Skulduggery – Crow

Anton – Bear

Ghastly – Panda

Dexter – Wolf

Saracen – Weasel

Erskine – Snake

Solomon – Raven

Corrival – Pa

Chapter 95

"Surprise!" Valkyrie grinned. "You've always wanted to ride a motorbike."

"I don't have a licence," Nadia said quickly.

"Well, yeah, I kind of thought I'd drive and you'd hang on," Valkyrie said, gently pulling Nadia over. "I can teach you but not today."

"Valkyrie, how did you get this?" Nadia breathed, her eyes never leaving the gleaming machine.

"It's Tanith's. It's how we got to the ice cream place too since she can't drive anymore, I just drive the bike everywhere for her and I get to use it myself sometimes," Valkyrie explained. "And don't worry, Pa – I mean, Corrival gave me a fake licence."

"Corrival? As in Elder Deuce? You call him Pa?"

"Yes."

She gaped. "Seriously? He actually gave you a fake licence?"

"Yeah I know, it's great! Come on, let me help you into the helmet. You have to do the jacket up first," Valkyrie smiled, and helped her do just that. "Oh my god, you're so adorable!"

"I feel massive," Nadia said from beneath all the layers of padding.

"You're not though. Just your head is three times its normal size. You're so small in my old jacket that it just makes you look smaller and it's so funny," Valkyrie laughed. "You're like a little, cute bunny in a massive helmet!"

"Stop laughing at me!" Nadia complained, but she looked like a tiny, angry bunny when she did that and Valkyrie laughed more, wheezing about how adorable she was. "I hate you."

"You love me," Valkyrie smiled, and kissed Nadia's hand because that was the only skin showing.

They got on the bike and with a little help, Nadia was safely wrapped around Valkyrie for the journey. After promising a thousand times to go slow, they set off into Dublin.

Perhaps she didn't stick by that promise the whole way, but feeling Nadia's arms tense around her whenever she sped up or when they curved around traffic was the best feeling in the universe and she would have to try and convince Tanith to give her the bike when she had a baby to travel with. It was only right she inherited the death machine when Tanith downgraded to the status of 'responsible' after all. She was her sister.

Regardless of bike ownership, she loved riding with Nadia and when they got to the car park and removed their helmets Nadia was a little shaky but had the biggest grin on her face.

"Fun?"

"Yeah," she breathed with a laugh. "I don't think I can do that myself."

Valkyrie shrugged. "I'll get you a car. Come on, it's a ten minute walk to the restaurant."

They walked in amiable silence to the restaurant and they were seated as soon as they got there due to being after the lunchtime rush. She'd taken them to a simple place that did a lot of soups and sandwiches, but all of it was on the high-end spectrum, so the food was always great and the atmosphere was a lot quieter. She asked the waitress to give them a table upstairs, which she did, and they sat by the window with a view into the busy street below.

"Is there anything I can get you?" The waitress asked as soon as they were sat.

"A jug of water, please," Valkyrie knew to say. She'd been with Gordon almost every week as a child and just before his death, she had been able to do all the talking for them. She'd been very proud at the time.

The waitress did that and was quick enough to halt any conversation progression, and then they were able to order soup each and a shared platter of mixed bread. She loved fancy food.

"This place is nice," Nadia commented easily, sipping her water.

"It is, it's one of my favourites. I hoped we could share a dessert, they're even better than the food," she smiled. They had a little silence and Nadia looked out the window at the people. "What was that family meeting all about then?"

She screwed her face up. "It was my family deciding if I'm allowed to date you. They always do this, but usually when it comes to more serious stuff. Dad was the one that suggested it."

"But is it really as serious as marriage and jobs?"

"No, Daadii just wanted to sort out whether I should be allowed to date you and decide whose side to be on in a 'once and for all' manner, I guess. Since her opinion kind of tells the rest of the family what to do, we really want her to like you. Having those flowers the kids picked out in the entrance at your house the other day probably helped, because they were really thrilled, but I don't think they liked that you had me eating with you."

"It wasn't that bad though," she said.

"No, but Daadii loves tradition, and that means I have to stay with my parents and stuff. I tried calling her Grandma once and I was told if I did it again, I'd get a spanking."

"That's a little harsh."

"Dad said once it's because she doesn't want traditions to be forgotten so she makes all her children and grandchildren know about them. It took a long time before she let her children move out of her house, and that was two hundred years ago when my dad was past sixty. I guess I don't mind some of it, but she likes to force her clothing choices on me and I hate that. What's wrong with skinny jeans?"

"Nothing."

"Exactly! So I want to wear them and she gets annoying. I tried to wear a different top today and got marched back to my room. And God forbid she ever see my bare legs," Nadia muttered, covering her face. "I can't even wear a skirt. Skirts are girl clothes."

"She'll go home soon," Valkyrie soothed her sympathetically. "And it didn't sound like she hated us together by the end."

"No, she sounded like she'd discuss it with the family and her friend before getting back to us. And that's before they decide what school I have to live at," Nada sighed. "I just want to go to a school I like and date you. Is that so bad? I don't know what she's going to think when she finds out I don't want a business like everyone else.

"What do you want to do?"

She shrugged. "I think I'd like to work from home. I like management, so I might work for my Dad if he ever pulls his head from his arse."

"You could run my businesses if you like," she suggested carefully. "I don't want to run them myself, I just like the big things."

"I don't particularly like finances though," Nadia said with a bit lip.

"Then hire someone?" Valkyrie laughed. "You don't need to decide now or anything, I was just saying it's possible."

Nadia didn't get to respond because their food came then and they started to eat. As always, the food was amazing, but it was nice to make a memory with Nadia there to go alongside those of her Uncle. She still had Echo-Gordon, but food was a big part of their lives together, testified by Gordon's weight, and she wanted to eat out again like she used to. But with Nadia this time.

"Where do you want to go to school then? Or don't you know?" Valkyrie asked Nadia.

She shook her head. "I don't particularly want to go at all, but I guess if it was in Ireland I wouldn't mind too much. But I doubt Mum would be keen on the idea and I don't know how well Dad will take Daadii getting involved in that bit, you know? He can still send me away, that's the thing. But then we'll have other family problems if he doesn't do what his mother says because she's stricter with her kids than with me or the other grandkids. Especially since he actually asked for her help."

She looked at her plate with what she hoped was a casual move. "What will you do if he does want to send you back?"

Nadia smiled sadly at her and reached her hand across the table for Valkyrie to squeeze. "We'll work it out."

"Or you could just move in with me?" Nadia had a hesitant look on her face. "You'd have your own room and space and you could go to your parents whenever you want. It's just something you could do, you know? I have space. I'd love to see you for breakfast again."

She smiled a little. "It sounds nice. But if I do that then I'll be in real trouble from Daadii and Dad and probably Mum and the rest of the family will think it's bad even if they don't think Dad should send me back to India, and I don't want to be that person that causes all the problems, you know? I just want get this over with and move out when people usually do and just see you when I can and text you all the time. I want the normal stuff."

"We can do that anyway, so don't worry," Valkyrie smiled. "And I'll work in India for a year if he sends you back."

"You can't speak any of the native languages," Nadia frowned.

"The English dealt with that problem, don't worry. I just need to talk as loud as I can and everyone will know what to do," Valkyrie grinned teasingly.

"You're an idiot," Nadia smiled, rolling her eyes. "And that's a really bad joke."

"I know it is, but I could probably get by, and I wouldn't mind learning a little of the local language of wherever the school is. I'm sure Wolf knows something helpful."

"It's literally in the middle of nowhere. There's no local people, let alone a local language," Nadia complained. "I don't mind small places, but this school takes it to a new level."

Valkyrie shrugged. "I'd work it out. I could break into the school and scare your roommates."

Nadia just shook her head and ate her soup, and they chatted a little about all the things they used to and caught up on what they'd missed. Nadia could tell her a little about all her roommates which were the 'sort of' friend's she'd made, and Valkyrie talked about her Temple visit a little more and all about the baby stuff that had been prepared. Nadia had a pair of her old baby shoes and was excited as anything to let Tanith borrow them for the baby. They were pink, she said, but they were so small the baby wouldn't be seen in them for long, and Valkyrie doubted Tanith would care. They'd gone to a little baby boutique a while ago and the shoes had been more expensive than a pair of Bespoke protective boots, and that was saying something. This child wouldn't get a colour choice, a shoe was a shoe.

They shared a sundae ice cream together and by the time they were leaving, both of them were holding hands and it felt so much like before that if someone said she dreamt being apart, she'd probably believe them.

They walked slowly back to the bike and when they were there, they checked the time and saw they still had an hour.

She had no intention of taking Nadia home with that long to go, and Nadia didn't ask what Valkyrie's plan was, so she hoped it was fine and she drove them to her house and helped Nadia back out her helmet.

"Hello stranger," Weasel grinned from the doorway with Wolf. "Having fun?"

"Hi," Nadia said with sudden nerves.

"We had loads of fun," Valkyrie grinned. "You?"

"Well, we hung curtains, packed boxes, stuck up all the stickers, took down all the stickers, put some nails in the wall, hung pictures, got shouted at, hung different pictures and moved a whole load of furniture around."

"Is Tanith having fun?" She asked instead.

He shrugged. "It's hard to tell with the mood swings. But probably, yeah."

"Well, that's all that counts," Valkyrie smiled and patted his cheek.

Valkyrie led Nadia upstairs to put the helmets away and Nadia smiled a little when she looked around Valkyrie's clean, perfectly organised, fresh looking room.

"I never knew you had carpet," she smiled, a little tremor of nerves in her voice. She didn't come further into the room than the desk by the door either. Whatever happened to make her so nervous, so self-conscious, was high on Valkyrie's list to get Nadia talking about so they could fix it. She'd been more confident at thirteen with spots and starting her periods than she was now at seventeen.

"I know, it's a strange phenomenon that happens every once in a while," Valkyrie smirked instead of what she really wanted to ask. "You can sit down if you want."

Nadia nodded and carefully sat herself on one of the desk chairs, spinning it to see Valkyrie who was sitting on the edge of the bed and trying not to look as if she noticed the odd behaviour.

"Do you want to talk?" Valkyrie asked after a moment of watching Nadia silently.

"We talked all afternoon," Nadia said quietly, pressing her nail into her thumb again.

"Do you want to see the baby room?" She asked after a moment.

Nadia smiled, and they went into what she could only assume was the neutral grounds for how Nadia was feeling.

Tanith was there to tell them all about the changes she'd been making with the help of Wolf, Weasel and her brother. It looked good, and Valkyrie followed as the other two raved about how incredible and exciting it all was. The walls were a pretty yellow, the furniture had been given a wax seal to lock in the amazing wood finish, and everything was so, so pretty. The stickers on the wall were Pooh Bear themed and it made the yellow pop and gave a direction to the room. It was completely gender neutral, which was fine, and useful too, since Tanith had already decided after much arguments with Panda that she was waiting till birth to find out the sex. And at any rate, the Pooh Bear theme was adorable.

"We need to go baby clothes shopping," Nadia grinned, looking over at Valkyrie. She was standing next to Tanith's brother who had been completely ignored the whole time. "If you want gender neutral, we can get as much as we want and it will still be perfect for baby."

A smile gripped Tanith and she squealed excitedly. "There are cute places in Dublin to get clothes!"

Tanith's brother laughed. "Did you say 'cute'?"

She glared at him. "Yes, I said 'cute', you pillock."

He put his hands up. "Alright, alright. But you probably want to come to England at some point and see Mum and Dad while you have a baby bump. You're six months, Tan, only a while more before you can't fly."

"Oh yeah," she realised. "Oh my god, Nadia, we could do the shopping in London!"

Nadia's smile fell. "I don't know if I'm allowed."

"I'll try and convince them, I'm sure they'll let you," Tanith grinned with a mischievous look in her eyes. "I'll say I need to go alone and Valkyrie is on cases, and I want a female friend to help me choose. It won't be hard convincing them you're the only other woman I know."

"But why would you want me?" Nadia asked.

"Because," Tanith shrugged. "I'm pregnant and stupid, that's why. And I want baby clothes. Sorted."

Nadia let a little smile settle on her lips. "Well, you're welcome to try. And you totally need a footrest in here for the rocking chair."

Valkyrie and Tanith's brother gave each other a look and raised their eyes to the ceiling at the same time. At least the other two were having fun. She wondered idly how much this shopping trip would cost her.

Aww, just a little date. Nothing fancy, but I didn't feel as if they would jump right into the big things again after so long. I'm just so happy to have these two back together!

I'm still open to baby names, only a little while to go before baby is here, I'm writing at almost eight months so my decision will be soon! You can pick from either sex, or gender-neutral, I specifically want Chosen, not Taken names, but I will write down any Taken name ideas for the future if they pop into your mind. I'm just super excited! :D