Epilogue
I woke up in the early morning hours to a jolt to my ribs and moaned in pain. Seriously, this kid could kick . My stomach was huuuuge , and I lay there like a blimp on my bedding, rubbing my eyes hard as the early morning light shone through the crack in the cliff wall. The air was warmer now, late spring getting ready to turn to summer. I breathed in that fresh smell that came around during the springtime, as life in the woods began to awaken again.
Winter had been hard, but joining forces with the other family had changed everything for us. There were more able bodies who could hunt, our stores plentiful, and the addition of fire was a total game changer. The moment Vulfu had been elected the official leader of our massive family, everything seemed to just… settle. I could feel the struggle of months past suddenly end, and hope was now renewed.
After establishing a hunting team, Vulfu also had a small group go out and search for the missing boys one more time. I’d learned, from hearing Kate’s perspective, what had happened to the Pale Men, or the Wahu group. After attacking us and stealing all of our stores, they’d gotten greedy and came for Rowe’s family next. Rull had been killed, another woman killed by them, while Kate and two of the other girls were taken and held hostage.
The boys had been there… Kray and Dow. They’d fought as best they could to protect the women, sacrificing themselves to the horrors that surely would have eventually befallen Kate, though the other two women weren’t as lucky. The boys had even managed to delay the Pale Men in catching the girls when they made a break for it, buying them enough time before Rowe and Kheezee could move in and finish them all.
But the boys and two of the Wahu were missing from the massacre. They were just gone. Hearing that they’d been alive when last seen, still fighting, gave Vulfu hope that they were still out there, maybe being held captive by the two remaining Pale Ones… but as weeks turned into months, there was still no sign. Wherever they’d been taken, we couldn’t find it.
Kate and I rehashed everything that had happened to us from the moment our kayaks went over the falls. I told her about Jen, how she’d met her end, and we both cried and mourned for the terrible way she’d died. After we discussed hearing the Search and Rescue efforts, we concluded that Lisa must have been rescued and gone the right way. Hopefully, she went back to live her life, and she wouldn’t allow the trauma of what happened to her and her friends to keep her from her ambitious dreams of getting into the medical field and living her best life. She would have to live never knowing exactly what happened, and I didn’t envy her that.
Kate had given birth just a week ago, and honestly, I thought she was going to die. I’d been at her side, holding her hand while Mowha, Krahu, and Shmyll did everything they could do to make her as comfortable as possible. Rowe had been a nervous wreck, sitting behind her to rest against, holding her legs back by cupping behind her knees as she pushed, murmuring words of encouragement in her ear the whole time. I thought she’d break my hand at one point and though I’d struggled to try to free myself, even trying to crawl away, she held fast and screamed as another contraction bore down on her and pushed hard.
Her little girl fell into Mowha’s hands, quiet and still, and for an awful moment, I thought the baby had died. But Mowha was determined as she took a clean skin that had been soaking in warm water and began to rub the baby's back, giving the bottom little pats as the purple-skinned, scrunched-up face remained lifeless and silent.
“Where… where are they? Are they alright?” Kate gasped from where she lay, with Rowe holding her tight as he craned to get a peek between her legs at the little figure, his brow etched with worry. “Stephanie? Is it alright?” Her hand feebly released mine, all of her energy spent and I shifted in closer, my own heart clenched tight as I watched Mowha work over the little body. “Steph?”
“I-I…” my voice was caught in my throat, dread pooling in my stomach.
Suddenly, there was a small cough, followed by another, then silence, and finally a little wail. All of us collectively breathed a sigh of immense relief and started laughing and congratulating the new parents. Rowe and Kate both laughed the hardest, while tears fell from the corners of their eyes as they clung to each other, so relieved and thankful to hear that small wail.
Mowha placed the baby on Kate’s chest then, still rubbing the back to keep stimulating it, and its cry became even stronger.
“Oh my God!” Kate sobbed as she held her little girl tight, kissing the top of her head, which was covered with a mop of dark hair. Rowe was leaning eagerly over her shoulder, staring at the tiny figure in awe, his smile stretching so wide his teeth actually showed, before he wiped more tears away and leaned in to touch his daughter’s little hand. The tiny fingers clenched around his massive one, not even closing around it, and he gave her head a little kiss.
I stepped away then, giving the new family some privacy, relief like I’d never known washing over me as Mowha and Shmyll continued to care for Kate and the new addition, while Krahu followed me out. I felt more reassured as I crept closer to my time, confident that I would have all the support I needed when faced with the prospect of delivering out here in the woods. Though watching Kate go through hours and hours of labour had been horrifying, her pain evident and beyond anything I’d witnessed before, the moment her baby was born, she acted like it had been nothing to her. Not now that she held her little girl in her arms, holding her mouth to her breast to eat. Kate’s smile of happiness and contentment was so beautiful and pure that it gave me hope for mine.
Now a week later, and we were all outside, resting in the sun, while above us in the cliff, I could hear the little wail of the newborn, demanding more “boob time” as I called it.
I stretched out on the grass with Vulfu at my side, both of us slumbering in the sun, his hand caressing my large stomach with such gentle tenderness it choked me up. I was such a sappy pregnant woman. I began sobbing at every sentimental thing I witnessed. When Jhaa brought Shmyll some fresh buttercups the other day, I burst into tears, wailing about how much I loved their love. When I woke up in the middle of the night, in pain and uncomfortable, Vulfu gave me another fur to put at my side and moved down to rub my feet, which instantly sent me into a tearful puddle.
But I wasn’t going to cry now. I just felt… happy.
That’s what it was.
I was undeniably happy.
For years I’d slunk around, hoping to go unnoticed by others. I suffered in silence from the bullying, the assaults, the lies, and the pain that even I inflicted upon myself. Miss Stephanie Fields, the quiet, timid little mouse… Miss Unpopular Sad Girl 1973.
That girl was gone, along with so many others. But despite all of that, all of the heartache and painful memories, I chose to be happy now .
Vulfu leaned over me, his eyes so bright in the sun, that charming, small smile he saved just for me curling up on his lips, and he whispered, “Stevvy mmahch. Stevvy gwukh.” He leaned in and brushed his nose along the tip of mine before planting a sweet kiss upon my lips, and whispered against them, “Vulfu luvv Stevvy.”
I smiled against his mouth, one of my hands coming up to run through his dark, greying hair, and breathed, “Stevvy luvv Vulfu.”
The End