#anywhere

Jonas says firmly "This is her home ... of part of her, the home of a younger child and teen who needed all the love you could give her, and you did. I suspect some part of it always will be. Now, you have a chance to show this area to visiting grand children, to share what you shared with Piper with them, whoever they will be. You will use those chances, I suspect, to spoil them rotten." Jonas then says "At least, we hope you do. You have made Piper who she is in no small part... how could I not be grateful for that?"

Piper reaches over and gives her momma Vee a hug across the table. "Home is where the heart is, so I'll always be at home here. And at Rivervale. Where the people I love BOTH live." This makes the kinain smile a little. She whispers something in Piper's ear - Piper rolls her eyes a bit. "YES, Momma. Of course."

Viola is smiling at Jonas. "Well put, young man. Now, I'm not one to say you should bog down in some banal nine-to-five, but I DID hear you say babies, didn't I? Can you support this family of yours when it nearly doubles?"

"Siv has a job at the Marina. It will help us build up a buffer while I work remotely so I can stay at home and watch the kids. It's not a traditional male role, but I can handle it. I hope you won't mind if I contact you for suggestions or advice now and then, Vera, Viola?" he is being the diplomat here and Piper and Siv know it

"What kind of work do you do? You know, babes take up more time than you think. Let's see... do we still have any of those boxes from lil' Pippy?" Viola ponders.

Vera hesitates, then nods, "We gave some to Marcia when her youngest was born - Lydia, or Lynn, what is the girl's name? So many cousins. But we still have some things, stroller, high chair, in storage."

Now firmly onto the subject of support, Piper relaxes noticably.

Siv eases up, though still looks thoughtful. She does give a mouthing to Piper though 'Pippy?'

GLARE - loving, but still!

Siv looks jUST enough contrite to buy some mercy

And the food arrives!

"Lydia, Marha's daughter is named Lydia. Probably soon to be a wilder herself" Siv says

The food, while good is also a nice little distraction, and the tension eases more. Vera even orders a juice mocktail for Piper, a little reconciliatory gesture.

"Lydia!" Viola smiles to Siv. "Is she now? I swear, the last time we made it over that part of town, Little Zane was still trotting around with nubs for horns."

Jonas has not answered 'what he does' but he does now "Data entry is what I'll probably be working on remotely. a secretarial position"

A thoughtful glance at Piper, and Siv can practically see Viola envisioning a lil' satyr babe.

Vera harrumphs a bit. "Mind you don't let it get you too gray. Paperwork'll be the death of the likes of you, I barely stand it myself and Vi-vi lets me do all the taxes and bills."

"Normally I work with a social worker who at least gives me worthy efforts" he says

"But I will have to 'bring home the bacon' as it were" He agrees

"Well, you just be careful. You've got our grandkids to think of now. Mind, they can spend summers here, of course."

"We will see" Siv says "But the offer is very kind of you."

Piper smiles at Siv's diplomatic phrasing. "Thanks, love." She whispers across, and reaches to squeeze one of Jonas's hands as well.

hands are squeezed

Soon the topic trails to stories about baby Piper. Viola asks Jonas, "Can you give me your mother's numbers? We'll want to reach out to coordinate a baby shower, of course."

"Piper and Siv are the only family I have" He says simply. That may not be quite accurate, but it is simple

Piper interrupts, "And besides, Mama Vi, I promised my best friend Rikki she could coordinate. I'm sorry! How about we do something with the kinfolk - you said yourself you haven't seen all the cousins in a while. A good old fashioned tragos get together. Just the fam, and maybe we can even hold it on the West Coast."

Deftly steered away from Jonas's family, and now party planning is the conversation.

"Rikki, the pooka?! Isn't she the one who...." Much livlier chatter now.

"She is..." Siv sighs

Siv bides her time, and sees if she can catch one of the moms alone

Viola does excuse herself to the restroom after a while.

"Scuse me" Siv rises and follows ..as women are said to do

Piper is in the middle of an anecdote about how Rikki almost got banned from Goldfinch... "Turns out, she rubbed cheese on Etsy's favorite guitar and said she could be like Eddie Cheddar..."

Siv catches Viola as she's washing her hands. "Too many margaritas. I can hold the tequila, but the juice runs through me these days." The satyr says to the younger Troll.

"Oh, I bet you could still drink me under the table if you had to" She says checking her hair "Tell me, could Piper's mother hold her liquor?"

Said almost conversationally

A slow blink, and she leans on the sink, turning to look - up - at Siv. "Now, that's an odd question. I don't rightly see the relevance."

"I could say it's just conversation" She admits "But.. mostly I'm curious about Piper's biological mother... Apologies, but something seems odd. I thought it was Mickey you guys were tight with. Yet ... Vera said "We didn't raise our baby this way. Why, when her mother-"... when her mother what?"

Viola sighs. "Vera doesn't want to see our Pippy make the same mistakes that her mama did, that's all. I know she's harsh - but it comes from a place of love."

"Micky is a good man to take Piper under his wing... literally."

"Yes, yes he is... and damn brave considering how his career is under fire by narrow minds" A look "But... something doesn't jibe. Mickey won't give the Biological mother's name. Who was she?"

A frown... and she hesitates. "It's not really for me to say."

"Viola... you and Vera love Piper, but so do I. She has become like a heart beat to me, and she has taken a lot of surprises. If there's a lie here, even one of ommision, and it catches her at a time wthout warning, that could hurt her. Do you understand? It's a matter of when, not if with these things. I can't protect her when that happens if it catches me off guard too."

"We love her too, and that's why we protect her. Her... birthmother, she wasn't able to handle having a baby. She didn't HAVE support, or a loving partner- partners. It broke her, and Vera doesn't want to see the same happen to our baby. As for me, I think knowing this would hurt Piper too. She didn't cause what happened to happen, but she was the cause of it, all the same. So unless Piper comes to us asking to know about that poor lady, it's in the past and we're the only mamas she has to worry about."

"Well" Siv says thinking about it, "Right now I think it's safe to say her focus, all our focus, will be on these babies. As it should be. But eventually Piper may start asking again, and Mickey and you two may find yourself hard pressed to hold her off. If she asks me to search into it, I will." A sigh "I ..have a hard time denying Piper anything. But okay. Time we may have. "A pause "Any way, thank you for trying to ease things for Vera. It makes it easier on Piper too. I'm mad at Vera but... she's a bit like me, says things out of love that sometimes cause trouble. I know you worry just as much but keep a cooler head. You're like Jonas in that regard" A smile "It's ..appreciated. I owe you"

Viola smiles. "Pay it forward to our daughter. What am I saying.. I know you already do. And thank you for giving Vera some grace, she's got the satyr spitfire and Wayburton blood, but without the horns and hooves to balance her. God, I love my wife, but I know she's a lot."

Siv finishes cleaning up at the sink and nods "I have trollish stoicism in me to keep me in check but I can't say I wouldn't be the same wihtout that edge. Still.. she cuts it real close some days. If she were a kithain, duels would be issued at some o that talk. Mmph. But then Piper would be upset with me... and I hate that. "

"Anyway, thanks for hearing me out"

"Understood. And thank you for being there for my daughter. She's gonna have a time of it - ugh, TWINS, and I never even wanted to bear one. Take care of her for us."

"We know some great doctors and midwives thank goodness" Siv nods "Jonas has NO idea, bless him" ANd she heads out

"Oh, men seldom do. That's why I don't bother with them." A grin from Viola, and she follows.

(Fade to cocktails and mocktails?)

(Fade to Cocktails and mocktails!)