away from me. "No, up" I said rolling him back over. "Noooo" he whined. "Yes". I picked him up and stood him on the floor.

"Time to get dressed." I turned to get him some clothes out and by the time I had turned back around he was asleep on the floor.

"Karth" I called, waking him up. He looked around confused for a few seconds on how he got there. "Let's put your clothes on."

After helping him with his clothes, I handed him his hair brush and went to check on Lucia. I went to knock on her door but it was open. She was dressed and sitting in the middle of her bed, her hair a mess. It had been like this for two weeks, since Nelcara died. She refused to brush her hair. She was fifteen and more than capable of doing it. But Nelcara had liked to do it. As I thought about it, I could see them. Nelcara would be sitting on the bed behind her brushing, the two of them smiling and laughing. But I shook the thought away. No time for that.

I walked in and picked the brush off of the dresser. Before I said anything she started to argue. "I'm not brushing my hair. I won't" She folded her arms across her chest. As I made my way to the bed, Pincer scuttled pass me into the hallway.

"I'm not asking" I said taking a seat on the bed. "Now turn around." She looked at me confused and didn't move. "Turn" I repeated, pointing the other way. She obeyed, and cautiously turned around. I took the brush and ran it through her hair. Or tried to. It was so knotted up it kept getting stuck.

"Ow, Papa" she lurched forward.

"Well, if you had brushed it we wouldn't have this problem. Keep still." I went back to brushing and slowly the knots started to work out.

I heard her say "It never hurt when Mama did it"

I had a feeling I was going to get a lot of 'that's not how or when Mama did it'. "I'm not Mama. But I'm trying Lucia."

In a small whisper, almost a sniffle, I heard her say "I know."

It was then that Karth came running into the room, brush in hand. He stood there a second and looked at us before saying "Hey! I wanna brush Papa's hair." Before I could say anything he had made it across the room and was climbing over the side of the bed. That's when I looked over and saw the smile forming on Lucia's face. Karth made it up, bouncing on the bed, shouting "Come on Papa." It was the first time I had seen the two of them happy in a while.

I guess there was time for that.