Noctisardor Bypass [m]istletoe has moved into the lampshades

at a sudden loss to explain, heda busied herself clearing the scraps and bones that druid did not consume, but found that her eyes now rested on the promising curve of her sister's belly. she would be an aunt in a matter of hours, and how her new little relatives entered the world mattered to her.
all of heda wanted to keep the truth from druid, to let her go through these trials without more to worry about. but what was worse? shouldering the burden now or trying to deal with it while newborns greedily nursed.
a sigh escaped heda. "he cares about you very much," the red-streaked woman murmured, her gaze now finding the finery of dawnleaf's change toward spring.
"i think that's — i think it's why he forced etienne to stay, druid. after he left us that day. he'd — glaukos — he'd struck etienne or something, had him on the ground." her mouth was dry as a summer-cleared fireplace. "then anselm showed up, and — it could have been bad. it almost was. i — got between them. men," she said in a laughing half-whisper, but it wasn't funny as she recounted it. heda could have lost her life, or at very least lost those of the children almost ready to be born. "i made them stop. and then i've been with you. i — anselm won't stay away as long as etienne is here. we should invite them both, formally."
regardless of what the bear-man thought, she decided defiantly. "they're both important to us both, glaukos and etienne. if you wouldn't be here without him, i have no complaints, druid, but we have to make this right."