“Seems fair,” Stay-see says, and pulls Pacy into her lap. He immediately grabs her braid and begins to play with it. “I appreciate the help.”
“Of course. I am your mate. It is my duty to help you.”
She looks displeased at my words. “I don’t like the thought of being a duty.”
“It may be duty, but that does not mean it is not a pleasure.”
“Oh.” Her cheeks flush. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to pick a fight. I just…”
“You feel I am different,” I say slowly. I take the pelvic bone and the rock in hand and spread a skin over my lap to catch the fragments. I rub the rock vigorously along one side of the bone, shaving it down. Once I have made the plate the shape and size she wants, I can use a less gnarled rock to sand it down to smoothness.
She watches me closely, my son nestled in her arms. “I don’t mean to,” she says after a moment. “I think I just resent the changes.”
“I do as well.”
“I know, and I keep forgetting that part.” She makes a small grimace. “It’s unfair of me. Forgive me?”
“There is nothing to forgive. It is a big change for both of us. We are both learning.”
“I have been so wrapped up in myself,” she confesses, her voice soft, “that I forget that you have woken up to find that you havea strange alien mate and a child. I imagine that is not easy, either.”
“That is no difficulty,” I say, turning the bone in my hand as I work. I keep my gaze on it, because I do not want to scare her with the intensity of my feelings. “I consider myself lucky. I wake up and all of my dreams have come true.”
She sucks in a breath.
I look up. Her eyes are shining with emotion, and as I watch, she blinks rapidly. “I do not mean to make you weep, Stay-see.”
“It’s all right,” she whispers. “I’m just a blubbery nightmare lately. I…did you mean that? About me and Pacy?”
I frown. “Why would I say something I do not mean?”
“To be nice?”
“Is this how you remember me? As a male that spits false words to be polite?” I am distressed by the thought.
“Not at all.” She hugs our son closer, ignoring the fact that he is yanking happily on her brown braid. “I just…I can’t imagine what it would be like to wake up and hear that you are tied to a stranger. One who doesn’t even look like you.” Her smile of acknowledgment is small, unsure.
“I did think your face was strange at first,” I admit, moving the stone carefully around the edges of the pelvic bone. “Very flat, and your features are small. But I do not think it is strange any longer. I enjoy the differences…though I am not quite used to the fact that you have no tail.” The horns I do not notice so much, but the lack of tail is noticeable and strange to me.
Stay-see goes still.
I worry I have offended her. “I am sure it does not affect your balance or your ability to sit,” I tell her. “I did not mean it to be?—”
“It’s fine,” she says softly, interrupting me. “I just…you sounded like yourself for a minute there.” She waves a hand in the air. “Listen to me. Of course you sound like yourself. I only meant…that was one of the things we always joked about,” Stay-see says. “Me not having a tail. Do you remember that?”
I shake my head. “I wish I did.”
She looks sad, but manages a brave smile. Her eyes are shiny again, and I hate that I have disappointed her. I must think of some way to make her happy again. I work furiously on the plate, sending bone dust and chips into the air. Silence falls between us, and I want to hear her speak more. I want her smiles.
So I ask, “Will you tell me what it was like when we resonated?”
Stay-see looks surprised at my request. “You want me to tell you what it was like?”
I nod. “Perhaps it will help me remember to hear about it.” I press my hand to my chest, feeling the low thrum of my khui as it sings to her nearness. “This remembers you, even if I do not.”
“All right,” she murmurs. “I’m not much of a storyteller, though. I’m better at cooking.”
“You can cook for me,” I say eagerly. “I would love to eat what you make.”
