3/19/2261
Alyen and L'Naym's Quarters
Both Alyen and L'Naym had noticed that their new son seemed interested in the stars.
For the first three days after the birth, L'Naym hadn't stirred from her nest except for brief trips to the fresher.
Alyen didn't either while she was awake, instead the new parents would lie or sit together, silently communing
with each other and their newborn.
Sometimes though, while L'Naym slept, Alyen would take their son for a quiet walk through their quarters.
Never for long, for even when she was asleep, L'Naym would instinctively reach out for them both.
On one such walk, four days after the birth, Alyen had taken their son to the window to show him the view.
The Saratoga was still surveying the Archela Cloud and the sight was stunning.
"I wanted you to see them." Alyen whispered. "When I was a child I could spend hours looking at the stars.
When I was very young my grandfather would take me out on his boat at night and the whole sky was like
an ocean of stars."
As if he understood his father's words, the infant opened his eyes and as he gazed out the window,
they widened.
Today L'Naym's primal need to stay in her nest had begun to fade slightly and she had also taken their son
for a walk through their quarters. She too carried him to the window. The newborn's eyes were wide open,
both she and her lifemate had already sensed in him great curiosity
"Sometimes, my little one, the stars can seem like a bottomless well," she whispered. "My grandmother,
your great grandmother, loved the stars. She had the soul of a wanderer and the stars guided her through
countless wanderings through the desert. She loved to travel and she loved the stars. She passed on to me
both of those loves."
She held her son up. "Look at the stars, my son. Aren't they beautiful?"
Newborn eyes gazed outward and the baby made a sound that sounded like a tiny giggle.