Sequoia Coast cantaloupe

If sleep came to either of them, it would be a blessing.

Wilwarin was content for now. She enjoyed the warmth and companionship of the scarred man. She depended upon him to a great extent already, and as her due date crept nearer still, she would only know desperation if he saw fit to leave her. The trust she held was part naïveté and part reckless hope.

It did not occur to Wilwarin that he may only be staying to repay his debt, and once the children were born perhaps he would see fit to leave — it was a terrifying thought, to be alone and to be a mother; she tried not to dwell.

Her own mother had done it, and so if Wilwarin must, she would find a way.

As the man watched the mouth of their sleeping place, Wilwarin drifted in to her own waking slumber; with the man coiled close to her and the babies in her belly occasionally giving in to spasms of kicks, she would not fully sleep but found some middle ground for rest.