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O’jek immediately scowls. “My mate—”
“—needs her man healed,” I continue, interrupting. “Before anything else, so don’t even try it.” We stare at each other stubbornly, and then O’jek’s mouth twitches as if he’s fighting a smile. “I’m glad you see it my way,” I continue on, and nudge him toward Veronica. “O’jek has a head wound.”
“Of course,” Veronica says, juggling one baby on her hip and the older child clinging to her legs. “Come on in.”
I take the hand of Katamneas, the older boy, and follow them inside. Veronica has the front of her hut set up like a tiny clinic, with baskets of herbs lining the walls in neat order (thanks to Hannah’s intense organizational skills). There’s a bed set up behind several screens and when O’jek sits down there, I immediately snag the baby from Veronica’s arms and hand him to O’jek. “Here. You can hold him while Veronica looks at your wounds.”
As I sit down next to him and Katamneas crawls into my lap, I notice the utterly bewildered expression on O’jek’s face as he holds Varukhal. He stares down at the baby and it makes me wonder if I’ve ever seen him hold a child. Or is this new because now we’re going to have one of our own?
Veronica stands over O’jek, her fingers moving through his snarled hair. “He won’t bite, you know.”
“Eh?” O’jek tries to look up at her.
“The baby,” Veronica says, glancing over at me with a wink as I hug Kata. “I promise he won’t bite. You’re holding him like he’s going to attack you. Put him against your chest.”
Reluctantly, O’jek does so, and the awkwardness disappears. The look on his face turns to one of wonder and he gazes down at the baby with awe. “He is so small.”
“Don’t let Ashtar hear that,” Veronica teases, picking a large chunk of dried herbs out of O’jek’s hair. “He is very defensive of his sons.”
“I did not mean anything by it,” O’jek murmurs, unable to take his gaze off of little Varukhal.
My ovaries squeeze at the sight.
The healer grimaces over the herbs ground into O’jek’s cut, and she insists on cleaning it out before healing him. I feel a little guilty at that, since our bed “activities” were probably to blame…but not too guilty. I’m too happy. I watch my mate as he cradles Veronica’s younger son against his chest and a look of sheer contentment crosses his face.
“It’s just a shallow wound,” Veronica eventually says, sitting down on a stool across from O’jek. “Those tend to bleed a lot when they’re on the scalp but otherwise it’s not too terrible and his khui is already doing most of the work. I removed his headache and if you want to come back in the morning, O’jek, I’ll make sure you’re healing up properly. No more poultices though. I think that one was supposed to be a healing poultice but the herbs used were more about flavoring than taking away pain.
I blush, because in my panic, I had just grabbed leaves that looked medicine-like and didn’t pay much attention. Next time I’ll be more careful. “Sorry about that.”
“You tried,” Veronica says easily. “I can’t be mad about that. I’m glad it’s nothing, though. That’s easy to fix!” She leans over toward me, her eyes bright. “Which also brings me to your big news—Ashtar told me you resonated. Congratulations! And you didn’t even need my help.”
My face gets hotter, because I never asked her if she would help us have a baby. I’d just assumed she would. But Veronica is so sweet that she doesn’t seem to be holding it against me, which is a relief. “I’m thrilled,” I confess. “But I don’t feel any different. It doesn’t seem real. Could you…”
“Make sure there’s a baby in there?” Veronica chuckles and waves a hand at me. “Stand up. Let me see.”
I do as she asks, detangling myself from Katamneas, who immediately heads over to O’jek and sits next to him. I move to Veronica’s side and hold my tunic up, baring my stomach. She puts her hand on my belly and her fingers feel warm and soft.
Immediately she pulls away again, but before I can panic, she gives me a broad smile. “Definitely pregnant. Your khui is very aware of the changes your body is making.”
“You’re sure?” I touch my stomach, because I don’t feel any different.
“I’m sure. There’s a hum that a satisfied khui emits that’s very easy to pick out, and yours is very satisfied.” She traces a finger over my abdomen. “Mind you, nothing is locked in place yet. I can’t feel the baby but I can feel the changes your body is making, which means the egg is fertilized and all that jazz.” She frowns to herself. “I wish I’d paid more attention in high school biology, but hindsight, I guess. At any rate, you feel like every other pregnant belly I’ve touched, and with this tribe? I’ve been touching a lot of pregnant bellies. Trust me when I say you’re pregnant.”
