#fenixtj

"Good." Jessica nods. "She has formed a strong bond with the other childlings."

"Well, that's good to hear. Sometimes the other childlings on the farm are well, a bit stand offish. Satyrs and trolls are about as different as you can get"

Jessica nods. "Agreed."

"What's it like with other kith all the time? I mean.. I knwo you got Coy and Constance but... still, loads of variety here"

"Even the Farmhold is becoming more diverse." She points out.

"Yeah, some of the grumps are twitchy about that..." He shrugs "I don't get it. They worried we'll stop being a lodge?"

"I suppose they are. You'll be a different kind of Lodge."

"So far, Rivervale seems to be doing okay"

"Certainly! It took inspiration from mom's history and background but it is not and has never been a closed Lodge."

"Surely not... and I think that's something Chief Clem considered... the farm hold is about growth. Stagnation would be against it's nature"

"Speaking of which, didn't you have a population growth spurt there? Babies?"

HE sighs "Yeah.. they made me bring pictures" he says and pulls out his phone "You wanna see?"

"Just a few...."

Jessica can't help but smile a bit at the pictures.

"Just a few? Not possible with this crew" He says "That would be a few after the first set" The teenage boy is less impressed with babies but has been told what is not worthy "See, they say you can see a lot of their dad in the nose, whatever that means..."

"Well, I don't see it.... but I don't know the dad."

"OH, never Met Caesar?"

She might recall him from Firnost and the Pit

"Just in passing."

"BIG satyr..troll sized." He says "Maude, the kids grandmother on the DeBuke side, is getting riled as it seems he's going to 'steal' more than a few of the babies away from the farm. Now, it's been pointed out that it's not stealing with the mother and father both agree on it. But..well, trolls"

A slight smile, as he is a troll talking to a troll when he says that

"-Steal- a few babies?"

"Her words" He says

One picture has one sister making a finger gun motion at her brother's head. Clearly a complete coincidence

"And only the one boy?"

"Cooper is the only hope we have out of the lot for the family name going on, unless one of the girls goes feminist. Some discussion, QUIET discussion, among the guys which is worse"

Straight faced

A King eyebrow.

"Well, if you get married, are you taking on the fellow's name? whoever he is?"

"I'm not looking to get married anytime soon!"

"I mean, when and if it happens. Just saying, sons tend to carry the line at least in name"

"Hmmph."

"That said, most of the ladies of the farm are just hoping the girls grow up with more sense than the men so.. you know, everyone gets their jibes in" A shrug "CC and Mr. Stodgepole seem to be decent folk."

"MMm?" She flicks through the photos.

"Mrs Carroles..forget how it's pronounced. She just wants folks to call her CC. she's Caesar's mom. Really easy going. Though Bradford did call her Granny CC... she gave him a look.. and we thought he was going to die on the spot"

She offers the phone back. "They are cute." regarding the babies.

"I should move along.... thanks for the update, Spencer."

Meanwhile, Piper has slipped into the hallway to get better signal, and is frowning at her phone. She's sure that was Caspian's number, and he's probably fine, but she's still concerned at the lack of response.

"You're welcome" He says and pockets the phone

(Adam, worn out, dozes in the room behind Piper.)

Jessica moves on.

And so she does

Hearing footsteps, Piper glances up - notices a tabard and blue, and looks back to her phone. It takes a moment and another glance before she tilts her head to one side, trying to figure out the resemblance, and realizing that she's seen that braided hair style on many an occasion. And she hesitates, half tucking away the phone, and not sure if she's going to bow, curtsey, or whatever?

The giantess nods in greeting.

She settles on a bow after bobbing oddly for a moment. "Countess Jessica?" Hoping she hasn't guessed wrong.

An odd wince. "What gave it away?"

She reaches up at pats her own curls. "Chieftain Brekke has the same braid. And you're not exactly spoilin' for trolls here, Lady."

"Oh." A sigh. "Yes, I'm Jessica King."

"Along with a mouthful of titles, too. Though mama Vera always told me it was rude to speak with a mouthful. I wonder if that was early childhood doctrination against nobility?" She ponders, but a grin and glint in her eyes gives away the jest.

"You are here for the contest?"