102, What to be called

It was early Monday morning and Tenac had come over to follow Jason to his first day at school, together with Ayya. Jason was eating breakfast and looked like he was thinking about something serious. 

“What are you thinking about, Jason?” Ayya asked. 

“I have one grandfather, so I can call him granddad, but I have two grandmothers. What do I call them?” he asked and looked like he was contemplating the big questions of the universe. Ayya and Tenac smiled at him. 

“Why don’t you ask them?” Ayya suggested. Jason shot up from his seat and walked over to her mother.

“Bettina, what should I call you?” he asked. Ayya’s mother looked at him and Ayya could see how moved she was. 

“How about you call me Grannie?” she suggested. Jason nodded.

“I like that,” he said and gave her a hug before walking over to Kopa.

“Do I call you granddad?” he asked. 

“I think Gramps would be better,” Kopa said with a straight face. 

“Okay,” Jason said and reached his arms up. Kopa smiled and bent down so Jason could hug him. 

“Now I need to ask dad’s mom as well,” Jason declared. 

“We will go and see her after I pick you up from school this afternoon,” Ayya promised. It looked as if Jason would object.

“Jason, you can’t be late on your first day at school,” Tenac reminded him. 

“Okay, after school,” Jason agreed. 

“Now eat your breakfast so we can get going,” Ayya told him. He hurried to finish his breakfast and after getting hugs and well wishes from Kopa and Bettina, they left. 

“Are you excited?” Tenac asked as they made their way to the school.

“Yeah,” Jason said, but he didn’t sound excited. 

“And a little nervous?” Ayya asked. Jason nodded.

“That’s okay, son. We all get nervous sometimes. The best thing you can do is learn how to handle it when you do get nervous,” Tenac told him.

“You get nervous?” Jason asked, sounding like he didn’t believe it. 

“I do. Just ask your mother about how nervous I was when I kissed her for the first time,” Tenac said with a grin.

“Tenac!” Ayya said. He just chuckled. 

“Was he nervous, mom?” Jason asked.

“He was. It was really sweet. And he is right. We all get nervous, but it doesn’t mean you don’t do things. It means you need to find something that lets you do it despite of it,” she said.

“And you have nothing to be nervous about,” Tenac told Jason. “You will do your best in school and you will meet some new kids and hopefully make a friend or two.” Jason nodded. Ayya and Tenac gave him a hug when they got to the school, then introduced him to his teacher and watched as she guided him inside. 

“Is it bad that I want to sneak inside and watch how he does?” Ayya asked as they stood and looked at the school.

“No, I have the same instinct,” Tenac admitted.

“But we won’t do it,” Ayya said.

“No,” Tenac agreed. They stayed in place for a while, holding hands and preparing themselves to walk away. 

“I’ll come by as soon as I get off guard duty,” Tenac said.

“We’ll be waiting. I’ll collect him after lunch and take him to your mother so he can ask what she wants to be called. Then we’ll go back to my parents,” she told him. 

“He will do great,” Tenac said. Ayya got the feeling he was reassuring himself just as much as he was reassuring her. They walked to the sanctum together and parted ways in the grand entrance. Ayya went to Tariana’s office. Tariana smiled at her as she walked in and took a seat behind her desk that now stood beside Tariana’s. 

“Did it go okay?” Tariana asked. 

“It did. He was a little nervous, but he overcame it,” Ayya said. “Can we come by after I pick him up in the afternoon?” 

“He is always welcome here. Is there a specific reason?”

“The reason Jason has continued calling you and my parents by name is that he hasn’t been able to figure out how to differentiate between you and mom. Now he has asked my parents what he should call them and he needs to ask you as well,” Ayya told her. Tariana smiled.

“That is sweet. What will he be calling Kopa and Bettina?” she asked.

“Grannie and Gramps,” Ayya answered. 

“That is so cute. I will think about it. Would it be okay if I came with you to pick him up? Some of the ambassadors will be arriving this afternoon and I need to go to the harbour to greet them. We can take the route past the school,” Tariana suggested.

“You are more than welcome. Do you need me to be there as well?” Ayya asked.

“No. You and Tenac will greet them on your wedding day. But maybe it would be nice if you would be there tomorrow to greet king Richard and his queen,” Tariana suggested. Ayya agreed. It would be nice to see him again. The day passed by in a rush. They always did these days. Her father came to remind them it was time to get going. Ayya and Tariana made their way to the school, followed by her father and a group of riders. They stood outside the school when Jason came running out. He looked happy.

“Mom!” he said, waving at them. Ayya gave him a hug and then let Tariana hug him.

“Did you have a good day?” Ayya asked. 

“The best,” he said. “Tariana, what should I call you?” he then asked. 

“I like grandmama, would that be okay?” Tariana asked. 

“Yeah,” he said and nodded. Ayya and Jason said goodbye to the rest of the company and as her father and Tariana made their way to the docks, she and Jason walked towards her parents’ home. 

“Tell me about your day,” Ayya said. Jason told her everything. They had been learning how to write and then they had history. During recess and lunch, Jason had talked to some of his classmates and he told Ayya they had all been impressed he had his own horse. One boy, Tregan, and Jason had become friends, as they both liked the same things. When they arrived home, he told everything all over again to Bettina while eating an orange. 

“I’ll take him out in the garden for a while. The weather is good and he can play off some of the energy,” Ayya told her mother and she and Jason went out into the front garden where he had the toys he had for outside play. After running around for a while, he settled down and started working on his stable. It was a project he had started for his painted grey riders. He had used dead branches, twigs, leaves, stones and other materials he found in the garden and had started to build a stable with paddocks and surrounding buildings. Ayya sat on a bench and watched him as he looked in the garden for new parts and then sat in concentration to build. There was a knock on the gate, and Ayya got up to see who it was. To her surprise, prince Neherim and Pehobo stood on the other side. 

“Jason, I will just be outside the gate. If you need something, go in to granny,” Ayya said as she walked to the gate.

“Okay.”

“Prince Neherim, Pehobo, what a nice surprise,” Ayya said as she opened the gate, stepped outside and closed the gate behind her. 

“Lady Ayya, I hear two congratulations are in order. The first for your engagement and the other for being named the successor to the Lady,” Neherim said and gave her a bow. 

“Thank you,” she said. 

“May I take you for a walk?” he asked. Ayya looked into the garden where Jason was playing. 

“I’m sorry, but now is not a good time,” she told him. He followed her gaze and looked surprised. 

“Who is the boy?” he asked.

“My son, Jason,” Ayya said. Both the prince and his bodyguard snapped their eyes to Ayya.

“I did not know you had a child,” he said. “You had to be very young when you had him,” Neherim said. Ayya laughed.

“He is adopted, and quite recently,” she told them. 

“Oh, I see.”

“Are you representing Ne’xsiss at the wedding?” Ayya asked.

“Yes. I got a surprise when the invitation arrived at the palace,” he answered. Ayya became uncomfortable. She was aware of their history. “I thought I would have more time to prove my worth,” he added. 

“It was never a question about your worth, Neherim. It has always been a question about who my heart belongs to,” she said. 

“Hearts can be persuaded,” Neherim said. 

“Mine is stubborn,” Ayya told him. 

“Which is lucky for me,” Tenac said as he walked up to them. “Your highness,” he said with a small bow toward Neherim before he put his arm around Ayya. 

“Rider Tenac, congratulations are in order,” Neherim said in a cold voice. 

“Thank you, your highness. I’m a lucky man. We are honoured to have you attend our wedding,” Tenac said, with just as much coldness. The prince inclined his head to acknowledge what Tenac had said. 

“I think we need to head inside. Jason has been waiting to tell you about his day, in detail,” Ayya told Tenac. She wanted out of the uncomfortable tension that was building between the two men.

“We should get going, your highness, we need to inspect our quarters,” Pehobo said.

“You are right,” Neherim agreed. “We will see you on Saturday,” he said to Ayya and Tenac.” As the two men walked away, Ayya turned to Tenac. 

“You’re okay?” she asked.

“I am now,” he said and kissed her. “I’m not letting him steal you away,” he added when they drew apart. Ayya smiled and placed a quick kiss on his lips.

“No one will be able to do that. I love you, and only you. I chose you to start a family with. Nothing can change that,” she told him. Tenac smiled and nodded. 

“I will still have a word with your father about the prince,” he said. Ayya sighed. The best she could hope for was that Neherim wouldn’t be offended by all the extra attention he would be getting from riders during his stay if both her father and Tenac wanted to keep him away from her. But she wouldn’t object. “Now I want to hear everything about our son’s first day at school,” he said. 

“Be careful what you wish for, love. It can be more than you can handle,” Ayya said, and they laughed as they walked through the gate.