Leandra looked down at the bundle in her arms. Truth was she was afraid of the tiny infant that lay there, sleeping. She'd never had a baby before and it hurt like hell. He came out screaming and didn't quiet until her mom put him in her arms. She was afraid because for the first time, Leandra realized she really was a mom and really did actually marry Askari. She realized they had no where to live but here with her mom and dad. She looked at Askari and saw that he was afraid, too.
Even the day of her wedding, as she and Askari stared at each other in the druid grove, even as the Elder Druid looked at them like they were too young but trying, even as she repeated the druid's words and squeezed Askari's hands and put the ring on his finger, she was afraid. Was the rest of her life going to be fear like this?
The baby (they couldn't even figure out what to name him yet) stirred and brought Leandra's eyes onto him. He was cute - with the dark hair of his dad and the dark eyes of his dad and the lighter red skin of his dad... and Leandra's mind wandered. Maybe Esper genes were stronger than human genes. Maybe.
Leandra called to her dad. She asked him to let her and Askari stay until they found their own house. She talked to Colin and felt her heart sink. She could tell he wasn't proud of her, maybe even embarrassed by her but he said that wasn't true. Then, Leandra's mind wandered to Nioma. She asked her father if he'd be telling the baby who her real dad was - but every time she asked, Colin just got mad. Like he didn't think she had a different dad... like he didn't care that she wouldn't know when she got bigger. Sometimes, though, it was good to know when to stop talking.
Askari came back into the room after her dad left, and Leandra looked at him closely. He was her husband now, and her baby's dad, and she did love him. She may not know everything about him yet, but she would, and even though things still didn't feel completely right, and even though she was still afraid, at least looking at him made her feel not alone. She would never again be alone.
