Morning Hope Rising, Part 12

The moon has risen and set, and the sun was almost ready to rise when the couple returned to the little cottage. It seemed the number of their chee-chin had doubled; nearly 40 of the creatures were around their feet and legs at all times. Somehow the creatures never tripped the couple.

He was amazed at his cousin and his cousin’s union mate and the entire town. The party they held was even bigger than the festival just nights before. The food and the smells and the sounds reminded him more than ever that he was ready to just be in one place for the rest of his life. They had several bags of gold, some tools that they would use with the chee-chin, a few scrolls with the story of the Su/on God’s gift of the chee-chin, and the deed for a large farm just off the corner of his cousin’s place.

The air and attention had done his lady well too. She seemed to be more relaxed. She’d started talking more. It was worse when the chee-chin weren’t around. Somehow, though, as the numbers of chee-chin around her increased, she got better with putting thoughts together.

She was stunning too. Something of her old spunk was coming back. Her eyes though tired were dancing, and she reminded him of their first night on the lake. He was hoping he could convince her of another union soon.

As he opened the door, he moved his hand down her back. “Snowcat, I know you’re exhausted, but I think we need to think about what to do next.”

She looked back and sighed, nodding. Without a word, she went and began to arrange the union furs. As the chee-chin filed in, surrounding the bed and crowding the hearth, she did something so amazing; she slipped off everything even her underthings.

“Come, old man. Sit and talk. Hold me. Too much, too fast.”

He cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. “Do I get to get rid of all my clothes too?” he asked with a glitter in his eye.

“Yes, but hold and talk. First.”

He felt a thrill in his heart. He pulled the tunic off and then fumbled with the strings on his trousers.

“Help you?”

He blushed, “Um, yeah. Too tired.”

He crossed the floor to stand by the union furs. She reached up and deftly undid the tie with her sword hand. As the trousers fell, she trailed down his inner thigh from his love sword to his knee. Once again, he’d avoided underthings.

He fell to the furs, every joint cracking like dry twigs. He lay his weary body on the furs, and she moved to lie beside him, every inch of her skin touching every inch of his skin on the side. As his love sword jumped up, he grimaced but she giggled.

He nuzzled her neck. “So, Snowcat, I guess we can’t go home.”

She sighed, “We could.”

He sighed, “How?”

She responded, “Chee-chin live everywhere, right?”

He pursed his lips. “Yes, but here in the mountains, it’s better for them. At least for breeding. If you don’t breed them, they do live everywhere.”

She sighed. “So we stay. Do they have to breed?”

He responded, “I don’t think they have to. But it is healthier for their type of animal if each creature has at least one litter.”

She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. “How long do they live? When can they breed? Are they born babied? Like chasm hares? Or have to wait? Long like us?”

He responded, “For small creatures, they live almost as long as we do. They aren’t like chasm hares. They have to be around for about 13 moon cycles before they can have a litter. Litters take 7 or 8 moon cycles. They only have one or two per litter. Once they are mature, they are like us; males are always ready, but they have to catch females just right because not every mating results in a litter.”

She sighed, nibbled his neck a bit and stopped. She absent-mindedly started to trace down his chest to the area just above his love sword and then back up. “So no victory tomorrow?”

He laughed. “I think we have to do two things. First, I need our real chee-chin numbers. I also have to check with other farmers to see if we could for just one breeding cycle find a way that all the females could have two to spike the population and then split it. We keep the healthier ones to breed again and send the less healthy ones to spread chee-chin burn with the DeadLife resistance.”

“You are smart,” she said with gleaming eyes.

“No, I’m respected enough to be told the tales. I’m loved by union mate enough to want to protect others. That’s better than smart.”

“No, you are smart to listen and to love.”

He snorted and shook his head.

“Tomorrow we start?”

He cocked his head, “Yes, because you will drive me chasm lizard crazy until we spread the word.”

“Maybe we can get the girls to come visit?”

He was stunned. This was the first she’d even asked about her daughters.

“I think if you write them a letter they just might respond the way you want.”

She smiled. He felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. “I’m going to get up and close the thatch roof door and draw the shutters. I think we’re in need of a bit of rest before things start moving in the right direction again.”

As he closed the thatch roof door and drew the shutters, she rearranged the union furs. He came back to the shared sleeping furs, and she covered them both. He rolled on his side ready to sleep, when he heard her giggle and felt her fingers trace a little lower than before.

He smiled and knew she might never be healed completely, but their union was headed back in the right direction. Then he rolled back over to get lost in those green starry eyes… as well as other things.