How many kids, how many times, had Tina seen that exact face? The problem with emotions were that they never grew up. They stayed stuck forever in adolescence, needy and demanding and not knowing how to stop. "That's why you bring someone competent with you," he told her gently, sliding off the couch onto his knees, then walking on them over to her and the fireplace. "And when you don't have someone competent, you bring me." He gave her a grin, then grabbed a log from beside the fireplace. "They don't have one of those things that holds the logs off the floor, so I guess we're gonna do this campfire style, and hope we don't burn the place down. Which means, more logs." He grabbed two more, and carefully arranged them tripod style.
"You need a solid base to start from," he said quietly, making sure to meet her eyes so she would really listen, and actually hear what he was really saying. "There's not point going anywhere unless you've got something safe to begin with. And that's the hard part, but anyone can learn it. And once you've got it... the rest is easy."