"Well," she told me, "first you keep recovering. Naomi will want to see you again to make sure everything healed right. Maybe a couple of times. In truth, I don't know much about this part. I do know that when the waiting period is over, you will be able to either take the baby back or sign the papers."
"I can do that now!"
"No, you can't," she said. "It's a time period, Meri. You have to wait to give your body time to recover, to let your mind clear, and to let your initial reaction fade. That means you can't finalize the adoption until there's been a long enough gap for you to actually decide, not simply react."
"Oh." That wasn't what I wanted to hear. "How long is that?"
"I think it's like six or eight weeks," she said. "I didn't think to ask. Everyone just refers to it as the waiting period, but it's not too long. You'll be here, healing up and telling Omden what to do."
"Yeah," I agreed. "And he's so nice. Drozel's a little intimidating, but Omden makes him stop being loud and angry."
"And Omden likes having a friend around," she assured me. "Meri, you know they're a couple, right?"
"I do," I promised. "Just like Brielle and Jeera."
"Not quite," she said. "Both Brielle and Jeera like menandwomen. I do too. So does Drozel. But Omden? He only likes men that way. He doesn't want a wife, a girlfriend, or even to kiss a girl. To him, women are nothing more than friends."
"Really?" I asked.
She nodded. "It's called being gay, or homosexual. Some people are just born that way."
"But I thought you and Drozel were a thing too?"
"We're a thing," she agreed. "A fun thing, but it might end up as a boyfriend thing. I'm kinda hoping it will."
"Yeah?" I asked.
"Yep," she said. "See, not everyone wants to have a marriage, or just one partner. It's no different from a friendship. You had both Ayla and the other girl. Callah, right?"
"Yeah."
"And I'm going to guess it was easier to talk to Ayla about some things and Callah about different ones?"
"Oh yeah," I agreed. "Ayla's so stubborn, and Callah always thought things through. Ayla just acted."
"And partners are the same," Lessa said. "Drozel's with Omden because he's sweet and gentle and likes to think first. He's with me because I'm blunt and stubborn, and act first. For him, he gets both, and we're all happy with it."
"But not marriage," I said, showing I was keeping up.
"Right," she agreed. "And you? Meri, you're a very pretty girl, so while you sit there in this bed thinking about healing up, maybe consider if you want a husband one day, a wife, or just to have a partner like Drozel is with Omden. The way I see it, that's part of your second chance too. And if you aren't sure, you know what?"
"What?" I asked.
"You can try it out and change your mind if you don't like it."
Which made me smile. "Yeah. I think that's my favorite thing about being here. It's finally not wrong to make a mistake."
"Exactly," she agreed.
Thirteen
Callah
Iliked being married. I hadn't expected to, but I'd also never imagined a marriage like this. Tobias made sure our suite never grew silent. It didn't matter if that was asking me about how to prepare our meals or his questions about my layers of clothing.
And bit by bit, we were growing comfortable around each other. I'd seen the predicament he suffered every morning. The first time, he'd blushed and rushed from the room. For days, both of us had pretended like it didn't happen each time he woke, but then I'd promised not to look, and he'd stopped fretting quite so much.
More than that, we'd figured out how and when and where to change our clothing. I'd taken to visiting the women's facilities every day, making it clear that if anyone needed me, a request for a crochet hook was all it would take. Yes, the wives had been shocked, but I promised my husband enjoyed his time without me, and that had been something they understood.
