Transcendence(107)

Jeh and Feh have many children though the small baby Feh had been carrying when we first met was stillborn. She is pregnant again now, and that child should be born later in the fall. Beh and I only have two, but they have both lived long enough that I don’t worry too much. I still try to put another one in Beh every chance I get.

Lah races up to me and throws her arms around my waist. I hug her back and smile down at her as she makes incomprehensible sounds at me.

“Lah luffs!”

Her smile is so much like Beh’s, it makes me warm inside, even when the days are cold. She looks up at me, and the sunlight makes her eyes sparkle before she presses her cheek against my chest. I am amazed at how tall she has grown already. It seems every time I hug her she has grown more.

I shudder a little, thinking of how long we were without her, and I am glad we are now on the other side of the lake—away from the field where Dad came to steal her away. We still travel back to our little cave sometimes, usually to spend a little time away from the rest of the group or to dig for the mushrooms that grow near the ravine. Beh keeps her strange, black container full of even stranger things there, up on the shelf in the back. Though she carries the little rectangular flat thing full of images around with her, the other objects remain in the little cave we called home for so long.

Lah releases me and runs back to the community fire to help prepare the evening meal. Beh is rubbing the dirt off of some plants she dug out of the ground near the edge of the forest. There are large, bulbous tubers at the ends of them, which look a little like the wild onions she likes, but they are bigger and purple. She was excited when she found them and pointed out an image of the leaves from her flat thing to Lah and Lee. The three of them made a lot of noise back and forth before digging them up.

Beh cooks them in hot water for a long time, and when I taste them, they have a strange, sweet flavor. The rest of the tribe enjoys them as well. It’s good to have new things to eat, and no one gets sick from them.

I sit with my arm around my mate after we eat and watch the sun go down outside the cave. The nights are still quite warm, but I pull her back against me and relish the heat from her body. Lah and Lee sit with the other children by the firelight, trying to make sharp spears from long sticks and flint.

Tomorrow, Lee will go with me and the other men to kill a large animal. It will be the first time he has tried. I am both excited and wary because large animals can be dangerous, but if we can bring down two of the large aurochs that have been drinking at the lake over the past few days, we will have enough of both meat and hides for the winter.

My son will be a man.

I inhale the scent of Beh’s hair and nuzzle my nose against her neck. She takes the cue, and we slowly make our way to our furs, covering up with a large hide to give us a little privacy. I try not to moan too loudly as I enter her slowly. Beh arches her back, pushing her hips up against me as I grind into her. Her hands tangle in my hair as I tuck my head between her neck and shoulder. Her skin is salty and warm, and my heart beats faster to feel her so close to me again.

My Beh, my mate.

My fingers brush over her nipples softly, and I feel her tensing, trying to quiet her own cries as she comes undone around me. I press my mouth to her neck, nipping at her playfully as I increase my tempo and quickly fill her.

Rolling to my side, I hold her against me as our rapid breathing calms. Beh runs her hands through my hair, and I know what she is thinking; she will cut some of it off again soon. I smile against her skin.

She always takes care of me.

Running my nose up to her ear, I blow warm air against her skin until she wriggles against me and pushes me away a little. I raise myself up on one elbow to gaze down at her beautiful face. She is smiling up at me, and her cheeks turn red as I stare into her eyes.

So beautiful.

“Ehd?” she whispers softly, and I touch the end of her nose with mine.

Beh reaches to my hand on her hip and slowly brings it to her belly. Her eyes twinkle as she pushes my palm into her abdomen. I glance down and feel my smile grow.

I know I have finally succeeded in putting another baby in her.



My heart pounds in my chest, warming my insides as the fire warms my skin. Beh clutches at my hand—her nervousness obvious—as Lee walks around the fire and reaches out to take the hands of Jeh and Feh’s daughter, Ney. I see a tear form in my mate’s eye as Lee makes soft sounds in Nay’s ear just before he touches the end of his nose to hers. He runs the tip up the bridge of her nose to her forehead, and Nay smiles broadly as her cheeks tinge pink. She looks at him sideways as he makes another sound, her eyes narrowing a little, looking at his mouth.