"I could have guessed it," Bert said brightly, and shook his head, scraping his hands back through his hair. His smile faded. "Look. Truth be told, I've got a problem with you and Susan both. Both of you love him, and you keep hurting him, and I know neither of you ever wanted to, but fuck. But here's the thing... I love him too. I know what a fucking ass he is, and how much it hurts to care about him, and if you tell him I breathed one word of this, I am taking the kitten back." It was an attempt at humour, but it fell rather flat. Sighing, he flopped back against the doorframe, looking her up and down. "Point is, you're hurting him. He's hurting you. Susan's hurting both of you, and she's getting hurt back. And Kaine's grumpy and Alain's getting a headache, and for fuck's sake, all this over Roland's existence?"

He pulled a face, looking away. "Wish I could say I didn't understand it."