Page 52 of Fall

It was the same word they used for home.

He’d been telling her he loved her allthis time.

***

The rest of the tribe was nearly finished with theirmeal when Rone and Lenna finally returned.

She was surprised about how happy everyoneseemed to be to see her. Even Tamen, who told her he was glad she was safe andback in the cave with them.

They stayed up late around the fire,listening to stories and making music. Then finally everyone went into the cavefor bed, and Lenna couldn’t remember ever being happier.

Rone rubbed her all over and made love toher again in the dark, and she felt perfectly content, perfectly at peace, asshe cuddled up against him under the covers afterwards.

“Lenna home,” he murmured, brushing hislips against her hair.

“Rone home.” She stroked his jaw. He wasstarting to get a beard. He was going to need to be groomed tomorrow. “Lennaglad cave,” she whispered.

He made an affirmative grunt, stillnuzzling her idly. Not foreplay this time, just sweet, drowsy affection.

After a minute, he started to sniff her,but he did this a lot, so she didn’t think much of it.

He murmured out, “Baby.”

She blinked. She hadn’t thought the Krooused endearments that way her society did. “Lenna no baby.”

He lifted his head and took her hand toplace it on her belly. “Baby.”

She gasped as she realized what he wastelling her. “Baby?”

“Baby.” It was too dark to see his facebut she could tell by the sound of his voice, by the feel of him beside her,that he was smiling. “Baby.”

If he was right, she couldn’t be very faralong, no more than a few weeks. How he could tell, she had no idea, but shesomehow knew he wouldn’t be mistaken about this.

She’d never wanted a child. Not once inall her life.

And yet her heart skipped several beats inexcitement, in joy, as she processed the possibility.

She wanted to have children with Rone, andshe didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Glad,” she breathed, relaxing on the bedagain.

“Glad,” Rone agreed, stroking her cheek,her belly, her hair.

Eventually, she closed her eyes, realizingthere was nothing in her old life that she missed enough to be a problem,nothing that came close to what she had won.

She’d thought the Kroo were like animalswhen she’d first met them, but she’d been wrong. They weren’t any moreprimitive at heart than Coalition society. They weren’t even all thatdifferent.

She didn’t regret anything.

Everything human that really mattered shehad in abundance right here.

Epilogue

A wave of deep, radiating pain hit Lenna, momentarilystealing her breath.

She tried to breathe deeply and focus onthe broken branch of a low shrub that Rone was showing her.

A couple of times over the last month,she’d felt false labor pains, so when she’d started feeling contractions thisafternoon, she hadn’t wanted to assume it was the real thing.