It's a beautiful day for a divorce

Rowan's divorce with Ria was getting bitter. It was hard enough just dealing with the emotion part of it, let alone the legal part. Ria was trying to take all his assets, half his money and all their children. Well, he wasn't about to let all that happen, so he was fighting it. It was a strange, unhappy feeling legally battling the women he had once been in love with.

He was in Dahlin today to meet with Alecis so that he could see Lane. Alecis, you see, was reasonable when it came to shared custody.

Alecis was walking through Dahlin, bundled up in a surprisingly fashionable windbreaker and scarf, and holding seven month old Lane, who was also bundled up in a cute windbreaker and scarf. Lane wasn't one of those babies that hated wearing cute things like hats or gloves, he liked them. He was a reasonable baby. :3

There was a park in the far side of Dahlin where she and Lane were going to meet Rowan. It was Rowan's weekend with him, so Alecis had to drop him off. :'[ Oh well, at least Alecis knew Rowan would take good care of him. She had full faith in him to be the best father possible, and Alecis was even more at ease knowing that Ria was out of the house now. She knew it was terrible, and that Rowan was probably very heartbroken, but the truth was, in the long run, he'd probably be happier without her.

Lane was looking all around at the colorful leaves as he and his mommy walked through the park looking for the bench she was meeting Rowan at. Ah, there he was. The fourth most fantastic redhead in all of Amelia.

"Hey, Rowan," she greeted, walking up to him. Her cheeks were rosy from the chilly wind, just like little Laneys.

"Hi Alecis," Rowan greeted with a smile. His smile grew as his eyes traveled to little Laney who was in her arms. "Hey little guy! How's my little Lane?" he doted, gently taking the baby into his arms. Lane was all bundled up, and it was funny because his jacket was thick enough that his arms stuck out slightly. Lane smiled of those irresistible baby smiles and grabbed at his daddy's face.

If there was one thing that could cheer Rowan up, it was one of his babies. "So how're you, Alecis?" he asked, looking up from the baby.

Alecis stuck her hands in her pockets and smiled warmly as two of her most favorite clio interacted.

"I'm doing pretty good," she said. "been busy, but nothing extreme. How about you Rowan? How are things going?" she asked. She figured Ria wasn't going down easy, but hopefully she wasn't being too difficult either.

"Oh, thing's have been...interesting," Rowan replied with a sardonic smile. Then he frowned and sighed. "Really though, it's been hard. Really difficult. But I'm getting by somehow. I'll just be happy when all this is over..." He knew Alecis knew what 'this' was.

Lane blew a spit bubble, and then giggled when it popped. At least one of them was totally carefree.

Alecis frowned too, and added apologetically, "I'm sorry Rowan, it's a shame things had to work out this way." She knew how he felt, even if it wasn't to the same degree. Divorces were never easy.

She knew too, of course, that she had caused most of this unhappiness for him. It weighed heavily on her heart and yet she couldn't find herself regretting what had happened between Rowan and herself. If for whatever reason it had all been taken back, her lovely baby boy wouldn't exist. And nothing was worth that--not even Rowan's happiness.

Rowan wasn't sure if Alecis really thought it was a shame that he and Ria were getting divorced, but he wisely kept that doubt to himself. "Yes, well..." he sighed again. "Sometimes I think, maybe, I should have seen it coming. Our marriage was never rock solid. And I hate to say this, but now that I think about it..." He looked away, as if he were ashamed of himself for thinking this. Which he kind of was. "It was kind of doomed from the start."

He and Ria had nothing in common, and the times they actually got along were few and far between. The only thing that kept them together was their family of course, and their love. But like Ria had said, you needed more than just love. Respect, trust, compatibility...they didn't have any of that.

Alecis didn't think it was a shame they were getting divorced, she thought it was a shame it had to end so messy.

"No one predicts these things," she said, although that wasn't really true. She had predicted her own divorce. But that had been different, she and Roburt had never truly loved each other. Something, that was probably her own fault, as well as was the final reason they ended up splitting. "I'm sorry things are so rough right now," she said honestly. "But it gets easier, especially when you've got something this cute to look at everyday."

Lane knew someone was talking about him and giggled.

"Yeah," Rowan smiled down at Lane. "The way things are going right now...It looks as though Ria is gonna end up with half my money and a lot of my things. But I'm pretty sure I'll have the final say in the custody battle, and that's what really matters." Ria could take everything he had, as long as he got primary custody, and he would still be happy.

He looked up at Alecis. "It's pretty cold out," he commented. "Do you want to find a place to get some lunch or something?"

Alecis smiled, glad that Rowan was such a good father.

"Oh, sure," she said about his invitation to go with him and Lane to get lunch. "I'd love some soup or something."

They made there way through town until they came across a nice little restaurant that wasn't The Kiborante or Casa Nova's. It was a Panera Bread-like restaurant, so Alecis would have her soup, and maybe a sandwich too if she wanted. (Lol turkey soup.) Rowan got a sandwich. And I have no idea if Lane is old enough to eat any kind of real food, so if they got anything for him I'm not going to mention it.

They sat down at a booth, with Lane in a highchair, looking almost as if they were a normal family.

Alecis just got some tomato soup (gross) and two bread sticks to dip in it, plus some hot chocolate. :3

"How are Allison and Elliot doing?" she asked as she broke a bread stick in half and dipped it in the orangey-redy soup.

"They seem to be doing fine whenever I see them," Rowan replied. Which thanks to Ria, wasn't very often. But that would hopefully change soon enough. "I can't believe how big they are. Walking and everything. It doesn't feel like it's been nearly a year already." He shook his head.

"Wow," Alecis said before biting a piece of the bread off. "I guess that means little Laney will be walking soon." She looked over at her happy baby that was clanging a spoon on his tray, giggling like crazy. Aw, she didn't want him to grow up. He was her last baby. :,[

"Laney, are you gonna get big on me too?" she asked in that mommy-baby voice.

(Don't worry Alecis. He may grow up physically, but mentally he won't change much from how he is now.)

Lane responded by sticking the spoon in his mouth and drooling all over it. "Has he said any words yet?" Rowan asked. He figured he hadn't. Alecis would probably have told him the second Lane said his first word. At least he hoped she would do that.

"Nothing other than baby noises," Alecis replied, smiling at Lane and then looking back at Rowan. "But he should be anytime now. Sophie said her first words at around 7 months, so we'll see." She hoped he wouldn't start talking while he was with Rowan, Alecis hadn't missed any of her babies' first words, and she didn't want to miss Lane's either. She'd alert Rowan right away, but she wanted to be the first to hear them.

Rowan wasn't selfish like Alecis, so he hoped that Lane would say his first word while he was with both of them. Like right now would be a good time. Unfortunately Lane didn't seem to think so, as he just kept nomming on his spoon. "Ah...I wonder what he'll say," he wondered out loud. His own kids' first words had been everything from "mama" to "cookie."

xD Alecis wouldn't mind if they both got to hear them at the same time either, but if it had to be only one of them she did hope it was her. If that made her selfish, she didn't think of it that way.

"Probably 'poop'," Alecis said in an amused voice. "That's Sophie's favorite word at the moment, and she's always around him."

"Oh, lovely," Rowan replied. "Maybe he'll pick up Dayton's favorite word instead. 'Monster.'" Ahh, kids were so cute. It was too bad Gage had taught Dayton that all girls had cooties, or he and Sophie would probably be adorable playing together.

Alecis laughed. She was imagining Lane squealing montser and poop and banging his toys around. Aw, she loved him. :3

"Jeez, Lane's got enough siblings, huh?" she asked, thinking about it. He had a ton on Rowan's side, plus the three from her. Wow, he was going to have some awesome birthday presents. xD