Reason to Celebrate
By Donna and Abby

A soft blanket of white snow covered the area surrounding the Singing Creek Camp as Duncan MacLeod and his family made their way along the now well traveled path that led there. They had been invited to attend a special celebration to be held at the Camp’s long house. Duncan’s old friend, Coltec, had decided to take one of the native women that had been rescued from the evil ones as his mate!

As they rode into the camp, Sarah Jo looked around. Most of the camp lived in lodges of various shapes and sizes now, but they were built so that they blended into the natural surroundings. If it wasn’t for the thin wisps of smoke drifting up from the lodges, and the tracks made by people walking through the snow, it would be difficult to tell that there was a small
community of people living there! 

“Glad you made it,” Black Wolf MacLeod said as he stepped out to take care of the cart. 

"How could I stay away?" asked his look-alike. Then, smiling at his oversight, he amended, "How could *we* stay away." Looking down, he smiled fondly at his wife.

Sarah Jo laughed. “He just wants to show off the kids,” she said as climbed down from the cart. “And I haven’t had a chance to come out here before!”

"Well, I hope you like it here," said a voice from one of the lodges. Shiloh, heavy with child, was standing in her doorway, smiling at the newcomers. Her son, Montana, ran out from behind her. He was just over a year and a half, and nothing stopped him!

Duncan and Sarah Jo’s son, Joshua, squirmed from his father’s grip and ran to go play with Montana. “I like it already,” Sarah Jo said with a smile. “Makes me feel like I’m at home in the mountains again.”

She then noticed another cart, and recognized it. Smiling, she waited for Robert Helm to come out of the lodge, too. He must have come to check Shiloh.  "Remember what I said," he told the mother to be in passing, then smiled at Sarah. "And how are we today?"

Sarah Jo patted her belly. “We are doing just fine, Doc! Are you staying for the celebration?” 

"I'd like to, but I need to get back," he apologized. "Riva's actually experiencing some fatigue and morning sickness, and with our houseful of kids, she needs all the help she can get!"

“Been there, done that. Give her a hug for me then,” Sarah Jo said, smiling as she saw her husband coming back, a wiggling boy held football style under each arm. Helm chuckled at the sight and then with a grin, ruffled the hair of the smiling little girl Sarah Jo was holding.

“Katherine is here too with all her family,” Black Wolf told Sarah Jo as he returned from putting the MacLeod’s horse in a small corral behind the lodges. She is with Little Deer right now. Everyone else is in the long house, placing wagers on who is going to go first, Shiloh or my woman!” 

"I'd say it is a near thing. They're both close, and they've both had children before. But my professional opinion is Shiloh." And, with that, Helm got into his cart to leave.

Sarah Jo looked at Shiloh and laughed. “Another birth would give us even more reason to celebrate!” Still chuckling, they all headed into the long house, which was almost filled to capacity. Everywhere the nurse looked, there were babies and young children! 

“Lord ha’ mercy,” she giggled, lapsing back into a deep southern accent. “Your blessings are sure ‘nuf overflowing here!”

"That they are," said Shiloh, who was a little winded from the walk. Besides Montana, she and her mate, Buck Cross, had adopted a little boy named Elsu. 
Right now, Elsu was sitting on Buck's lap. Montana had not wanted to leave his mother alone with Helm, so they'd let him stay behind while the exam went on.

“And I think that is wonderful!” came a familiar voice from behind them as Katherine and Little Deer entered the crowded lodge. A young girl squealed with delight when she saw her mother and ran to her.

“I gots a pretty!” Doireann said proudly. “Unkie Trapper gave it to me!” 

Katherine knelt down and examined the bead necklace that was around the curly haired girl’s neck. “It is indeed a very nice pretty, Dorie,” she said as she hugged her first born. “Did you thank Uncle Trapper?”

“Oopsie,” Doireann giggled. “I forgot, Mumsie! I go do it now.” She twirled around and raced back to where Trapper Connor was talking to his modern self. 

As the child ran off, Coltec got up to bring everyone's attention to the proceedings. Shiloh and Little Deer needed extra help to get into seats, and
mothers collected their little ones as quickly as they could.

“All my relatives,” he said, holding out his arms to embrace them all within a collective embrace. “Thank you for sharing this moment with me. It has been a long time since I have taken a wife.” He looked at Dyani, who was smiling proudly.

“Your mother is a very special woman,” Coltec said solemnly. “Bring her to me, so that I may wrap my blanket around her.” Dyani nodded, and leaving her twin boys with her mate, left to go fetch the bride-to-be, who was waiting behind a room divider made of reeds.

Wenonah did look an awful lot like her daughter. She had been enslaved by Koren and his men, and then deemed worthy to be traded off to others when Bub wanted them to give back three women. Of the other two, one was saved from the Evil Forces, but the other was still in enemy hands. 

The experience had been terrible for her, but now that she had been safely reunited with her daughter and the other two young women who had escaped the raid on their former home, Wenonah was indeed a very happy
woman. She would have been happy just to help raise her grandchildren, but to her surprise, she and Coltec had formed a close bond during her time in the camp. And now, dressed in a beautifully beaded buckskin dress, she was about to become his mate.

Dyani watched proudly as her mother took her place by the Holy Man's side. She was happier than she could ever have hoped for, now it was her mother's turn!

The ceremony itself was simple but beautiful. First the couple exchanged gifts. Coltec gave Wenonah one of the large, turkey like birds, symbolizing that he was capable of providing food for her. Wenonah then presented him with some cornbread, a pot of stew and a pair of moccasins, showing that she could cook for him and take care of his lodge. Once this was done, Chief
Joseph Two Feathers stood up with his mate, Mika, each one of them holding a bowl of water. The couple then washed their hands, thus removing any bad memories and the pull of any old relationships. Once that was done,
Coltec wrapped a blanket around him and Wenonah, showing all those gathered in the long house that she was now his wife. 

Those gathered applauded politely, and then got up to wish the happy couple well. The women then excused themselves and went to get food for the feast. Shiloh and Little Deer were permitted to sit if they wanted.

Soon, the feast was in full swing. But it was quickly noticed that Shiloh wasn’t eating anything! Katherine made her way over to her and with a smile, sat down beside her. “You will be going to the birthing lodge soon, won’t you?” she asked quietly. 

"I fought a little with Doctor Helm about it," she admitted. "He said it was early labor, and it could  be hours or maybe even tomorrow. But it's picked up since the ceremony. I think I may need help getting there."

Katherine nodded, then helped Shiloh to her feet. Sarah Jo immediately appeared beside them. “Need any help?” she asked.

“Since you asked,” Katherine chuckled, “I won’t turn it down.” As the three women made their way out of the long house, Mika met them at the door. 

“Keep an eye on Little Deer,” the midwife told her. “She looked like she could go into labor at any time herself!” 

"We're lucky to have so many women who know about childbirth," said Shiloh as they helped her out. "Doctor Helm was not going to go, but I told him you
both would be here, as well as Mika. He is worried about Riva, because fae usually do not have morning sickness."

“I know,” Katherine said softly as they slowly made their way to the birthing lodge. “Lucinda is keeping a close eye on her.”

By the time they got there, it was obvious that it wouldn’t be much longer. As Katherine got Shiloh settled, Sarah Jo built up the embers of the fire that
someone had started there earlier in the day and got some water to heat up over the fire.

“Coltec will remember this day always,” Katherine chuckled. “His first child will be born the same day as he took a new wife!” 

"I don't want to take his attention away from Wenonah, or to get in her way at all," said Shiloh tiredly.  The last contraction had been very hard on her.

“That was very kind of you,” Sarah Jo said with a smile as she handed the laboring woman some water to sip on. “You have two boys already. Do you want a girl this time?”

"I want - - I want to push!" she gasped suddenly. She really only wanted a healthy baby, but had not had time to say it.

Katherine and Sarah Jo helped her up and over to the birthing stool, where after several good hard pushes, Shiloh gave birth to what she knew in her heart was a very special child.

“It’s a lovely little girl,” chuckled the midwife as the baby slid into her waiting hands, loudly proclaiming her opinion about the indignity of birth. 

Shiloh was happy. Like they had said, she had two boys already! But she hadn't wanted to hope for anything special. She only hoped Coltec would like
her. "I will call her Kamali, because her father is a Holy Man."

“That is a lovely name,” Sarah Jo said with a happy grin as she watched Katherine clean the baby up and then wrap her up in a warm blanket. “What does it mean?”

"It means 'Spirit Guide'," said Shiloh as she took and cuddled her newborn. Just then, Coltec arrived to see the child.

“It is a good name,” he said with a smile, crossing over to Shiloh’s side. Taking the baby from her, he took her outside, and conducted a short ritual before returning her to Shiloh. 

“Thank you,” he said as he handed her back. “I can not tell you how much this means to me.” Shiloh looked up at him, surprised to see tears of joy running down his face.

"Now there is room for your wife to give you a son," she smiled, happy that it had turned out this way.  She got her little girl, and Wenonah still had the
chance of producing a son for him.

“Yes,” Coltec said. “By the way, right as I was heading out the door to come check up on you, Little Deer went to her lodge. It looks like she will be having her baby sometime tonight as well! You women sure know how to keep things lively!” He gently touched his daughter’s head, and then slipped out of the lodge, his heart full.

“When it rains, it pours,” Katherine chuckled, shaking her head. 

By the time the sun rose the next morning, Little Deer had given birth to another healthy little girl, who she named Ehawee, or “laughing maiden”. Her mate had been grumbling that he had lost a bet he had made with Trapper about who would give birth first, she or Shiloh, and it had made her laugh so hard that her water had broken! 

And of course, with two births to celebrate as well as a mating ceremony, the party continued well into the next day!