Brovish had the cart positioned at the outcropping entrance and with the back gate open by the time I’d finished my final checks on the twins. He’d done it without asking what I needed, which I was starting to understand was how he moved through life. He passed a blanket to me outside, and I lined the cart bed with it.
We talked through the logistics in low voices so we wouldn’t stress Abagail.
“She’ll follow if I lead her,” he said. “But she won’t leave the twins inside the cave.”
“So we take the twins first.”
He looked at me. “You believe she’ll permit that?”
“She’s tired, and she trusts us.” I picked up the smaller twin, who immediately wrapped her front paws around my neck. “She chose us both. Remember?”
He held my gaze for a moment, then reached for the larger twin without another word.
Abagail followed us out of the cave like it had been her plan all along.
Getting her settled inside the cart took patience and Brovish making a low sound in his throat I hadn’t heard before, something between a hum and a murmur. Abagail leaned into it. The twins burrowed into the blanket beside her, and we attached a mesh structure over them to keep them from being able to jump out.
Sofia circled once overhead in the early light, approved the arrangement, and posted herself on the cart’s side rail.
We got into the off-road vehicle, and he started the engine. As he turned the vehicle around and started through a somewhat clear part of the woods, the cart rocked behind us. The woods were still wet, light coming through the pines in flat silver strips.
“Cooper will be wondering where we are,” I said.
“I should’ve checked on him last night.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. He’s getting better.”
He glanced over and gave me a half smile, the kind that showed his tusks.
I looked back at the trail and felt something settle in my chest that had been slightly off-balance for months.
We arrived and got Abagail and the babies settled in her pen.
Brovish rebuilt the latch mechanism on the rear gate that had allowed her to escape while I ran one final check on the twins, my hands moving over their small, warm bodies. I listened to their breathing and assessed their mouths. The larger one headbutted my shin and then sat down, I swear giving me a scowl.
“Did you want to knock me over, little one? Not until you’re as big as your mama.”
The smaller one fell asleep against my knee during the examination and woke when I lifted her. When I put her down, she wobbled over to her mom, dropped to the ground, and started to nurse.
“The gate’s secure,” Brovish called out.
I got up and left the enclosure, pausing beside him to watch the babies. There was something wonderfully miraculous about witnessing a birth.
And something equally wonderful about sharing it with the orc beside me.
We went inside, pausing in the entryway.
“I’ll be back in a bit.” I gestured at myself. Cave hair. Mud on my boots and clothing. Afterbirth…well, in places I didn’t want to examine closely. “I need to shower and change.”
“Of course. I’ll see you later.”
I drove Bertha home. My cottage felt different when I arrived. Mine but not quite mine any longer. It felt more like my dad’s than the home I’d fallen into each night after a long day at the clinic.
I stripped on my way to the bathroom, tossing my clothing into the hamper, and stepping underneath the spray. The hot water couldn’t wash away the feeling of Brovish holding me all through the night.
What would it be like to wake in his arms each morning? I wasn’t sure I dared dream of something that amazing.
I’d been standing under the spray for twenty minutes, pretending I needed to get all the cave dirt out of my hair while replaying the moment Brovish had curved his body around mine in the dark. The weight of his hand splayed across my belly. How I’d pulled his hand closer when I should’ve been focused on monitoring Abagail and the twins.
