Swiftcurrent Creek first watering

"of course," he whispered against her cheek, her forehead, folding her close even as it felt that the distance between them yawned with all the things that must now be mended.
fixed!
before!
before she came;
his breath shook only a moment and then he let it out. "nothing is going to crash down. come now, what did — what did you name the child?" he asked softly, trying to turn her mind back to the little family they must now be and build.