Having the Barbarian’s Baby(9)

“I am here,” he says, but there’s exhaustion in his voice. He staggers forward a step, pulling at his furs. Ice and snow drop from his clothing as he unwraps layers from his big body. “Haeden was right behind me—“

Josie squeals and leaps to her feet, dashing out of the cave.

I struggle to get to my feet, but another contraction is coming. Oof. Everything is pressing hard and the intense need to push is returning. I’m torn between bearing down and reaching for my mate.

“Stay here,” Maylak says in a soothing voice, squeezing my arm. She gestures for Cashol to come to where I am. “You, come sit. Your kit is almost here.”

The look of pure delight on Cashol’s face makes my chest hurt with love. I want to smile and laugh at the same time, but the breath hisses out of me and I pant, focusing on the baby.

Then, cold fingers touch my face. I look up into Cashol’s tired smile as he kneels at my side. His arm goes around my waist from the opposite side of Maylak, and then they are both supporting me. “I said I would be here,” he murmurs. “Our son is ready to join us.”

“Might…be…girl,” I wheeze. He takes my hand and I squeeze his fingers tightly as another contraction comes. It feels like they’re all running together now.

I’m wrong, though. Two minutes later, I give birth to the most perfect, most beautiful baby boy who is the exact same shade of blue as the father that is the first person to hold him in this world.

I start crying again, this time out of sheer happiness. I want to hold the baby but there’s the afterbirth and the healer with her hands on my belly, talking my khui into easing the aches and pains a bit. She’s speaking, but I’m not listening. I’m fascinated by the look of sheer joy on Cashol’s face as he wipes down our son with a soft fur cloth. Tiffany and Maylak help me get up from the birthing furs, which are bundled up with the afterbirth for Cashol to go bury later - a sa-khui ritual. I’m tugged into a new, soft tunic, wrapped in blankets in bed, and then my mate is at my side with our son.

I take the baby gently into my arms. My breasts are leaking and he begins to squall, but I want to look at him first.

“He is perfect,” Cashol tells me in a thick voice.

He is. From the teeny tiny horn nubs on his forehead to the shock of thick black hair on his head, he’s his father’s son. His broad nose and brow are ridged, his little tail flicking against my hand when I go to support his bottom. He doesn’t look human in the least bit, and for some reason, I find that utterly enchanting. “Look at how cute our son is,” I breathe. I unwrap his blankets because I want to see his tiny feet. He’s got five toes instead of four like his father - the only sign that there’s a little of me in this child. “He’s wonderful.”

Cashol nods and just touches my cheek.

I look up and see that his eyes are wet with emotion, and I feel all weepy all over again. Damn, all this crying.

Maylak touches Cashol’s shoulder. “I will return shortly to heal you so you can finish the birth ritual. For now, I must check on Haeden.”

“Heal?” I ask, casting a worried glance over at Cashol. He looks good to me. Tired, but good. “Are you okay?”

“Just a few frozen toes,” he says, touching the baby’s face with a wondering finger. “She will tell my khui to work harder and it will be fine. It was a long, cold walk back.”

I open my mouth to protest when the baby screams loudly. My breasts leak again in response. Oh, right. I need to feed my poor baby. I open the laces on the front of my tunic and push the leather aside, then fit the baby against my breast. I feel awkward - I’ve never breastfed before - but his little head nuzzles against my breast and then he begins to suck.

It’s the most beautiful thing ever.

I touch his downy head, the thick black hair already springy against my fingers as it dries. “We need to decide on a name.”

“Mmm.” He touches the baby’s cheek, as if unable to pull away for a moment. I know how he feels. Already I feel an intense, smothering amount of love for the little life in my arms.

“What, no suggestions?” I tease my unusually quiet mate. “You’ve had tons of them up until now.”

His mouth crooks in a half-smile. “I am terrible with names, as you have said many times. I want him to have the right one. You should name him, my mate.”

Aw. I smile and contemplate the names we’ve tossed around as the baby nurses. None of them seem to fit just right when we squish our names together in the custom that’s been created. Nor do I think a human name seems proper for our little boy who is so clearly sa-khui. “Why don’t we name him after your father?”

A slow grin spreads across my mate’s face. “My father?”

I nod. He’s told me many times about his father and how he misses him. He grew up with just his father - his mother having died in childbirth - and was left without family when the khui-sickness hit. “Why not?”

“You…would not mind the name? Holvek is not a very human name.” He touches the baby’s hand and the three little fingers and thumb close around his finger, holding it tightly.

It’s not the most musical name but it’s clear that it means a lot to my mate. “I think it’s perfect.”

His expression of pleasure tells me that it’s the right choice.

Little Holvek it is.



Maylak returns a short time later and works on healing my mate of his minor aches and pains. The toes are not as bad as originally thought, and he is proclaimed healthy enough to go and finish the birthing ceremony. He takes the bundle of furs and disappears with it, though he’s clearly reluctant to leave me and the baby. I do my best to stay awake, but when Holvek nods off, I put him in his basket beside my bed and then take a nap myself.

I wake several hours later, and roll over to see Cashol seated next to the bed, cross-legged. He’s got Holvek in his arms again, gazing down with a look of such pleasure that I’m filled with intense joy at the sight of them. “Hi,” I whisper. “Is he hungry?”

“He is asleep,” Cashol admits, but doesn’t hand the baby over just yet. “I could not resist holding him again.”

I chuckle and struggle to sit up. Everything aches and is sore, but I don’t mind. Life feels pretty perfect at the moment. “I’m so glad you got back in time.”

He nods slowly and reaches out with one hand - the baby tucked against his chest - to twine his fingers with mine again. “I knew you needed me.”

“Like Rokan’s sixth sense?”

He shakes his head. “Just a gut feeling. Plus, I was tired of sharing furs with Haeden.”

I giggle quietly. “Sharing furs?”

He nods and begins to tell me about the last few weeks he spent out on the trail. Apparently he and Haeden worked together, both of them eager to return home. “Unfortunately most of the time was spent in the cave snarling at each other while the wind blew.” He squeezes my fingers and gazes down at Holvek. “I wanted to be here with you. Every day it was a struggle, knowing you were both waiting for me.”

“It was all right,” I say, surprising myself with the realization that it was, in fact, not as painful as I’d worried. “I kept busy. I made you a hammock.”

“A hah-mawk? What is this?”

“It’s a sling that keeps you off the ground for sleeping. It’s comfy. I’ll show you later.”

“Another human custom?” He looks amused. “What next? Shall I bathe standing up?”

Actually…

The baby wakes up and I automatically reach for him. Cashol hands him over and snuggles against my side as I begin to nurse Holvek again. I rest my head on Cashol’s shoulder and a wave of utter contentment moves through me. “I forgot to thank you,” I murmur. “For the treasure hunt. That was so thoughtful of you.”

He chuckles and nuzzles against my neck. “I wanted to give you something to look forward to while I was not there to brighten your day.”

I smile. “You did. I’m not good with the treasure hunt, though. I never found the last one.”

“No? It is here.” He leans over the side of the bed.

Puzzled, I watch as he fishes something out from underneath the bundles of leather padding and thick furs that make up the nest of our bed. “What’s here?”

“The last present.” He pulls out a leather-wrapped package, covered with more of the terrible doodles and holds it out to me.

“You open it,” I say softly, gesturing at the baby.

He does, and a moment later, the leather falls open to reveal more of the strange discs with the hole in them. Several, in fact.

“What are those?” I exclaim. “I’ve been trying to figure it out for days.”

Cashol looks surprised. “It is cons. Like you told me.”

“Cons?”

“Mahnee?” When I continue to look baffled, he shakes his head. “You told me that humans use cons and mahnee to give value to things. That you use those instead of barter.”

Oh. “Coins,” I realize. “Money.” I look down at the disks and they seem a little weird to me, but I guess for a guy that didn’t even know what an arrow was, these are a pretty good approximation. “Why are you giving me money?”