Chapter 8 Expanding Families
Three Months Later
Sunshine, also known as John Smith, and called the Pale Two-Spirit, walked with his friend Thomas and his two-spirit husband Shining Fish.
The couple was each holding the hand of a little dark-haired child, as they had adopted the two youngest of Shining Fish's siblings, a boy and a girl. His mother had given birth to her baby recently, so they were all on their way for a visit, though it wouldn't be long before they could take the little boy home with them. Thomas had gotten the family he wished for rather quickly, but he knew that his friend was very happy about it.
John lifted his left hand, the one with the silver feather bangle bracelet around his wrist, placing it on his belly lightly, which was just beginning to show. He smiled at the thought, reminded of the life growing inside him, the little miracle, silently thanking Grandmother Willow for her precious gift to his family.
He waited outside while Thomas, Shining Fish, Rose Bud and Little Wolf went inside to see the mother and new baby. He looked around himself curiously, studying this section of the camp he had never been in before.
John looked to the left when he heard a noise, surprised when he saw a tall, broad shouldered and bare chested male warrior with his dark hair pulled back into a long braid approaching him with a strange expression on his face. He stopped several feet in front of John, crossing his muscular arms as he studied him in silence.
"Is- Is something wrong?" John inquired uncertainly, looking up at him because of the man's taller height. "Can I help you with something?"
"Who are you?" the man asked him in a deep voice.
"My tribe name is Sunshine," he replied with a small smile at the good feelings the name caused in him. "But I also go by John Smith, as well as the Pale Two-Spirit. My husband is Kocoum, and my teepee sister is Pocahontas. What is your name?"
The man opened his mouth to answer when Thomas stuck his head out of the teepee and spoke. "John? Shining Wing wants you to hold the baby."
"Right now?" John said in surprise, blinking while looking at his friend. "Did you and Shining Fish hold him?"
"No, not yet."
"Then you two hold the child first."
"It is a Grandmother Willow thing, John," Thomas explained to him. "She told Shining Wing that apart from her, you were to hold the baby first."
"Why me?" John asked, his expression confused, feeling the strange warrior's eyes watching him intensely.
"She does not know. That is all Grandmother Willow told her."
"Very well."
Thomas stepped out, followed by Shining Fish and the children, Thomas holding the flap open to allow John inside. No one said anything to him, but they were all surprised when the large warrior entered behind John and then closed the flap.
John blinked, his blue eyes adjusting to the dimmer light inside. He glanced briefly at the big warrior, then respectfully approached the pallet where the woman lay with the dark-haired sleeping baby. Shining Wing sat up, lifting the tiny boy up and holding him out to John.
John carefully took the child, slipping his left arm, the one with the feather bangle on the wrist, beneath the baby's small head and body to gently support him. His right hand instantly went to his slightly rounded belly beneath the baby and his eyes went wide when he felt an intense jolt in his stomach.
"Ohh!" he gasped softly, clearly surprised at the movement, carefully lowering himself to sit on his knees in front of Shining Wing's bed furs.
"Are you alright, Pale Two-Spirit?" she asked, her expression concerned as she looked up at him.
"Call me Sunshine, Shining Wing," John requested, smiling down at her while still cradling the baby against his chest. "I am well, yes. I believe the child kicked me."
"Oh. I am sorry, Sunshine."
"Why are you sorry? Oh! No, not your baby, Shining Wing. My baby kicked me when I took yours into my arms. Thomas told me Grandmother Willow told you I was to hold the child first. Perhaps this is why? Perhaps their lives are to intertwine somehow?"
"Yes. Perhaps," she agreed with a smile.
John carefully lowered the child back into her arms before getting back to his feet. "I will leave you to the others now. I am sure they can not wait to hold the baby. Have you chosen a name?"
"No," Shining Wing replied softly, cradling the child tenderly. "I will allow my son and his husband the honor since they will raise the child together. Thank you, Pale Two-Spirit."
"You are welcome, Shining Wing." John let the title go that time since; apparently, he was here in his official capacity because of Grandmother Willow's request.
He inclined his head toward her before exiting the teepee with the mysterious stranger behind him. "You all may go back in, Thomas. I will head on back home and see you later."
"Yes, John," Thomas agreed with a smile. "See you soon."
His friend and his family reentered the teepee to greet their newest member, and John started off in the direction of home with the other man following beside him.
"I am sorry about the interruption," John said as they walked. "You were about to tell me your name."
"I am Bull Elk," the big man replied in his deep voice. "I have traveled from a nearby tribe to visit my family here."
"Oh? Do I know them?"
"Yes. You said Kocoum is your husband. He is a cousin to me."
"Really?" John said, his blue eyes going wide as he looked over at him. "Well, I guess I can see the resemblance. Yes, he is my husband. Pocahontas's and mine. Are you married?"
"No. I have yet to meet anyone who could hold my interest long enough to make me desire it."
"Hmm. Perhaps you will meet someone during your visit? There are a few unattached male-bodied two-spirits. Or if you like women, there is Morning Dove. She is young and kind, and pretty from the male perspective. Or Shining Wing. But she did just lose her husband. And even though Thomas and Shining Fish have adopted three of her children, she still has quite a few of them."
"Perhaps," Bull Elk replied, inclining his head in John's direction. "May I ask you a personal question?"
"Of course. You are my family by marriage."
"What did you mean, back in Shining Wing's teepee, when you said your baby had kicked you?"
"That is a long story. But the short version is that Grandmother Willow gave me, and my male line, the ability to conceive and bear children. I am pregnant with my husband's first child, though it is only just beginning to show."
Bull Elk's dark eyes went wide and he stumbled to a halt, blinking rapidly as John turned back to study him, obviously trying to gauge what his response might be to his explanation.
"That is.. astonishing. And a miracle. Did she give you a choice?"
"Of course!" John replied, clearly shocked by his question. "I thought about it for a while, too. I would never just jump into something so serious without being sure about it. That would be foolish."
"Then you must be happy?"
"I am, yes. Very happy. Carrying my husband's child is.. the greatest gift I could ever ask for. If I had longed for something that I fully believed to be impossible."
"But are you not scared?"
"I was at first. In fact, I sort of panicked. I am still a little afraid. I am not sure what will happen when the baby is ready to be delivered, but I know Grandmother Willow will keep us both safe. She would not have given me this gift if it would endanger my life, or that of my child. I trust her."
"Your faith is inspiring, John Sunshine."
"Thank you, Bull Elk. But I am only following my heart. I truly believe it is the only way for people to find happiness. You should do the best you can not to hurt people, but sometimes it is inevitable when your heart's wish makes another person's impossible to be fulfilled. Like if a woman who did not know I am a two-spirit confessed her love to me. I can not.. do that, if you follow what I am saying?"
"I do."
"Yes. I would not want to hurt her, but I can not give this hypothetical woman what she needs. So even though it would not be what I would want for her, she would be hurt. I love women, just not in the way that my husband can. Even the thought of it makes me feel weak and start to shake. Hurting yourself to avoid hurting others in no good. It is better to speak your own truth, whether you think it will be accepted or not. At least, when it is in a community like this, where you are safe no matter who you love. If I had tried to live as who I am in England, the land across the sea where I was born, I would have been killed as my brother and his husband died for loving each other. I am very grateful, and more grateful, for my life here every day."