"Mother" [The Lady Morgana]

[Jaqueline Urquart]

It was amusing, at times, that Valencia Wilde was Jaqueline's stepmother. The woman was only two years older than Jaqueline, after all; the idea of calling her 'mother' was laughable. Still, Jaqueline had always made an attempt to get along with the woman for her father's sake. Now her father was dead, but Jaqueline had no reason to end contact with the other woman.

"Are you looking forward to the holiday season, Valencia?" Jaqueline said mildly as she sipped her tea. "Even without attending parties, it should be pleasant to have all the children home."

  

[Valencia Wilde]

Valencia took a small sip of her tea and half-smiled at her daughter-in-law. "Yes," Val said, "I cannot wait to have my darlings back at home for the holidays, despite the recent tragedy."

She actually was fond of holidays; Val enjoyed buying gifts nearly as much as she enjoyed receiving them. While Godric's will had left much to be desired, it had at least given her a generous allowance.

"Will we be seeing you and your husband at all, or shall you two be too occupied?" Val asked, raising an eyebrow.

  

[Jaqueline Urquart]

The recent tragedy — Jaqueline was of the opinion that her father's death was more of an inevitability than a tragedy. Certainly she missed him, but anyone who said they had not seen the death of the one hundred and twenty year old wizard coming was either lying or stupid.

"I am certain that Melchior and I will have time to see family." With Jaqueline in mourning over her father's death, they could not attend the parties and social gatherings and so would have more time for family than usual.

  

[Valencia Wilde]

"Lovely," Val said, "Just lovely." Melchior - perhaps she would actually be able to remember the name of her son-in-law this time.

Well.

Probably not. His name was not nearly as important as Gladys', particularly not now, when Val could pretend that such slip-ups were side effects of her paralyzing grief.

"Is he still a Wizengamot interrogator?" Val inquired, in the tone of voice that suggested that she thought it a rather quaint career.