"I think Nova's disappointed in me," he said, not realizing how true he felt that was until he said it out loud. He had barely even articulated it in his own head as a coherent thought, because he had been so busy worrying about dinner tonight and specifically about how Melody would handle everything, but — he was quite convinced that all of his siblings were disappointed in him, and his dear little sister was, in this case, no exception to the general rule.

"And I think you ended up getting the brunt of it, I guess," he continued, shaking his head. "She's... I don't know. She's not very confrontational," he said, though given her Miss Finch comment tonight he wasn't sure Melody would believe that. Even that, though, could have been construed as a barb intended for him — delivered to the stranger in the room, the person that she cared less about, in order to keep from having to come straight out and voice her opinion (or anything approaching it) to him directly.

"But she's really sweet, honestly. One of the kindest people I know. And I think she's... I think everyone is willing to make an effort," he ventured hesitantly. "It will just... take some time before they're ready. Aldous probably the most time," he continued, glancing at the toes of his shoes. "He's the one who, uh. Worked out the whole Canada thing, with your parents, the last time. So he... well, this came as quite a shock to him, to say the least. Since I promised him when I came back that I wasn't even going to talk to you."