Ranger's Apprentice; An Emotional Tale

IV: "Wait, what?"

Will and Alyss looked at each other. Will shrugged and gestured that she could tell them. This moment was as good as any other, so there wasn't any use in waiting. Withal, it was her big news, so she should be the one to tell them, he thought. 

Alyss folder her hands around her cup of warm tea and looked for the right words to tell them. Telling Will had been easier, but somehow it didn't feel right to just drop the word and tell their mentors, she thought. But after a minute or so, she decided that that was exactly what she was going to do.

"I'm expecting," she simply said. For a few moments everyone was silent, while snowflakes drifted against the windows, politely begging entrance and then falling with disappointment to the ground. 

Pauline was the first to react. This wasn't weird at all because:

a. Will already knew,

b. Alyss already knew and was the main person waiting for a response,

c. Halt almost choked in his coffee and was too busy coughing.

"I knew it!" Pauline exclaimed, "Congrats!"

Halt looked at his wife in surprise. "You knew it?" he repeated. She nodded, not paying any further attention to him. 

"How far are you?" she asked interestedly. Will looked with even more interest at his wife. During all the excitement of that day, he had totally forgotten to ask when the baby was expected to arrive.

"I'm supposed to be halfway my eight week," a beaming Alyss answered proudly. 

While the two women chattered about the news of Alyss's pregnancy, the two Ranger's caught each other's attention. Will knew that even though he would never admit it, Halt did was excited for them. In the older Ranger's eyes he saw something close to pride, and his lips twitched in what you could call the shadow of a smile.

Halt en Pauline never had kids themselves. But through the years their relationships with their apprentices had become incredibly strong, and they saw them as if they were their own children. So, theoretically, they were about to become grandparents. 

And that thought, enjoyed the elderly couple more than they would ever care to admit. 

The younger Ranger took a sip of his hot coffee and nodded at the pile of paper in Halt's hands. 

"What have you brought with you?" he asked. The conversation between the two Couriers died down. They both expected their husbands to have a new mission, a new case, and both of them were eager to know what they'd leave for.

Halt shove the with documents filled paper over the table, in his former apprentice's hands. Said person placed his now empty mug on the table and opened the folder, carefully studying the documents inside it. 

"Are we both going? Is it within the boundaries of Redmont Fief? What is exactly the problem?" Will sent all questions rapidly at his poor mentor, without looking up from the papers on the table.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Halt said.

"But satisfaction brought it back," Will immediately replied.

"That doesn't even make any sense - cats have nine lives," Halt said.

"Well, it actually does make sense," Alyss said, her chin resting in one hand, her other hand holding a cup of nice, warm tea. "It originates from 'care killed the cat'. By 'care', the coiner of the expression meant 'worry or sorrow' rather than our more usual contemporary 'look after or provide for' meaning. Yet the fact that cats are notoriously inquisitive, led to the source of their demise being changed from 'care' to 'curiosity'. This proverbial expression is used when someone is attempting to stop someone asking unwanted questions."