There was a hint of doubt in Poitr's mind, but he tried not to let it show. "She will. Worst-case? I'll sneak you out to the forest, but that won't happen. The party where I met Lindsey was hosted by church officials. Neither of us really wanted to be there. She did the funniest impression of the Bishop -" Poitr decided this wasn't the time to ramble. "- She's never been one to ... accept things the way they are. She's ambitious, and that's one of the many reasons I fell in love with her."

Despite his reassurances, the more Poitr thought about how Lindsey would react the more he questioned his original assumptions. Playing through the conversations in his mind, he couldn't predict Lindsey's reaction to 'Our new daughter is a shapeshifter,' no matter how he built up to or worded it. "At work, there were plenty of people who were jealous of her success because she was a woman. Many of those traditional beliefs, that women shouldn't be in positions of power, are rooted in the church."

Poitr realized the reassurances he had been telling himself about Lindsey didn't quite hold up. "I'll see if she's free for lunch today, and I'll tell her then."