Horizon Ridge Take me by the hand

Reek urged her to take in the view and Saena did, or at least she tried. True, it was beautiful in a way that no other place in the world could hope to be, but there were still the problems marring it. Perhaps spending more time here would change her opinion. She'd thought about taking a trip to Ankyra Sound to see if there was anything they could salvage there and now that she knew where to go, she decided to make it a real plan someday. Maybe she would ask Gunnar to go with her; the young viking needed to get out of the Rise, and what better way than going to the beach?

She settled in to listen as Reek began his story. She smiled along with him when he explained that he and his mother were close, and as he spoke of her, Saena felt an ache in her heart for the absence of her own mother. Maybe she and Pied would've been close. There was no way to know, though she did sincerely wish she'd had the opportunity to meet her mother. To know she was as spunky, if not moreso.

Reek then turned the story to tragedy, and though Saena had no idea what an aneurysm was, she could tell it wasn't a good way to see someone die. Maybe it was good for the dead, but not for the living by the sounds of it. She was so touched by what he said that her eyes sought the horizon again and this time she really appreciated the beauty of it. Maybe she related it to her mother, or maybe she was just susceptible to such tragedy.

But with that came the end of Reek's backstory, his personal account of it anyway, and now it was her turn to tell a secret. She knew which one she wanted. She pressed her nose to his cheek, murmured, "don't freak," and then leaned in close and impishly whispered, "I'm pregnant."