Cedar Sweep the empty bowl

I don’t think you’re an idiot, Meerkat disagreed with a touch of chagrin. You were thinking of yourself and your children. I get that. I really do, she said, the last of her icy thoughts thawing as she regarded the other woman more warmly now. Thank you, Asivaq, and I apologize for being… She gestured with a self-deprecating laugh.

There was a slightly awkward—pregnant, you might call it—pause before Meerkat shuffled her feet and decided to take a seat. She motioned for Asivaq to do the same, in the hopes the other woman wouldn’t mind spending a few more minutes conversing here. They were neighbors now, after all!

Is this your first pregnancy? she wondered after a moment.

The knee-jerk resentment had gone, though Meerkat still quietly mourned the fact that Asivaq and her mate had felt they couldn’t join the copse. They would’ve been the perfect fit, exactly what she and Njord had been looking for to finally complete their village. But, alas, she liked to think everything happened for a reason.