"Nonsense," Miranda said with a smile, as she went back to work on the dress that would turn the pretty half-elf into the beautiful Marsinah. "Taking advantage of what? Besides, it's almost spring. The ground will be thawing soon, and we can start building." Keyword, we; not you or even they, but we. Of course, Miranda didn't mean she would be doing the building personally.

Despite her natural resistance to the help being offered without being sought, Carina couldn't help softening a little at the thought that her child might be born in a home of its own, if Miranda was this determined. She loved her grandparents, but spending the winter living in the same house as both them and her parents had been trying for both her and Arandir. "We have all the plans drawn up," she offered shyly. "Everyone knows where their home is going to be. We just don't have the manpower or the technology to break frozen ground and start building yet. Oh!" She gasped, remembering something she was supposed to do while in town. "You wouldn't know which of the thrift stores does bulk, would you?"

Miranda's thoughts wandered to a certain warlock again, but she had asked so much of him already, and she had a feeling building a house didn't fall under the heading of "simple magic". Still, the Grangers was nothing if not resourceful, and she had a feeling once word spread, those homes would go home in a jiffy. She blinked out of her thoughts at Carina's question. "Thrift stores" Why do you ask?" she wondered aloud.

Carina sighed, feeling guilty just for mentioning it now. She had a feeling Miranda was going to try and pay for something she had already budgeted for. "Blankets and cloth for clothing," she admitted reluctantly, one hand rising before Miranda could open her mouth. "Which I can pay for. I just need to find out where I can get them from."

"Isn't anyone throwing you a baby shower?" Miranda asked curiously and carefully, several pins hanging from between her lips as she measured and tucked and pinned.

Well, that came out of nowhere. Carina narrowed her eyes, staring at Miranda with full blown suspicion. She had, after all, already had to talk Jonathan Granger out of pretty much throwing open his bank account for Anarven, and Mataya had not been much easier to convince otherwise. This Granger did not seem the kind to back down in the face of abject groveling. "Why?" she asked in a suspicious tone.

"Because that's what people do when someone is having their first baby," she explained, once she'd fished the pins from between her lips. "I suppose it's more of a human tradition," she admitted, and even so, not all humans followed such traditions. "It's sort of like a party to welcome the baby."

"It's not something that I've ever heard of," Carina admitted, though she was still slightly suspicious of the way the subject seemed to have changed so abruptly. "My mother is human, but she never said anything about that. She's more concerned with feeding me potions to keep me healthy."

"Like I said, not everyone follows that tradition. It comes from Earth, I think, but not everyone on Earth does it either," she explained further. Miranda made a mental note to get in touch with Carina's mother, but she wouldn't force a baby shower on them, if they didn't want one. "Carina," Miranda started with a soft sigh, a serious but compassionate look on her face. "Try not to think of it as charity so much as friends trying to help."

To her credit, Carina did not instantly grow defensive, or try to push the offer away. She held Miranda's gaze with guilty eyes. "It's not my decision to make," she said quietly. "They can call me a princess as much as they like, but I'm just me. Arandir's their prince; Farlen is Anarven's First. I'm just eye candy, that's all. What's important about me is this." She ran her hand gently over the swell of her womb. "Can I talk to them about it, though' They'll want to pay for anything that comes to us. We're ....we're too proud to take charity, even from friends."

"There are others ways to repay kindness, Carina," Miranda pointed out with that warm almost motherly smile of hers, but she didn't want to push the matter. She'd talk to Carina's mother and see if there was some way they could help without making too much of a fuss. As far as the housing went though, that was another matter.

"I don't know if they'd even listen to me right now," the half-elf said uncertainly. "Most of Arandir's people are horrified that he agreed to perform on a stage, and none of them approve of me doing it. They're all so certain that I'm going to kill the baby just by singing a few songs in front of an audience."

"It sounds like they have a lot to learn about Rhy'Din," Miranda mused aloud, as she went back to her altering of the dress. "Do you feel up to being on stage right now?" she asked, assuming neither Carina or Arandir was being forced into performing.

"I want to," Carina insisted. "I've missed it so much. And it's my last chance." Not that she would ever tell Arandir this. She had voluntarily given up her dreams to support her husband and their people, and she would hold to that promise. But that didn't mean that she wasn't going to grieve for the loss of her dreams.

"Why' Can't you be a princess and an actress?" Miranda asked further. After all, this was Rhy'Din; anything was possible. Even if Arandir's people thought Carina shouldn't be an actress, in the end, it was what Carina and Arandir thought that mattered.

"Because what they need is the princess," Carina said softly. She felt ashamed of herself for even thinking this way, much less for confiding in a near-stranger about it. "They need me to be their prince's wife. And I can't do that and be on the stage as well. It's bigger than I am."

"I gave up on a dream once, for different reasons than you. There were other things to consider, other lives that were more important than mine. I thought that dream was gone forever, but I was wrong. Never say never, Carina. Someday, when the time is right, you might change your mind," she told her, though their circumstances were very different.

"That's a nice wish." It was said so softly, it might almost have been missed in the rustle of cloth as Miranda worked on the costume. Taking in a deep breath, Carina raised her eyes to the mirror, eyeing the rich fabric critically. "This is going to take some practice with the girls, getting me out of that one and into this one in the space of one verse," she commented.

"Ah, but most of this can be worn beneath the other, so all you have to do is attach the skirt and veil and voila! You go from peasant girl to princess in a snap!" Miranda told her. "Trust me, Carina. I may not know much about the theater, but I know clothes. Besides, we still have time to fix it if anything goes wrong in rehearsal."

"I do trust you," Carina promised her, deliberately pushing away from the subject that was close to breaking her heart at the moment. She'd get over it, but it was going to be tough getting through Kismet without showing Arandir how upset she was. "I've never had to do a quick change on stage while in the spotlight before, that's all."

"Practice makes perfect, dear," Miranda told her, cheerily. "Have you talked to your husband about all this?" she asked, as casually as she could, unable to let that subject go. "I can tell you that having a baby is a full-time job, but they don't stay babies forever." Then again, Carina's child would only be half human, and Miranda wasn't too sure at what rate half-elves aged.

Miranda didn't notice the frown, busy as she was working on getting Carina dressed and fitted in her third and final costume, as well as a little lost in the telling of her story. "She didn't really think she'd ever see him again. Their lives had taken them in very different directions, but as it happened, they kept in touch. The years passed, and the girl grew up and achieved her dream of becoming a successful designer, even while raising a child, and eventually, that daughter grew into a woman herself. And then, something unexpected happened, and she was reunited with that boy she'd loved so long ago and who she still loved with all her heart. He'd grown up too, and become a man, but like her, he'd never married, never met anyone he loved the way he loved her. And so, they were reunited and got married and adopted another child to raise together as a family. They got a second chance at their happily ever after before it was too late."

She fell silent suddenly, a soft smile on her face, as that story was her own, though she'd simplified the telling of it, for Carina's sake. And the point of the story' Maybe she'd share that once she realized she'd forgotten to mention that part.

"It sounds as though she had a very blessed life," Carina said softly, though she didn't understand quite what the point of that little recitation had been. Arandir wasn't leaving her; quite the contrary, they were growing closer because of all this. Leaving distractions like the theater behind to move forward together.

"She has," Miranda agreed, as Carina drew her out of her thoughts. "The point is, if you really want it, you can have your cake and eat it, too, Carina. The best of both worlds. It won't be easy, but if you want it badly enough, you can do it. I did. I raised my daughter on my own and still had a career, and now I'm doing it all over again with Rufus' help. I know Rufus isn't a prince and he doesn't have the same responsibilities that Arandir has, but I'm sure if he knew how much the theater means to you, you'd find a way to work it out together."

"But you didn't have all the answers right away, did you?" Carina pointed out in a gentle tone. "Is it so important that I absolutely have to drop this on him when he is already carrying so much' I can't do that to him, Miranda. Perhaps, when things have settled and our people have homes of their own, perhaps then. But not now. I won't do that to him."

"I didn't say you have to do it now, Carina. I'm just saying, you don't have to give up on your dreams. Things have a way of working out," she said, not wanting to push her luck or the matter any further. Carina seemed to have her mind set, but Miranda had a feeling once she had that baby, everything was going to change.

"One way or another," the half-elf agreed softly. She looked down at herself thoughtfully, a minor concern making itself known in her mind. "Is there room in these for the bump if it decides to start growing properly in the next two weeks?" she asked worriedly. "Mom said something about women getting huge really fast in the third trimester."

"We'll worry about that when and if it happens. I've left enough room to take these out of we need to. Try not to worry so much, Carina. If it starts getting snug, just let me know and we'll make some adjustments, okay?" Miranda told her, as she finished up pinning the alterations in place. She wasn't sure if it was the hormones or not, but she thought the half-elf was doing more than her fair share of worrying.

"Sorry." Carina stopped fidgeting, avoiding her own gaze in the mirror as she studied the last of the three costumes. It was, in her opinion, the best of the three - more comfortable, certainly. It was almost a shame she didn't have much center-stage work in this one.

"You look lovely, you know," Miranda told her with a soft smile. "You're gonna steal the show," she added, that smile turning to a grin. "I hope you like the costumes. They're a little last minute, but I'm happy with how they turned out."

"They're lovely," Carina promised her. "Much better than those Arabian Nights knock-offs the secret police were trying to get us in - oh!" Her eyes went wide, guilt coloring her expression as she looked at Miranda. "I don't mean you, or the ladies who stayed on," she rushed to assure the older woman. "Really, you're amazing!"

Miranda laughed. "It's a good thing they left then, isn't it?" she said, moving to her feet and stepping back to have a better look at her. "There. How's that' Not too tight or too loose" I want you to be comfortable." She seemed to take no offense at Carina's remark; in fact, she was glad they were gone. Their loss was her gain, anyway.

"It's perfect," Carina assured her, twisting this way and that to admire the brightly-colored costume that adorned her. She could tell that the only reason she could see the little bump at her waist was because she knew it was there. On stage, unless the audience was aware of her pregnancy, it would be masterfully disguised in the myriad layers that shimmered about her. "Really, it's lovely, Miranda. You're a genius."

She smiled at the girl in the mirror, glad Carina was pleased with her costume, but a little worried about her state of mind. "Try to be happy, Carina," Miranda told her, noticing that she hadn't really smiled much since she'd arrived for her fitting. "Arandir adores you, you're having a baby, and you've got your whole life ahead of you. I know it seems hard now, but believe me, it will get easier. The best part is that you have each other."

"I am happy," Carina insisted softly. "I'm just a little sad right now, as well. It'll pass. Don't worry about me. Marsinah won't have even a hint of sadness in her, I promise." Because she knew she was good at acting, and that just made it worse, in a way.

"I'm not talking about Marsinah; I'm talking about you," Miranda said with a sigh. "All right. Let's get you out of that so you can be Carina again," she said, frowning a little and wishing she could have been of more help, but she wasn't the girl's mother, and she didn't want to butt in too much.

Carina was silent as they got her out of her costume, and back into her own clothes. But she turned to Miranda, catching the woman's hand in her own to step close and kiss her cheek. "Thank you."

Miranda blinked, a little surprised at the show of gratitude, as she'd been starting to think she was just being a buttinsky. "No need to thank me. That's what friends are for," she assured her, with that motherly smile of hers, holding her hand just a moment longer than necessary before giving it a pat. "If there's anything you need, anything at all, don't hesitate to call." And she was not just talking about costume problems.

"Well, you didn't tell me where the bulk thrift stores are, so I definitely will be calling," Carina admitted, and there was a flicker of a teasing smile on her face. She might be tired, and heartsore, and worrying over every little thing, but she wasn't broken and she wasn't defeated. She'd get through this.

Miranda laughed. "Sweetie, if I knew where they were, I'd tell you!" she admitted. It was hard to tell if she was fibbing, but it didn't really matter. She had it in mind to talk to Carina's mother the first chance she got and make sure the couple had everything they needed to get a good start in life.

Carina giggled softly. "Nice try," she murmured, stepping away to shrug into her coat. "Aran should be waiting for me by now. Fingers crossed I don't tear anything during the techie rehearsal, huh?"

Miranda crossed her fingers on both hands and held them up for Carina to see. "Fingers crossed!" she proclaimed, though she had a feeling the girl would be just fine, and not just where the rehearsal was concerned.

And if she wasn't, well ....at least now Carina had confided in someone. She'd know where to come if she needed to confide a little more.