#spring theme

That is where the Ghafas find them on this spring evening, escorted from the harbour by Anika and a few of the more trustworthy Dregs. Over the years, Kaz has given over more tasks to his second in command, both his leg and his newfound interest in keeping Inej and their child safe taking priority.

It was not exactly a difficult choice.

They’ve set a delicate balance over the years, him and Inej, between what they both need and what they are both willing to give up for each other. But like he'd never hold Inej back from the seas – indeed, sometimes she leaves their daughter with him, slips on her dark clothes and haunts Ketterdam's streets as the Wraith she is, coming home with invaluable information – she would never hold him back from the streets of Ketterdam. He still craves that life, the adrenaline and the way it requires him to use his brain, to be on top of his game. But he can scale it back for other priorities.

Kaz is the one who has chosen where his loyalties lie, a long time ago, and while he doesn't pretend he isn't a dark, twisted thing with his hands stained by blood, he can also be soft, for Inej. For their daughter, who according to Suli customs will not be named until she's a year old. Until now, Inej has called her petal along with various Suli endearments and Kaz has called her sweetheart, because that is how his heart feels when he looks at her chubby cheeks and dark, lively eyes. Sweet. Like there's some good still in him, if he had a part in creating this perfect little human that now calls him Dadadadada and tries to grab his nose whenever it's in reach.

Jesper calls her sunshine, and Wylan tells her she's his flower or darling. Nina, when she writes, calls her malyshka and tells Inej she better raise their daughter right, with none of Kaz's brooding and murderous tendencies.

They all call her menace, lovingly, when she behaves like one. Which is often.

It's a mild evening, spring turning to summer, and Inej has tears in her eyes the second she hears the carriage coming up the road. They’ve been waiting since a runner came from Ketterdam earlier with the news that the ship carrying Inej’s parents was waiting for permission from the Council to dock.

"Let me take her," Kaz requests, shifting his cane on the floor and bracing for the weight of his sleepy daughter as Inej hands her over. "Go greet them."

Inej flies down the path through the front garden, blooming with spring flowers, her hair trailing behind her like a dark, glossy veil, catching the golden sunlight in the strands. She’s still agile and fast, not showing a hint of the new life that Kaz knows is growing within her.

Her parents meet her with open arms and wide smiles, their graying heads bent over her dark one as Kaz ambles closer.

"Shush now, sweetheart," he soothes as his daughter coos, blinking sleepily on his hip as they approach at a slower pace. She's just turning one, the occasion for her grandparents to travel to her naming, and seeing her for the first time.

"Oh Inej, she's beautiful!" Inej's mother exclaims, and Papa Ghafa steps forward to meet Kaz. He rests his cane against his hip to meet the man's steady clasp of hands, thankful he decided to wear his gloves. With Inej and the baby, he rarely has trouble, but with anyone else, it's still touch and go.

"Well done, son. You must be so proud."

"We are," Kaz replies, and glances at his wife, still cradled in her mother's arms, gushing about their daughter in quick, flowing Suli. "Though Inej did the hard work."

"Indeed she did. But we're eternally grateful she has you to look out for her."

"I mostly look out for him, papa," Inej teases good naturedly.

"Too damn right, Inej!" Anika laughs from where she's watering the horses in preparation for the return journey, and Kaz rolls his eyes, trying to put on a stern face.

"No respect even from my second-in-command?"

"I’m your second-in-command because I don't respect you," Anika claims. "Said you can't stand boot-lickers."

Well fuck. That's true. Kaz did say that. He abhors working with people who can't think for themselves. They make good underlings, but he’d never trust them with business. Anika has a sharp head on her shoulders.

"Business better be good when I get back, or I'll reconsider that position," he threatens mildly.

"Sure, boss," Anika mock salutes him. "See you in two weeks!"

The Ghafas have never visited the countryside in spring before, and Inej is eager to show it off. She cooks up a storm with her mother while Kaz minds the little one, sits with them out in the warm sunshine while they coo over their granddaughter walking unsteady across the grass, drags them to the markets for fresh early-spring produce. There's endless stories about cousins and aunts and uncles while Kaz deals with the inevitable paperwork that won't stop even for a vacation. While Anika deals with most of the day-to-day business, he keeps up with the books, has the accounts delivered to him regularly. He also oversees a lot of investments on the legal side of things, trying to build a steady ground for their family.

Inej and her mother bend over a book of flowers and plants, reading out the scientific names and planning Inej's garden, planting the spice seeds they've brought to Kerch with them. The Ghafas do partnered acrobatics while Kaz and the little one watch, the youngest member of their family giggling excitedly. Papa Ghafa loses in a knife throwing competition to both Kaz and Inej.

But Inej's favourite thing to do is to walk the tulip fields.

They're in full bloom, gorgeous colors stretching as far as the eye can see, and they take the carriage Kaz often uses to visit Ketterdam out to them, leaving it behind to traverse between the rows of bulbs. Kaz endures the long walk with grace, because he knows how important it is to Inej to have this conversation with him present, and their daughter rides on Papa Ghafa's shoulders. She tried her best to stick her plump little fingers into the earth and attempted to eat it, before her mother caught her and handed her off to her grandfather.

Kaz rarely finds peace anywhere but with Inej and the little one, though sometimes with the remaining other three crows or the old Dregs members. But he knows Inej finds it here. She says that among all this beauty, she can forget the cruelty and darkness and blood of the streets of Ketterdam. It's also here that Inej hooks her arm through her mother's, and speaks reverently in Kerch, so that Kaz is included in the conversation.

"We will name her Lilia," Inej states calmly. And it's like their daughter understands, because at that exact moment she giggles, a bright, loud and happy sound. "Tulips are of the Liliales-family, and I want to name her after where I've found peace, so she'll have a life full of it."

Papa Ghafa murmurs something in Suli that Kaz doesn't catch.

"Lilia. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl." Mama Ghafa sounds thoughtful. "And she'll need peace to deal with a younger sibling," she adds knowingly. Inej doesn't seem surprised they've been found out, only traces over her own stomach and shoots Kaz a bright smile.

"Spring is a time for new beginnings," Inej says in that peaceful way of hers, and her mother nods along, placing her hand over Inej’s on her stomach.

Inej’s parents walk ahead, swinging their happily squealing granddaughter between them, and Inej leans into Kaz’s side for a moment, tilting her head against his shoulder to enjoy the sight. He twists his head, presses a kiss to the crown of her head.