Obligations

By Donna and Abby

"You're going about this all wrong," Wyoming said, her jaw tight. "The object is to return the animal to the wild, not make a pet out of it! You said yourself that its wing is healed!"

Tom glared at her. His temper had been short for the last couple of days, due to several reasons. He had been out on late night calls nearly every day that week, and to top that off, Shepherd's new ovulation prediction sticks showed that Wy was entering a fertile period, so any comforting nookie was also out of the question!

And her words were not helping him at all.  HE was the one who was so against making pets of things!  If anything, he had been called cold and unfeeling!  Well the boot was on the other foot now!  "You were the one who kept it too long," he snarled.

Wy started to say something, but decided against it. Tom was in a snit right now, and arguing would only make it worse. "I'm going to take it to the Native camp. It can be reintroduced back into the wild in the same area that it was hatched in."  Turning on her heels, she went to go fetch Noah from his play area.

Of course, this was the worst thing she could have said!  She had told him of her intentions to have one of the men there father her next child, and she being fertile at the moment, the first thing that came to his mind was what she would do there *after* they released the young eagle back into the wild!

Actually, Wy wasn't thinking of that right now. Noah was just a little over seven months old, and she wasn't sure she wanted to get pregnant again right away. But having to keep track of her cycle and fertile times to avoid getting pregnant by Tom again was a royal pain! Not to mention the stress it was putting on their relationship.

But men think of things differently.  When she left, he stormed into the house, wondering if he should follow her.  As he slammed his teacup down on the counter, there was a knock on the door.  Tom threw it open, a smug look of satisfaction on his face.  "So, you've come back, then," he began.

"I have?" John Book said, his eyebrow raised in surprise. "Daniel needs you at his place. He has a ewe that has a mess of babies all tangled up inside of her, and she can't get any of them out."

"Right," said Tom, trying to cover it up and not blush as red as a tomato.  "Well, let's go, then!"

At least a farm call gave him something to think about! And the Amish did not live that far from the Singing Creek Camp. He could always swing by later. As he climbed into Book's wagon, his mind started to move off the Wyoming situation and onto the sheep situation.  "I know they are having one with twins," he said, "and they don't usually give that much trouble.  You have me worried."

"Daniel had a feel," Book said with a shrug. "He thinks its triplets."

"Could be," said Tom quietly, angry with himself for not catching that!

 Book glanced at him. Something was obviously wrong. "Wanna talk about what ever is eating at you?" he asked in a calm voice.

"NO!" Then, obviously knowing he'd reacted too strongly, Tom said, "No.  I mean, your wife is still able to have your children."

"Ahh," Book said with a grin. "I assume you got the civic obligation lecture then! Let me tell you, both Moses and Daniel were not at all pleased!"

"But it's down the road for them," complained Tom.  "AND none of you belong to the Methos-look alike gene pool."

"And you do," Book said with a nod of his head. "Man, that’s gotta be tough."

"Which means I am DNA non grata!"

"Are you going to have to wait very long before she decides to have another one? Perhaps sooner would be better. That way you won't have to stay away during certain times of the months." Book didn't know it, but he had had hit the nail right on the head.

"True!" said Tom, again a bit too loudly. "But could you send your woman off to  . . . to do it?"

"I don't think any of us will like that part. But the important thing is, I will be the one that Sandi will be coming back to! And as far as I’m concerned, any kid of hers is mine as well!"

Tom was silent as he looked at the scenery rolling by.  It was time to put that aside, and worry about the sheep in trouble.

***

Meanwhile, Wyoming and Noah had arrived safely at the Singing Creek Camp.

The men gathered around as she took the cage out of the cart she had driven there. In it was the eaglet that she and Tom had nursed back to health.

"You have done wonders with him," said Coltec.  "You and Tom, both."

Wy nodded. Coltec had been the one that had found the injured bird and had taken it to them. "It's time for it to learn to be wild again," she explained. "So I brought it back here."

"Well, he looks ready for it!  Come," he said to the others, "let it be free."

One of the women took Noah so that Wy could accompany the others. They took the young eagle to a clearing away from the camp, and with a short ceremonial blessing, released it. As the bird lifted up in the air, Wy's eyes misted. "Fly well," she whispered.

"It is not easy to let go," said Nikan, touching her shoulder gently.  "But he will be better off free."

Wyoming nodded and wiped her eyes dry. "Yes, he will." She turned to look at Nikan. "You know, I don't think I ever told you that I knew who you were the first time I saw you. I had gone to one of the dance performances your group put on. It was wonderful!"

His handsome face blossomed into a smile, but then he toned it down.  "Did you really?  No one else here has ever said they knew me from before."

"It was the one you gave in Hungry Horse, Montana," she said with a grin. "I was doing wildlife research at Glacier National Park at the time."

"Yes," he said, still smiling.  "I remember the show."  He looked her over slowly.  "I should have remembered you!"

Wy threw her head back and laughed. "I was the grubby looking one. I came down out of the mountains just for your show! My grandfather made sure I learned his tribe's dances, but I wanted to see how the ones that you did differed."

"No wonder!  I was wondering how I could have missed such a lovely woman!"

Wyoming looked thoughtful for a minute. She had thought that a man from this camp would be a good choice for the father of her second baby, but had not thought about exactly which one. Perhaps Nikan would be agreeable! She would have to talk to Coltec about it. She knew that Shepherd had spoken to him recently so the shaman was aware of the reproductive situation facing the residents of Edan. Although Native Americans were loyal to their women, Coltec certainly understood Shepherd's concerns.  Inbreeding was not a good thing!

They watched the eagle fly for a while. "He might come back to you for food," she told Coltec, who nodded in understanding. "Can I talk to you for a bit, please?"

Again he nodded.  As they walked away, he said, "You are looking for your next man.”

"Yes," she said in a low voice. "Damn it, this is hard. I'm not married to Tom or anything, but it’s just as if we were. I don't want to hurt him, but at the same time, this needs to be done!"

"Perhaps it is better not told."

She shook her head. "He knows about it. And that he has to stay away from me when I'm fertile. Which pisses him off more than the fact I will be have to be with another man so that I could fulfill this blasted civil obligation!"

Coltec laughed at the indignant look on her face, then explained that he had talked to the men and women of the camp separately about the problem, and than when it came time, he would perform a special ceremony to make it right for all parties concerned.

"Would that make it right with Tom?" she asked.  "Remember, he is not allowed to make any babies!"

"I will talk to him," Coltec said gently. "Perhaps when it is time for you to be with one of our men, Ula or one of the others will make sure that he does not feel neglected."

"I'm ready now," Wy said in a whisper. "Once I'm safely pregnant, Tom won't have to do without." She glanced back at Nikan.

"That is very kind of you," Coltec said.  "You must really love him."  As he spoke, he indicated that she should go ahead of him, into a nearby shelter.

She nodded and went where she was directed. She had no worries about Noah, knowing that her baby would be well taken care of by the other women. The more she thought about it, the more she knew that it was right to do it now instead of dragging out Tom’s agony any longer! Inside the shelter, she knelt down and built up the fire a little bit, wondering what Coltec was doing, and how he was explaining it to Nikan.

A few minutes later he came in, looking excited but contained.  Coltec was behind him.  The two lovers said nothing to one another while the Hayoka blessed their union.

Afterwards, Coltec left, closing the door behind him. "I am honored that you chose me for something as important as this," Nikan said gravely. "And I understand that this may be the only time that I am with you."

"It might not take," she reminded him.  But she was torn about it.  If it happened now, it would be a lot easier on she and Tom!

***

In the meantime, Tom was flat on his side in a bed of straw, trying to undo the tangle of legs and heads inside of the laboring ewe. It was a challenge, that was for sure!

She was not exactly helping, either!  Both Daniel and Book had to help out, holding sharp hooves so he would not get kicked!

Carefully following one tiny leg, he managed to find the other front one that belonged to the same lamb and eased it into position. Once it was clear of the others, the ewe was able to do her job and pop it out!

And once that first one, a rather large male, was born, the others were a breeze to deliver.  Tom mentioned they should name the first one something so they all knew, in the future, which one had caused all the trouble!

"He will be called Hex then," Daniel chuckled. "The ram that sired him was the one that the Campbells had left in the care of Sam Grey."

"I'm glad someone is passing on his genes," Tom said, slightly bitterly.  As he cleaned off himself and the lambs, he asked Daniel, "And you?"

"Not yet," Daniel sighed. "But we are hopeful that it will be soon. You have a good son already, ja?"

"Ya.  I mean, yes.  But he might be the only one I'm allowed."  He threw the towel to the side and began looking over the lambs.  "All look healthy."  Then he checked the ewe.

"I do not care for this *civil obligation*," Daniel said sternly. "It is not right to force good moral women to do this. But from what I understand, once it is done, the women will be able to have as many children as they wish with that man that they are wed to."

"Technically they must have three children by three different men - and by that they cannot be different people but the same DNA.  Then they can do as they please," Tom said.  "But it will always be difficult for me, as so many men are the same as I am!"

"Ja," Daniel said solemnly. "It will be. I do not know if I can do this thing that is asked of us." He shook his head sadly. "Come, Anna has made a good supper. You will join us?"

"Yes I will," said Tom. This time he did not fall in with what he had done the other time.  "And I thank you."  No one mentioned that it might be in payment for the service of delivering the lambs.

"Gut," said Daniel, clapping the vet on the back. "It will be all right, English! Trust in God. He holds us all in his hands, I know!"

***

Under several warm rugs, Wyoming and Nikan snuggled close.  It had started very proper - almost correct.  They had been strangers!  But they were no longer strangers by a long shot!

"Thank you," Wyoming sighed, her fingers stroking his chest. "I'm so glad I chose you. You made what could have been a difficult thing for me to do a lot easier."

"I am honored," he said. "Any man here would have been delighted to have been chosen by you."

Wyoming sighed softly, snuggling closer to him, if that was at all possible. "I want you to name the child," she said. "And he or she will know that you are the father, so don't worry about that!"

Nikan held her tight and kissed the top of her head. "I wasn't worried. But I am concerned that we have not made a child yet. Perhaps we should do it again, just to be sure?" He grinned wolfishly at the naked woman in his arms.

Wy laughed out loud. "Sounds like a good plan to me!" she replied.