“That… that’s not true. I am taking care of our baby!” Fala exclaimed, horrified at his suggestion.
He sighed and shook his head, “I do not mean that you are being careless of the baby. My apologies if it came out that way. I have just noticed that you pay me more attention than you pay yourself. I am not the one that needs all this attention, Fala. You do understand what I mean, don’t you?”
“I do,” she said quietly, her head lowered, “I will do better.”
“Thank you, Fala. And I will do all I can to ensure that you are not under stress or pressure. This I promise you. Now, can we eat?”
“Sure,” Fala forced a smile.
She stole glances at him between bites, taking in his features.I believe you will come to love me as much as you love this child, Running Wolf, she resolved in her heart.
“Running Wolf, you must be very excited. You are going to be a father soon,” a tall man with a tattoo line running down his chin said, jabbing Running Wolf.
Running Wolf shrugged, his eyes on the deer that was grazing in a clearing in the distance.
“Well, that was not the response I was expecting. Are you not happy about it, Running Wolf? I would be thrilled if I wasmarried to Fala, the most beautiful in our village and expecting a child from her,” the man whose name was Owvtta said, looking at Running Wolf searchingly.
“Mmm hmmm,” was all Running Wolf muttered, his eyes still glued on the animal he was hunting.
“You know, I really do not understand you. You have everything, a….” Owvtta started when Running Wolf interrupted him quietly, but firmly,
“But right now, I do not have that deer and I would like to have it. I cannot do that with you yapping consistently beside me, can I?”
Owvtta scoffed, “As if you have ever needed silence to kill an animal. You are just looking for an excuse to avoid this discussion. The name is certainly fitting for you, Running Wolf. You keep running and running, without stop. I bet it is the same way you are running from your wife and not giving her a chance to be...”
Owvtta’s words were drowned out by the sound of the deer's pained scream as Running Wolf's arrow pierced it. He gaped and covered his ear. “Why didn’t you warn me? The arrow whizzed right past my ear!”
“You were too busy talking to realize that I was about to fire. That was on you, not me, Owvtta.”
“Hmmph, oh now you can talk huh? A few moments ago when I was asking you about your wife, you were tight lipped but now you are excited and eager to talk when it comes to a prey. This makes me wonder how you are treating dear Fala at home.” Owvtta glared at Running Wolf who ignored him as he approached the animal cautiously.
Running Wolf crouched beside it and placed a hand on its side. He had hit the deer right in the heart. It had no chance of survival.
“Well at least you killed it,” Owvtta grumbled.
“You need to come to terms with the fact that Fala is now my wife, Owvtta. No matter how much you love her, she is bonded to me. Let it go and start out with one of the other beautiful women in our village. Stop deluding yourself. However we came together is no concern of yours. We are the ones in the relationship so you should stop disguising your jealousy as concern and deal with your unrequited feelings,” Running Wolf said quietly, holding Owvtta’s gaze.
Owvtta, unable to look at him further averted his gaze and cleared his throat. “I have no idea what you are talking about. I only see her as your wife.”
“Okay, and it shall remain so. Do not get your hopes up over nothing, Owvtta.” Running Wolf threw the dear carcass over one shoulder and started out of the clearing.
“You are so confident, aren’t you? You know she loves you a great deal, so you are not bothered about loving her, because after all, she will stay with you because she loves you. Right?!” Owvtta thundered.
Running Wolf sighed and paused. Not looking back, he said, “I never stole her from you, Owvtta. There has never been anything between the two of you so why do you act as if I have wronged you? Free advice Owvtta, move on.”
Not waiting for Owvtta’s response, Running Wolf continued making his way out of the woods. All through his walk home, Owvtta’s words hovered around him. Yes, it was true that he did not love his wife but he respected her, he protected her and cared for her as he should. He also did his duties as her husband. Love, that was not something he had ever experienced. Honestly, he did not know if he actually believed in its existence. Sure, he knew parents loved children and vice versa, and brothers loved sisters. And there was the loyalty between warriors. But, that was all he knew. He had never experienced anything stronger than that.
Now, while he respected his wife’s feelings for him, hecould not force himself to feel the same way about her, and he knew this because he had tried. They had been married for a year and she had been pregnant for five months of that year. He was grateful to her for the child she was carrying and always tried to show his gratefulness to her. He could only hope that his gratitude was enough for her, because his gratitude, protection, care, and loyalty, they were all he could give to her. Any more than that and he would be completely at a loss. He was trying his best to give and do all he could. People like Owvtta, he owed them no explanations. He and Fala were living a life for each other and not for them. Hopefully, his words to Owvtta would sink in and he would not be a pest to Fala.
As if on cue, he heard her voice just then. He raised his head and smiled when he saw her at the entrance to the tepee, waving at him and calling out to him. That was her usual way of greeting. It did feel nice to come home to someone waiting for him. He had not had that growing up as his mother had died when he was very young. Indeed, he had a lot of things to be grateful to Fala for. It was too bad that his gratitude could not bloom into love for her. Still, he would always show her how grateful he was. It was what he could do.
*
Two Days Earlier
Running Wolf was awoken by a piercing scream. He jumped, his hand instantly reaching for the knife under his pillow. He was about to leap from the bed when it dawned on him that the scream he heard had come from his bed, just beside him. He swiveled in Fala’s direction. He gasped when he saw that she was already in labor.
“Oh...” he muttered.
