Manning Thorsen believes in (othala) wrote in repose,
Re: Home: Iris and Manning
"Alright." It was short notice, but there were also no appointments to reschedule and when he likely would have spent the afternoon with her and TJ anyway - this was all the better. But there was a stumble over telling TJ, and he touched the tip of his nose to her temple.
She worried, and beneath that, he knew that she was worried about disappointing TJ. Disappointing him too, maybe. But he'd lived long enough, seen pregnancy and death and miscarriage and stillborns enough to know that the fault wasn't to be placed with her. Sometimes that was life was with humans and animals alike. He kissed the top of her cheek, gently. "If something looks wrong, she's going to know." There wouldn't be any hiding of the emotions that came with it.
And even if he could, protecting TJ meant keeping her from harm, not sheltering her from life. She already knew that sometimes babies didn't survive with barnyard animals, as he'd taught her while she sat on his knee. But, he wasn't going to go against what Iris wanted either. A compromise. "Tell me your reasons why you don't want to tell her. And I'll tell you my reasons why we should."