Well Deserved Rest, or Maybe Not

Raissa seemed to think his lack of understanding funny and all of a sudden her felt his walls go up and his body stiffened. It was as if she was explaining it to a child. Surely, if he could talk to anyone about these matters then it would be her? She wasn't supposed to laugh at him! It didn't matter that she had stifled it. Her body lay along his and he had felt it.

"No." he answered, almost sullenly. "I only reached my 22nd month, in December." He wasn't going to say more than that. FitzDutiful had an understanding of how babies were made. That was partly instinctual anyway. He just didn't know what came later. No one had ever taken the time to explain to him how long a pregnancy lasted or what occurred in the months between conception and delivery. All he knew was that this year was the first year the actual yearning would arrive. 22 months, the sexual maturity age when everything changed.