Redsand Canyon Silver screen (shower scene).

He pointed out that age differences didn’t matter much when it came to procreation. Towhee supposed that was true. As long as their respective parts operated, that was all that mattered. As much as she felt opposed to tying herself to someone in that way, Towhee was getting caught up in the idea now. Would it really be that much different than the way she’d handled prior breeding seasons: using the man to conceive but eventually discarding him when he proved to be a deadbeat?

Of course, there was the possibility she could hook up with someone with actual merit, though that made her ponder the candidates again. She couldn’t decide if she loved or hated the idea of Glaukos in that role. He didn’t seem to have much to say to her but, on the plus side, he didn’t seem to have much to say to her.

Germanicus answered her question and Towhee nodded, her mind then wandering to Maxim. He seemed to enjoy her company, sometimes a bit too much. Out of the two, she supposed he would make the more dedicated partner. That didn’t matter much to her, though she could picture him as a father more than Glaukos. There was an impatient hardness to the latter that she didn’t like for someone in a paternal role, not after what Reyes had done.

What if, she said, a paw resting on the dead and slowly flattening bird, and I’m speaking totally hypothetically here, but what if… I took Maxim and started a second outpost? You wouldn’t have to worry about romance distracting me. I could have children, if I wanted. Towhee mused. What would that look like? she echoed her very first words in the conversation.