If he were a smarter man, he would have connected the dots. They were married. Children had always been part of the plan, but after months of... marital activities, he supposed he would have known already if his own wife was expecting?

Clearly not.

The grin that spread across his face was slow and stupid. "Really?" Quin glanced down at her slim figure, though obviously he couldn't tell just by looking at her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, spinning her around the kitchen slowly. "That's great! That's wonderful! That's... terrifying." He set her down as soon as he words slipped from his mouth. A father, he was actually going to be a father and as exciting as it was. He was also scared witless.

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There was no hiding the joy in his grin as he beamed down at her. "Really." She confirmed with a small nod before his arms wrapped around her and he was spinning her around, words and happiness twirling around them in a soft cocoon of their own making until... 'terrifying'. He set her down, his face paler now.

Confusion knitted her brows as she looked at him, a bit of unhappiness marring the moment. "Terrifying?" She echoed quietly, unable to hide her discomfort at the word.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

He'd stuck is foot in his mouth again, hadn't he? Still, what he'd said was the truth of it, but he still hadn't quite learned to be more careful of his thoughts around Dahlia. She was such an empathetic soul that he sometimes forgot she took everything quite literally.

"Slightly terrifying. I've never so much as kept a plant alive for more than a week." No, he'd only gotten acceptable grades in herbology in school thanks to Skeeter. "Never had a pet, even." He was genuinely too busy and had always figured he'd feel guilty leaving a pet alone for long workdays. "I'm excited, I promise. I just sort of got to an age where I didn't think it was going to happen if it didn't happen soon." But it was happening and he would get used to it eventually. He had nieces now, little ones, he could practice on them right?

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As he spoke she felt more and more nervous. He was supposed to be the responsible one in their marriage, wasn't he? After all he was older. And she'd always been the flighty one. The more he spoke the more inadequate she felt that she didn't even hear what he said at the end. It felt like tears were building in her eyes and she blinked back the burning sensation. "Goddess," She found herself whispering, the full weight of what a baby meant sinking in on her, "How are we going to keep a child alive?" She hadn't meant to say the words out loud but there they were, she looked up at her husband her face full of panic, her eyes wide. She had expect he'd at least have some idea what to do and her sisters had made it seem so easy, but maybe Quin was right.... she might be able to manage a pet and plants but a squalling human being? She'd held her nieces but she'd never really had to do anything for them. She had just assumed her sisters and mother would help, but what would happen when it was just she and Quin and the babe at home? How would she keep this precious living thing safe?

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

Ah shit, he'd said the wrong thing again. However had he managed to entice her to marry him? "No, no, we'll be fine. I think it'll kick in once we get used to the knowledge." Quin would start by practicing somewhere. He would go hang out at Percy's and get Annabeth to help him. It would be fine. "We can go see the Adlards, they'll set us straight." If Percy could do it, so could he... right?

Right.

"This is good news, plus we could hire a nanny, even if it's just until we get the hang of it." Quin could totally afford that. It would be fine. They would be fine. If he feigned confidence, they would make it through. "I'm sure your mother will more than happily help, too." It would take a herd of erumpets to keep Laurel Potts from any of her grandchildren, he suspected.

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At each suggestion Dahlia nodded. But her brow crinkled slightly. She strongly suspected that Mr. Adlard knew nothing of babies. Indeed she suspected they had employed at the very least one nanny. "The Adlards." She repeated skeptically, in her panic forgetting to hide her tone. Mr. Adlard, afterall, was such a curmudgeonly fellow that Dahlia had no idea how he and Quin were even friends.

While Quin had given Dahlia control of the household budget she had no idea of the shops budget. Indeed she knew they could hire a nanny but had felt it would be frivolous now though..... "Oh, Quin, could we? Hire a nanny that is? It felt like such an expenditure." after all even having a maid seemed a waste of money and yet her mother had even employed one. Dahlia, however, was still unused to the actual cost of things - which, Indeed, was much more expensive than she'd thought when she'd lived at home and clueless.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

Annabeth knew what she was doing and from what he'd seen of Percy, he wasn't so bad with Bedivere either. Quin highly suspected it was something that would come naturally, with time.

Dahlia's question about being able to afford a nanny had him chuckling. He'd suggested a housekeeper too and that hadn't gone through yet either. A small household staff was to be expected for a house like theirs, especially as they expanded it. "Yes, we can hire a nanny, but only if you want." The housekeeper really should come first, but he would work on that slowly. It was for practicality reasons. Dahlia liked to be at the shop, and he was fine with that, they would just need someone to cover the house when she was out and he really didn't expect her to be making all of the meals and doing the cleaning. She was supposed to run the house, which really meant the staff, not be responsible herself.

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"Oh." Dahlia's lips pursed slightly as she considered this. Then she nodded as if she had made up her mind, "If it will help ease your mind, then yes, I would like to consider a nanny." Because if Quin was scared she would be as well, Quin was the strong and steady one of them. If he thought a child was scary, well then it was, wasn't it? Without realizing it her hand settled on her stomach, hugging the fragile life inside her. "It'll be okay." She murmured, but her emotions were still all over the place. She wanted to laugh, to cry, to rage all at once. How strange to feel so many emotions they could hardly fit in one's body.

"Won't it?" She asked Quin, looking up at him with tears clinging to her lashes.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

Well, he'd really gone and messed this up. Damn it. The tears in her eyes had him panicking a little, guilt settling into the pit of his stomach uneasily and he had no idea how to truly fix it. Gently he cupped her cheeks in his hands, running his thumbs along them, urging her not to be upset.

"It'll be great, we'll be great." Quin was going to have to get a hold of himself so he could be better for her. "We don't have to decide right now, we have plenty of time." His voice was soothing and he smoothed his features into something more neutral, hoping he could exude some semblance of calm for her. It was times like this he forgot just how young she was and while it obviously didn't bother him, he tended to forget it until situations like this popped up.

Quin pressed a soft kiss to her lips and smiled slowly. "Everything will be just fine, you'll see." A nanny, her mother moving into their spare bedroom, a never-ending line of Potts sisters invading his house to help, something would happen to where they would be perfectly fine. If he could convince himself of that, he could convince her.

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