To expand on what Corylea said: I'd to point out some additional things, but first, i have to mention something about Shani:I like Shani, personally speaking, much better than Triss. There're a number of reasons for this, and I swear it has next-to-nothing to do with the fact that she has an absolutely stunning pair of legs. (Yes, yes, I know it's considered a little bit 'pathetic' to lust after a game character, but... I can't help it. Very simply put: She's just visually appealing.)...Except when she's wearing that ridiculous nightgown. Whatever has gotten into her?The only thing worse is that ludicrous dress that Triss insists on wearing.I like Shani better because she's genuinely nice, genuinely friendly and genuinely wants to help people. All around and in every way, she's a beautiful person.And I think she'd make a 'good mother' to Alvin, but while that would be the very concern for any normal kid . . . well, Alvin is in no way normal . . . which leads me to my point:- - - - - - - - - -There're two issues that separate Alvin from other children, and these are the two most important issues, in his case, and both issues can only be handled by Triss, while Shani, despite her best intentions and all her attempt to love Alvin to the best of her ability, cannot hope to handle at all or even learn how to handle either. These are, in order:1. SAFETY. He has to be kept safe. Shani has neither the power nor the contacts nor the wherewithal to keep him safe, nor does she, I don't think, really grasp the danger he's in and will continually remain in until he masters his powers and thus is able to defend himself, which brings me two #2:2. POWER. It's made evident by Ch. 3 that Alvin possesses such powers that unless he can gain control over them: dire consequences will result. Shani doesn't even understand these forces, so she certainly can't help him. Only Triss can come to understand and thus help him control his powers.These two issues are paramount. His "comfortable and stable childhood" is, unfortunately for him, tertiary to these two needs.Sharing between Shani and Triss, like Corylea suggests as the ideal, is unfortunately impossible. Jealousy and mistrust of one another cannot be cast aside. So far as I can determine (at least by the start of Ch.3): it'll always be there.- - - - - - - - - -Next: Ahmet's & Reaper's point about Triss's untrustworthiness and duplicity would obviously be a major concern if this were real life.A far along as I am, at the beginning of Ch.3: the best thing I think Geralt can do for Alvin is to marry Triss and make sure he fills in the spaces that Triss cannot. Unfortunatley: Geralt has his own problems, and I'm not talking about his 'Witcher wanderlust" or his "Witcher's resignation" to an inevitably young death . . . whatever you want to call it. There are deep conflicts in him that I would think are very likely ineradicable elements that've become part of his core being. Amnesia or no: this is one of those aspects of him that cannot be forgotten.What those problems are I have no clear idea. I haven't read the books.Like I've said before: Triss is a highly skilled manipulator, and so accustomed to this skill that she barely even thinks about it. She's essentially a politician. In fact: whence does she get her wealth? Better question: from whom does she get he wealth? Again: I haven't read the books, so I don't know the true answer to this, although there's of course only one [obvious] person I have in mind.In her ambition, Triss has also learned to be cold and aggressive, even a little bit arrogant at times. Even in dealing with her 'love' Geralt, she has trouble expressing her fealings. As a political animal, as a power-hungry sorceress, I don't think that sensitivity would exactly be one of the things she's particulary trained herself for.So... in short: Triss would not make a very good mother at all. She'd be cold, distant, inattentive. Perhaps Alvin could help her to learn that sort of 'motherly instinct' that she has, seemingly, never had. Maybe.Anybody who's read the books: correct me if I'm mistaken.- - - - - - - - - -One last thing, as far as the Geralt-Shani vs. the Geralt-Triss match-up, which hasn't been mentioned: In my personal opinion: Triss and Geralt are made for each other. (Powerful sorceress meets powerful witcher, both outcasts in their own way, each with their own variety of powers and talents.) ...While Shani, I think, would quickly or at least eventually get tired of Geralt -- or vice versa. Shani and Geralt are not well-matched. With them: it seems a relationship largely based on lust, while Triss' and Geralt's relationship seems largely based on mutual respect.Hope I haven't rambled too much.