Chapter 16: Kids

Tah turned up later that morning.

He had Raghu, Ulani and Grace with him. He invited Willow, Prue, Tina and the kids to an outing. Vincent said he was in, “Do want to see if Silvia and Mathew wanted to come with their kids?” he asked.

Everyone agreed that would be great and he went to see what they had planned for the day. David and Leigh turned up while he was gone and they were happy to come too. Leigh sent a note to Gill and his sisters to meet them at the Zoo.

When Tah went into the nursery, Nianna took one look at him and ran. “Tah, Tah, Tah,” she yelled and threw herself into his arms. He hugged her close and had to swallow back the tears, “Yes baby girl, it’s your Tah, I’ve missed you my poppet.”

He went to put her down, but she wouldn’t let go of him. “No, no, my Tah,” she cried.

He had to hug her again. “Hey, hey, if I don’t put you down how can you get dressed up pretty so we can go to the zoo to see the animals? The other kids are coming.”

Nianna let go enough to look at him. She waved a finger at him, “No go.” She pointed at herself, “My Tah.”

“Yes poppet, your Tah. I promise to come and visit you every day that I can, okay?”

She frowned and looked deep into his eyes. “I promise Poppet, I’ve missed you too,” he told her again with all sincerity.

She hugged him tightly. “Me miss my Tah,” she told him.

Tah looked up and saw Prue standing in the door with tears streaming down her face. She turned and left the room. A part of Tah wanted to go after her and tell her it was okay, that he understood why she left. But another part of him didn’t want to forgive her for taking his daughter away from him.

He had missed four months of her life that he would never get back. He didn’t get to see her walk unaided. He missed her first word. He missed seeing her run the first time. He missed eight teeth coming down. He just plain missed, Nianna.

He got Nianna dressed because she wouldn’t let him out of her sight. He carried her out to the sitting room. He ended up in a carriage with Prue, Tina, Raghu, Nianna, Willow, Leigh and Bethany. Vincent ended up with Ulani, Grace, David and the Dwyer family.

They met up with Gill and his sisters Pamela & Paula and Lords Mikael Rothberg and Karl Westerwood. They were the other young people who had made up their group the night before. They all enjoyed the Zoo and planned several more outings for the week.

The girls had decided to not do their Deb coming out, until the following Saturday. They planned their outings around Willow, Prue and Tah’s commitments, and they all looked forward to the days ahead as they had been enjoying being with their new group of friends.

Nianna wouldn’t go anywhere or do anything without Tah. He even had to stand outside the Ladies privies and sing, or she wouldn’t let Prue take her inside. The rest of the group thought it was bloody funny.

Probably only David, Silvia and Mathew really understood that Nianna was anxious about Tah disappearing on her again. Prue had barely gotten her pants back up when she ran out searching for Tah.

Later that day, when the group broke up, Tah came home with Prue. He stayed for dinner and helped Nianna with her dinner because she had to sit on his lap. Then he had to help with her bath and ended up reading her a story.

Bethany, of course, loved stories as well, and she had taken a shine to Tah. So Tah ended up in the rocking chair with two little girls cuddled up to him. Nianna happily sucked on her bedtime bottle, and Tah was perfectly happy reading to them.

Prue and Ty both looked into the room and watched for a little while before retiring to the sitting room. “Damn Prue, he sure loves your daughter,” Ty commented.

Prue nodded, “Yes, he does. I think she stole his heart the first time he set eyes on her.”

“Yeah, I know that feeling. The first time I held Bethany and looked into her eyes, she stole part of mine. I no longer cared who sired her. She is mine,” he said.

Tah finally got Nianna off to sleep and came out into the sitting room. “Thank you, Prue. I enjoyed today being with you and Nianna. I had better go. I’ll see you at David’s office in the morning. Ty, thanks for putting up with me,” he bowed and left.

Prue watched him leave. She didn’t get up because if she did she knew that she would drag him off to bed. It was Ty who saw Tah to the door. When he came back, he looked at Prue. He patted her on the shoulder and took himself off to bed. He couldn’t think of anything to say.

He knew Prue would have to work it out for herself.

The rest of the week was very busy for Prue.

She had a lot to sort out with the designing and building of the manufacturing plants that she needed to build since she now had the land to put them on. Tah and Raghu were both shocked to learn just what the Prue owned when they went to the meeting with David.

She turned up with Tina and Nianna because Nianna refused to stay home when Prue accidentally mentioned to her that she had to meet Tah for a meeting. She tried to tell Nianna that Tah would come to see her later but that wasn’t good enough for Nianna, as she wanted Tah now.

Tah ended up with his daughter for the day, as Prue had to go to some other meetings. He met up with the group, and they enjoyed the day. Prue joined them later, and he and Raghu ended up coming home with them again. It set the pattern for the rest of the week.

When Willow realised on one of their early outings that Tina was actual a Lords daughter and hadn’t had a coming out, she insisted that she had to be included as well. Prue agreed, and the girls had a lot of fun shopping for Tina. They all giggled that if Raghu didn’t have the hots for her before he sure would by the time they finished.

When the night of the Debutantes Ball arrived, Willow was very nervous. She checked her reflection in the huge mirror again. “Prue why do I have to go through with this again?” she asked.

Prue laughed, “Because all young ladies are expected to have a coming out. They need to be presented to society, so that young men know you are on the market.”

“Damn meat market if you ask me,” Willow grumbled. Tina agreed as she too was very nervous, she hadn’t had to get dressed up like this before, and it was very daunting.

Prue laughed, “Well it’s not just young ladies who think that, don’t forget families are expecting their sons to also find suitable brides, so it can be just as hard for them.” Willow nodded in understanding.

Each young lady had to be presented by a parent or a nominated person. Ty would be presenting Willow as her guardian. They all agreed that Mathew could present Tina. The rest were to wait in the main ballroom to watch the presentation.

The King was sitting in full regalia to receive the young ladies. They had to walk down the centre and curtsy to the King, as their name and heritage was read out. Then they were then lead to the side to watch the rest be presentations. Once the ceremony was over, they could circulate and dance. They were not allowed to dance with anyone more than twice.

Willow watched as Ulani was presented to the King by her brother. Willow decided he was a handsome man and would have to ask Prue what was going on with him. Then it was her turn. She was glad when it was all over, and they could relax.

Prue and Tah both had to smile at each other when Raghu saw Tina on Mathew’s arm being presented to the King. Raghu turned to Prue, “Damn Prue that’s not fair. How am I going to convince her to marry me, when she’s going to have every buck in this place chasing her?”

Tah patted his arm. “Sorry ol’ man, them’s the joys of chasing a debutante. I must admit she sure is pretty. Good luck winning her.”

Ty, Tah and Raghu found themselves being introduced to Gill’s parents, Earl Oscar and Countess Leanne Evens, as they were here with Pamela and Paula. Ty noted the Karlsons were also here. It wasn’t long before the group was all together and Gill’s parents were automatically included.

They picked out a spot to make their own and set up camp for the evening. Prue was surprised by how big their happy group had grown. She found she liked all of the people in the group and felt very comfortable with them. She was pleased to see that her cousin Ty also seemed relaxed with these people.

When the ladies presented their dance cards, Ty grumbled that he was going to have a hard time remembering who was next. He said to the Ladies that gentlemen should also get a card. Lady Even told him that was a brilliant idea as it was embarrassing for a young lady to be forgotten.

She excused herself and went to speak to some of the other ladies who looked after the assemblies. The next thing the group knew, the ladies came around and handed each of the gentlemen a card and a pencil to record who they were dancing with next.

The room was filled with giggles and chuckles, as the gentlemen and ladies happily compared cards to make sure no one was double booked, or forgotten. The ladies in their group help the guys get their cards straight.

“Hey bro, I just realised there are not enough dances. Now I know just how limited I am to spreading myself around,” Vincent said with a crestfallen expression. Everyone laughed at his silliness.

The music started, and the couples were soon whirling around the dance floor. Prue found herself in Tah’s arms. She had missed his arms around her. He had been cool all week and had tried not to crowd her. If anything, Prue almost felt like he had been, too damn well behaved.

She hadn’t been courted as such since Richard and wasn’t sure if she had enjoyed it then or found it just as irritating as she did now. Tah had been very polite and the absolute gentleman. He had only touched her politely and he hadn’t been alone with her once, during the whole week.

Prue was as frustrated as hell. She felt her heart jump each day when she first set her eyes on him. She almost felt jealous of her own daughter. At least Nianna got hugs and kisses from him. “Tah, what are you playing at?” she asked him.

“Sorry Prue, what do you mean?” he replied. He made sure he was a respectable distance from her and looked down into her beautiful face. He desperately wanted to drag her close, but he resisted the urge. He was having enough trouble keeping his cock down, without her rubbing against him, while they danced.

“The polite gentleman routine, why?” she qualified in a tone that indicated that he should know what the hell she was talking about.

“You made it clear you didn’t want me, Prue. I wanted to see you and Nianna, so I’m complying with your wishes. I am trying to not impose upon you,” he said.

“What if I wanted you back?” she asked.

“Then you have to agree to marry me for real. I won’t settle for anything less Prue.”

“So you want us to get engaged again?”

“Why do you still wear my ring, Prue?” he asked. He deliberately didn’t answer her question.

Prue lifted her fingers off his shoulder and looked at the beautiful ring he had given her. Raghu had made it to his specifications and she had loved it from the moment he had pushed it onto her finger.

She looked at Tah in surprise and said, “I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve really taken it off more than once or twice since you gave it to me. I suppose I use it to keep other men from annoying me.”

“Well, maybe that tells you something, Prue. Search your heart my love and tell me when you work it out,” he said.

The music stopped, and he escorted her back to the group. He checked his card to see who his next partner was. He excused himself, collected Tina and escorted her to the floor.

Prue found herself being escorted back to the floor by Ty. They danced for a little while then he said, “What’s up Prue?”

“Tah,” she said.

“What’s he done now?”

“He asked me why I still wear his ring.”

Ty looked at her and lifted her left hand off his shoulder. He looked at the ring then put her hand back, “Why do you still wear his ring?”

“Damn it, Ty, I don’t know. I guess I was too upset to think about it, I got used to it being there,” she said angrily.

“Sorry sweetie, that is not completely true. Yes, I believe you were upset, but that’s not the whole truth. Why were you upset?”

“Because I hurt him,” she said sadly.

“Yes, I believe you did. But you’re still not telling me all the truth,” he told her gently.