Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 63: brought to you by boobs

And somewhere, the line 'I like you just the way you arrrrre' from that Billy Joel song is sung, quickly interrupted by said person making their best intimation of the sax solo. You know: do do do dooooo do do do DO DO, do do do dooooo do do do DO DO.

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Contrary to popular belief, sleeping while being carried is not that most comfortable thing in the world. Unless you're as small and exhausted as Sky, she supposed, and snuggled up against Mom's squishy breasts.

Shay did manage an hour or so of dozing before sleep evaded her. Even so, Curtis continued to carry her, using Sky as one of the many excuses to not let Shay down to travel herself. The other being that they could travel much faster without having to wait on her.

Looking back at the dragging Muir and her struggling sons, however, she came to the conclusion that she would need to walk at some point no other reason than to force the others to give the poor laggers a breather. When she expressed their concerns, they all simply told her "They're males, they need to be pushed," and "The boys are too fat from winter anyways."

The other two girls were carried along in their own separate bags slung along with many over Curtis's shoulders.

"How are they?" she asked sometime late in the morning.

"They've stopped whining about being itchy, so they've probably already started to shed."

Sky stirred, squinting out through scarlet lashes.

"Brie," she hissed, putting a little hand over her eyes.

"You can sleep more if you want, baby," said Shay, stroking the soft, silky head.

"Ma ma," she closed her eyes at the touch.

"She seems to understand common well enough," said Curtis, glancing down then back up to make sure he kept up with the fast pace of the others. "But she has yet to use any hard sounds. Consonants, you called them?"

"Wow, excellent memory. Though it's amazing she can do this month. In my world, children don't learn how to speak even this much until they're two years old, sometimes three."

Curtis frowned. "That seems unhealthy. How do you even take care of children like that."

"It's not that strange," Ryan trotted at their sides, barely winded despite having jogged since they started out. "Female cubs here are the same. No matter their tribe."

"Yet even more reason they're so precious. Who would want to waste all that effort in raising something?"

"When they're babies they are utterly helpless. Can't move themselves, can't manage their own wastes, they can't even chew. They have to be nursed by their mothers for up to a year, at least."

Curtis looked just shy of horrified.

"Is that all children in your world?" he asked Shay.

"Yep."

Curtis shook his head, flabbergasted. "And you said children were a joy."

Shay rolled her eyes. "I'm a lot of care and work, but am I a pain to have?"

"But a child like that--"

"Taking care of someone is how you learn to love them," said Ryan. "At least, that's what my mother told me."

"You took care of them while teaching them to hunt, didn't you?" asked Shay.

Still, Curtis wrinkled his nose.

"I suppose it's something one must experience to understand," he said.

"Well, it isn't that hard," said Shay, smiling. "Babies in my world are adorable! Tiny hands and tiny feet and little baby noises." She squealed.