"- Yeah, quite apart from whether Kas thought through the effect on me I don't know if he fully thought through the effects on Helen. Even if it'd turned out how he wanted to and she was just some random kid, I was always going to come home eventually and then she'd have a - we aren't married, so not a stepmother, but the same general idea - who was there first and simultaneously had no idea she existed. And instead she's mine and she's been growing up without a mom except insofar as Kas counts, so even if I'd talked to Yseult and Damaris more I wouldn't know that much about her, I don't know how that will have affected her, I don't know what if anything she wants from me now, and I don't feel like I can ask her till I'm more calmed down and have read these - postcards. He wrote me a lot of postcards while I was gone." She brandishes her postcard bag.

"Huh," says Tony. "Postcards. Okay. Um, well, is this," he gestures between the two of them to indicate their conversation, "helping with the calming down part?"

"Yes. I am calming down," says Amariah. "Probably I'll be fit for innocent-thirteen-year-old company any minute now."

Tony smiles wryly. "Okay, good."

"You are totally getting a second recommendation next time a Bell comes down with Spontaneous Teenage Relative Syndrome."

"I appreciate it." Amariah closes her eyes. "I suppose the option of pastwatching her childhood exists, but that might make it worse. I can't exactly go 'no, I don't like the name Helen' or 'why are you letting her eat that bug' and have it change anything."

Tony winces. "You don't like her name? Ouch."

"I know, right? Don't tell her," says Amariah ruefully. "It's not terrible, it's not like he called her Euphemia or something, just - I definitely would not have named her that."

"Yeah," says Tony. "On the other hand, at least she has a name."

"Yyyes, although I did briefly wonder if she had when it occurred to me all I heard Kas call her was 'button' and the Joker let his boyfriend name their kids."

"Still, he's got one up on me there."

"And Sherlock turned out all Sherlocky, which is, as the multiversal observational study proves, not strongly related to anything you did - so I guess I should expect Helen to turn out templatey, too, unless that's just a way the templates in question differ. I suppose I could see if Yseult or Damaris wants to talk to me."

"You could do that!" says Tony. "That is something you could do. And if they both want to talk to you at the same time, that might be a better way to get a handle on what's template stuff and what's just so-and-so stuff."

"Oh, good point. Yeah, that probably makes sense now I'm not - about to burst into tears." (Path leans his head on her cheek.)

Tony winces. "Also I could hug you," he says. "If that would help any."

Amariah considers this, and then she gently tucks Path away and stands up from her chair and holds out her arms.

Tony hugs her.

"Anytime," he says. "I mean, hopefully never again? But anytime."

"I understand completely," she laughs. "Jane, can you talk to Yseult and Damaris for me?"

[Hi, Jane!] says Damaris.

[Hello,] says Yseult.