Chapter 46 #2
She and the other females had formed something of a communal nest in one of the common rooms of their wing of the ship.
They made a comfortable space to gather and talk and play with Viktor and compare pregnancy notes.
It was such a human thing to do. Domini females sought the privacy of their nests while carrying and were highly reluctant to leave or allow anyone save their mate to enter that space.
Not the human females. They flourished together. Holly had no nest anxiety at all in that room. Alanna wasn’t even carrying, but she found joy in that space as well.
They talked about how they would raise their pups together. How they would be able to take turns watching them for each other so that they could still be romantic with their mates. It was a communal form of child rearing he was not accustomed to seeing, but they looked so happy.
Hattie looked so happy.
She did not bring up his unease with her carrying again, but she also didn’t try to hide her own enthusiasm for it.
She talked about how she was excited to see his house and how eager she was to change it to suit her needs – something he absolutely loved hearing as it meant she, as an adassi, was comfortable enough in his space to claim it as her own.
She already started with his room on the ship and the changes were actually soothing to him.
She expressed her desire for a girl, then a boy, then back again before eventually deciding she’d love one of each.
Which meant she wanted to do it again! He was already shocked that she had witnessed Peony’s birthing experience and would be willing to do it once, much less twice.
He didn’t understand. He almost couldn’t take it. But he couldn’t change it either.
“How do you two do it?” He asked Romival and Havali one day.
They had all gathered in the communal nest again – since the females loved having them there. The males were as much their clan as each other, and the presence of males who weren’t their mate wasn’t disturbing to them at all.
Atem was with the females in their circle in the center of the room. He was playing with Viktor, using his hands to tempt the pup into striking at him. The little male had no claws yet, and wouldn’t for some time, but the practice was essential for normal development.
Survii had stepped out for a moment, duty calling him from the ambassador team en route. That left Tuvo and the other two males with pregnant females.
Atem had once been very excited to have another pup as soon as Peony was healed from the first, but that was before the birth.
He used to talk about it all the time. But after being forced to witness it, he hadn’t said a word on the subject.
He focused his attention on his son and never made a single attempt to persuade Peony to have another. He understood Tuvo’s fears.
But Romival and Havali’s mates were gravid now.
Romival had impregnated Holly before Peony’s birth and so hadn’t known, but he was seeing his female’s growing size and knowing how it would affect her.
Meanwhile, Havali had impregnated his female knowing full well what would happen. How could either of them stand this?!
“Do what?” Havali asked, clearly unaware of the direction Tuvo’s thoughts had taken as he sipped at a warmed glass of intak.
“How are you not going out of your minds with worry? Knowing that your mates are pregnant? Knowing that they’re going to go through what Peony did?”
The change that came over both of them was immediate.
Romival’s jaw tightened like Havali’s grip on his glass.
Both of their casual grins faded as they stared at females.
Scarlet was pressing her shirt down against her body, highlighting the small rounding that was her growing pup, while Holly smiled and rubbed her hand over her distended belly.
Beautiful.
And terrifying.
“I try not to think about it,” Havali said. “This was Scarlet’s decision. I can’t force her to choose it any more than I can forbid her.”
“Their deliveries won’t be like Peony’s,” Romival said firmly, the voice of reason. “I will not let Holly be out of reach from a birthing chamber. From this moment on, I’m not letting her out of our den. Or the immediate area. I won’t watch her go through with that.”
Havali grunted in agreement. “Scarlet is unafraid. So, I will respect her wishes and do all I can to support her.”
“I wish I could be as confident as the two of you,” Tuvo said, grinding his teeth as he looked over his soft, little mate. She wasn’t showing at all, but she was laughing as she and Alanna perused a selection of pup toys on her combot.
“I’m not confident,” Havali laughed, but there was no humor in the sound. “But I trust her. And I have the benefit of seeing how much easier it will be for Holly.”
“It will be easier for Holly,” Romival assured them, and at least he sounded confident. “I will make certain of it.”
They didn’t understand. How could they? Romival was the smallest domini. Scarlet was the tallest human. Their matches were more compatible than himself and Hattie.
He was still worrying over it when he realized that Havali was staring at his chest, an odd look on his face.
He looked back at him. “What?”
“That ring,” Havali lowered his finger. “Is that the mating ring you were supposed to give Hattie?”
Tuvo looked down and frowned. The leather cord around his neck with the ring dangling from it was still there. He cursed, grabbing and very nearly ripping it off so he could bring it to her now.
But he had already neglected to give it to her after her claiming. Throwing it at her now, so many marks later, with no ceremony or romance, would make the oversight even worse.
“You forgot to give it to her, didn’t you?” Romival guessed.
“I didn’t think about it,” he growled, angry at himself.
The offering of rings was a human thing. A male would give a female a ring as a formal request for her to be his mate, and her acceptance of it began the ceremony that eventually ended with both of them wearing rings that alerted all others that they were mated.
Tuvo had remembered to obtain a ring for his female.
However, in his excitement to finish claiming her, he had forgotten to give it to her. It wasn’t part of his culture, so it wasn’t something that he immediately thought of when he imagined mating his female.
Which was no excuse, he knew. It wasn’t his culture, but it was hers. And this little ring was important to her. The other females always wore their rings. They were never seen without them. It was that much of an important thing.
And like a total novi, he had forgotten.
“Probably just as well,” Havali said, surprising him.
Tuvo growled at him. “Just as well? This is meaningful for her!”
“Very meaningful,” Havali agreed.
“Probably more than anything,” Romival added.
Both statements landed like blows against him. Ones he couldn’t even fight against because this was his mistake. He had done this; he deserved their mockery.
“Hattie told me about the rings,” Romival continued. “I know she told Atem, a long time ago. But I never asked when I saw them wearing matching rings. Hattie told me what it was and how important the tradition could be to humans.”
“Everything I learned about wooing a human, I learned from Hattie,” Havali agreed. “She’s a sweet female. Always willing to help if you have questions.”
“Are you two trying to make me feel worse?” Tuvo asked, hating that they were succeeding. But he deserved it.
He knew about the rings. He had seen the other males offer rings to their females.
He saw the females wear their rings every day.
He knew what it meant. He had even bought a ring the moment he returned to the Stor.
He had placed the order for it into his combot when she had gone off to shower while they were in the med bay.
But after it was brought to him and he put it on, his excitement over finally fighting Atem for her, going completely out of order for his claiming but finally finishing it, had eclipsed his intention. He had fought for her and then thought of nothing but claiming her.
He hadn’t wanted to think about his responsibilities. Or the fear of her carrying his pup. The ring around his neck had been completely forgotten.
And he had done her a disservice by denying her this thing.
“Not make you feel worse,” Havali grinned. “Pointing out an opportunity.”
Tuvo frowned, confused.
Romival explained, in his dry, educator tone, “Hattie has always had visions of the moment that her male would ask her to mate him. It’s something she considered the height of romance and devotion. I saw the way she looked when she described it to me.”
Havali was nodding. The human gesture of agreement coming easily to him in a way that it never had to Tuvo. “I don’t think she wouldn’t enjoy you simply offering the ring up on your knee after besting her in combat, but I do think she’d want more.”
“A lot more.” Romival continued. “She told me that the ring offering ceremony can take many forms. Public, private, grand, intimate. I don’t think she particularly cares exactly how you choose do it, only that you put a lot of thought into it.”
“And that’s why I say it’s just as well.
” Havali looked at the rough cut crystal ring on his own finger, admiring it with a grin.
Like it had come to mean as much to him as it did to the females.
“It gives you an opportunity to do that for her. You’ve claimed her as your mate.
Now, you have the chance to create a perfect proposal for her. Just like she wants.”
“No,” Tuvo growled.
Both males looked at him, surprised.
He smirked. “Not just a proposal. My Hattie will have it all. I’m going to give her the proposal and wedding of her dreams.”
Havali grinned. “Allow me to help.”
“Hm? You want to help?”
“You’ll find that I’m known for my organizational skills.”
“I’ll assist you as well,” Romival added.
“You too?” Tuvo turned to him next, just as surprised.
“Hattie has been an invaluable source of information to me. To us all. She’s helped all of us with our females, in one way or another.”
Havali grunted in agreement. “It would be our honor to help fulfill this dream for her. We owe her that at the very least.”
Tuvo looked between the two of them. They were both so determined. Decisive. This wasn’t an offer made out of politeness or a sense of duty. They were doing this for Hattie, no other reason.
He grunted then, nodded stiffly. “Thank you. Both of you. I’ll gladly accept your help.”
Havali chuckled, opening his mouth to speak-
-only for Survii to yell out.
“Tuvo!”
The three of them looked back. They had been so focused on their conversation, they hadn’t noticed Survii returning. But they couldn’t miss the hard expression on his face.
Something was wrong.