Month Four, Day Twenty-Two

Meva tapped her hands against her thighs in a slow paced tempo as the ship flew across the city. She kept looking out the window at the buildings passing by, trying to see if she could tell which one was Orkezmi Tower, but she knew it was a fruitless way to pass the time. Cho had never shown her a picture, and she had never been, so she was flying into this in the dark. The thought of seeing his home was so exciting to her, but the thought of meeting his kids? Terrifying.

Meva felt in her heart that she would be with Cho for the rest of her life. They had just clicked, like they were meant to be. But that meant that she would become these boys' stepmother, and she wasn't sure if she could handle that. Not even that- she was fairly confident she would be a good mother, but it was just…

She sighed and clenched the fabric of her tunic that was resting on her thighs. They had lost their mother, and she didn't want them to feel like she was forcing them to replace her. Meva wanted to be sure that these boys would always be able to have their real mother in their lives, and she knew what she was signing up for with this. After all, it was a bit difficult to get Cho to talk about Veivei sometimes, so it seemed like she would have to work extra hard to get what she wanted to accomplish here. And she worried so much that the boys wouldn't accept her. After all, Cho warned her that they were fiercely attached to their mother. A worst case scenario of the two of them screaming at her played over and over in her head. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Her eyes widened as they rounded a skyscraper to reveal Orkezmi tower. It was beautiful, she thought. Tall and slim with interesting metal engravings near the very top, at the penthouse. Her feelings turned giddy once again at the thought she was about to see Cho. It had been four months but every time she saw him, it was fluttering in her stomach all over again. The hold he had on her… She had no idea she could ever feel like this about someone before she met him.

"We're here," she said softly to herself as the ship landed on the roof. With glee, she could see Cho standing near the elevator housing, tall and handsome as ever. She couldn't wait for her chauffeur to come open the door, she flung it open herself in her excitement. Nerves would have to wait, she told herself as she walked hastily across the rooftop to Cho.

"Meva, you look beautiful as always," he said as he wrapped his awaiting arms around her.

"Thank you, honey," she said, feeling that familiar rise of heat in her cheeks. She could stand here and hug him forever, but as her anxiety reminded her- she was here for a reason.

Meva pulled back just enough to be able to look him in the eyes. "So… are you ready to introduce me?"

Cho chuckled. "As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."

"And… Are they ready? To meet me?" her stomach flipped and twisted in anticipation of what he was going to say.

"I would say so. Just don't expect jumping for joy, my dear. They seem to be a little apprehensive."

"Oh…" she felt herself slump down in disappointment. Hadn't even met them yet and they already didn't like her!

"Don't be like that, darling, they'll love you when they get to know you, I'm certain of it," he gently lifted her chin with his hand to get her to look back up at him. She loved it when he did that, it felt so romantic to her.

"You sure?" she whispered.

"Certain," he linked his arm with hers and flashed his classic reassuring grin at her. "Shall we then?" he said as he gestured to the elevator.

"We shall."

It was a beautiful elevator, although Meva felt the ones at the citadel were nicer. She couldn't help but focus on the details of it, the reflection of her and Cho in the mirrored walls. They looked good together, she thought. A handsome couple. And with Cho already being an experienced father… She would be a good mother, right? A good mother to his kids? Maybe their own? She wanted some of her own. They had discussed it after all, and Cho was very enthusiastic. Maybe a little too enthusiastic to get started? It had alarmed her a bit but-

The doors dinged open and any concern was wiped from her mind with it as they stepped out into his apartment. It was…

"Very modern!" she said excitedly. The citadel was so old, she was used to a building looking worn, but his apartment was shiny and metallic and new. A large geometric chandelier hung in the room they stepped into. It was a sitting room, with a circular couch and expensive looking television. But Meva felt her heart stop when she saw the people sitting on the couch.

Two young boys, one older than the other, but both of them probably halfway to adulthood. The eldest had piercing red eyes like his father, and a face full of freckles, and the youngest had soft, hopeful looking violet eyes. They sat on the couch still, almost like waiting for Meva as she approached.

"H-hello…" she muttered. Poor things, she noticed their eyes flicker from her to Cho a couple times. They were probably nervous of disappointing their father if they… If they didn't like her.

"My name is Meva," she said softly, and smiled at them. "You probably knew that already but it's good to make an introduction. Um… and you can call me Meva! Meva is perfectly fine."

The two boys glanced at each other momentarily.

"I'm Rez," the oldest finally said, a bit of hesitancy in his voice. After a second, he gently elbowed his younger brother to say something.

"I'm Penlegaolkei… But you can call me Penle, miss Meva!" he said with more excitement in his eyes. Oddly, Rez gave him a sharp look when he said that. Meva felt her stomach drop. Clearly the eldest didn't like her already, and didn't want his brother to either? She didn't have siblings so she was a little unfamiliar with the dynamics herself, but that is what this felt like.

"Sorry…" Penle mumbled to his brother.

"Don't be sorry! I like the enthusiasm," Meva made her way around the end of the sofa to sit down on the couch, facing the boys on the opposite end of the bend. She could feel Cho approach from behind her, and he rested his hand on her shoulders. Odd that he didn't sit with her, but she assumed he wanted to give the children the opportunity to have full attention on her. She didn't give the situation much thought, she was focused on the boys.

"You do?" Penle asked nervously.

"I do! And Penle is a wonderful name, sweetheart."

The little boy beamed with pride. "Thanks miss Meva! I like it too."

"Well, good…" her voice trailed off as she tried to think of what to say next. Penle seemed very open already, but Rez- goodness, even the way he was sitting, he looked closed off.

"What do you two like to do for fun?"

"I like-!" Penle's voice started off loud and energetic, but then he flinched slightly as if aware of how loud he was being. "I mean, um, I like to draw… I like animals!"

Meva noticed Rez closing his eyes, and it was odd. He almost looked frustrated.

"I really want a pet sóíngeí one day!" Penle continued undeterred. "A blue one, blue is my favorite color!"

Meva giggled, he was so cute!

"Oh really? I like the color green."

Penle gasped excitedly.

"That's a great color, miss!"

"You think so?" she couldn't help the huge smile she had right now.

"Uh huh! And pink is pretty too… Oh! Miss Meva, do you like cooking?"

"Penle." Rez's voice almost startled Meva, it was so serious sounding. She was a bit startled by the outburst, but she didn't let herself react. She wanted to do her best to get them both to like her.

"I don't cook, no," she said with a laugh. "I'm honestly terrible at it. But do you like cooking?"

Penle's eyes lit up in excitement, but then he shakily shook his head.

"No… It's servant work," he muttered.

Meva was confused at that statement. She had assumed he was interested in it, given how he had been talking but… It seemed that he was influenced by the living conditions around him.

"Well, Penle, it isn't just servant work. You can learn to cook if you want to."

Penle looked nervously from her, then up to Cho for a moment, before he shook his head again.

"No thanks, miss Meva."

"Ah, alright then," she said, a little confused at what just happened. But no matter, she could try again with Rez. "Rez, what do you like to do?"

The boy stared at her with a solemn expression.

"I like math," he said flatly.

"Math? That's great! I like math too!" Finally, she thought, an avenue of connection, but Rez's eyes went wide like he wasn't expecting the answer. His eyes flickered upwards to Cho then back down to her.

"Uh…"

"What are you working on right now in school?"

"I, um, g-geometry."

"Geometry is a good one! Just wait for physics- that one is my favorite!"

Rez smiled awkwardly, in a way that made Meva worry that she said something wrong.

"Ah ha… I don't- I just like the s-shapes…" he whispered.

"I see then, maybe you like to draw?"

"No. No- I like the math," he said firmly, looking down at his lap.

Meva felt completely confused by this interaction. She didn't know what to do with this kid, he was acting so isolated. Her antennas lowered as she realized that maybe he simply didn't like her. That he didn't want a new- well, not that she felt she was going to be their new mom or anything, but she knew that must be how this was coming across. She was doing a terrible job right now.

"Well that's good…" she said softly.

"Miss Meva?" Penle asked, looking at her nervously.

"Yes honey?" Oops, she didn't mean to call him that, it just sort of slipped out. She needed to cool it, she was being too-

"Are you gonna be our mom?"

"Penle!" Rez scolded, as Meva felt her jaw drop in surprise, and even Cho's hand reflexively tightened around her shoulder. He must be just as surprised as she was.

"I, uh, well, I…" she turned around in her seat to face Cho, hoping for some support. She was surprised that he almost looked… angry for a moment, but his face immediately softened. She chalked it up to the fact that this line of questioning must be difficult for him.

"Well, son," Cho began. "Meva and I- we haven't gotten anywhere near there yet. For now, she is just going to be miss Meva. Okay?"

"O-okay…"

Meva felt so awkward, she didn't know what to say now. Poor baby, Cho had told her how young he was when Veivei died. She wished she could comfort him but she didn't know how to.

"Don't be sad, I promise you that…" she felt herself blush at the thought. "If in the future, I accept, um, being your mom… You'll be the first to know."

He brightened immediately, his antennas shooting straight up, and it made Meva's heart melt at the sight.

"Really?!"

"Really, honey," she said with a soft smile.

There, Cho thought. They had met. The annoying questions from Meva about when she would meet the kids were finally over. Now, in a perfect world, Meva would be satisfied with that and not want to see them much further, which meant less pretending to be some sort of father that he wasn't.

"Well then," he said, leaning forward over Meva. "I think the boys may be tired, it's been such a long day for them- don't you think, kids?" he narrowed his eyes at the two of them so they could get the message. Rez, being the better one that he was, immediately nodded.

"Yeah, I'm kinda sleepy," he said as he stood. "Penle-"

"I'm not tired!" the youngest of the two cried out. "I wanna stay with miss Meva!"

Cho clenched his teeth. That little shit. Disobeying what was clearly a direct order this brazenly? He never fucking learned.

"Penle, we should rest," Rez tugged on his brother's sleeve as he obviously tried to get the brat to see his blatant mistake.

"No!" Penle cried out, an irritating noise that made Cho want to cover his antennas. "Not today! I wanna play a game with miss Meva!"

The kid was dumber than Cho thought. They didn't even have any games in the apartment. Just a few decks of cards for Cho to gamble with.

"Penle, it's okay! No need to get upset," Meva said, leaning forward to comfort him. Great, Cho thought. Now she was getting even more involved than before.

"I don't wanna go to my room…" he whimpered like a baby.

"Well, we can play a game instead!"

Cho was frantically trying to think of some sort of excuse to get this all to go away. Rez was easy, he could claim that his son hated games (and possibly his brother), but Penle was more of a challenge. Maybe claim that he's grounded? Yes, perfect. He had failed a test at the academy and was grounded.

"Actually, Meva-"

"Great!" Penle interrupted, jumping to his feet. "I'll go get it!"

Cho watched his youngest run off in complete confusion. Go get… what? There wasn't anything to get.

"Cho, you should sit down!"

His attention snapped down to his girlfriend who was patting the seat next to her. Ugh, fine. The mystery of the game still bugged him as he sat down, so he glared at Rez for some sort of answer, but Rez just looked out the window, his antenna flattened against his head. No, that was no good, Cho thought. He looked too sad.

"Are you alright, Rez?" Meva asked.

"I'm fine!" he said quickly, sitting up and raising his antenna as he made eye contact with his father. "I was just feeling a bit, um… tired?"

"Maybe you should go lie down?"

"No, no, ah… I'd rather stay."

Just then Penle came running back around the corner and Cho slowly stiffened in anger when he realized what the kid was holding. The box of the popular board game Zeikte. A game that he was gifted half a year ago by his last nanny, a game that Cho had thrown out in the garbage.

That disobedient twerp had gone and stolen it out of the trash. Cho noticed Rez's eyes widened and immediately looked at him when Penle plopped the board game down on the coffee table. Clearly Rez knew about the secret game. Cho noted that for later.

"Oh, Zeikte?" Meva said. "I've only played that once or twice, when I was much younger…"

"That's okay, miss Meva, we'll show you how to play!"

"We will not," Rez hissed.

"It's alright if you don't want to play," she said softly, a little sadly. Cho squeezed his eyes shut. Nope, he knew he couldn't let their relationship be this tense. Otherwise Meva might start asking questions and he couldn't have that. Fuck, he really had to do this, didn't he.

"You don't want to play with us? That's a bit rude." Cho forced out the words as nicely as he could.

Rez looked at him with a brief moment of confusion, but he finally nodded.

"Yeah, okay…"

"Rez, if you don't want to play, that's okay!' Meva said.

"No, no, miss Meva. Sorry, I do want to, I promise," he muttered.

"Only if you're sure-"

"Let's get playing!" Cho made sure to say in his cheerful voice. This was happening now, this would make Meva happy, nothing he could do about it but participate in this. Shit, he had never even played this before. What the fuck was he going to do?! Maybe he can claim that the boys just got it so nobody knows the rules?

"Miss Meva, you're gonna love it, it's the best game ever!" Penle said, once again throwing Cho's plan out the window. That idiot was going to fucking get it later.

"Is it now?" she asked.

"Uh huh!"

And of COURSE Meva was eating this shit up. He knew this meeting would be annoying, he didn't realize it would be this annoying.

"I don't really remember the rules though, can you explain?" Meva asked

Cho felt like a light just went off, and that finally Meva wasn't making this situation worse. This was great, no need for an excuse on why he doesn't know how to play.

"Just roll the dice, move the player and draw the cards!" Penle said as he handed Meva some small figurines to choose from, then busied himself with counting out some play money.

"That's it?" Meva asked.

That's it? This is what entertained his idiot son? Cho fought the urge to laugh at Penle who was clearly trying to diminish his own reputation by the hour.

"Yep! You can be whatever you want… but I wanna be the uzingu!" he said as he held up a small figurine of an Irken pack animal that he had held onto.

"Anything I want, huh?" Meva smiled as she inspected the pieces. "I'll be the spaceship!" she passed the pieces to Rez who just took one without looking and then looked at his father. Cho nodded to him to get him to hand the pieces over, a little annoyed he hadn't done that automatically.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes since now Meva was actually looking at him, and he looked down at the metal pieces in his hand. Such a stupid activity, messing around with all these fiddly little metal bits. But alas, this was happening.

"I'll be the phaser," he decided easily, placing his piece on the board with the others.

"Miss Meva, do you want to go first?" Penle asked.

"Oh, sure- you don't want to?" she hesitantly took the dice from him.

"Nope! You go!"

Cho watched her lamely throw the dice down onto the board, and move her piece.

"You get a card!" Penle said as he handed her a blue one.

"What does this do?"

"That? It's a shield!"

Meva looked confused. "Oh. Okay then… For wh-"

"My turn!" the youngest squealed, throwing his dice with such vigor they almost bounced over the sides of the board game to the floor below. He moved his pieces and took his card, then handed the dice to Rez.

"Right, then," he mumbled. He went through his turn quietly, moving the small flag piece he had gotten forward a few spaces. When his turn was done, Cho quickly reached forward for the dice, wanting it to look like a natural and well practiced motion for Meva.

"My turn," he forced himself to say with some excitement. Just as he predicted, it was boring. Throwing some dice, moving his phaser. He at least managed what he assumed to be a halfway decent smile for when he handed Meva the dice.

"Thank you! So… Do you all play this often?" she asked as she threw her dice.

Cho thought fast. "Almost once a week, we try to play every Youlkikoin," he glanced at the boys to make sure they were nodding along- and good, finally they were all on the same page.

"That's so sweet! I remember doing family game nights…" she picked up a new card and Cho felt himself smile authentically. Maybe this wouldn't be so terrible. While it was obvious to him from the moment they started discussing children that their parenting styles were very different, he hadn't quite grasped just how much she wanted to be involved. Sure, she had talked on and on about how she wanted to meet them and how excited she was- conversations that were very hard to listen to- but he assumed she was trying to please him. However now… the way she was leaning forward to be closer to the kids, not shying away from their screeching at all and actively engaging with them was telling.

He almost felt annoyed with the fact that she was no longer paying attention to him at all.

"Um… Fath- dad?" Rez's voice broke through his thoughts, and he looked down to see his eldest tentatively holding out the dice for him. "It's uh, your turn…"

"Shu-shiiit, oh oops-" fuck, he did not mean to say that. "Thanks, Rezukh," he forced out as he rolled the dice. Ugh. It was honestly so frustrating, all the time, having to apologize for shit that shouldn't matter or having to thank those ungrateful urchins just because Meva was a soft, spineless wimp about these things. He couldn't wait to be over with all of this.

Dammit, what does this space mean? It says… Pick a card, but which one? There were four fucking piles of cards! He wasn't really paying attention to the other spaces everyone had landed on to figure out this system yet. But it had a red square on this space so-

"Here you go," Rez meekly handed over a red card. "It was on uh, my side of the table so I figured I would… um… just grab it…" his voice trailed off uncomfortably and it made Cho want to kick him for acting so awkward. Couldn't he see that now was the time to talk? The one time he gets permission and this is how he fucking acts.

"Thanks." Cho inspected the stupid little card. On it, in twirly gold letters it said: 'Take one hundred monies from the next player.'

He grinned. That would be Meva then. Cho leaned over and flashed the card at her.

"My love, I'm terribly sorry, but it appears I need to take one hundred monies from you."

Meva giggled and looked down at her play money. "Alright then, one hundred-"

"Nuh uh!" Penle stood up to lean over the coffee table and point. "You have a shield! Use it!"

"Oh yeah!" she picked up the blue card excitedly. "And… What do I do now?"

"Just put it in the center, now it's used."

Meva did just as Penle said, and Cho frowned. He was annoyed that Penle interrupted, and so loudly, and strangely he was annoyed that Meva rebuffed his card! This is why he didn't play board games.

"You too…" Penle's eyes flickered from Cho to the red card he was holding, and Cho was pulled back to reality.

"Discard this?" Cho asked flatly.

"Yeah," Penle said, thankfully still holding a slight smile. Cho wracked his brain on some sort of way to tell the two of them to smile more without being painfully obvious.

"Is it my turn now?" Meva asked, cutting through the tension.

"I believe so, my dear," Cho handed the dice to her, and she promptly rolled them. Her turn was better this time, and she grinned to pick up a green card and discover that she earned fifty monies from the game itself… that was so stupid, Cho thought.

"This is fun! Do you also like to play this with your friends?" she asked the boys.

"Yeah!" Penle moved his piece forward. "My friend Oko has a Moon Titan themed copy!"

Meva's brows knit together in concern. "Isn't Moon Titan a more… grown up movie?" she looked at Cho and he pulled himself together to look concerned real fucking quickly. In reality he didn't really care about these types of things, so what if they see some gore. Who cares!

"Where did you see that?" he asked Penle, knowing the answer already. He sometimes allowed the boys to watch a movie when they had good reviews from their instructors, but on the caveat it was something he wanted to watch too. So… Moon Titan.

"I-I, um, it…" Penle looked down as Cho waited patiently for an excuse. "At Oko's house…"

"Hmm… I'll have to have a talk with Oko's parents," he had never even met them, and didn't fucking want to.

"Im s-sorry," Penle whimpered. Cho sighed internally. He did not want tears now. It would become a whole thing, it was awful to sit through, it was embarrassing- no.

"It's alright, son," he said as calmly as he could. "Let's just have fun for now, okay?"

Penle looked frozen, as if unsure what to do now, so Cho reached forward to grab the discarded dice and handed them to him.

"Your turn."

Penle took his next turn a bit stiffly, but Cho hoped not so much that Meva noticed it. If it even mattered.

"Thanks," Rez muttered as his brother gave him the dice next. He was just beginning to roll again when Meva piped up with another question.

"Rez, do you play with your friends too?"

Cho wanted to ask her why she felt she needed to talk to them so badly. Would it kill her to sit in silence? Hadn't she already gotten the gist of who they were?

"I um, I focus on my school a lot, I don't- time is hard to get," Rez answered.

"I see… So you like the academy then?"

Rez glanced at Cho before answering. "I do. I am excited to join the armada when I grow up…" he handed the dice to his father and seemed to force a smile.

"You are? What do you want to be?" Meva asked. Cho was a bit curious to see how far her want to connect and support would go, considering he knew her insane opinions on the armada.

"I want to be a pilot," Rez said simply.

"A pilot? That sounds nice, but it's a bit dangerous…"

"It's what he wants to be," Cho said curtly, taking his turn. Huh, another red card.

"Have you considered other options, Rez?"

Cho wanted to roll his eyes.

"No," Rez said.

"Ah, look what I have!" Cho said with glee as he held the card up. He didn't want Meva trying to sway Rez away from the right path, so a distraction was in order. The flimsy card read: 'Send a player of your choice to jail for one turn.'

A player of his choice… he could send Penle for literally any one of the many transgressions of today, or Rez for acting too sullen… Or Meva, for that stupid move earlier.

This was childish, he knew that.

"Meva, I'm afraid I'm going to have to send you to jail," he showed her the card for proof, and she laughed.

"Me? Why me?" she said with a big smile.

"Because I love you," he said with a grin of his own. She rolled her eyes playfully- something that greatly irritated him- and moved her figurine to the little jail cell space.

"There, happy?" she joked.

"Very."

"I suppose then that makes it Penle's turn," she sighed dramatically with a smile, reaching out to hand the dice to the youngest.

"Thanks!" he was a bit happier now, which came with the caveat of being louder. Cho wondered to himself how much longer this game was going to be, but it appeared that they were just getting started. Ugh.

"I won monies!" Penle excitedly held up the yellow card he was holding and then moved to count out the play cash. "I'm going to use it to buy a business!"

"That's very savvy of you," Meva commented, which Cho found hilarious. Penle couldn't run a business even if all the work was done for him- which was how businesses were.

"Thanks!"

"Do you want to run a business like your dad when you grow up?"

"No…" Penle blurted the word out and looked a little frightened at his answer, but Cho didn't mind. So long as what he said next was the military or government- "I like animals…" he said quietly, looking directly at Meva. "Can I work with animals?"

No. No fucking way. Cho almost found it funny that Penle seemed to think Meva was some sort of second opinion to be had, as if her opinion would ever matter.

"Of course you can! What do you want to do? You could be a vet, or a zookeeper, or a farmer-"

"A-a farmer!" Penle almost stood out of his seat now. His brother tried to pull his arm to get him to sit down, but to no avail. "They have the big animals… I want to do that!"

"Penle," Rez hissed, but he was ignored.

A fucking farmer? A FARMER? No son of his was going to toil in the dirt and fields with those filthy beasts of burden! He didn't work this hard his whole life to give those ungrateful, nasty, annoying little creatures all their opportunities for Penle to throw that away and be a farmer. That was smaller work, what the fuck was wrong with him?! He was borderline defective! And Penle was going to wish he was taken out and shot like one later.

"Farmers… Don't make that much," was all Cho was able to spit out, as nicely as he could.

"Well, money isn't everything, Cho."

He wanted to smack her mouth so hard for backtalking him like that. He felt like he was going to soon if he didn't get the fuck out of this room. Every time he looked at Penle he was disgusted and angered all over again.

"It's important to have some income," he said.

"Uh, m-my turn!" Rez piped up and locked eyes with Cho, rolling his dice. He knew what that look was, Rez already trying to apologize for his brother without saying it. Well too fucking bad, this will not go forgotten.

"What's your favorite animal?" Meva asked, making Cho want to slam his head against the table. Won't everyone just shut up? Is that too much to ask for?

"The uzingu!" Penle pointed at his little figurine. "They make funny noises!"

Meva giggled at his response, and Cho silently took the dice from Rez for his turn. He had to calm down, he knew he did, but it was hard.

"What's your favorite, miss Meva?"

"Hmm, that's a tough question."

Cho scored a green card. He wanted to rip it up into little pieces and burn it with the rest of the board game. He'll do that tomorrow.

"I think my favorite are nobi, I love to go riding! And they're such sweet creatures."

Nobi. Of fucking course.

"I want to learn to ride!" Penle said. "My uncle is a good rider too!"

"Riding is dangerous," Cho muttered.

"Well, if you have a well mannered nobi, that makes all the difference," Meva said. "I've been riding since I was small and-"

"I don't want the boys riding," he said firmly. He could see Meva look at him saddened out of the corner of his eye, but he frankly didn't have any energy to coddle her weak feelings right now.

"Oh… Okay," Meva muttered. She reached out and picked up the discarded dice from the board game and smiled again- probably faking it for the comfort of the kids. "My turn! Now how do I get out of jail…"

"You have to pay one hundred monies!" Penle chirped.

"Really? Alright then," she chuckled and placed some play money down on the center of the board. "There, now I can roll?"
"Uh huh!"

Meva rolled and moved her piece, counting the squares out softly to herself.

"Miss Meva…"

"Yes?" she looked up at Penle as she finished her turn.

"Are you going to stay the night? Like a sleepover?"

"She's not going to stay the night," Rez said tiredly.

"Oh, n-no, no I'm not- I don't think…?" she turned to Cho for an opinion but he just wanted to scream at them to all shut up and go away.

"I think it's a little early for that," Cho said.

Penle looked down. Good. Be quiet.

"Okay."

"Don't be sad, honey, I promise that I'll come visit again soon!"

"But I don't want you to leave… I like you here…" Penle sniffled. Great. Here come the waterworks. Nope, no. Cho could not tolerate this behavior. He glanced at Rez to try to communicate that he needed to shut his brother up, then he stood.

"I'm very sorry, but I just remembered I need to take a call."

"Cho, what? But-"

"It's urgent, for work," he said stiffly, and then turned and left. He could hear Meva muttering assurances to the boys in his new absence. She was going to spoil them rotten if she was allowed to be around them. One afternoon and Penle was already clinging to her like some sort of safe haven! He knew what he should do is go back and take control of the situation, but for now he couldn't handle it.

But it would be fine. When they were married, Meva would know what her boundaries were and what the expectations were for the kids. He just had to deal with this for now. Later, things would be calmer. When Meva left, he could punish them appropriately.

When they were married, she would know never to go against him like this.