Hello Everyone! Apologies again for the delay in the next chapter but things have been crazy with work blah blah lol. Anyway enjoy and please review. Love Miffygirl18 xxx
Chapter 9 – The Mothering Instinct:
Anyone who knew Terk, gorilla or human would have presumed that she wasn't very maternal. It was not that she didn't like children, she played with them frequently as friends but you wouldn't have thought that she had the mothering instinct.
However Terk took it all in her stride, raising Keke with a relaxed grace who constantly clung onto her mother's chest and suckled on her breast greedily like a drunkard guzzling on a tankard of mead. Gobu was also a very attentive father, collecting food for his mate, holding his daughter whilst Terk caught up on much needed sleep or they would sleep together in his own nest, father and daughter cuddled up together.
Jane and Tarzan both fell head over heels in love with Keke, Jane especially loved cradling her whilst singing gentle lullabies. Tarzan watched her with a tender fascination, Jane seemed to him like the perfect mother. She had an affinity for babies and was patient and playful with all the Mangani gorilla children.
"She's a natural," Kala mused beside him one day as they watched Jane rock Keke whilst Terk ate some much needed fruit.
"Yes she is," Tarzan replied as he saw his wife make silly faces and babbling coo-coo sounds at Keke, "Mum… why do Jane and I not have a baby of our own yet?" Kala took this in carefully, not wanting to say anything that might come out the wrong way.
"Nature is a funny thing son," Kala gently held her son's hand, "Some females have only a couple of children in their lives, other have many. Some females get pregnant quickly and others have to wait a long time. You cannot rush nature, babies will come when they want to."
"But what if a baby doesn't come," Tarzan asked solemnly, his eyes slightly fearful. He had not dared mentioning this to Jane before. He did not want to upset her or pressure her but he couldn't help but wonder if they couldn't have children at all.
"You love her?" Kala questioned him and Tarzan looked at his wife and then back at his mother.
"With all my heart."
"Children are wonderful Tarzan but they are not the be all and end all of life. You and Jane can and will have a happy and fulfilling life together without children."
Tarzan nodded in thanks and went over to Jane and joined in with the playing. Even though he knew that his mother was right, he still couldn't help but hope that they would have a child of their own someday.
The next day, Tarzan, Jane and Archimedes together with the help of Tantor continued their work on repairing the treehouse. They first built a temporary wooden bridge so that Tantor could cross over the sea easily with all the materials and furniture needed.
Tarzan set about taking the old rotten thatch off the roof whilst Archimedes sawed pieces of wood for the new walls and Jane busied herself by ripping out all of the vines and plants that had taken over the inside of the treehouse. Using a long rope and pulley Tantor helpfully hauled up and delivered fresh thatch and tools to Tarzan as well as assist Archimedes in sanding the sawn wood.
As Jane hacked away at the weeds, a task that she found somewhat therapeutic discovered some more items of Tarzan's parents that had survived the disrepair. As well as the photograph she found a lantern, some candles and then a small silver box, a snuffbox. She cautiously opened it to find inside the tobacco scented box was a gold ring, not a wedding band but a signet ring designed to fit a man's little finger. Engraved on its flat bezel with what seemed to Jane a crest, a family crest. It was a dog, no a fierce wolf prowling below a wooded mountain with castle on its peak.
"This must have been Tarzan's father's ring," Jane thought to herself as she admired the delicate scrollwork on the band of the ring. It was not a crest that she recognised; maybe her father who loved history would be able to decipher what family the crest belonged to. Then they would find out more about her husband's past. After all a man doesn't just appear out of thin air. He had lineage even though he was living with gorillas deep in the jungles of Africa.
Jane put the ring on her little finger, too big for her slender finger but it would certainly fit Tarzan's. She looked at the snuffbox and she fondly remembered when she was ten years old she and her best friend Cecilia snuck into her friend's father's study to secretly try some of his snuff. They were caught by the servants from their loud sneezing but they were in even bigger trouble with Cecilia's father Sir Walter Lennox because Jane lost all his precious snuff from having such a violent sneeze that it all flew up in a large cloud and landed on all over the desk and the expensive Turkey carpet!
Jane smiled to herself at the memory and sniffed the box, wondering it was the same snuff that Sir Lennox used. But as she smelt it, a strong wave of nausea hit her and she quickly shut the box to stop herself from being sick. But the bile still rose up her throat and she vomited a little on the floor. Jane spat out the remnants of the sick before wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and stood quietly until the nausea passed.
As she cleaned up the mess she knew exactly why she had been feeling this way. She had been feeling a little nauseous for a couple of weeks but this was the first time that she had been actually physically sick. But she hadn't said anything to anyone, not to her father nor her husband. She didn't dare say anything in case it would tempt fate. It was hard for her to actually believe that finally after all this time she was carrying a baby in her belly.
"Well I think we have done enough for today folks," Archimedes beamed with pride that evening, "the roof is now watertight, the weeds are gone and the walls are ready to be replaced tomorrow. Well done Tarzan, well done Jane!"
"Thank you Daddy," Jane replied happily, "I will plan where all the furniture goes tomorrow."
"Yes don't forget the stove and sink!"
Jane giggled as her father had bought a new range together with a butler sink whilst they travelled to Africa at a knockdown price. Mrs Griggs, their cook at their house back in Knightsbridge had been griping and groaning for months that the range needed replacing and Archimedes constantly promised her that he would get her one but failed. The look on Mrs Griggs' face to see her long awaited new range now in a treehouse in Africa instead of in her kitchen would be priceless!
"Yes of course I will take it into account… by the way Daddy I found this." Jane passed the signet ring to her father who looked at with an avid curiosity.
"What is it?" Tarzan asked as Archimedes admired the craftsmanship.
"It's a signet ring," Jane explained, "men wear them on their little finger. It has a family crest on it. I think it belonged to your father."
"Family crest?"
"Yes families in England, aristocratic families have crests, shields with designs and symbols which are different for each family. When sealing a letter the signet ring is used to stamp the crest into the wax so then you would know which family wrote the letter. Here let me show you." Jane took one of the candles and lit it with a tinderbox. She let the candle heat up and dripped some wax onto the floor into a small puddle. Whilst the wax was still soft Archimedes pressed the signet ring into it and when he pulled it out it left a clear relief of the wolf, the wooded mountain and castle.
"What is that animal?" Tarzan asked as he stared at the strange animal in the wax, "is it a wild dog?"
"No it's a wolf," Jane replied, "they are related to dogs though. Wolves live in cold countries in woods, mountains and snow. They hunt in packs and are fierce hunters."
"What do they sound like? Do they sound like wild dogs?" Tarzan mimicked a wild dog's bark and Jane laughed.
"No they howl," she smiled, "like this, AWOOOOOOOOO!"
"AWOOOOOO!" Tarzan copied her, fascinated by the almost haunting quality of the wolf's howl.
"Very good children!" Archimedes clapped his hands at their attempts.
"Any idea of which family it belongs to Daddy?" Jane asked after they finished playing about.
"It's not a crest that I recognise," Archimedes shrugged, "heraldry is not my forte. Maybe it's foreign, somewhere in Europe? Maybe Russia? Sorry darling."
"Possibly," Jane sighed, slightly disappointed that her father did not know, "it's alright Daddy it was worth a try anyway."
"Well I am going to sit outside with Tantor for a while," Archimedes said he handed back the ring to his daughter, "he wants me to show him the different constellations."
"That sounds nice," Jane smiled back, "we'll join you in a bit. Tarzan and I will clean up first."
Archimedes nodded a knowing smile, leaving the two young lovebirds for some needed alone time.
"So I am from … Russia?" Tarzan asked as Jane laid a blanket on the floor for them to sit on after putting the ring back in the snuffbox.
"I don't know," she shrugged honestly as they sat down, "possibly. You never know, I might have married an Russian count or an archduke or a son or cousin of a tsar, a Russian king!"
"But what if I wasn't a count or a king?"
"I would have married you even if you were a peasant!" Jane teased, "Besides I married a wild man!"
"How wild?" Tarzan arched a seductive eyebrow at his wife and Jane couldn't help but blush.
"Completely untameable!" Jane gave a sexy giggle as her husband crawled over to her and caressed the crook of her neck with his lips whilst his hands gently massaged her breasts.
"Oh Tarzan!" Jane softly moaned at his touch as his lips moved to her collarbone, one hand cradling the back of her head, clutching her hair and the other in between her legs. She felt herself getting more and more excited and ready for his manhood but Tarzan took his time in foreplay sometimes even to the point where she would beg him to make love to her. As she felt his hardness rub against her thigh and even though she wanted it more than anything, she pulled away.
"Tarzan dear stop," she said softly as he went to enter her.
"What's the matter?" he asked, surprised at her reaction, "Did I hurt you?"
"No of course not, it's just not the best time."
"Oh you have started your courses?" he asked tentatively and Jane blushed scarlet at that. She had to explain to him what periods were when he wanted to make love when she was menstruating and still felt somewhat uncomfortable talking about it.
"No…. that's not it…. I haven't had my courses for two months."
"Are you sick? Does that mean you're ill?"
"No when a woman stops having courses it means that she is … expecting."
Tarzan looked at her, his eyes confused at first but then they widened as he clocked onto what she was trying to tell him. He looked at her belly and then at her face.
"Is it true?" he asked and Jane could see his hands were trembling with anticipation and disbelief at the amazing piece of news.
"Yes," Jane tried hard to stop the tears welling in her eyes but failed, "it's true. We are having a baby, we're finally having a baby!"
Tarzan whooped in absolute delight and beat in his chest in pride with his fists! He couldn't believe it! He was going to be a father, after all this time he was finally going to be a father! He leaned in, carefully placing his hand on her belly and kissed the tears off her cheeks and then her eyelids before kissing her passionately on the mouth.
"I love you Jane," he said in a breathy whisper, "you are the best. Jane is the best."
"I love you too," Jane whispered back, "You're mine and I'm yours." She pulled him in and they kissed tenderly and softly, their quiet tears of joy mixing together as finally their hopes, their wishes, their dreams came to fruit, a fruit that was now growing with each day inside Jane's belly.