26
MEGAN
I back?โ
โm chopping and dicing roots to add to the boiling water over the fire when the front door flap opens
and Cashol ducks in.
โDid you find Haeden?โ I turn back to my cutting, standing at the โkitchenโ counter slab. โIs he
โHe was returning. I carried Joden and he carried Joha and we ran the entire way back.โ He comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, nuzzling my neck. Heโs cold and icy all over, but his skin is flushed hot and sweaty, and I squirm out of his grasp. โWhat, you do not like wet kisses from your mate?โ
โI like wet kisses,โ I grump. โNot sweat kisses.โ
Cashol laughs, then drops to his knees and wraps his arms around my waist, nuzzling my belly with the same attention. โI think your mother is mad at me, Casegan.โ
โIโm gonna be mad if his name is Casegan,โ I mutter. Iโm not really mad, though. Just a little irked about the pet. โIโm going to feed our new little friend and then see if Josie needs anything.โ I glance over at him. โOkay with you if we watch Joden and Joha tonight? I imagine she can use the free time.โ
Cashol gets to his feet again and nibbles on my ear, and itโs hard to stay mad at him, not when heโs so damn handsy and affectionate. I pause in my root chopping and tilt my face up for a real kiss, and for a long moment, the world fades away and itโs just me and my perfect, funny, exasperating, handsome mate, who kisses me as passionately as he did when we first resonated. โIf Joden and Joha are here, I will not get to wake my pretty mate in the way she is accustomed.โ
I brush a sweaty lock of hair back from his brow. โYou wonโt get to anyhow, because youโre going to be staying out in the hut behind the house with our son, who wants to sleep with his new best friend.โ
โCaught in my own trap,โ Cashol says ruefully. He kisses me again. โI did not mean for it to happen, you know. We came across the dvisti tracks in the snow and I was showing Holvek how to follow them when we found the little one in the snow. She had been abandoned by her tribe for not being able to keep up. Did you see the leg?โ He twists his hand, as if to demonstrate what Iโve already learned.
I nod, and apparently Iโm a bigger softie than I knew, because just hearing that the colt was abandoned is enough for me. โYouโll have to help Holvek set up a stable tomorrow. It canโt stay in the house. Not unless we can train it not to relieve itself inside.โ
โFarli trained hers,โ Cashol muses. โI will talk with Salukh and Teef-nee and see what they suggest. Teef- nee is good with animals, yes?โ
โTiffany is good with everything,โ I agree. โAnd the dvisti is a girl?โ
โIt is. Very mild mannered and sweet. It tried to follow Holvek the moment it saw him.โ
Aw. My son must be so thrilled. I smile at that. I want my baby to be happy above all else, and if it means putting up with a pet, Iโm gonna put up with a pet. โYou should have seen the look on his face earlier. It was like the sun had come out. Do you think heโs ready for all this responsibility?โ
โI do,โ Cashol says seriously, and then rubs my belly. โIt will keep him busy when our little treasure arrives.โ
Treasure. Itโs not the first time Cashol has told me that Iโm his treasureโฆand it makes me think of names.
Iโm going to mull on that for a bit. โWill you finish making the root mash?โ I ask my mate as he takes the knife from me and begins to cut. โIโll go get Joden and Joha.โ
He nods and leans over for a final kiss, and the movement is so easy and natural that it takes my breath away. I get to kiss this man every day of my life for the rest of my life and weโre making beautiful children together.
God, I really am the luckiest. I kiss him back fiercely, stroke his back, and then head over to Josieโs with a smile on my face.
H๎๎๎๎๎ ๎๎ ๎๎๎๎ ๎ ๎๎ ๎๎๎๎ ๎๎ ๎๎๎ ๎ ๎ ๎ ๎๎๎๎๎๎ ๎๎๎๎ ๎๎ J๎๎๎๎ ๎๎๎๎๎๎๎ ๎๎๎ ๎ ๎ ๎๎๎๎ ๎ mats, humming as if nothing in the world bothers her. Meanwhile, Haeden looks as disheveled and sweaty and off kilter as if heโs the one giving birth. He hovers around Josie, offering her a cup of water, and I gather up Joha and a change of clothes, and entice energetic Joden with the idea of sleeping out in the storage hut with the new foal tonight.
Joden, the child hurricane, of course loves the idea and has ten thousand questions. I immediately put his jacket on him, hand him a snack, and send him over to Cashol and Holvek. Unlike her brother, Joha is a cuddly little joy of a child. She has fat chubby cheeks and Josieโs little chin and a sweetโif noisyโpersonality kind of like her mama. I get out Holvekโs favorite toy when he was her ageโcolored bone shapes that fit into a
carved boxโand she spends most of the evening babbling to herself and pushing an orange peg into a round green hole. Definitely her mother (and her fatherโs) kid. I busy myself with making hot broth drinks for the boys out in the โstable.โ Lukti joins them after Tiffany and Salukh stop by to offer tips, and then my poor mate is watching three boys and the dvisti and I feel just the teensiest bit sorry for him.
Holvek races in just before his regular bedtime to come give me a kiss, and I snuggle my boy before sending him back out with his father. โHow is he doing? Your new friend?โ I ask, worried that it might die on him and then we have to have a conversation about pets and death that I am so not ready to have. โDid he eat?โ
โItโs a girl, Mama.โ Holvek gives me an exasperated look that is entirely his father as I smooth his hair back.
โPapa says itโs a girl.โ
โOh, Iโm very sorry,โ I say solemnly. โHave you decided on a name?โ
โNot yet. It has to be just the right name, Mama.โ His serious look returns. โNames are important.โ
โYes they are.โ I give him one last hug. โGo on and rejoin your papa before Joden talks his ear off. I love you.โ
โI love you too, Mama!โ He hugs me impulsively. โThank you for letting me keep her.โ
My eyes fill with silly emotional tears. โOf course, baby. You know I love you.โ
โI know,โ he chirps at me, and then bounds back outside, and I feel like I was just handed some sort of Greatest Mom Award.
I curl up around Joha in the furs at bedtime, dreaming about baby names and treasures. Pearls. Jade.
Ruby. Gold. Silver. Jewels. Jewel , I muse as I smooth Johaโs wispy hair back from her horn nubs. Maybe Jewel. I like that.
I must fall asleep, because when I wake up, the fire is nothing but coals and Cashol bends over the bed, stroking my face. I roll over, notice that Johaโs still asleep, her thumb stuffed in her mouth, and keep my voice to a whisper. โEverything okay?โ
Cashol nods, tracing my jaw with a tender caress. โJo-see had her baby. A girl. She has named it Shae.โ
He grins. โStrange name.โ
โItโs a beautiful name,โ I say defensively. โHowโs she doing?โ
โHaeden says it was the easiest birth yet, and Shae is the biggest of their three kits. Big and fat and entirely too big for someone as small as Jo-see to carry.โ He chuckles low. โWe will keep Joden and Joha until later tomorrow, if that is all right.โ
โOf course,โ I murmur. โThey need time to rest.โ We can keep them for weeks if needed. Josieโs just right next door and I donโt mind. I know sheโll do the same for me when my baby comes. โHowโs Holvek?โ
โAsleep with Thunder tucked safely under his arm. He is in love already.โ
I squint up at my mate in the darkness. โHe named that shy little thing Thunder? After he told me it had to have the perfect name?โ
Cashol chuckles. โYou should have heard the noises it made when it smelled the root mash. She thundered at Holvek mightily until he fed her.โ
Thunder. I shake my head. Kids are weird. โAre you going back out there?โ
He nods and his thumb skims over my lower lip. โI just wanted to check on my treasure. You know I do not like being apart from you. Not even this far.โ
My heart squeezes. โI love you.โ
โI love you as well.โ He gets up to leave, nothing but a shadow in the dim light of the house.
I grab his hand, thinking. โWait. Speaking of names.โ
โHmm?โ
โHow do you feel about Jewel? In my world, itโs a type of treasure. Iโd like to call our baby Jewel if itโs a girl.
What do you think?โ
He smiles down at me. โI like it. I like everything you like.โ
โThatโs why weโre perfect together,โ I whisper, yawning.
โAmong many reasons. Now sleep, my mate. Tomorrow is a new day.โ He pulls the blankets higher around me and Joha, leans over and kisses my brow, and tends to the fire, stoking the coals just a little before heading back out to sleep in the stable with our son.
Jewel, I muse, touching my belly. Cashol, Megan, Holvek and Jewel. Oh, and Thunder. It sounds like a wonderful family to me. Itโs perfection.
Just like everything else in my life.
