Broken Antler Fen well I'mma go down on a railroad track

Her name spoken from him—there is only hesitance that meets him then, and he can feel she is terrified. But of what?  That is what he dreads—not the scent that clings to her pelt, but of what she does not say, allowing his imagination to run wild with it. A new man, perhaps? He couldn’t consider another alternative worse, for it would mean something that had been taken from her unwillingly.

She starts—his eyes rapt upon her, his attention snapping back and from his mind wandering down a rabbit hole he didn’t wish to go. Lilitu was gone—the irony of the statement not missed on him. Of course, the absence of their other daughter was different than Arielle’s disappearance, for at least Ibis knew she had gone to do so… Arielle had simply disappeared from them without word.

Next, an accusation—the tears that followed softening the blow only minutely and he wanted to compose her, to soothe her—did he have that right any longer?

Next, the gut-wrenching admittance: a son. She had birthed a son. Another man’s child. He knew it was coming from the moment he could smell her, but it didn’t stop the punch he felt. He didn’t know what to say or what to do—he felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him.

What left his mouth felt completely out of context—inappropriate—and he couldn’t even believe he said it. “Congratulations.”