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Tam has experience this before, for swedhship is a buffer against the three stage process by which one psychic talents finally locked into their mature form. He remembers guiding Bez through the agony of confusion and does the same for Kerobian. Forming a mental anchor, he reaches out and brings the cub in close, helping him to find his center.

"Easy, Kero... you need to stay centered... find your anchor point and hold tight, build up a shield, like so, thin and it allows entry, thick and it builds walls of protection about your mind. You're opening up far too far. Soon you'll be broadcasting your distress to eveyone in town. The whole place will be a soppy bath from all the tears they'll shed."

Tam lowers his head and sighs. "Let me ask both of you something... which is the better punishment, one which is given out of frustration, done in desperation, quickly over and just as quickly forgotten or one which is done out of love and understanding, slower true, harder to endure, especially when you see your fellow perpetrator outside your bedroom window, playing with his friends, laughing and having a good time while you sit and stew merely because he has had his backside warmed and you have not, but which makes you understand the reasoning behind what which you have done wrong. Kero is pass the stage where a swift stop to his antics will keep him safe from harm, Hopian. He is now in the stage of maturity that requires him to understand the reasons why he should not be doing such things in the first place."

He stands up and walks towards the door, his face a mask of determination. "Think about it. Talk it over, if you must. But this is how I will parent him. If it is not up to your exacting standards, Hope, I will abide by whatever you decide, whether to take him back home with you or leave him here with me. But if he stays, this is how I will raise him. I'll be outside in the garden. I have grown to love Kerobian very much, and I will do whatever you think best in the cub's interest to a point and no more. I have drawn a line I will not cross."

Before he leaves the room, Tam turns to flash them both with a sad smile. Hope, you say this is what Kero wants, correct and yet Kerobian, as he is now, is a child... Are there not time when a parent is forced to do what he knows is best in the child's interest, regardless of what the child desires for himself?" Then he turns and goes out into the garden, where he plops into one of the rough hewn chairs and waits for the axe to fall. He has defied Hopian and knows it may cost him his role as caregiver, but he is more than certain he is right in his approach. Oh, he knows that Kero is going to test him on this, that they will no doubt come to outrageous bouts of anger and misunderstanding over it. But he will not spank the cub, no matter who or what asks him to do so, not when he knows there is a better alternative. He just hasn't found it just yet.

Tam encircles him in his arms and says much the same empatically, sending out the warmest mental embrace he can to one who is not his spiritual partner.

Tam smiles and holds him close, sitting in the sun, soaking up both its warmth and the loving warmth in his arms. "And you really don't mind me being different?... I'm no pushover, Kero... no matter what you think."

Tam nods and holding him close, begins to sing a gentle lullaby.

As Kero grows heavy in his arms, Tam smiles and carries him back to bed where he carefully tucks him in. Then leaving the door to the room open, he goes out to his work table to work on his music. The afternoon is quiet and peaceful, filled with bits of elaborate music and occasional softly uttered curses