Just then, a whirlwind went through the Weyrling Barracks as Anyghari burst in, running to carefully embrace her younger sibling. “Oh, Laika, I’m so glad for you!” she whispered, and squeezed a little tighter before letting go.
Laika stepped back, astonished. “Ghari? But I thought you couldn’t come!”
The confident young greenrider grinned. “Oh, I had to leave Inyxith at Ryslen--she's got an attitude the size of Southern. But there aren’t any rules about the riders not getting to attend their sister’s Impression! And look,” she gestured to the door, “I got the watchdragon to bring Melles!”
A shy smile was all that was needed to bring her ex-husband to her side. His golden handsomeness was not so intimidating, now that she knew that she had her own path to follow. He laughed down at her. “My parents are shocked and dismayed, little Laika. It’s highly irregular, but they can’t argue that it dissolves the marriage. And what a lovely lifemate you have!”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a beaming Anyghari slip discreetly away. With privacy to speak her mind, she reached up and touched his cheek, daringly. “Melles,” she said quietly, meeting his gaze without flinching, putting one hand on the curve of her stomach. “Before I Impressed, the Weyrhealer took me over to the Bay. The dolphins say it’s a boy. Would you do me the honor of helping me raise him?”
He smiled back. “We can call him Lailan, after his beautiful mother. Of course I will, Laika.”
Pleased, she sank down on her narrow pallet beside Egewneth, who mumbled sleepily in her mind. “Before I Impressed, I hadn’t thought of what I would do. But I know now that I was…not whole without /her/. Melles, I think…I think that you should see if any Searchriders want you, because I haven’t ever met a man who deserved it more.”
Melles’ earnest eyes met her own. “For you, little Laika, I’ll try. Now, I can see that I’m keeping you from your well-earned rest…go to sleep, dearheart. Tell me, if you can, when our Lailan is born. I’ve a deep yearning to see this boy of mine.”
Trying to make sense of this, she lay back, and he tucked her in like a child of five. “Of course I will, Melles,” she murmured. “Of course I will.”
The dragonhealer was the first to figure it out. “That’s Egewneth,” he said tersely. “Laika is in labor.”
Kalanin was summoned, as well as Melles and Anyghari. The healer’s eyes widened to see the half-grown green crouched miserably next to her panting rider, but she went to work at once.
Golden Melles and a frazzled Anyghari barely acknowledged each other as they waited and listened. At last, they heard a cry….
Kalanin waded demurely through the worried pair and retrieved a pair of scissors. It was only a few more minutes before the Healer returned.
“A boy,” she announced firmly. “Lailan. He’s all cleaned up now, and you can see him.”
Eyes alight with wonder, Melles went in.
Laika was propped against the headboard, pale, sweaty, and smiling. In her arms, a tiny baby blinked and waved his tiny fists.
Melles was enraptured. “Our Lailan…Laika, he’s beautiful.”
The greenrider smiled. “And very red. He’s strong, too—feel that grip!”
Hovering anxiously at the sidelines, Anyghari was witness to the couple’s first kiss.
When Lailan was two Turns old, Laika summoned Melles rather abruptly, and asked him to take his adopted son with him.
Melles was startled. “You’ve always insisted on keeping him with you, or he’d be traveling back and forth, regular as day,” he said, surprised. “Why this sudden change of heart?”
Laika ducked her head. “I suppose I have been a little selfish, Melles, and I apologize,” she said softly. “And I’ll try to arrange equal time for him to be with you. But…Egewneth is glowing.” She grimaced. “Like a torch, that one. And I can’t expose a two-Turn-old to that kind of hormonal misery. I’m signing up at Talis Weyr, so there won’t be nasty rumors hanging over his head when he gets older.”
The drummer blinked. “Ah,” he said softly. “So that’s it.” Without a word, he gathered his son in his arms and strode away.
Caught up in Egewneth’s irritability, all Laika could think of was that he hadn’t even said goodbye.