KOTLC After Stellarlune-A Sokeefe Story

Mentor

Keefe, surprisingly, loved being a Mentor.

He refused to be called Sir Keefe, but also thought it might be weird for the prodigies to call him Lord Hunkyhair, so he settled on insisting that they call him Sir Sencen Awesomesauce. He even threatened them with detention if they didn't comply.

And then he became the first Mentor ever to be banned from leading detention because he made it, as Magnate Leto said, "way too fun for something that's meant to be a punishment".

Apparently he had been using his detention time to give kids pointers--and occasionally get help carrying out some prank ideas of his own.

Master Cadence also tried to ban him from the Silver Tower because he kept trying to visit Sophie during her sessions when he didn't have any training sessions to teach.

But he also enjoyed that he still got to have lunch with Sophie every day. And he seemed to like training the prodigies assigned to him.

He shared some memories with Sophie, who couldn't get enough of it. One night, right after midterms, he shared a memory of his midterm session with his most timid prodigy and how thrilled her parents had been to hear about her progress.

"You know, every time I show you a memory from one of my sessions, you get very swoony," Keefe teased as they walked upstairs to their room.

"Of course I do! You are so good with those kids."

"Kids? I have two thirteen year olds and a fourteen year old...they're only like, what, roughly six  or seven years younger than me?"

"I know, but that's a big difference, especially given how quickly we were forced to grow up at that age. All I'm saying is, you have people under your authority that are younger than you, and a bit vulnerable navigating a new and overwhelming ability, and you seem to be the perfect blend of kind, compassionate, and funny, all while actually being able to help them hone their talent."

"And that makes you swoon?"

"Seeing you in your element? Seeing how you interact with someone for whom you are responsible? You don't see how I might enjoy watching that?"

Keefe smirked as understanding dawned on him. "So, what you're saying is, you think I'd make a good dad and are desperately eager to see that happen?"

He wasn't wrong. He was kind and patient with his prodigies, which was incredible since Keefe could rarely be considered a patient person--only with the people he cared about. But the more Sophie thought about it, the more she couldn't help but picture him with a blonde haired, blue eyed little boy or girl, patiently teaching them how to draw, how to paint, how to play Base Quest. They had recently decided that she could get pregnant any time now, since she only had one semester left of being a prodigy at Foxfire, and now that she knew she'd be pregnant sometime probably very soon, she couldn't stop picturing it.

"Earth to Foster," Keefe said, cutting into her thoughts. "I'm guessing the swooning and the hopefulness I'm feeling mean everything's good, but you haven't actually answered me."

"Sorry," Sophie said, shaking her head to clear it. "I was picturing you teaching our kids how to draw. It's not just elvin abilities you can pass on. I'm hoping they'll get your artistic talent too."

"They'd better," he said with a smirk. "Then they can help me with lots of different projects. Did I tell you that Kenric has asked my permission to recommend me to people now, if they want artwork done?"

"What? No, you didn't!"

"You were busy talking with Oralie about her pregnancy and didn't hear him, I guess. You know how they put that painting I made of them on display in their castle?"

Sophie nodded. Oralie and Kenric had been deeply touched by his gesture, and overwhelmed by his amazing artistic ability. The painting was prominently displayed in the castle, so anyone who entered--which, granted, wasn't that many people--would see it.

"Well, he said that some of the other Councillors had seen it and asked about it. So he asked if I would ever consider being commissioned to do different art projects from time to time. He said I could even set up a shop in Atlantis, but I don't want to do that, I like being a Mentor. But mentoring does leave me time in my schedule for art--which I love--so why not share that gift with others? I will still paint for my friends as gifts, but if someone ever wants to pay me to create something for them, why not? I may end up painting things that aren't always super meaningful to me, but they'll be important to my customers."

"That's amazing, Keefe." Sophie leaned in to kiss him. "My talented husband," she crooned.

Keefe smirked. "Speaking of talented..." he murmured as he pulled her in closer. "I can think of something else we're both pretty good at..."

Sophie leaned into him. "Oh yeah?" she asked coyly. "I can't begin to imagine what you're talking about."

"Do you need a demonstration?"

Sophie bit her lip. "Hmmm. Maybe I do."

Keefe needed no further encouragement. His hands, so warm and strong, wove into her hair as he gently tilted her head back so that she was looking up at him, his eyes boring into hers, a soft smile playing on his face. Then, leisurely, taking his time, he lowered his face to hers and kissed her. "I love you," he whispered to her as he slowly guided her backwards toward their bed.

Thanks to the six-week break they got after midterms, Sophie and Keefe didn't have to be in any hurry to get anywhere the next morning. "You know, this could be like our honeymoon," he murmured to her when they woke. She had curled up with her head on his chest and he was trailing his fingers softly along her back. "We can just hang out at home and pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist."

Sophie smiled. "That sounds nice." She snuggled in closer, but then groaned. "But also like our honeymoon...I'm definitely feeling some of those 'feed me or I'll die' vibes again."

Keefe chuckled softly. "Well then let's get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast. Just don't be surprised if I drag you back up here later." He kissed the top of her head before she sat up.

As usual, his eyes watched her as she climbed out of bed. But as he moved to stand up, his gaze focused on her midsection and he froze. His eyes widened. "Sophie...look."

She followed his gaze.

It must've happened sometime in the night.

Her belly button had popped out and turned pink.

She gasped, heart suddenly pounding, and looked back up at Keefe. The sweetest, biggest, happiest smile she'd ever seen was slowly building up on his face.

"Doesn't that mean...?" she started to ask.

Keefe jumped up and grabbed her face in his hands, kissing her, hard. Then he brought one hand down to her stomach, the other remaining on her cheek as he whispered, with a fierce joy in his eyes and his tone, "it means you're pregnant."