Page 47

CHAPTER

THIRTY-TWO

AIDY

What a wonderful day. I'm overwhelmed in the best way by our welcome at the beach camp they call Icehome.

I've met so many people, all friendly and open and happy.

Everyone looks like they're thriving, and I can't tell the clones apart physically from the "natural" humans.

It just tells me there's nothing to worry about when it comes to that, and I'm relieved.

I've hugged every baby on the beach. I was never into babies all that much before, but now that I'm pregnant, I can't seem to stay away from them. I snuggled each one and wondered what my baby would look like, and it made me want my baby even more.

We might not have intended to get pregnant, but I can't say I'm unhappy with the situation.

Nor am I unhappy with the fact that we seem to be stranded here.

It's not ideal, but with a loving community around us, I feel so much more hopeful than I did before.

It means Corvak and I can stay together.

I can't picture my life without him at my side or going to sleep without his arms around me.

Everyone asked my name, and each time I announced it, it was a reminder that I don't know what Aidy is short for.

Just that it's short for something. But the more that I met the others, the less it seemed to matter.

There are two other women—Vivi and Natalie—who have no memories of their lives before, either, and they're both doing well.

It reassures me that I'm going to be just fine.

Once the early introductions are done, Corvak insists that I sit down with the healer to get looked over.

The healer turns out to be a human woman named Veronica.

She's the most unassuming, mild-looking woman, but her little home is the biggest and her mate is a golden-scaled, flamboyant alien called Ashtar.

They have two cute little boys that get into everything and do their best to distract their mother while she puts her hands on my stomach and "listens" to my body somehow.

"You're pregnant," she confirms. "Did you two have any issues conceiving?"

"Considering that we weren't trying? No issues at all."

Her brow furrows. "Interesting. I wonder what's different."

"Hmm?"

"Oh, just thinking aloud. Your mate looks very similar to Gren, but there must be something different in their physiology. He and his mate weren't able to conceive easily." She prods and feels my stomach again. "But I didn't tell you that."

"Um, okay."

"I can't communicate with your baby because there's no khui, but your body seems healthy enough.

If you're getting sick in the mornings this early, it might be something to do with vitamins or electrolytes, which I'm clueless about.

" She lifts her hands and wiggles her fingers.

"I'm practically a faith healer. But there's a fantastic herbal tea that the sa-khui make that helps with an upset stomach and you might try that. "

"So there's nothing wrong?" I touch my stomach, still flat and completely normal looking.

"Not a thing." Veronica smiles up at me. "Extra nausea during pregnancy is normal when you're carrying a half-alien baby, I've noticed. Just take it easy and eat small bites of roots or porridge in the mornings."

"We have porridge ?" I'm stunned.

Veronica laughs and begins digging through a basket of supplies.

"Don't get too excited—it's made from crushed seeds, but it still hits the spot pretty nicely.

Do you want some hand-me-downs to wear? You look about the size I was before baby number two.

I have some clothes that I no longer wear because my ass never recovered. "

"Your ass is magnificent and I want to take a bite out of it," Ashtar calls from the other room in their tent, where he's watching their children. "Do not make me come over there and prove it to you."

"We're just talking," she yells back, a charming pink tinge flushing her cheeks. She pulls out a tunic with a decorative fringe and some flowers embroidered in the leather along the hem. "Try it on, see if it fits?"

Hours later, I'm wearing Veronica's soft, soft clothes, snuggled into a makeshift bed in a supply hut near the main firepit, where most of the cooking is done.

There are baskets of roots and tea leaves stacked everywhere, and rolled up skins, along with piles and piles of bones that will be re-used to make utensils.

There's barely room for a bed for us, a fact which leaves a lovely, kind woman named Gail absolutely chagrined.

"Tomorrow morning, we're going to clean that hut out for the two of you.

It's not right to make you have to sleep in our clutter.

You can come stay with me and my mate Vaza tonight if you'd like. "

It's sweet of her to offer, but after being around people all day, I kind of just want to be alone with Corvak, and I'm positive he feels the same. "The supply hut is more than generous, I promise."

We have a pallet of piled-up furs to sleep on, and a thin mattress made from feathers that goes on the stone-and-mortar floor.

The moment the door-flap goes down and we pull the covers over our bodies, I'm hit with a wave of exhaustion.

Corvak curls his arm around me, tugging me close, and I gratefully snuggle in against his chest.

"What do you think?" I ask in a low whisper.

His thumb strokes my bare arm under my short sleeve. "I think they like to talk a lot. And someone handed me food every time I made eye contact."

I smother my giggle, because he's not wrong. "We must look hungry and pitiful."

"But they are…kind," he admits. "And full of advice. And it is good advice. They are not all like Valmir."

Thank god for that. I'm sure Valmir is fine in small doses.

I touch Corvak's bare chest. He's no longer wearing a deep rust-red tunic given to him earlier.

It hangs on a hook nearby, and I have to admit, he looked really good in it.

I don't know where it came from, though.

I was pulled between people all day long, and I know he was, too.

I pluck at his nipple, teasing. "They dressed you, too? "

He chuckles. "We must indeed look pitiful."

I sigh, because I know it has to wound his pride that we're taking handouts from people he considered enemies not so long ago.

It was nice to not have to scratch out survival for a meal.

To have a hot, delicious bowl of food handed to you.

I don't mind working, but when there's no end in sight, it wears on you.

I draw little circles on his chest, because he's quiet, and I don't want to influence his thoughts too much if he hates it here.

"I saw two women and a man attaching hides onto frames and scraping them.

Very Clan of the Cave Bear, but I'd like to learn how to do that so we can make our own hides. "

You know, just in case we don't stay.

"I want you to rest until you feel better," he says.

That doesn't tell me what he's thinking. "And…then we'll head off into the mountains again?"

He pauses in his stroking of my arm. "Do you want to?"

"I want to do what you want to do," I answer cagily, trying to keep emotion out of my voice.

"I don't want to stay if you're miserable.

We need to do what's best for both of us.

I'm willing to leave if that's what you need to be happy.

I'm not emotionally attached to being here, but I do know that I'm going to be miserable as hell if you leave without me. "

Corvak rolls over in bed to face me. His gaze locks onto mine, and he traces my jaw with his fingers. "I would never leave you behind. Never ."

A knot forms in my throat. "Good."

"A few times today, I felt overwhelmed," he confesses. "There were so many people, so many faces, and everyone wanted to talk to me…and I did not know what to say. I do not know how to make friends."

"Just be yourself. Look at Valmir. He's not trying to impress anyone. He's an asshole and he doesn't give a shit. And they didn't kick him out. He's part of their family as much as anyone else."

He chuckles. "I noticed. I just…I want to be good at this. I want us to be a good family. I don't want you to feel disappointed in me."

"Never!" I press my hand over his and hold it to my cheek. "Don't ever say that. You're the bravest, strongest, smartest guy here."

"I am not," Corvak admits. "There is a lot we can learn from these people.

Many of them were gladiators before—Thrand, Ashtar, Vordis, even Valmir—and I can learn from them how to be a good warrior if there are no battles to be fought.

" He pauses and then continues after a moment.

"Did you see Gren? He looks just like me. "

"You're handsomer." And he is. Gren is like a pale copy in my eyes. Gren’s features are slightly different, his tail long, his eyes less curious. But I'm biased.

"Even so, it is good to see a face that looks like mine.

" He slides our joined hands down and presses them over my heart, where my khui is humming softly.

"It feels like having a family. And there is a healer here, and she can look after you.

Many of the females have had young, and they will know what to do when ours comes. "

"So…?" I prompt, wanting his answer. "Stay or go?"

"Stay, I think." He says the words slowly, as if tasting them. "If we view all of this as a battle strategy, it makes sense to have allies and to hone our skills."

"You do realize everything isn't a challenge?" I ask, teasing.

"It never hurts to be prepared."

I laugh, and it feels good that we're on the same page. I give his shoulder a gentle push and tip him onto his back, and then I lean over him and kiss his smiling mouth. "I love you, Corvak."

"I love you, too, my Aidy." He pauses. "Can I ask you something?"

Tilting my head, I study him. "What's that?"

"You won't laugh at my question?"

"Why would I laugh?"

He makes a wry face. "Because I asked something about babies earlier and everyone laughed at me."

Immediately, my anger blisters white-hot. I sit upright. "Who laughed at you? Do I need to fight them? Teach them some fucking manners? Because you can ask me anything, love. And I'm not going to laugh."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Corvak is quiet for a moment, and then he puts a hand on my stomach. "How does something as big as a baby come out of your body?"

That's not such a weird question. "Well, your body stretches to accommodate the child."

His glowing eyes squint up at me. "But some of the children I saw were up to your waist! Look at Nadine's child Deeni! How is that possible?" His voice drops to a horrified whisper. "And did you see Steph's son? Pak is nearly as tall as her. No cunt can stretch like that."

Oh no.

I'm a liar. Because I'm absolutely going to laugh. I press my lips together hard, trying to compose myself. "Those children were different ages, Corvak."

"Just to confirm…Deeni did not come out of her body that size?"

"Absolutely not."

He lets out a huge, gusty sigh of relief. "That is very good to know. People keep mentioning children's ages to me as if it should mean something, but I am clueless as to what."

I bury my face against his neck, fighting giggles.

Of course he doesn't know how age affects growth—he only knows full-size people.

I can only imagine the mental gymnastics he's been going through trying to figure out why everyone's kids are different sizes.

When I can hold it together, I give him an adoring pat on the chest. My god, I love this man.

How can he be so innocent and yet so clever at the same time?

All I know is I adore him with my whole heart.

"Let me explain to you how children grow, my love… "