Hideaway Strath I’ll shoulder the load, and I’ll swallow the shame

 

It is hard to be near him for a moment and Hemlock realizes with a start that she is worried for upsetting him. Surely Arturo has come to the same conclusion that she has, that she has brought some sort of curse down on their home - that she isn't worthy of the gifts given to her in the form of his and Lotte's affections nor their children. Still, he speaks her name and she slips closer, pressing her small frame against his and nuzzling beneath his chin. "Arturo," She does not blurt out her concerns, managing to still her tongue for a moment even if every second seems stolen somehow. 

She wished again for Lotte's way with words, to weave the stories the way she wanted, to offer up the words so smoothly as her darker beloved did. But she could only look up at him, reading his face and those brilliant eyes and wishing she was more - so much more for all of them. "It is too early for this." For the look of him, as if a million things struggle to push forth and take hold of him, for the way she feels and how it swallows her thoughts - two sides to a similar coin, she cannot imagine how he in turn thinks the same thoughts she does right then. "The herds will be moving again soon - starting to bulk up for winter."  With any luck it would be far better than the past winter for all of them, and a scar on her side twitched as if to agree just at the thought. They should be able to store a great deal before winter, even if the children would be born before the temperatures truly dipped.