He had too many things to do between his studies and his home, and now work was looming as he finished his last bits of his schooling (for the time being). To say that Uriel Meijer was overwhelmed was an understatement. He had a woman he was about to marry, he had to convert to Catholicism to make that happen sooner, he had a baby coming, and at least one sibling was against it all even though Zech knew he had no choice in the matter at all.

He was busy working out his frustrations on building a paddock for the horses, toolbox in one hand and posts under the other. He'd just dug all of the holes for the posts for the fence, and set his stuff on the ground.

Penina and Helene had been walking through the town market when her family name was over heard in a conversation of two very old, gossipy ladies at one of the tea stores. Upon deeper questioning, Penina had learnt that someone of their name had recently bought land in the area. Surely there wasn't more then just Zechariah in this town? Yet she let her curiosity get the better of her. With Helene in tow, she started walking towards where the ladies had pointed to.

Once close enough to the house, it was easy to tell which brother, even if she hadn't seen him since he was a baby. Her mother was right in her descriptions of him and the drawings she received every couple of years also helped.

Leaning down she whispered in her daughter's ear who the man was, did she expect the girl to run off? No. But it was still cute. Once Helene was close enough to the man, Penina could hear her call out "Feter Uriel!"

Spoiler:

Yiddish, Feter = Uncle

Uriel looked up in surprise and grabbed his handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow. The big man moved toward the little girl and crouched down, "Well hello," he said, "And who is this?" He glanced up and noticed his sister, then gave a big smile and scooped his niece up for a hug, then tucked her under his arm playfully to move over to Penina. She looked beautiful as she always had... Where had the time gone?

He set the child down next to her mother and he sighed, "Hello, Shvester." He looked like he was overwhelmed and tired at the moment. He wiped his brow again. "I hope Zech didn't send you here to yell at me too."

Penina watched with a smile and took her daughters hand once the girl was at her side once more. “To yell at you? Why would I do that Uriel?”

"Because I'm getting married and she is pregnant," he said bluntly, the word "pregnant" mouthed instead of spoken... reluctantly, and with his eyes off to the side. If she looked close enough, she might catch the glint of moisture held in check, maybe a butt ton of fear when he did look at her. There were no lies in those big browns, no bad motives, but there was a maturity that hadn't been seen in him until more recently. "I love her very much and I could never abandon my own child," he said in a soft self defense, "child" being mouthed as well. "A-and it's just the right thing to do." He had never been in a state such as that. He had a flair for the dramatic but never about things of more delicate natures such as this situation.