Saratoga Arboretum
1:00 PM
"A baby? You've got a baby in your tummy!?"
L'Naym smiled. All day she had been telling her friends and colleagues about her pregnancy.
And this one she had been particularly looking forward too.
"Yes, Trisha. I'm going to be a mother."
"A baby!" Four year old Trisha Deerhorn squealed with delight and threw herself at the Nlian.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" she asked excitedly after giving the L'Naym a crushing hug.
"We don't know yet."
"When's it coming out? I want to see it!"
"In about 40 weeks. That's ten months."
Trisha's forehead furrowed slightly. "Babies come out in nine months. I learned that in class."
"Human babies comes after nine months. Nlian babies take a little bit longer." Her face, although
still smiling grew a little bit more serious. And there's something I'd like to ask you, Trisha.
A very important favor for when my baby comes out."
That got Trisha's full, undivided attention. The little girl grew still and gazed at her, large eyes intent.
L'Naym's mind went back to a conversation held many years ago on Nlia. A conversation that she
hadn't partook in but had been shared with her countless times in both words and soul touch.
Nlia
The Southern Lands: Western Continent
The Glowing Sands Region
The city of Khasha
The L'Naym residence
Three year old D'Ray Torash quietly made her way through her uncle's house. She wiped some sweat
from her forehead. It was a bit hotter here than it was used too. Aaupa, the famed City of Spices,
was situated on the east coast, facing the great Trade Sea and ocean breezes constantly blew affording
coolness. Khasha, the home of her Uncle Farseen and Aunt Kalii, was far from the sea surrounded
by the Great Desert on all sides.
As stealthily as possible she made her way toward her aunt and uncle's room. Normally visits
to family were happy. But this visit had been different. Mother and Father were both tense and upset.
Mother, who usually always had a smile on her face hadn't smiled once since coming. Also, they
had come to Khasha to visit her aunt and uncle, but her aunt hadn't once come out of her room once
and her uncle only briefly.
She had waited until night when there would be less alert eyes. The L'Naym home had been
crowded with visitors, mostly relatives. Grandmother Faroma was there and had seldom left
her daughter's room. There were also friends and doctors. But now it was quiet. Mother and
Father had gone to bed but she knew that at any moment one of them might come to her
room to check on her.
D'Ray made her way over to the closed door of her aunt and uncle's room. Very ,very carefully
she tried to open it a tiny crack.
Abruptly the door was yanked open and a startled face gazed down at the three-year-old.
"D'Ray!" Farseen L'Naym exclaimed.
"I wanted to see the baby," D'Ray said. Her parents had told her that she had a new cousin
and she'd been eager to see her, but ever since they had arrived in Khasha, she hadn't seen
any sign of her. She hadn't seen much of her mother either; she had spent so much of her time
in her aunt and uncle's room.
Farseen's face grew stern. "D'Ray, you know that you're not…."
From her bed Kalii Grileth stirred. "Beloved, what is it?" she called. Her normally strong, vibrant
voice was weak and her breath raspy. It was Lungarus Syndrone, D'ray knew. Back at home
she had heard her parents whispering it to each other when they had thought she wasn't
awake. It was 'an extremely rare but highly dangerous disease that shut down the respiratory
and cardiovascular systems.' Whatever those where.
Aunt Kalii had contracted it during the last three months of her pregnancy. It had weakened her
terribly, although it hadn't harmed her baby. Something which, according to Mother she had
been deathly afraid of. Three months in the hospital and all of the healers' efforts to treat her
had failed. Finally, two days after her child's birth, she had insisted on leaving the hospital
and returning to her home.
D'Ray had wondered why her aunt had left the hospital if she was still so sick.
'She said the only reason she stayed in the hospital was to make sure that the baby was safe.'
she had heard Grandmother say to Mother. 'Now she wants to spend her last days in her own
home.'
D'Ray had wondered what 'last days' where.
"What is it?" Kalii called again.
"Your niece has decided to pay us a visit," Farseem replied.
D'Ray slowly made her way toward the bed. "I wanted to see the baby." she said softly.
"Mother and Father said that I had a new cousin. But I haven't seen her yet."
"I see." Kalii's voice sounded washed out, nothing at all like the vibrant irrigator's usual strong
musical voice. There was a shifting and then Kalii pulled back the blankets covering her, revealing
a wrapped bundle at her side. "Come here, little one."
D'Ray did so, noting, how odd her aunt looked with a breathing mask over her nose and mouth
and all the tubes sticking in her arms.
She heard a faint mewling sound and as she drew near she saw the newborn's face amid a wrap
of blankets.
"Here's your new cousin. Her name's Shylea. Twilight. Isn't she beautiful?"
D'Ray hesitantly reached out and touched the baby gently on the cheek.
"She is beautiful," Farseem said. "And her mother needs to rest."
D'Ray turned her attention to her uncle. There were dark circles beneath his eyes, his voice was
strained and his words sharp-edged.
There were footsteps in the hall outside the room and moments later, Brimyl Grileth entered the room
"D'Ray…" she began then she looked at Farseen, her expression apologetic.
"You've seen your cousin," Farseen nudged D'Ray toward her mother. "Time for you to go."
D'Ray let her mother collect her without protest. Brimyl took her by her shoulders and began
to usher her from the room.
"Sister, wait." Everyone looked at Kalii who was struggling to sit up. "Bring D'Ray back here
for a moment."
Brimyl did so and D'Ray felt her mother's curiosity.
Kalii slowly sat up, coughing painfully. She then slowly removed the mask from her face.
For the first time, D'Ray noticed how gaunt her aunt looked and how darkly shadowed
her eyes had become.
Kalii held up her swaddled infant again. "My daughter will need a friend, D'Ray. All children
know both joy and sorrow. All must pass through the trials of life and she will too. She will
have her father to help her, but I…" she paused. "Will you be a friend to my daughter, D'Ray?
Will you help take care of my little girl?"
"Of course she will," Brimyl's voice was choked. D'Ray looked at her mother and was startled
to see that she was crying "You'll help take care of your cousin, won't you, Daughter?"
D'Ray nodded solemnly as she faced her aunt. "Yes, Aunt Kalii. I'll help take care of her."
Kalii lay back. "Thank you, little one," she whispered as she gave her niece a grateful smile.
Then her haunting eyes closed with exhaustion.
"She must rest," Farseen murmured as he gently replaced his lifemate's mask and stroked
her hair. His eyes were moist and he seemed to be struggling not to burst into tears.
Brimyl nodded and slipped out the door, closing it behind her. She marched D'Ray through
the house, out the back door to the small courtyard that separated the main house from
the guest sections.
"You mustn't sneak out like that again, D'Ray," she said at length. 'And don't go in to your
aunt and uncle's room again without permission."
"Yes mother," D'Ray whispered.
She looked up at the night sky. And as she did so she noted a falling star streaking overheard,
*Flashback ends*
Saratoga Arboretum
"I wouldn't ask this of you, if I didn't know how strong, brave and clever you are, Trisha,"
L'Naym continued softly. "You know how special you are to my lifemate and me. And we're both
going to need you more than ever now. This is a very serious promise, so don't agree to do
it unless you truly mean it with all your heart."
Trisha nodded, urging her to continue.
"We're both going to need your help in taking care of our child. He or she will need to be kept safe
because there are many dangers. A child's eyes are full of curiosity and there are many things that
he or she will want to know that someone will need to teach them. And of course a child needs other
children to play with. My child will look up to you because he or she will know that you're strong
and brave, smart and kind. Also, until now you were the youngest child on the Saratoga. The other
children are much older and may not remember what it's like to be little.
"And above my my child will need someone to laugh with them when they're happy and to cry with
and comfort them when they're sad. All children know both joy and sorrow. All must pass through
the trials of life and my little one will too. It's important that a child have their parents to help them."
Her face brightened into a smile. "And good friends are important too. My cousin D'Ray was a special
friend to me. She became my sister in every way that mattered and she enriched my life more than
I can say with the gift of her love. I'd like my child to have such a gift too."
Her face once again grew serious. "So I would like you to promise that you'll be there for my little one.
That you will help take care of him or her. That you'll show them the world and that you will always be
his or her friend. Can you promise me that, Trisha? Will you be a special friend to my son or daughter?
Will you help take care of my child?"
Trisha watched her closely, then nodded fiercely. "Yes. I promise."
L'Naym smiled and drew her into a gentle hug. "Thank you, little one."