Stary, Stary Night

The days seemed to be passing too quickly. She had the normal ailments of being with child, but added to that she had evidently eaten something that did not agree with her, and that had seemed to drain the strength from her. She had even welcomed Birmmah's help around the wagons. The woman had chided her on getting pregnant so soon, and told her that they would need to wait a bit longer after this one, before trying again. To be very honest, this had surprised her coming from a woman that had given birth nine times, but she had explained that after the first couple, they had allowed her body to regain its' strength between each subsequent child, and it did make sense.
Aamon had even came around to check on her, partly because that is where he found his mate, and partly because he seemed to be a bit excited about his first blood-born grandchild. They were good people, and she did appreciate all that they did for them. Aamon had taken Tug with him one afternoon, giving her some relief, and Birmmah had taken Another one. She had spent most of that afternoon resting and napping off and on. For some reason, the heat was bothering her too. But it all passed, she was feeling better, and back up busy with her little family.
Rook and Trilok had returned, none the worse for wear. Rook had a few minor wounds, bumps, bruises, things of that nature, and said that her nephew was fine. He had brought the bosk and kaiila they had taken from the Kassar for her to look at. They bosk did not hold her attention like the kaiila did. They were actually fine animals, well cared for and sturdy. She would have to speak to Trilok, for one of them looked to be a good beast to breed to BlueSky. It was always good to have a new strain of blood among the kaiila. One of the things she watched very closely was to not breed the beast to animals of the same close bloodline.
She held a great deal of pride in her nephew, and now a great deal of happiness that he drew closer and closer to his objective of mating Noya. They were good together, and they were good for each other. Soon perhaps, they would see the mating take place. She knew Bo, and how protective he was of Noya. He had been almost as protective of her when she was under his guardianship.

Ba'atar had come in from the herds to find her alone at the fires. His dinner was ready and he ate, then told her he was going to take a bath, and for her to get ready, they would go for a walk. And walk they did. He held her hand and they walked through the lanes of wagons, stopping to speak to people from time to time, and at one point, stopping to watch a group of children at play. It was just comforting to watch their people going about the normal things of day to day life. It was reassuring.



Walking down to the stream, they had found a spot of soft grass and lay for a long time just watching the skies, enjoying the night, and enjoying each other's company. Each day they grew closer and closer, in spite of what many thought. They had common thoughts on their people, the tribe and family. They were content, and in love. What more could either of them wish or hope for?

They lay for a long time, staring up at the stars. He had slipped one arm under her head, and with the other, he caressed her middle,which had began to swell with the evidence of their love. He hummed in her ear, which made those small bumps run along her flesh. Was it the timbre of his voice, or his nearness, or the fact that he did it just for her? She was not sure, all she knew was that she loved it. She had fallen asleep, and when she roused a bit, she realized that he had her cradled into his arms and was going up the steps of the wagon. She whispered softly that she wished to sleep beneath the stars.

He had laughed as he lay her on the furs, undressed her, then himself, then had reached up to open the vent flap at the top of the wagon, revealing the night sky to her. Crawling into the furs beside her, again those arms went around her, his head nuzzled into her neck, and they slept.