Even after a little over three years of settlement, Snowy Hold still was only sparsely populated. A recent fire at a remote holding south of Paradise River Hold had left half a dozen children orphaned. Although they could have been taken care of and raised on the Southern Continent, it was decided that Snowy Hold had more need - and want, as some Snowy folk had specifically requested orphans of certain ages - and that they'd be shipped there.

It had been a terrifying trip for the six young children. None of them had seen the sea before being shipped off, let alone been on a boat, although one claimed some familiarity with canoes. The trip out of Paradise River Hold had been a non-event: clear blue skies, fine weather, and a steady wind. They were traveling with a shipload of supplies produced on the Southern Continent and bound for Snowy Hold and the ship's quartermaster took great delight in showing them the holds where the different goods were stored for the journey. However, three days out from their destination, they hit a bad winter squall that pushed the ship far off course and resulted in an extra two days of travel; only one child, up 'til that point, had experienced any seasickness, but the rest learned what it was like during that storm.

So it was a bedraggled bunch of orphans that were shepherded into a small cot near the docks, where they'd be put up for a night while an announcement went out to notify all the residents of the Hold that they were there and looking for new homes.

The next morning, the children were asked to clean up and were fed a good breakfast and then set to various tasks around the house: washing dishes and laundry, sweeping/dusting, and cutting vegetables and making bread.

Erin had decided to go out for a bit of a walk, and ended up wandering directly past the group of kids. Curious as to their appearance, and their location, she paused to chat with someone about it... shocked to find that they were all the victims of a fire that had happened on the southern continent. Quickly she walked over to look at the kids, wanting to adopt all of them... and knowing that she couldn't possibly do so. Thus, she began asking questions about each of them and what their lives had been like previously, hoping to get some more information about them... although she found herself most interested when she learned about the two siblings, Saelit and Selisa. In fact, she was half tempted to adopt them... something she began discussing with her dragon a moment later before deciding she would talk to the two children. She paused only long enough to ask one of the adults if they could get the siblings together for her so she could get to know them and see what they thought of being adopted by her... and her dragon.

~Mine, are you certain adopting hatchlings will be good? Weren't you worried about keeping up with your studies?~

~They need a home, and I can't really abandon them...~ she worried.

A'dam was still getting used to the fact that Plyath was living in the hold and as such, found her comments breaking into his thoughts on random occasions. He didn't mind it, really, but he had always tried to respect the privacy of the other riders and their dragons in the Weyr and he tried to do that with Erin and Plyath as well. Of course, the Green knew to conceal her thoughts if she didn't want him overhearing so he didn't feel as compelled to try and block her out. Besides, he found her inconsistent interruptions rather amusing because sometimes taking a comment out of context made for some rather interesting discussions later.

Today was one of those times he was glad for his ability to hear dragons and Plyath's tendency to 'share' when she thought something was important enough to do so. Normally he didn't talk directly to her but since she wasn't there for him to speak to verbally he reached out and touched her mind. Plyath? What in Faranth's name are you and Erin talking about this time? He questioned, already summoning Tahi to find out where Erin was while he listened to Plyath's explanation. The little Brown Firelizard took off and returned a moment later with the information which he passed to Dranith and Dranith shared with his rider.

It didn't take him long to get there and he easily spied Erin talking to two children and he made his way over and touched her shoulder. "Don't you think this is something you might want to discuss with me too?" He questioned, though he didn't sound like he disapproved. Of course, he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about the idea of Erin adopting kids, especially when the role of dad was likely to fall on him all things considered.

Plyath had readily explained the situation to A'dam, alerting Erin to the fact that she was busted. Of course, the woman had thought about talking to him at some point.. after all, she hadn't officially adopted the siblings. She wanted to, she really did. She just couldn't leave them on their own, and they were in need. Thus, when A'dam touched her shoulder, she didn't jump. Instead, she glanced up at him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Once done, she told the children that she would continue their talk in a moment as she rose and pulled A'dam off a short distance.

"I'm sorry I didn't have Plyath call you sooner. I actually only started talking to them about everything and I was planning on discussing this with you," she assured him, wrapping her arms around his waist, "But I really do want to adopt them, A'dam. Would you be okay with it?" With that she gave him puppy dog eyes, trying to convince him to agree.

It was easy to see that something about these kids had tugged at Erin's heartstrings and attempting to talk her out of anything would be next to impossible. He waited while she told the kids she'd be back and let her pull him aside so they could talk. He gave her an 'oh really?' sort of look when she said she planned on talking to him and gave her an amused smile. "Were you planning on discussing this with me before or after you brought them home?" He questioned, his tone more amused than anything else.

Of course, she then did the one thing he hoped she wouldn't and all but begged him to let her take the kids home with her. "I can see this means a lot to you, Erin but have you really thought it through? You've got your dragonhealer training to worry about. Who is going to watch them while you attend lessons and study? And what about when H'lee needs us at the Academy? Who will watch them then?" Of course, he wasn't saying yes or no, just asking a few tough questions.

Erin thought about it for a moment, "Before... maybe... more than likely..." she responded, of course she wanted him to be okay with the idea of her bringing kids home. And she would have, maybe, thought about the idea of talking to him over the issue before actually signing the papers and taking them home. At the very least, her voice of reason would have reminded her.

As his questions turned from teasing to serious, she smiled at him. Serious questions were usually good, and she knew they needed to be asked. "Well, from what I've learned, Saelit is learning to become a fisherman. My uncle is here and I'm sure he'd be willing to watch him when needed. And I'm sure he could help with your water plant thing," she smiled at him, she had tried (repeatedly) to remember the name of it and had failed every time. She watched him seriously, but still had that almost begging look in her eyes.

"Somehow I think you might have 'forgotten' to talk to me and just adopted them first. But I'm sure Plyath would have reminded you to talk to me if she hadn't told on you before then." He teased, glancing over her shoulder at where the siblings were still waiting and watching them. Of course, Plyath had told him (albeit mostly unintentionally) so at least he'd found out before she had actually decided anything. As she answered his questions, he watched the kids. They seemed...sort of scared and lost. And he couldn't blame them for that. After a moment of silence he turned back to Erin and gave her a slight nod. "I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this am I?" He questioned, looking at her in mock defeat. "Come on then. Let's go talk to them." He still wasn't entirely sure how to feel about the idea but he could hardly say no to Erin when it was clearly so important to her.

Erin chuckled at his words, but she didn't really say anything until she heard him give in. She smiled at him and kissed him quickly before she stepped away from him. "Thank you! It really is important to me, they need a good home," she smiled at him before she took his hand and started towards the kids, although she didn't really drag him back.. merely waited for him to walk with her over to the kids. Once they were there, she smiled at the two kids she had talked to for a moment.

When they reached the kids, she smiled at A'dam. "This is Saelit and Selisa, dear," she smiled, pointing to each child as she formally introduced him to them before she released his hand and moved over to the kids. "Hey guys, this is A'dam, my weyrmate." She smiled, letting them take over from there. She had already spent some time talking to the kids.

It was hard not to smile at Erin's excitement and he merely let her speak without saying anything. He walked with her back to where the two kids were standing and smiled at them as she introduced him. "Erin tells me she's been talking to you guys about maybe going home with her. What do you think about that?" He really had no idea what else to say to them. It wasn't as if he knew them or knew what they liked. There would be time for that later, of course, and right now he needed to get a feel for how the kids felt about Erin and himself and going home with them.

Saelit watched the two adults, his sister standing somewhat behind him. He could feel Selisa's gaze upon him, and he could almost feel the questioning look she had. They too had talked while alone, and both had agreed that Erin seemed nice enough. Perhaps she would take them in, and she had mentioned that she had an uncle who was a fisherman. Thus, when they were introduced to A'dam, the boy looked to him.

"She did. We like Erin, she's been very nice to us," Saelit responded. Although he hadn't really given a straight answer... since he technically wanted to go back home to his parents, despite knowing they were dead.

Selisa, seeing her big brother talk to the man, decided she would be braver too. "Can we go meet the dragon?" she asked, wanting to see what a dragon was like, and before her brother knew it, she had walked over to A'dam. Her eyes watched the rider with a sort of innocent curiousity and hope that she would have a new home.

Erin smiled as she watched A'dam, quite happy with his question. She had already talked about it, and knew that the two children were open to the idea... but they missed their parents and their home. She had expected as much when she learned their story. As Selisa walked over to A'dam, she smiled and watched the little girl, wanting to answer the question herself, but choosing to let A'dam answer instead. Clearly that was a question for him and she wondered what would happen next. After all, she knew full well that if they did go through with the adoption... then they would all be one happy little family, with a few minor problems that they would have to work through. The part that surprised her was that she already loved the children.. and already considered them hers. Although, she knew they had to actually go adopt them from the adults who had brought them there.

A'dam could sense a sort of stubborn defiance in the boy, the way he avoided giving a direct answer to his question only served to strengthen A'dam's suspicion that Saelit didn't quite want to go with Erin. But he also hadn't said no either so there was still hope that things would work out. "She is pretty nice. Just don't ever let her cook for you." He told the boy with a wink to show he was just teasing his mate. He couldn't help but notice the scars on the boy's arms and a brief look of pity crossed his features. To have gone through something like that at such a young age would not be easy. But at least neither of the children seemed too affected emotionally by the traumas of losing their parents and their home and then being shipped across the sea.

When the girl approached, he looked down at her and considered her question carefully. Because he suspected there was another question hidden in there, one that he had to be very careful of how he answered. "Well...both the dragons are at home right now but I'm sure you can meet them later if you wanted. Once Erin talks to the people about letting you come stay with her I bet she'd take you to meet Plyath." He told her, sending a quick mental request to Dranith to send Tahi to him. "But I can let you meet my firelizard." He added so he didn't disappoint her too badly. And as if on cue (and actually it sort of was thanks to Dranith) Tahi popped in from between and settled on A'dam's shoulder with a chirp.

Saelit watched him, uncertain about whether or not he should trust them. He wanted to, he wanted to think that maybe they could find someone who would take care of him and his sister. For the sake of Selisa at the very least, he would accept it if Erin adopted them. However, he wasn't entirely certain of his EXACT thoughts. However, he couldn't help the small smirk that came to his face (for the briefest of moments) as the rider teased his weyrmate.

Selisa was still watching A'dam closely when he responded. She wanted them to take her and her brother home. She wanted to have a mommy and daddy again, and she allowed herself a small smile when she noticed the firelizard.

At that moment, one of the adults from the place walked over, glancing towards Erin and giving her a questioning look. The man was clearly curious as to whether or not she would go through with the adoption.

Erin smiled as she watched A'dam with the kids, happy to see how well things were going... all things considered. She watched them all, and she couldn't help but just wait to see what else would happen. In her eyes, it was already decided. She WOULD take this two children home with her. A'dam had more or less approved the idea, the children were about as comfortable as they would ever be with being adopted, and she herself wanted nothing more than to give them a good home.

With that in mind, when she spotted the man she had spoken to earlier, she glanced momentarily towards A'dam before stepping closer to him. "I'll be right back," she whispered into his ear before walking off and leaving him to entertain two scarred children while she spoke to the man about adopting them. Informing him that they were certainly interested in taking both of them home with her. She had the room.

The kids had both gone silent for the time being and A'dam had no other questions for them so he merely let them be for a moment. Tahi, of course, had other ideas and hopped from the bluerider's shoulder and glided down to the floor at Selisa's feet where he promptly rolled onto his back with a happy chirp. "He wants you to rub his belly. Like this." He explained, crouching down near the firelizard and demonstrating how she could pet the Brown. Tahi churred contentedly and closed his eyes at the attention and gave a small cheep when A'dam stopped. "You can pet him too if you want Saelit." He added, motioning for the boy to join his sister even as Erin moved off to speak with the man that had approached.

Selisa's eyes seemed to brighten when the firelizard landed on the ground, only pulling her gaze from the creature when A'dam spoke. When he stopped petting, she knelt down and began petting Tahi. "I like him," she told A'dam, before she watched the man with a serious look. "Are you and Erin going to take us home?"

Saelit watched his sister, he knew she wanted to. Although he moved closer at A'dam's invite, he didn't pet the firelizard. When his sister had finished her question, his gaze rested on the man, wondering what he would say to that question.

The man nodded his head, "Will it be just you adopting them? Or is he adopting them as well?"

Erin thought about his question, uncertain of how exactly to answer it. Uncertainly, she looked over her shoulder to watch A'dam with the two kids, hoping that Saelit would warm up to them eventually. At the same time, she reached out to her dragon. ~Dear heart, would you ask A'dam what he would like me to tell this man? He wants to know if it's just me adopting them, or if we are both adopting them,~ the woman was almost certain she could count it as a joint thing.. but she wasn't 100% on that one.

~A'dam. Mine wants to know your answer to some man's question. He wants to know if it is just Erin-mine adopting the hatchlings or if you both are,~ the green relayed, mildly annoyed that her rest was interrupted again, since she had gone back to snoozing near A'dam's blue once the rider had gone to see what her rider was up to.

"And he certainly likes you." A'dam told the girl as she pet Tahi and the Firelizard was all but falling asleep at the petting he was getting. At her questioned he glanced up at Erin, his gaze brushing past Saelit as he thought about how to answer. "Yes, we are." He told her though his gaze rested on Saelit. "If you don't like staying with us we can always bring you back here so you can find someone you're happy with. It might be hard for us to have to say goodbye but we'd never make you stay somewhere you weren't happy. But you've got to give us a chance. Can you do that?" He questioned the boy, knowing Erin wouldn't mind the promise he'd just made. He, like Erin, hoped Saelit would warm up to them but if not the kid needed to know he wasn't going to be stuck with people he didn't like.

He was distracted momentarily when Plyath addressed him and for a moment he sort of froze mentally. Agreeing was a big commitment. What if something happened and things didn't work between him and Erin? No. Nothing like that would happen but still... Several 'what ifs' and worries rushed through his mind and for a moment he thought about saying no. He really wasn't sure he was ready for the responsibility and commitment of taking care of children. But he wondered if saying no would somehow hurt the children and if Erin would think less of him for it. She can tell him we're both adopting. He answered before he could change his mind.

Selisa smiled at A'dam's words before she nodded, happy to know that she would now have a new home. She had already decided that she liked both Erin and A'dam, and she really wanted to meet their dragons. She scratched Tahi's bellie some more, before she looked to her brother.

Saelit could see the joy on his sister's face, and a smidge of worry crossed his own. These people seemed nice, he was just hoping that A'dam wasn't lying to them. He nodded to the man, choosing to keep in mind the idea that they would be able to leave if they were ever unhappy there. Of course, seeing that his sister had taken to A'dam so well, Saelit doubted the idea of them leaving these two.

The man watched Erin, waiting patiently for her answer. He was sure he'd seen that glossy-eyed look before, although it passed a second later. He continued to wait, until she said they would both be adopting the kids. From there he nodded his head, "There are just a couple papers we need you two to sign for the adoption to be complete, ma'am. If you two would like to come with us to the office we can get that taken care of while the kids grab their stuff?" he suggested, already starting over to the small group before Erin could answer.

Plyath relayed A'dam's message, adding on that she was going back to sleep now. Erin could only smile at that before she turned back to the man she had been talking to. "The both of us will be adopting them." She answered easily enough, feeling... she wasn't certain. Perhaps a mixture of relief and excitement that things were going so well and that A'dam was more or less volunteering to be there with her through this. She had never taken care of children before, but she already loved these two and she would be more than happy to learn.

As the man commented on some paperwork, she nodded her head and started following him over to where the others were. When they reached A'dam and the kids, she smiled at Tahi. "Hey guys, A'dam and I have some paperwork we need to fill out. Why don't you two go get packed up and ready to go?" she suggested to the children, her hand falling to her weyrmate's shoulder as she gripped him lightly... almost as though to thank him for choosing to adopt the kids with her. Not that she wouldn't have done so on her own, or have thought any less of him if he had chosen otherwise... she was just grateful to him for deciding to be there for the kids (and her).

A'dam was content to just sit back and let the kids deal with Tahi for a time. There were no more questions to answer and he didn't really know what else to say to them. He had questions, sure, but he didn't know whether to ask them or just let the kids open up to him when they were ready. So, for now, he opted to be quiet and just let them decide for themselves if they wanted to talk more.

Before either of the kids said anything more, however, the man Erin was talking with was approaching and he looked up even as Erin joined him. He placed a hand over hers as she squeezed his shoulder and nodded to the kids when she spoke. "Go on and get your stuff. Tahi will supervise and make sure you don't forget anything." He told them and the Firelizard flipped back to his feet and rubbed his head on Selisa's hand before taking wing and circling overhead, ready to accompany the kids to their rooms to get their things.

A'dam stood and faced the man who'd approached. "Alright. Were to now?" He questioned, watching the kids depart and wondering if he was doing the right thing. What if he and Erin weren't ready for something like this? The last thing he wanted to do was fail these kids. But if he didn't try who knew what would happen to them.

The man had walked over to the small group, and waited patiently for the couple and the children to get things ready to go. In fact, he watched patiently as both kids stopped as Erin told them to go ahead and gather their things. Selisa seemed to grin at this news and before long, both children were on their way with the firelizard flying overhead.

The man then looked to A'dam, "Just into my office to sign the papers that say you two are adopting them. Right this way," he said before leading them into his office where he pulled out a few forms and indicated to them where they should sign.

When all the forms were signed, the man thanked them and congratulated them on being the parents of two orphans.

Erin smiled as she watched the kids walk off, happy to know that they were coming home with her. Perhaps it was more than that, though, she was happy that A'dam was doing this with her. He could have said no, she wouldn't have blamed him in the least, but he had agreed and she was absolutely ecstatic about that. Because of this, as they followed after the man, she smiled warmly to her weyrmate. Clearly, the idea that they might not be ready for this big of a step.. was no longer in her mind.

When they were shown the forms, she signed where the man indicated she need to sign. Once all was said and done, she thanked the man and waited to head out so that they could get their adopted children and go home.

A'dam, though a little scared, did not hesitate to follow the man toward his office, sliding his hand into Erin's as they walked. He returned her smile though his was a little uncertain. He said nothing, however, and merely signed where he was supposed to. He thanked the man for his time though inwardly flinched at being called a parent. That would take some getting used to. Especially since he wasn't sure Saelit and Selisa thought of them as their parents.

They went out to meet the children and, once they'd joined them, the only thing they could do was to head for home so the kids could begin getting settled. They'd have to do some shopping, of course and buy new clothes and things of that sort. Though that thought brought up the thought of...where would the kids sleep? "Uh...Erin....you do realize you don't have any where for them to sleep right?" He questioned, speaking quietly so the kids wouldn't overhear and think something was wrong. "I've got that guest room they can stay in tonight. Tomorrow we can clean out that little back room and get a second bedroom set up there. I think they'd like having their own rooms..." Was he offering to let the kids stay with him? Yes he was. His place was slightly bigger than Erin's after all. It just made sense.

The kids were waiting with his firelizard, and easily followed after the adults. Although Selisa was ranting her brother's ear off about how awesome it was that they were adopted and how much she liked them. Which worked fine for the boy, he was happy to hear that his sister was happy... and he just hoped that nothing went wrong that would drive them into a position where A'dam and Erin chose to get rid of them.

Erin, however, walked next to A'dam and gave a soft gasp. She was about to start suggesting that they go find something for the kids to sleep on when he did something she NEVER would have expected. Her eyes widened as she watched him before she smiled at him and nodded her head. "That sounds perfect," she responded to him, it would just give them all the more reason to spend time together. She wasn't entirely certain of what else to say to that. At least now the kids would have their own rooms, she hadn't even realized that her house was too small to give the kids their own rooms. Not that she wouldn't have had them sleep in her bed while she slept on the couch if worst came to worst. "Thank you, A'dam," she smiled at him, realizing that she was extremely lucky that he hadn't run off scared the moment she'd even suggested adopting children.