I Have Crossed the Stars to Find You - BOOK ONE

Chapter 13 - Rush to Court

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Jake

Not even a full week had passed since Rose's permanent transition before she told me that her initiation ceremony would be held in a week's time. Overjoyed but slightly panicked by the announcement, I wasted no time starting to go through the traditional courting rituals. The same day she told me, I spent all night up with Ozue and Ay'u as they helped me weave together a new top for Rose as a courting gift, and despite being completely exhausted the next day it was worth it to see the large smile on her face as she accepted my gift and complimented it. It was woven out of multiple plants, all dark brown in color and mostly soft, and I had added a few extra leaves and even a feather and some small colored beads to finish the look off.

As the week continues on I make sure to always find something to bring back for Rose from my hunts, whether it be a flower that reminded me of her or a little rock that I thought had a neat pattern, I continued to give her little gifts like that for days on end. Yet instead of getting tired or annoyed by it, she accepted them all with a smile and made sure to tell me what she liked about them, her tail swaying around behind her happily as she spoke. As the date of her initiation grew closer I worked carefully on a necklace that I was making her as a final courting gift, spending my mornings hunting, then spending my afternoons with Rose, accompanying her to do her chores or to visit Ninat, Norm, and the babies. It felt like each time we visited, the kids were getting bigger, though Ninat assured us that it was just because we only spent time with them once every few days rather than being with them at every moment. After spending my time with Rose I would then go back to my home pod and work on the necklace some more, before getting some sleep and waking up again before dawn to go on another hunt and continue the cycle.

Despite my blatantly obvious courting of Rose, I still often saw other unmated men try to court her, offering her gifts that she would always politely refuse to accept. That always brought a smile to my face and made me subconsciously puff out my chest in pride, knowing that she was turning them down because I was already courting her and the fact alone that she accepted the courting meant I more than likely had a really good chance at becoming her mate after her initiation. The week continued on smoothly, with Rose spending her mornings still taking lessons with Ozue and Neytiri while I was gone on my hunts. The night before her initiation finally arrived and I cursed to myself quietly as I carried back the two large Yerik I had caught that day to New Hometree, hoping Rose wouldn't be upset that I had accidentally spent all day hunting and was undoubtedly late for the party the clan was holding for her tonight. I made it back home and quickly gutted, skinned, and cleaned my kills before storing them away with the rest of the meat and going and cleaning myself off quickly in a bathing pool.

Once I was all cleaned up I ran to my home pod and retrieved the finished necklace I had made for Rose before heading down to the ground floor where the celebration was being held. I searched eagerly through the crowd for her before calming as my eyes settled on her seated along the fire with Ninat and Ozue, holding Camael with her head cradled against the side of her neck, the little girl's hands fisted tightly on the top of Rose's chest beads, dozing away softly despite the noise around her. Mikayo was being held by his mother where she was seated next to Rose while his slightly older brother, Tarshim, was held by their other auntie, Ozue, on the other side of Ninat, both of them wide awake and looking around while being cradled gently in the women's arms. I carefully made my way over to the women and leaned down to kiss the top of Rose's head when I reached her, reaching down to gently smooth down Camael's bed-head hair without waking her, cooing softly as she made a quiet noise in her sleep. Looking to Rose's face to see her already smiling up at me, I hold my hands out towards the baby girl in her arms and smile wide when she nods and gently transfers Camael over to me. I gently cradled her against my chest with both hands before sitting next to Rose and turning, laying backwards so my head was in her lap, the baby still cradled to my chest. Rose began to stroke her fingers through my hair and I let out a quiet purr, the noise slowly waking up Camael but instead of starting to cry she just watched me, giggling quietly when I realized she was awake and looked down at her.

Camael gently gripped onto my braids that laid across my shoulders and waved them around excitedly for a moment before managing to scoot herself upwards a bit until she could rest her head in the crook of my neck, and within a few minutes she was once again out like a light, my purring now soothing her rather than startling her.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Rose

I continued gently scratching at Jake's scalp as he slowly closed his eyes and began to relax, eventually falling asleep but still managing to keep a firm hold on the child in his arms so he didn't drop her. I was smiling down at the pair of them when I heard Ninat speak up from beside me, also watching Jake and her daughter as she spoke, "He'll make a fine father." Just the thought causes my breath to stutter for a moment and my heart began to hammer in my chest as Ozue responded to Ninat's statement with a noise of agreement. With a soft chuckle after a moment, I sighed quietly and looked down at Jake and Camael, unable to prevent the nervous and excited leap in my stomach as I responded to what my friends had said, "He will made a good one, I'm sure of it." Both Ninat and Ozue 'aww'd when Jake nuzzled his head up against my hand in his sleep, his purring growing louder as he does so, just pulling a quiet giggle from me in response as I start scratching a specific spot behind one of his ears, having to put my free hand over my mouth to muffle my laughing as he nuzzles more aggressively against my hand.