Barbarian's Bride (Ice Planet Barbarians)

"Is my brother here?" Ah-nah says, looking up at me with wide eyes.

Before I can answer that it is a sister, Analay speaks, not looking up from the toy he plays with. "Not this one."

"Not this one what?" I cannot help but ask.

He blinks up at me, his little face serious. "This one is not a boy. Not this resonance."

I am speechless. His mother gives me a helpless shrug and then turns to her son. "Analay, can you get me a fresh change for the baby?" She pats the infant in her lap, smiling awkwardly at me. "Zoari needs her big brother's assistance."

Analay jumps to his feet and races away, eager to help.

His mother glances back at me and speaks in a soft, low voice. "I'm sorry. I know he keeps bringing it up. It's just…he loves Anna. Adores her. I know it makes Nora upset, but he's too little to understand that talking about the future like that might be seen as pushy." She adjusts the kit in her arms, moving it to her shoulder and rubbing the small back. "We've talked with him and he knows resonance has to come first. He's content to wait."

I grunt. I do not want to be disloyal to my mate. I know No-rah is very protective of Ah-nah and wants her to be able to make her own decisions, but if resonance chooses, it chooses.

"It wasn't a boy, was it?" Air-ee-yon-uh asks.

I pause. "It is another girl. Her name is Es-tur."

She nods, as if she already knew. Perhaps she did. Her son races back inside with a bundle of old leather squares that the mothers use for little bottoms, and he smiles with pride. "I found them!"

"Good job, Analay. You're such a big help." She beams at him.

I gesture to my girls, my head full of strange new thoughts. Another kit in the future. A boy. "Come, girls," I say to my children. "Your mother has a sister for you to meet."

"A sister?" El-sah exclaims, excited. "Oh boy!"

"Girl!" Ah-nah sings out, and they both laugh.

I thank Asha for watching them, nod to the others, and usher the girls out into the village and towards our hut. I will talk with No-rah later about what Analay has said. I do not know if she will be happy over his words, but I like the thought of a son. Later, though. For now, there is a new kit to think about, and she is perfect, just as she is.

21

One week later

NORA

"There now," I say, putting one last stitch on the fuzzy hem of Anna's new patchwork tunic. "You both look cute as buttons."

Elsa scrunches her nose as she looks up at me. "Mama, what's a button?"

Oh. "It's a fastener. A round one. We used them back on Earth. It's just a saying." I smooth an unruly lock of hair back into one of Anna's topknots, and admire my little ones. The girls worked all week long to finish their tunics so they could have them for the feast tonight, and I stayed up late last night to finish the hems for them. They look adorable, though, a matched pair except that Elsa has a big red leather heart over the chest of her tunic and Anna wanted a yellow crescent moon. "Beautiful, both of you. Now go run along and see if Stacy roasted some hraku seeds for you."

Me, personally, I'm looking forward to the shredded not-potato cakes, because they remind me of latkes from home.

The girls race out of the hut, practically ripping the leather door covering from its fastenings as they do. I bite back a sound of frustration and let them go; they're little, and they've been good all week. They can cut loose today. The drums have started already, so they're eager to get to the celebration.

I wrap another binder around my milk-heavy breasts, then put on a loose tunic that ties up the front, because Esther is a bit of a pig and will no doubt want another meal the moment I come close. It's like she has a sixth sense when it comes to her mama. Dagesh can carry her in a sling all afternoon and she'll be quiet and perfect, but the moment I come near, the hungry beast awakens. She's so little and sweet that I kind of love it, though.

I pull my hair back in a messy ponytail, trying to smooth a few flyaways. I'm allowed to look a little rumpled, given that I just had a baby a few days ago, but everyone dresses up for a party, even out here. I put on my boots, wrap a cloak around my shoulders, and then stuff a couple of extra cloaks and some leather nappies into a bag, because someone's going to need them later. When I'm ready, I head out of the hut and toward the big longhouse.