Molly was the one who decided me. “Go, Ciara,” she said calmly, “we see how far along you are with child. You should rest for a while. It isn’t good to be on your feet so much. You and Rose have been good to us all day, so have these men. We don’t wish to be a burden.”


    A few other girls murmured assent and I had to capitte. I really needed to rest. My feet hurt and my stomach felt crampy. The stress of thest several days had been difficult.


    “Tomorrow,e here after your morning meal, if you will relieve my Sisters and me?” Yahn asked and I nodded.


    The woman’s head quirked at my response and Rose told her, yes, we would be here. Rose exined nodding and the woman seemed interested in the Earth tradition. She asked if one day we could talk more. Yahn and her Sisters would like to learn more about Earth.


    Rose and I wearily made our way down the hall. The men that had been helping us seemed ecstatic to leave. They bounded down the hall intent on getting anywhere else.


    My connection to my family was strong now that they were home. I’d felt them peripherally all day, they’d been busy outside running a search for invaders and doing some hunting for the camp. Now they were hungry and frankly so was I.


    The halls of the camp were alive with men. It was easy to tell free men from men in thepound just by their actions as we walked by. Our campmates greeted us and we weed them home. The men the women had been keeping in thepounds and mountains seemed amazed by us and just stared.


    The dining hall was absolutely chaotic. There was at least three times the number of men in the camp and they all had to eat. I saw families sitting in the main hall by the fire pits on the ground eating. The tables inside were very crowded. The line for food was enormous. The frustration with all of it evaporated when I saw my little boy standing with his family.


    Damien and his Brothers were still dirty and scuffed, but the boys looked liked they’d been scrubbed clean. They each seemed to have a fresh outfit on and their hair was brushed. I assumed the Child Keepers had done that and I was grateful to them. Poor little Jonathan had looked quite unkempt when I’d seen him first. I’d never admit to my men that the Child Keepers were certainly superior with children. I kept that thought to myself.


    “You had a difficult day, wife,” Kein said as I approached.


    “It’s better now,” I smiled, kissing a cleaner spot on his cheek.


    I met each of my husbands with affection and a gentle kiss. It had been so long and I had missed them dearly. Once I was done I looked longingly down at Jonathan and his little family. How I’d love to kiss each of them hello. My desire resonated through Damien and his Brothers before I could reign it in.


    Bane’s eyebrow rose and Evan knelt by the boys. He exined about kissing again and told them that was how I greeted family. Mycah’s family was mine, too, so I’d be greeting them that way.


    “Oh, no,” I countered waving a hand at Evan, “I don’t want to upset them…”


    What I really didn’t want was to reach for Jonathan and have him back away again. That simple act had cut me deeply. I couldn’t stand for it to happen again.


    Bane crossed his arms and smirked at me. I heard his thoughts loud and clear. It wasn’t something he could say outside the family, because it was too rude. He’d called me a ‘shopkeeper’. All those days in Armant’s shop had taken my backbone. Kein punched his arm hard as a reprimand for the nastyment.


    My eyes narrowed at Bane for a moment before I leaned over Mycah. I brushed my lips against his cheek and told him I was d he was here. Each little boy got the same contact and different bit of spoken love.


    Jonathan wentst and I saw him watch me closely. It took every fiber of my being not to grab him and hold tight. Instead I ced a simple kiss on his cheek as I stroked his hair.This content ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    “I’m d you’re home. I’ve missed you,” I said simply before backing away.


    My hands were shaking and I sped them in front of me to stop them. Bane smiled at me as Evan led the boys toward the line for the food. He thought a little encouragement in the family wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.


    “You did good,” Damien reassured me.


    I wondered how the cooks were feeding everyone. This crowd was muchrger than we were used to. Quietly I expressed my concern to Damien as we made it to the rapidly emptying bowls of the buffet.


    “Things will be lean for a while,” Damien shrugged, loading up Mycah’s te with a normal helping. “We will only take just what we need. There will be enough and none of us will starve.”


    I watched Damien put food on his own te in an extremely conservative manner. All my men did that. They fed the boys well and took just enough to sustain their own strength. I frowned at them and found the answer quite shocking.


    Growing boys had to eat or they would be stunted, especially young ones. Grown men could go without excess for quite some time . My family would not be harmed, they would just be ufortable. The boys would be hurt if they weren’t cared for correctly. Children had to be protected at all costs.


    As my men gave me their opinion on children, I was surprised. I had not realized they had been talking to the men who were male breeders with children in the camp. They had been training themselves for the day Jonathan and his family returned. Their knowledge about the boys’ needs was not an ident.


    When I’d seen the little boys all clean and well dressed I’d assumed it was the Child Keepers in the camp that had fixed them up. It had not been. Damien and his Brothers had put water in the pot in our rooms. They had wiped the boys down and found fresh clothes before delivering them to the Child Keepers.


    I put some food on my te and shook my head. Even being bonded to them there were things about them I didn’t know. I couldn’t rely on the bond and forget tomunicate with them, that was obvious.


    “Ciara,” Kein said in an almost scolding tone, “you are a free woman and I respect you, but that isn’t enough of an evening meal for a woman carrying my offspring. Grown men can afford to take less. You are not like us right now.”