I realized with dismay I didn't even know the gender of this baby. I'd been so caught up in trying to figure out what'd just happened to me and making sure this giant human wasn't going to snap both of our necks I hadn't even thought to look. Making a mental note to do so after I got off and away from this god-forsaken horse, I peered down to at the few townspeople we passed. They stared right back up at me, and made no attempt to hide their whispers of confusion and curiosity at my skin color. I wondered what the big deal was; most of them were pretty pale themselves.

The horse slowed to a stop in front of a building that contained one other horse, a grey one that was happily munching at some grain. Baragma wrapped the horse's reins loosely around a pillar that held up part of the building's roof and came around to stand next to me, arms outreached. "We're gonna stay in the inn here, elf. See if we can't get some food for ourselves and the babe here, as well as a bath." He looked rather bemused as he wrapped his hands around my waist yet again and set me down upon the earth. I wobbled slightly, legs having grown weak and sore from sitting in the saddle for so long. Absently I wondered if Baragma's legs hurt as well, from all the walking. I found that the unsteadiness went away slowly as we strode toward the inn he'd mentioned.

"Safe?" I asked, looking up into his blue eyes with mine. He assured me that everything was well and guided me through the door and toward the counter where a man greeted us. He didn't have the same facial tuft that Baragma did.

"I'd like one room, two tubs of hot water and a bottle of milk for the kid." His cheeks were redder than normal as he spoke; I supposed it was some sort of undiagnosed medical condition. The man on the other side of the bar snickered and asked why his wife couldn't just feed the baby from her own breast. Wife? I wanted to ask exactly what that was, but decided against interrupting them.

"The baby isn't technically hers. Adopted. And she's not my wife." He grunted, brows furrowed at the too-nosy bartender.

"Fine, fine. Best that a strong man as yourself wasn't betrothed to such a feeble little elf anyway. Better not to get too involved with their type." My eyes flickered to Baragma's face, which he'd clapped a hand over and was now rubbing at fervently.

"Please, I don't want to get into a political debate with you right now. Just take my money and get me what I asked for." He removed his hand and stared at the nameless barkeep with an exasperated look on his face, which I noticed had drained itself of the previous excess of redness. The other man snickered, took the sack of coins from Baragma's hand and pointed us to the nearest room while he went to get the water and milk.

I was nudged in the proper direction by way of a large hand in the small of my back. I glanced back at Baragma, "What's wife?" he sighed loudly and pushed the door closed behind us with a click.

"A wife is, uh..." his cheeks regained that red color, "a woman who is bound to a man, to put it simply." I still didn't quite understand, but I nodded and placed the baby down on the bed in the corner and began unraveling the cloth it'd been bound in. My heart quickened a bit, excited to see if it was male or female. The baby looked miserable, and its lower half was wet and stinking of urine, but it still didn't let out a single peep. I noticed a tiny protrusion from said lower half, as well. All the males and male children back home had one like it. I grinned and looked behind me for Baragma, who was busy replacing his steel plate armor with an old shirt and pants, oblivious to the wonderful news. "Male!" I squeaked, clapping my dirty hands together and giving a little bounce.

"What?!" He spun around quickly, his face red again and one hand covering his crotch and the other yanking his pants up hard.

I didn't bother asking about his strange behavior (it seemed everything about this race was odd, really) and instead pointed at the baby and repeated myself, "male!"

He had finally managed to cover himself and was now buckling a leather belt containing two swords not entirely unlike the ones the Falmer used, only made of a different material and shape, around his waist. "What, the kid? You didn't even know if it was a boy or a girl?" I shook my head fervently and pulled back my lips in a way that I'd figured out meant happiness for the people out here.

"Well, congratulations. Gonna name him?" My smile faded and I turned back to the baby, grasping some of the cloth he was previously wrapped in and using it to wipe the urine off him. "Unsure. Think of later." I peered down at the now semi-clean little boy who was sucking his own fist contentedly.

There was a knock at the door, and Baragma answered it to find the still sneering innkeeper holding a bucket of soapy water in each hand and a container of milk under his arm. "Here you are. Have a nice night." He snorted and handed the items off to my companion, who shut and locked the door again before setting everything down.

"Here. I'm gonna wash myself, so…don't look." I wondered why I wasn't supposed to look, but obliged anyway and instead took to making faces at the baby in order to get a laugh out of him. My baby, I realized. Mine.

There was some loud sloshing coming from Baragma's direction and, curious, I turned around to see what was going on despite what he'd said. His back was turned to me and the clothes he'd previously been wearing were strewn about the floor haphazardly; he scrubbed his naked self vigorously with the cloth and soapy water the innkeeper had delivered. I stood up, still curious, and stood behind him for a few seconds before gaining the courage to lean over and sniff the stuff he was rubbing all over himself.

This time it was his turn to scream and have a fit, and he ended up half sprawled on his back and half propped up against the wall, staring at me indignantly. "What in Oblivion are you doing? Trying to make my heart explode?!" I giggled at his outburst for a moment before nodding at his bucket and speaking, "Me too?" This drew a weary sigh from the man, who was trying to wobble to his feet now. "Yes. You too. That's why I got two buckets of water. And you give that milk to the baby so he doesn't die. Don't sneak up on me either, else you end up with a dagger in your guts." He gave me a slightly angry look before resuming his task.

I retrieved the bottle from the floor, unsure why I was just scolded but feeling a bit sorry anyway. It had an odd little thing on the end, vaguely shaped like a mother's nipple but made of hard cloth instead. I leaned down and held it near the baby's mouth, and he latched on instantly and began chugging away at the milk. "Hungry," I said with a giggle. Baragma mumbled something that sounded like agreement, and I could hear him desperately trying to dress himself again. I then remembered the rapidly cooling water in my own bucket and snatched the extra cloth, clutching it in one hand as I quickly shed the ill-fitting clothes the man had let me borrow back at Blackreach.

Now naked, I wetted the cloth and began rubbing away the dirt of nearly twenty years of living underground, amazed at how good it felt and how shiny my skin was when wet. I bent to rub the soapy cloth in the crook between my upper thigh and crotch when I felt eyes on me and straightened up and turned toward Baragma again. His usually small, slightly squinty eyes were wider than I thought they were capable of getting and he began inching his way toward the door. "I'm just uh...gonna go get something to eat. Feel free to join me once you're done. And don't come out there naked please."

I pushed my lips together into a fine line and watched him adjust the front of his pants and slip out the door quietly.