The professor's quarters were far nicer than she had expected, and though it suited them well enough, Adrienne seemed to keep having strange feelings about Kaiden's going to and from work. Undoubtedly, the problems came down to the fact that he would talk about his friends from work, the issue of her hormones being all sorts of crazy, and the stress of both of their positions. She really did try her best not to react when such topics came up, or on the days when she found herself depressed and confused. But that afternoon, Avery swung by Adrienne's office for a chat and tea.
"I-I don't understand," Adrienne put in upon hearing what the blonde had to say. "Why would that be true?"
"I don't know, love. I just saw him with her again, that's all." Avery replied gently, leaning forward and reaching a hand out to rest it on Adrienne's shoulder. "I'm sure they are just in the same department. It's good that he's making friends, isn't it? He would want the same for you, you know that."
"Well, yes," Adrienne nodded slowly, "But..." Her hand fell to her stomach, unable to find the words to explain that she had changed. Certainly Avery could understand that? The older woman seemed to, given that she sighed and let her shoulders relax.
"That doesn't change the fact that he chose you, Addie. He did. You two could have been matched up but you weren't. And he's still here now that the law is done away with. Don't forget that he was the one who asked," Avery said, tilting her head to the side. "I would never suggest that I'm concerned about Robin - don't get me wrong. I love him, and he's a brilliant father. Even if neither of us know what we're doing yet. But he didn't choose this. He didn't want it. He's accepted it and gotten used to it, and that's fine by me. Truly, it is. I'm just saying that Kaiden... he wanted this. He chose you."
And while Adrienne understood that concept, she also knew that all of the verbs Avery used were in the past tense. They all were things that Kaiden had done, and the blonde seemed to have forgotten that he was allowed to change his mind. Everyone was. Just because Robin hadn't didn't assure her that Kaiden wouldn't. So as she prepared for the Yule Ball, she couldn't get her mind off the fact that he had been spending so much time with one of the girls at work.
His having friends was not a problem. She wanted him to have friends, just as she got along with Baldric and the other professors. The only difference, she assumed, was the fact that Baldric was interested in men - and, therefore, not a threat to Kaiden in any way. She wanted to trust her husband, truly, but they had so little time together and he had never mentioned whoever the girl was. Adrienne thought she told him everything, and had assumed that Kaiden did, too.
Once she had done up her hair and makeup, she found herself sitting on the end of the bed, watching Kaiden as he finished getting ready. Never having been one to take too long in her preparations, Adrienne didn't really mind waiting. She couldn't quite bring herself to get directly to her question, so instead she decided to hedge around it.
"Avery came to see me today. She said you've found some new to chat with at work. That's good," she offered lightly, standing to collect her wand when she realized that he was ready to leave. "Want to tell me about them, or your day, on the way down?" she asked, gesturing to the portrait hole.