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“Ga’ran,” she was dressed like Ga’ran, but it was worth making sure, “is that a baby?” His wife definitely did not have a baby when he had last checked.
“Yes.” She responded and it was her voice, so it must be her. “Apparently she will be our child from now on.”
Inga thought about this for a minute. “…I’m a father now?” Not exactly something he’d ever expected to be, married to Ga’ran. She wasn’t the maternal type.
Ga’ran shrugged. “Close enough.” The baby was crying.
“Can I hold her?” They had let him hold Nahyuta, when his nephew had been born. He still remembered how to do it. Maybe at least then it would be quiet.
“Fine.” Ga’ran handed the baby over. She didn’t look comfortable holding it anyway.
Inga set about shushing it, and it settled down quick enough. It was a small baby, wrapped in a pink blanket. There was a little bit of black hair on top of her head. The rest was a blur. Her hands were so tiny! She weighed almost nothing, like a puppy. Nahyuta had been heavier.
“Is she cute?”
“I suppose. She looks like any other baby.”
That description didn’t really mean anything to Inga, but if he was going to have a daughter he would like a cute daughter. Her ears were cute, as far as he could tell. Her hands were cute. “What’s her name?”
“Rayfa. She will be Rayfa Padma Khura’in.”
Rayfa wiggled a little. He bounced her in his arms. “So we get to keep her?”
“We have to at this point.”
There was a story in that. “Whose is she really?”
“My sister’s. The baby is a bargaining chip for getting her to stay.”
Inga looked up. “So she’ll be able to channel someday?”
“She’d better, or there’s no point to it.”
Rayfa made a noise and shook her tiny fists, grabbing at Inga’s shawl.
He was grinning like an idiot. He didn’t even care.
Ga’ran sounded irritated. “Did you just fall in love with that baby?”
“Of course! How could you say no to this face?”
“You can’t even recognize her face!”
“I don’t need to see it to know that it’s adorable.”
Ga’ran made that huffing noise, like she was annoyed. “Well, don’t get too attached to her. She’s only a means to an end.”
Inga had thought about killing his wife before. She had the sort of personality that leant itself to sick violent fantasies. But this was the first time in his life that he’d ever felt like he would have a morally good reason to do it.
His little girl deserved better than that.
~