The Bath

The Bath is a short story and the most recent entry in the Ice Planet Barbarian series. The main characters are Summer and Warrek. It was originally published on Facebook.

It features Wrek.

## Story

### SUMMER

“Every time I see him, I can’t get over how different he is from my Wrek,” I say to Farli, bouncing her sweet baby in my lap.

We sit in front of Farli’s hut, near the edge of the village. It’s so Chompy can have a nearby hut to himself, but Thunder tends to sneak in and spend time with Chompy, clearly in love with the bigger male dvisti. It’s cute, but I’m not sure what we’re going to do when Thunder goes into heat. She’s small for a dvisti so far, and with her twisted leg, she stays in the village, but it’s a conversation Megan has fretted over many times. Holvek adores his pet dvisti, but we can’t overrun the village with herd beasts, either. Vestal’s already made it clear that the village is for people, not dirt beaks, not snow cats, not dvisti. And he’s glared at all of us as if we’re somehow turning the village into a zoo.

Warrek has mentioned to me that Wrek wants a pet of his own, but I haven’t said anything to Georgie or Vektal yet. I figure we’ll handle that problem when we get there.

Right now, my small son is standing nearby, watching Holvek brush Thunder’s shaggy fur. He sucks his thumb, his little tail swishing back and forth like he wants to pounce.

“Different how?” Farli asks, curious. She reaches over and wipes a bit of drool off of her kit’s face, fussing over him like any new mother. “To me they all look like kits.”

“Oh no, very different. I remember when Wrek was born, he was this scrawny little thing with barely any color to his skin and no plating at all. He looked very human. Like a sickly human, actually. It really worried me at first.” I glance over at my son, who’s inched closer to Thunder. “Wrek, baby, stay back. You know they kick.” I turn back to Farli, continuing my conversation. “I mean, all babies are hideous, but mine was a special kind of hideous.”

“Hideous?” Farli’s expression looks slightly offended. She reaches out and smooths a thick tendril of Farlok’s hair while the baby gazes up at me with bright, khui-blue eyes.

Great. Now I’ve done it. I speak faster, determined to fix the situation my mouth has caused. “Not your baby. I just mean babies in general, you know? And Farlok is super cute, don’t get me wrong, but all babies come out all gnarled and wrinkled and with long thin legs, and the human and sa-khui babies look weirder than most because they’ve got no plating and when you’re used to seeing plating on a forehead and it’s all bare and huge you’re like, what happened here? Why do you look like a thumb? But then they get horns and some of the plating comes in on some of the babies and you’re like, oh, thank god, my kid is gonna be normal after all–”

Farli’s mouth purses, her expression one of concentration as she tries to follow my babbling stream of words.

“–and that’s why Farlok is different, you know? Because he came out with the plating and bigger horn-buds than the others, and a longer tail, and his skin is so blue that it’s just like the ocean, and every time I see him I do a double take and think, is that what Wrek would look like if he had a different mother and…yeah.” I grimace. “All of that to say that he’s just bluer and has a bit more hair. Oh, and the plating. And the toes. And the tail. But other than that, the same.”

“Mama, Mama!” Wrek trots up to my side, saving me from Farli’s confused expression. He holds a pebble out to me.

This is a game we play often. Wrek noticed that Warrek and I were collecting flat, round pebbles for a time for a checkerboard (a far inferior game to my beloved chess) and now Wrek thinks we want every pebble. “Thank you, baby.”

He trots off again and I smile at Farli.

“Farlok is my first,” she says, taking her kit out of my arms and snuggling him against her chest. “I admit I never paid much attention to how kits look when they have a human parent, but I think he looks healthy and that is all that matters.”

“Of course that’s all that matters.” Ugh. I’m going to tell Warrek about this tonight and he’s going to give me one of those knowing smiles and just kiss the heck out of me to make me feel better. “You carried him for so long that I guess I expected to see more differences.”

Her eyes light up. “Yes! It was a very long time.” She chuckles. “I admit I grew very jealous of the humans who could give birth so quickly while I waited and waited for my belly to grow. Mardok says I am only patient with hunting.”

“Three seasons is a long time,” I agree, grinning. Now we’re on safer territory. “Josie had two kits before you even had one.”

She snorts, amused. “Jo-see wants to wring Haeden out until she can squeeze no more seed from him. Only then will she be content.”

Farli’s not wrong. Josie loves being a mom. She–

“Mama, Mama,” Wrek says, racing up to me.

I automatically put my hand out for another pebble. He plops it into my hand.

“Thank you, Wrek,” I say again. “Now get your thumb out of your mouth, baby.”

He pops it back out again and then races away once more, no doubt off to find me more pebbles. I turn back to Farli. “Have you and Mardok talked about how many more you want to have? I know resonance chooses, but I always think the khui listens to us, just a little. Like Maddie and Hassen only have the one and they’re super happy with the one, whereas Josie and Haeden want tons of kits and their khui seems like it’s happy to oblige. Just wondering if the two of you have talked about what size family you would like.”

Farli shrugs, gazing down at her son with besotted eyes. Total new mom stare. I recognize it well. “I have three brothers. I would not mind a handful of kits.” She yawns, her expression growing sleepy. “Perhaps not all at once, though.”

Oh yeah, I totally remember those days. “Not sleeping through the night yet, huh?”

“No, not at all.” Farli yawns again. “I am hopeful, though. Mother says I can bring him to her if we want a night alone, but I am not ready to hand him over yet.”

I know that feeling indeed. That possessive sensation you have over your new baby, where you feel you can’t look away for even a moment or else you’re being a bad mom. Where you stay up some nights, just to watch them breathe, just to be sure. I thought I was crazy for being so obsessed with my baby, but then I woke up in the middle of the night to find Warrek doing the same, and I knew it wasn’t just me.

New parents are just obsessed.

“Mama, I help,” Wrek says.

Great. More pebbles. I put my hand out–

–and something warm and slightly squishy is pushed into my grasp.

Horrified, I look over and see that I’m holding a dung chip. A dung chip, fresh and soft from the nearby Thunder.

My son beams happily at me and shoves his thumb into his mouth.

I scream in absolute horror. “Oh my god! Wrek, no! We only get the frozen ones! Not the steaming ones!”

Wrek, now realizing he’s done something wrong, takes one look at his dirt-smeared hand and my upset face, and throws his head back and wails. He holds his hand out to me, screaming as if he’s just now realized what he’s gotten on himself, and I want to kick my own non-existent tail. If I hadn’t freaked out, he wouldn’t be screeching right now.

I scoop my child up in my arms. “Sorry, Farli, we’ve got to go get cleaned up.” I pat Wrek’s back as I race back towards our hut, to where I have some water melted. “And you, my son, are going to get a bath. *And no more thumb in your mouth*!”

Oh, his father is going to *laugh* when he gets home.

Maybe at that point, I’ll be able to laugh, too. But Wrek sobs in my ear, andI have a feeling I’m going to need a few hours to decompress.

### SUMMER

“And then he just looked at me and shoved his thumb in his mouth,” I whisper-hiss to my mate after dinner that night. “Just as proud as could be. Like he was helping.”

Warrek’s lean shoulders shake with silent laughter.

“Do you know how much I wanted to scream too?” I tell him, but it’s getting harder to fight my giggles. “He looked so astonished that I was upset, and then of course, he started bellowing too. I scrubbed that little hand for an hour, Warrek. An *hour.*” But I’m smiling now. It wasn’t so funny earlier, with the stink of poop everywhere and my son wailing in my ear, but telling my handsome mate about it helps. “Anyhow, how was *your* day?”

He leans over and puts an arm around my shoulders, drawing me close even though I’m trying to mend a hole in one of Wrek’s tunics. Our son is asleep, and this is our quiet time together. Normally I’d pull out the chessboard and we could play as we talk, but tonight it’s nice to just cuddle together. I burrow against his side, loving how big and strong he is against me.

Warrek nuzzles my hair. “My day is always a good one. I teach the kits to hunt, and I come home to a pretty mate who tells me eagerly of everything and nothing.”

I smile. Most people think my talking is annoying, but Warrek seems to love it. It’s like he’s perfectly content to let me fill all the air around us with conversation simply so he can have more to listen to. He never makes me feel like I’m too much for him. “I like hearing about your day, too. What did you hunt?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?” I put a hand on his knee and squeeze.

“Nothing,” he agrees, amused. “We tracked instead. There was fresh snow.”

“So it was a challenge for them?” When he nods, I continue. “That’s fiendish of you. I imagine they did all right, though. The kids have good noses. Let me guess, Talie did the best?” Georgie’s oldest is a bit of an overachiever. She wants to be the strongest, the smartest, the quickest, the everything-est. Georgie worries about her a little. I think she’s afraid Talie’s going to be too hard on herself and when she inevitably fails, she’ll be devastated. But so far? Talie excels at everything.

Unlike my poor little Wrek, who is a chaos goblin. Destruction seems to follow my child wherever he goes.

“Not Talie,” Warrek murmurs, his fingers gliding through my loose hair. “Analay.”

That would have been my other guess. Not that he’s the best hunter, but he’s got an edge that the others don’t. He can ‘see’ a lot of things that the others can’t. “So he cheated.”

“Is it cheating? Or is it useful and no one will ever starve because of his talent?” He strokes a finger along my cheek, a sure sign that he’s getting amorous. Warrek always gets very touchy when he’s in the mood. He won’t say it out loud, he’ll just make it obvious in a million other ways.

I put aside my sewing and crawl into my mate’s lap. He cradles me between his legs, one arm supporting my back while the other tugs at the laces on the front of my tunic. “I’m just saying, if it’s a competition, he’s got an unfair advantage.”

“Not everything is competition. You play too much chess.”

“There’s no such thing as too much chess and you know it!” I poke him in the chest. How can my mate say such things with a straight face? “Chess is all about strategy and learning how your opponent thinks so you can beat them. It’s about knowing what moves to make two turns ahead of your opponent. It’s about–”

I stop because he’s not listening to my lecturing. He’s got a hint of a smile on his face as he pushes my hand aside and rubs a knuckle lightly down the side of my throat, all the way to my collarbone.

He’s teasing me. And of course I fall for it. He knows I’m fairly competitive, especially when it comes to chess. “I should tie you up again,” I mutter. “Except you like it too much.”

Warrek chuckles and teases his finger into the front of my tunic, grazing the slope of my breast.

“I can’t believe you’re amorous after my story of Wrek touching fresh poop. I mean, we touch old poop for the fire, but it’s frozen and that’s a bit different. It was warm. Steaming. I feel personally offended by that steam. I bet I breathed it in. I scrubbed Wrek’s poor little hand for forever, and then I had to scrub myself for twice as long. Tomorrow I’m going to wash his tunic, though I should probably just burn the darn thing. He’s outgrowing it anyhow.” I pause, sighing and leaning against my mate as he teases my nipple. “Days like today I wish we had hot showers somewhere here in the village. I’d settle for a bath, even.”

He pinches my nipple, sending a hot pulse of arousal straight to my pussy. “We’ll go tomorrow.”

I bite my lip, shivering as he pinches me again and then rubs the sensitized spot. I’m finding it hard to concentrate. “Go where?”

“Hot spring. You, me and Wrek.”

“That’d be wonderful. Are you sure? You don’t have to take the kits out?” My head falls back as he pinches my nipple again. “Ooooh.”

Warrek hums with approval at my response. “Quiet, my mate.” He drops his voice, so low that it’s like a caress. “Mardok can hunt with the kits.”

“Mardok doesn’t know how to hunt…” My lips part and a whine escapes my throat as he tugs on my nipple again, toying with it in the most exquisite, maddening way.

“They will show him. It will be good for all of them,” he says, as if it were that simple.” His eyes gleam as he gazes down at me. “Can you be quiet tonight?”

“Yes,” I breathe, aroused. I can’t take my eyes off my handsome mate, the long spill of his hair and the smile that plays at the edges of his mouth.

“Even if I bind you?” He strokes my nipple again. “Last time you were *very* loud.”

I was. I might have babbled and begged for him to fuck me harder. It’s a good thing that Wrek was staying over at Claire’s that night or our poor kit would have been scarred. “Maybe you can put something in my mouth to quiet me.”

This time, it’s my mate that groans.

### WARREK

“Are you sure you want me in charge of this today?” Mardok grimaces as he looks over the excited group of kits. “They’re a bit…rowdy.”

I gaze at him calmly, waiting for him to come to his own conclusion.

“Right. Okay.” He rubs his jaw, watching as Masan chases Joden and Pacy. Nearby, Talie is checking the point of her spear while Elsa and Anna whisper to each other and Kae ties her boots tighter. “It’s just that there’s a lot of them,” Mardok points out, his expression a bit overwhelmed. “I thought we’d be doing this together.”

“My mate needs me this day,” I say. “You have the experience. Do not doubt yourself.” This will be good for him as well as the kits. Mardok spends all of his time working on his ‘projects’ and while he *can* hunt, he works on his metal things instead. He is too dependent on them. Farli has asked me to involve him with the kits more so he can get comfortable with hunting and the life their child will have as Farlok grows up. In a way, this day’s hunt is for him moreso than Talie and the others, who are already skilled at tracking.

“What if I lose one of them?” Mardok asks, hands on his hips. “I told Farli I should chip ’em so we can track them, but she didn’t like that idea.”

I blink at him.

“Yeah, I guess it’s not the best idea. It’s just…it’s the easiest, you know? Back on my world everyone’s got a tracking chip on their kits so no one gets lost.” He gazes thoughtfully at the kits. “But I guess if they’re learning to be trackers, they can track down someone that goes missing, right?”

“Mm.”

Mardok turns back to the others. “Right. Sure. Thanks, Warrek. Good talk.”

I incline my head at him. If he is ready, I will find Wrek and Suh-mer and we will be off. I watch as Mardok turns away, heading for the kits. He claps his hands and addresses them, and the boys stop chasing each other, the girls straightening and listening intently. They are good kits, and knowledgeable enough that even if Mardok gets lost, they will know the way back home. Talie meets my gaze and I nod at her. She will keep an eye on him.

“Let’s do a head count before we go,” Mardok says, voice loud. “Maybe a roll call?”

“Maybe we just go,” Joden says, bouncing on his feet.

I bite back a chuckle as I turn towards the village and where my mate is waiting. Mardok will have his hands full this day. Approaching my hut, I hear Suh-mer make a frustrated noise. “No, Wrek, baby! That’s not how you put on your tunic! You’re going to stretch the laces—aaaand you just ripped them.”

Hm. Mardok is not the only one with his hands full this day.

#

It is a good day for a journey. The twin suns are shining, the clouds are puffy and not an angry gray, and the snow under our feet is crisp. I carry a bag over my shoulder with a meal and fresh clothes, along with soap-berries for our bathing. There is a pool at Croatoan, but it is shared by the entire tribe and sometimes I like to get away from the others and share a quiet day alone with my mate. We do this whenever I can get away, but with the tribe’s kits growing older, my days grow busier.

I worry that Suh-mer thinks I am ignoring her. I glance down at my mate, her smaller, cold hand in mine. Her gaze is locked on Wrek, who  has raced ahead his gaze on a dvisti on the horizon. He loves the shaggy creatures. Perhaps it would be good for him to spend time with Holvek and Farli and learn how to take care of one. If he does well, perhaps I can capture a small one for him when he grows older. Tiff-ah-nee is insisting we keep the loose fur from both for her new projects, and Suh-mer loves the soft scarf that Salukh’s mate made for her. She wears it even now, loosely wrapped around her neck.

“You keep watching me,” my mate says. “Is something bothering you? Because I totally see you sneaking glances when you think I’m not looking, but I’m always looking at you.” She grins up at me. “I like looking up at you.”

“I am thinking about family,” I admit.

“Ours?” She eyes Wrek as he pauses to pick a berry from a nearby bush, her mouth pressing into a firm line. “Those are soap-berries, baby. Why don’t you get a few for Mama and Daddy, okay?”

“I help!” my son calls out.

“Such a big help,” Suh-mer agrees. To me, she says in a low voice, “He’s probably going to find a way to kill that bush. Somehow. I wonder if you were this much trouble when you were growing up. Harrec probably was. Maybe that’s why you turned out the way you are. Harrec was all the trouble and Eklan couldn’t handle more, so you were the serene one instead. I can totally see it, you know. Your secret wild side was shoved down and only comes out in the furs.” She grins up at me. “Not that I mind that wild side of you in the furs.”

Biting back a chuckle, I rub my thumb over her small hand. “I am glad.”

“So what were you thinking about family?” She shield her eyes with her free hand and gazes up at me. “Our family? Or someone else’s family? Or just family in general? Or increasing our family?” She gasps, her gaze going to my chest. “Do you feel like you’re going to resonate again? A few people have said they can feel it when it’s about to come on, but they said it’s usually accompanied by moodiness. Claire said she was cranky before she resonated the last time and that’s how she knew something was up. She figured it was either her period coming early or another resonance. It’s hard to tell with you though because you’re always just the most serene man, and that can really throw me for a loop sometimes — not that I mind your serenity, it’s just that I would love to know what you’re thinking and you’re just like one big puzzle that I want to figure out–”

Amused, I give her hand a squeeze. She is rambling.

Her cheeks flush. “Sorry. You were saying?”

“I am thinking about our family,” I continue. “Are you…content?”

### SUMMER

At Warrek’s quiet inquiry, I panic. “What do you mean, am I *content*?” A thousand questions race through my head all at once. Content with our family? Like does he want more kids? Is he upset that we haven’t resonated a jillion times like Josie and Haeden? Or is he asking if I’m happy that we had a kid because he regrets it? Or is he feeling restless? Disappointed? Does he think I’m a bad mom? For the first time in my life, I might be shocked into silence. “….huh?”

He blinks at me, his expression calm, and then trots forward to grab Wrek before he can climb into the soap-berry bush. “No, my son.”

I remain silent as he returns to my side with Wrek, our son’s hands sticky with squashed soap-berries. He holds the mashed-up goo out to me. “Mama, I help!”

“You’re doing great, Wrek, baby,” I agree, feeling faint. I’m not sure if I want to smack Warrek or beg him not to leave me. I wait for him to continue our conversation, but he only tosses Wrek into the air and catches him, making our kit laugh.

I guess whatever it is he’s wondering about – this *contentment* – can wait.

“Come,” Warrek says, pretending to chew on one of Wrek’s tiny horns. “The stream is just over the ridge. We are close.” He tickles Wrek’s fat belly. “And then I will toss you in so the fish can nibble on you.”

Wrek squeals with delight.

It takes everything I have not to burst into tears.

Warrek is such a good dad. And Wrek is my baby. I mean, sure, he’s trouble walking on two feet, but I adore him. I would change nothing about him or my mate, and the thought of Warrek not being happy with where we are as a family makes me want to throw up. I fight back a growing sense of panic. What could he be discontent with? The amount of sex we’re having? The fact that I haven’t shaved my legs since I was kidnapped by aliens and he’s never commented on it and I thought he didn’t care? What the hell is it?

We reach our favorite little stream. Bathing regularly back in the village is fine enough – I wash both myself and Wrek down with water every day, and we take regular baths in the heated pool in the longhouse, but sometimes our little family likes to get away and have a private bath. Around once a month we head for this stream, because it’s shallower and less filled with the fang-face fish. I still don’t like those, especially not when I think of vulnerable little Wrek and his grabby hands.

Warrek sets down his pack and puts Wrek on his feet. “Remember like I taught you?”

“Berries first!” My son proclaims, racing to the edge of the stream in a way that makes my heart pound. But his father is nearby, and he hovers protectively over Wrek as my son dumps his handfuls of berry-mash into the stream and waits.  My throat tightens as I watch the two of them together. Warrek is such a good father, patient and gentle and yet still attentive and playful with his child. Maybe I’m the problem in this relationship, and he wants to talk to me about that.

But…I thought we were happy. Or am I the only one that is ecstatically happy? The thought breaks me.

Warrek glances over at me where I linger a few feet away from the stream, a smile on his face. His smile fades the moment he sees my expression, and he knows something is wrong. “Suh-mer?” Realization dawns on him as he straightens to his full height. “You are quiet.”

He says that as if this is the most worrying thing in the world. Maybe it is, with me.

In fact, he looks so distressed at my silence that I realize everything between us is fine. That he’s just said something carelessly alien that’s making me panic because he doesn’t understand the nuances of human culture, especially in relationships. I’m misunderstanding him. That’s all.  I take a deep breath of relief and manage a smile.

Warrek ruffles Wrek’s hair. “Take your boots and leathers off and wait here. I must speak with Mama.” He moves to my side, his eyes searching mine for answers as Wrek begins to busily undress next to the edge of the shallow stream. “What upsets you, my resonance?”

I manage a small smile. “You can’t just throw down a ‘are you content’ and walk away. I love you, but that freaked me out.”

He blinks at me, clearly not comprehending why.

“It’s fine,” I say, feeling a little foolish. I grab my belt and undo it. “You know what? We’ll talk about it later. I need to get in the stream with Wrek and wash his hair. I think he still has dvisti fur in it from yesterday. You know I caught him sneaking into Holvek’s little barn the other day? He was gathering up handfuls of Thunder’s fur because he wanted to make a dvisti of his own. We should probably also talk with him at some point how the birds and the bees work, but I’m not sure I’m ready to have that conversation before he grows chest hair — not that he’ll grow chest hair, since you don’t, but it’s a figure of speech–”

He touches my chin, getting my attention before I start to disrobe, and forcing me to look up (and up, and up) at him. “We should talk about it now. I do not like you in distress.”

“Speaking of distress,” I say, glancing past him. “Your son is about to eat a handful of mud.”

He turns and scoops Wrek up, prying the mud out of his hand with ease. “Can you mash berries for Mama’s mane, Wrek? Do you know how many she needs?”

“Four!” My son declares, mud forgotten in his pleasure at helping his father.

“Correct. Count them out, please.” He sets Wrek down on the snowy ground again, my son half-dressed in his leathers, and hands him the berry pouch.

Wrek immediately plops onto his bottom, his tail making happy patterns in the snow as he pulls berries out. “One…”

Damn it, why does he have to be so effortlessly good with kids? Why is he so stinking perfect? Ugh. It’d be revolting if it didn’t make me want to climb him like a tree.

Warrek gets on his knees, curling his tail around Wrek’s waist and kneeling in front of me. He undoes the leather straps of my boots, helping me undress. “Explain your worries, my mate.”

I sigh, pulling my short cloak and tunic off as he handles my boots. “It’s dumb and panicky. It’s just that every time a human guy basically says ‘are you happy’ it means that he’s not and he’s hoping you’ll let him off the hook in some way.”

He blinks up at me, that calm expression of his without a hint of amusement. “I am not human, Suh-mer.”

“Yeah, I know,” I mutter. That spur sets me straight every time.

“FOUR,” Wrek declares loudly, holding up four berries. “One two three four!”

“Excellent,” Warrek says. “Now we will finish undressing and then Mama will wash her pretty mane, yes?”

I’m glad our talk is being tabled for now, because Wrek really does need a bath (especially after the mud) and it’ll give me a chance to stop feeling so silly for panicking.

### WARREK

There is something so very peaceful about my mate sitting between my thighs in the shallow stream, washing Wrek’s mane as he splashes in front of her. I wash Suh-mer’s mane, and she washes Wrek’s, and it is a soothing moment that fills my heart with quiet joy. I do wonder that my words made my mate upset earlier, but I am content to let it rest until she brings it up again.

She will tell me. She always does. It is one of the things I appreciate most about my mate – that she holds nothing back in conversation, not even her smallest thoughts. I like to hear all of it. I know if she is truly troubled, she will tell me about it.

“Dunk,” Suh-mer tells Wrek, patting the surface of the water. It goes to my belly, and brushes against Suh-mer’s teats, but it is deeper for my son. He acts like a fish, dropping his feet and slipping under the water as he holds his nose as we have taught him. A moment later, he surfaces again, all giggles, and my mate claps with pride. “Good job!”

“More berries!” Wrek says, shaking himself off like a wet dvisti and then moving to the banks of the stream.

“Stay close,” I tell him, and then run my fingers through my mate’s soapy, berry-scented mane. “It is Mama’s turn to wash.”

“Close,” he agrees, and squats on the shore next to the berry pouch. He pulls them out and then lines them up on the bank, fascinated with the shape and small size of them. Wrek loves to line things up. It is a fun game for him, to organize things…and then destroy them again, because he is small and finds that funny.

Now that our son is occupied, Suh-mer turns her head and looks at me over her shoulder. “So you want to tell me what that was about earlier? Asking if I was content?”

“Yes.”

She pauses and then gestures that I should continue. “Well?”

“I worry you think I am ignoring you and Wrek. There are many kits of age right now. They need to be taught to hunt and track, and I know I spend a great deal of time with them. I do not want you to feel neglected.”

Her shoulders shake.

For a moment, I panic. Is she weeping? Have I made her cry? It is a devastating thought. I would do anything to make her happy–

Suh-mer giggles, and I relax. Her shoulders shake harder and she laughs, slithering backward to lean against my chest in the water. Her soapy mane is rubbing against my shoulder, but I find I am not inclined to make her move. Rather, I wrap my arms around her and pull her close, keeping a careful eye on Wrek as he plays with the berries on the shore.

“You are a dork,” she tells me.

“I do not know what that means, but I assume it is pleasant.” I slide a hand over her soft, wet skin.

“Here you had me all worried that you weren’t happy in our relationship, or that I was a bad mom, or that you felt there was something wrong with Wrek, or you were upset that we hadn’t resonated again, and you think *you’re* the problem? You, sir, are a *dork*.”

This sounds less pleasant by the moment, but I can hear amusement in her voice at least. “So you are not concerned?”

“I would only be concerned if you were unhappy teaching the kits to hunt. Are you?”

“Not at all.” I enjoy it. I enjoy watching their young minds connect the pieces of their learning, of seeing the pride in their faces as they track their first kill. It makes me think of how my father taught me, and then Harrec, and it brings the warmth of old memories as well as creates new ones. “I find joy in it.”

“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.” She rubs the arm I have wrapped around her. “That’s all that matters.” She pauses, and then adds, “So you don’t want a larger family? Like Josie and Haeden?”

I imagine Suh-mer chasing after a brood as large as Haeden’s. They have three young kits and recently resonated again, much to Joh-see’s joy. “I do not know if you wish to carry three kits at once.”

She snorts with amusement. “Not at once. Just in general. Do you want more babies? How big is your ideal family?”

I shrug, lifting a hand and trailing water over her teats. Her nipples are delightfully pebbled in the brisk air and I enjoy the sight of them wet and gleaming. “As many as we are given.”

“So you don’t care if we never resonate again?”

“Would you care?”

She thinks for a moment, considering my question. “I think I would like more, yes. But I also think I would like for Wrek to get a bit older.” She looks over at our son, a smile on her lips. “He’s a bit of a handful, you know.”

I just laugh.

“I know we can’t decide, that the khui is the one that chooses, but I think I would be happy if we resonated again.” She leans back against my chest, smiling up at me. “I might be sad if we never got to experience that moment again.”

I hold her closer, skimming one hand along the inside of her thigh. I will not touch her, not right in front of our son who plays nearby, but I will let my caresses be a promise for later, when we are alone, and Wrek is asleep in his nest, behind a curtain. “Then I will have to make sure that every time we mate, it is as good as when we resonated.”

Suh-mer sighs happily. “You dork. It always is.”

(The End)