The warmth of the kitchen surrounded her as she entered.As did the wailing of a child.The Lord High Baron was holding a crying Dalan, and confronting Aramal, who was standing by the hearth.Roth had Lara in his arms, clutching her blanket, her eyes wide.
“Can’t you go in there and help her?”Orval demanded of Aramal.
“Only if she was a cow,” Aramal said calmly.“Look, Wethe’s here.It’s going to be fine, Orval.”
“Wethe,” Orval pivoted, hitting the table with his hip, as Dalan wailed, his tear-stained face painfully scrunched.“Wethe, thank all the elements.Amari’s in our bedroom, she was baking bread of all things, and her pains came, and-”
Dalan’s shriek pierced Wethe’s ears.“Mama hurt,” he wailed.“Mama hurt.”
Wethe held up a hand to stop Orval’s babbling as she started to unwind her scarf from around her neck.“Now, Dalan,” she said kindly but firmly, catching the little boy’s gaze and holding it.“Your mama will be fine.I am a healer and I am going to take care of her, you understand?”
Dalan stopped crying, all teary wide eyes.He gave her a serious look.“Eel?”he asked.
“Yes,” Wethe echoed.“Heal.”
“Eel,” Dalan said emphatically and stuck his thumb in his mouth, as if the matter was settled.
“Wethe-” Orval started.
“Sit, Orval,” Wethe guided him to a chair.“Why doesn’t Roth take the little ones to play in the barn?”she suggested as she silently scolded herself.She had a calming drought for new fathers in her still room; she hadn’t thought it would be needed here.The man had seen the birth of twins, after all.
Roth nodded.“Let’s get you bundled up,” he said to Lara.“Maybe you can sit on the rams.”
Lara nodded.“Down,” she demanded.
Aramal already had their outer clothing off the hooks.He and Roth started to dress the children.
“She made bread, “Orval repeated, wide-eyed and trembling as Aramal knelt to put on Dalan’s shoes.“Bread, of all things, with a baby coming.”
“Yes, well, maybe you should go with Roth,” Wethe offered.It wouldn’t be the first time a father had fled the house.
“No,” Orval shook his head.“I want to…I need to be here.”He swallowed hard, looking stricken.“Something might happen.I can’t lose her, I just can’t.”
“All that is going to happen,” Wethe spoke to the man just as firmly as she had to the child, “is that she is having a baby.Again.No need to work yourself up like this.”
Lara looked up at Orval, wrapped in her warm coat.She climbed into his lap and hugged him, offering him her blanket.Orval wrapped her in an embrace, his face buried in her coat.
“You go with Uncle Roth, sweetie,” Orval finally lifted his head.“Go see the rams.”
Lara was out of his arms and toddling to the door in a flash, Roth and Dalan right behind.
Wethe took off her coat and moved closer to Aramal, giving Orval time to collect himself.“How is Rye?”she asked.
“He’s well, as well as can be expected,” Aramal said, offering her kavage.“I’ll go sit with him.Maybe the ruckus will rouse him?”There was an unbearable hope in his voice.
“Perhaps,” Wethe said with sympathy.“Best to keep an eye on him during all this.“
“Aye,” Aramal nodded.“But call if I can help.”
“Only if I need a calf turned,” Wethe said smartly, making the man chuckle.“Rosalind in the bedroom?”
“Aye,” Aramal said, then jerked his head toward Orval.“I’ll stay and keep an eye on things for a while.
“Good,” Wethe said, headed down the hall.
Their chambers were ready and warm, a fire in the small hearth.Rosalind was adding wood to the flames.Two baskets lay close by, warming for the babes, although Wethe thought the chance of another set of twins unlikely.Still, best to be prepared.
Amari was pacing, dressed in a nightgown, her hand pressed to the small of her back.She looked up with a smile.“Wethe, you’re here in good time.”
