Hideaway Strath one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan

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Arturo cannot say he fully understands her need to nest. He understands that a birthing den is necessary to the survival of the children, of course. It keeps Lotte safe while she ushers them into the world, and it keeps the children safe while they are helpless: able to sleep and nurse. That part he understands well enough, but it is urgency that moves his love, desperation. He cannot sympathize with her feelings on it because he has only and will only ever be just the father. He has done his part in the creation of them but his bond with them will never be the same as the bond she, as their mother, will hold with them. That bond of creation. She blurts out her love for him, and cuts herself off before she butts her head against him. Arturo holds her for as long as she deigns to remain still murmuring, “I love you too.” and watches her flit away with the chaos of her thoughts. He follows after her when she moves to take a deep drink from the river, careful not to crowd her. He wonders, for a moment, if she truly needs him following her around like a lost puppy but he wants to help her…in any way that he can (if there is anything he can truly do). He desires to tell her that she’ll find a den and he knows that she will — her instincts would make sure of it — but he does not because he suspects that she already knows it, too.

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