The Floodlands Hold Me, Love Me, Stay With Me [m?]

Yes, she said, and that was all he really heard. Dag nodded woodenly, thoughts as sluggish now as the rest of his body. I'm going to be a dad? How can I be a dad? What do I do?

He leaned into the comfort that Amber so freely offered, and remembered that she knew what she was doing. If he just did what she said like... like before, then everything would be okay, wouldn't it? It had to be. She seemed so confident, so worry-free; Dag smiled as he thought of how beautiful she'd been with that bright look in her eyes. He wrenched his own eyes open to see her face again, not remembering how they'd come to be closed in the first place.

Don't you want a family? she asked, and her voice was so soft and sweet that he couldn't help but agree. His nod was firmer this time, more certain. Family was good. He loved his family. "Kyllä - yes," he said, his tongue slipping in his weary state. "Does that - will you be my eukko, then? My mate?"

The picture his mind painted was a pretty one, now. The anxiety left his body as she soothed him, and he shot her a sheepish grin as he thought of how foolish he must seem to her. She was too great a woman to be tied to him, and yet, he would not deny her if he was who she desired. How could he?