One month after returning from Solitude, Bryn and I gathered the whole Guild in the Flagon to tell them the news of our child. They received as well as could be expected. Delvin had immediately called for the celebratory mead and wine to be brought out. Niruin, Thrynn, and Vipir called for a toast in our honor. Almost everyone came up to us and congratulated us, saying just how happy they were for us.

"Okay, 'old on," said Del as he leaned back in his seat, a mug of ale in his hands. "So you knew you were carryin' an ankle-biter when ya got back from your 'oneymoon, and you didn't say nothin'?"

Bryn and I smiled at the old codger. "Yes," I said, holding my glass of water to my lips, "but we didn't want to tell anyone until after we decided who was going to be the godparents."

Del sat up in his seat a little higher. "Well, naturally, you musta picked me as godfather."

I gave him a sheepish glance. "Well, actually...."

Delvin's face fell in an instant. "Not me? Then who?"

"We picked... Etienne."

From across the Flagon, I heard someone spitting mead out of their mouth. I turned to the noise and found Etienne pounding a fist against his chest, and Cynric giving Etienne a death glare. Apparently, when Etienne spat out his mead, he spat it all over Cynric.

"Did I hear you right, Femke?" asked Etienne, eyes watering as he coughed a couple times. "You want... me to be your kid's godfather?"

"Yes," said Brynjolf. "It wasn't an easy choice, but we figured Del would be more like a weird uncle to our little one—"

Delvin shot Bryn an incredulous look. "Oi!"

Bryn ignored the shout and continued, "... and so we decided that you would be a better choice."

The look on his face could only be described as surprise. "That's...." He smiled at the pair of us. "Thank you. That's quite an honor."

"Who's the godmother?" asked Vex, grinning smugly at Delvin, who had gone back to nursing his ale.

I rested my hand on my slightly swollen stomach. "Karliah is. Hope you're not offended."

Vex shrugged. "I'd rather not be responsible for the kid if something happens to you and Bryn. Etienne and Karliah can have that responsibility. I don't want any of it."

I scoffed at her. "Alrighty then."

"When's it due?" asked Etienne.

"According to the Riften healer, the first part of Rain's Hand."

"I've heard that spring babies are the sweetest," said Ton from across our table. "Or was the most troublesome?"

"Considerin' who its father is, I bet it'll be troublesome regardless," said Del. "Bryn always was a sneaky little ankle-biter."

"Better than being a crusty old bloodhound," said Bryn. "Surprised you remember so much about me, considering how drunk you were all the time."

"Watch it, boy. This codger can still tear ya a new one."

Bryn scoffed and brought his tankard to his lips. "Sure you can, old goat."

"How'd Karliah take the news?" asked Vex, ignoring the little spat between Bryn and Del.

"Well. She's happy for us, and she said she's honored to be the godmother."

"Now, say you 'ave more kids," began Delvin, once again sitting straight in his chair. "Would ya pick a different set of godparents?"

I pursed my lips and stared into my glass. "What do you think, Bryn?"

"For our children's sake, I reckon we shouldn't. They'd probably argue about who has the best godfather, knowing how terrible kids can be."

"But, maybe you should consider—"

"Let it go, Delvin," said Vex, taking a seat next to him. "You're just going to have to be the crazy uncle."

He grunted like the old grouch he was. "Well, I suppose 'Uncle Delvin' ain't too bad. It'll be nice to have a nephew or a niece, since my brother ain't gonna give me any of 'em."

I tried to remember when Delvin had mentioned his brother. Probably during a party, when the mead had nearly run dry. "Just keep looking at the positive, Del."

"Been thinking of names?" asked Etienne. He still had a light shining in his dark eyes. Seeing how excited he was reassured me that Bryn and I had made the right choice.

"If it's a girl, we're thinking of Faianna, after Femke's mother," said Bryn. "If it's a boy, well...." He smiled at me and draped his arm over my shoulders. "We really don't have a name for a boy yet."

"Tell you what, Etienne," I said as I placed my cup down, "you think of any names, come to us. We'd like the godfather's input."

He smiled and nodded, turning back to the others sitting at his table. "You boys hear that? I'm going to be a godfather."

Both Rune and Cynric grinned at him, but Dirge hardly seemed to care. He just downed his third bottle of mead and instantly motioned for another.

Bryn downed the rest of his mead and placed the empty tankard on the rough tabletop. He leaned his chair back, arms stretched over his head and legs crossed at the ankles on the table. "Some of the best mead I've ever had. Vekel, you've been holding out on us."

I frowned and glared at my boring glass of water. "Don't rub it in, Brynjolf. You know I can't touch any alcohol until after I have this child." I slapped his feet. "Get your dirty boots off the table. We put food there."

Chuckling, he humored me and moved his feet. "Hey, Vekel, do me a favor and save a keg of this mead for my lovely wife here. And get her another glass of water, if you would."

As Vekel fetched me a new glass of water, many of the men around us began to make whipping motions with their arms. Some even made a noise similar to the sound of a whip cracking. I furrowed my brows at them, and Brynjolf buried his face in his hands.

"Bryn, honey, what's wrong? What're they doing?"

"He's whipped!" jeered Del, laughing into his tankard. "All it took was a pretty lass to tame this stallion!"

"Come on, boys," said Tonilia. "That's not the point of this gathering. We're supposed to be celebrating the first—and probably only—child of the Guild. Because let's face it: the rest of us are probably never having children." Her gaze shifted to Vipir. "And some of us probably shouldn't have children."

"Who says I want to have little brats of my own?" asked Vipir in an incredulous tone. "They're too much work, they're messy, and—"

Ton cleared her throat, cutting him off.

Stuttering, Vipir ran his fingers through his hair and brushed it out of his face. "I mean, who wouldn't want kids? They're just... so great!"

I snorted. "Really smooth, Vipir."

After another couple hours of talking and laughing (and drinking for everyone else but me), Bryn decided it would best if we headed back home. "She needs her rest," he claimed, but I knew he was using me as an excuse to get away from Delvin's drunken stories. We bid everyone a good night and headed topside.

"You know, lass, the more time that passes, the harder it'll be for you to go to the Cistern." He opened the door to Riftweald for me. "What're you going to do when that happens?"

I smiled. "You'll just have to manage things for me."

His face blanched. "Divines and Daedra, no. Don't make me, lass, please."

I laughed as we headed upstairs to our bedroom. Since we had moved in, we had worked almost every day to clean the place up. It no longer smelled so musty, and cobwebs and dust were things of the past. Riftweald looked much less like a den and more like a home. We had even converted a smaller room upstairs to be our child's bedroom.

"Did you see how happy Etienne was when we told him he was going to be godfather?" I asked as we got ready for bed. I changed out of my Guild Master armor while Bryn stoked the fire.

"Aye, I did. I've never seen him so happy about anything."

I sat down on the bed, watching the flames dance. "You sure you don't mind naming our child after my mother? We don't have to—"

"Lass, we've been over this." He crawled into bed behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Your mother was extremely important to you. And Faianna is a beautiful name." He kissed my cheek. "We could even call her Fai for short."

"Fai." I settled into his arms. "I like that. Little Fai."

He released me and pulled the covers back. He gave my cheek another kiss. "Goodnight, lass."

I smiled over my shoulder. "Goodnight, honey."

He wrapped me in his arms as we drifted to sleep. Snuggling into his side, I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of the fire and feeling the beat of Bryn's heart beneath my cheek.

As I fell into dreamless sleep, my last thoughts were of my family. Of the man sleeping next to me, and of the precious child growing inside me. Of the life we would soon share, of the memories we would soon make. All of those thoughts brought a sleepy smile to my face, and I nestled even deeper into my husband's side.

My own, perfect little family.