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He's perfect. Early, and still perfect. Jake was right. Nothing wrong with this beautiful boy in my arms. I can barely remember the labor. That woman Maria gave me this tea that helped to put me in la la land, as she put it. It hurt somethin' terrible, but when they put him in my arms, nothing else mattered. Not my pain, or my anger with Danny. They haven't left my side, one of the guys named Blaine went back to the camp while I was still in the lighter hours of my labor and got our big tent. So that's where we are now. Jake and Danny are asleep one to either side of me. I'm sitting here with the little one attached to me. It's amazing that something that can bring me such pleasure at other times can also be a source of life giving. My body was made for this. I'm going to call him Daniel Dorsey. He may not be from Danny, but she is going to have as much to do with his raisin' as me and Jake. To that I'm very sure. Although it will probably be more about the huntin' and fishin' than the diaperin' and washin'. She passed out just as I pushed the last time. It was kind of funny actually. One second she was all, “Come on Violet!” and the next she hit the floor like a ton of bricks. That laugh helped ease me right down. I'm sore, but I feel like I need to move around. I wonder if I can get up without disturbin' them. I pull Daniel up against me and use my feet to pull me forward. I shimmy a bit with a wince and then I feel both of their hands on my thighs. Damn, caught.
“Where are you goin'?” Danny grumbles tiredly.
“Yeah, you should rest.” Jake cracks his neck to the side, stretching his arms above his head. I hear his shoulders crackle.
“I need to move around, I'm restless.” I try to argue, but they pull me back into the pile of blankets. Seems everyone outside has given up theirs for us. “Now see here!” I protest. “I need to get up!”
The tent flap opens and Maria stands outside. “You two unhand her and let her up, do you need the bathroom?”
I nod fast.
She puts out her hand. “Come. I'll take the babe.”
Danny lets me go reluctantly.
“She will be perfectly safe, I promise.” Maria seems to beam as she speaks, taking Daniel into her small arms.
“Thank you.” I fuss, pulling down my sleeping shirt as I stand outside. “I just need to stretch my legs really.”
“I know. I was the same.” She bounces in her steps as Daniel fusses. She sticks her finger in his mouth and he grows quiet. She looks like she is going to cry. Indeed she wipes a tear with the side of her hand before giving it back to my son. I am afraid to ask. The men who are with us seem to watch us, but stay by the fire.
“You wonder about us?” Maria asks me straightly.
I nod. “I don't understand why she travels with so many all of a sudden. Why weren't we enough?”
“I think you are. That's the point. She isn't with any of them, if you think that.”
“I hadn't-”
“But you did.” She cuts me off. “You know Blaine, he was the one that went back to your camp and collected your other things. See the one sitting with him? That is his lover Davis. They are desert wolves from Mexico. They along with your Danny helped me to get away from a terrible situation. She's escorting us to the port on the other side of this bay so that we can take passage out of here. As for the twins, she's shown no interest. She hasn't decided what she’s going to do with them I don't think. But I know they want to stay as her pack mates.”
“I don't think Jake will want to share that much of her.”
Maria laughs sweetly. She is delicate and yet I feel as though she is very strong. It is a beautiful contrast. “Not mates as the three of you are. Mates, like friends or family.”
“Oh.” I laugh embarrassed for not understanding. “So they are desert wolves too?”
“No, they are timber, like Danny and Jake, is it? I heard her call him something else.”
“His name is Jake Dorsey, some call him J.D., and I call him Jake, most of the time.”
“What else does he go by?”
“He comes to idiot most days.”
We both laugh and Daniel seems to giggle, though it is just a little fussing. I take him and offer him my breast. He grabs on greedily.
“He's gonna be a boob man.” Maria smiles.
“Just like his father.” I look back to the tent. I think I hear a moan come from inside.
Maria puts an arm around me and turns me away from the tent. “Come over to the fire, you need to keep your strength. Let's get you some food. Do you like fish? We caught some earlier.”
“I could do with some decent food. Thank you.” Anything to take my mind off the two of them together right now. I know that I can’t be with either of them without getting an infection, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t want to.