Petrichor

Tsmuke

Days turned to weeks, and the five began a steady little routine. 

Jake liked to think of them as the Famous Five. They were books that were hundreds of years old, that had been carried down through his family. His mom used to read them to him and Tommy before bed every night, as her mom did with her, and so on. Jake was gutted that he hadn't brought them with him from Earth, but he'd never thought he'd end up staying on Pandora, never mind having kids. 

So he told stories about the five of them in a similar manner to the books instead. Neteyam and Kiri were still too young to understand, but Leypa hung onto his every word. 

Ilhia and Jake took turns hunting each day. The one left at Hometree was responsible for the kids. As much as she loved the kids, Ilhia loved getting out hunting. The first time she had gone, she only lasted an hour before foraging instead and hurrying home, scared that anything had happened to her babies in the time that she was gone. 

And now Jake didn't even have to push her out of the door. She'd feed the babies in the morning, making sure her breasts weren't painful for the hunt, hug Leypa, kiss Jake and wave goodbye to Mo'at before disappearing for hours at a time. 

She hated the idea of the supplements that Mo'at made in preparation of her being gone for ages. She would much rather breast feed then for it to go to waste. 

There was the odd occasion where she overran lunch time and the babies had already been fed, but she tried to get back in time. The Na'vi children weren't like human ones. She recalled often how Trudy complained that the human child Spider had needed fed every couple of hours, keeping her awake most of the night, until he got a bit older. 

Her children were perfect. Neither of them woke much in the night, only once or twice, and only to get fed. It was a long time between dinner time and breakfast, after all. And there was times where they didn't wake up at all, sleeping soundly all through the night. 

Jake let Ilhia think that. He knew how much she disliked the homemade milk that Mo'at provided, so on the times that she hadn't woken up by the babies' soft cries, he made sure it stayed that way, taking the two out of the room to feed them. He knew she'd never complain at how little sleep she got compared to him, and she never woke him when the babies needed something during the night, so he enjoyed the times that Ilhia slept well, Leypa tucked into her side. 

He'd like to think that he wasn't a heavy sleeper, that his Marine training allowed him to wake as soon as there was disturbance, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. He was turning into a bloody civilian. 

After the hunter brought food home, the carer would start a little fire and cook, while the hunter saw to the kids. 

And then around mid afternoon, they'd all sit down in a circle, Netty and Kiri in little baskets that Tsu'tey had shown Jake how to adjust so they were sitting upright, and have their meal. 

Leypa liked helping to feed the two babies. They were on soft foods, so they didn't get meat or anything, but the foraging was soft enough for them, and they absolutely loved it. 

Kiri would squeal in delight when Leypa put some food into her tiny hands, and Neteyam's eyes would go wide, his little fists dancing about, making the whole basket shake. 

It was the cutest thing their parents had ever seen. 

And while Leypa entertained the two troublemakers, soft words were exchanged between the mated pair. How their morning had gone. If there was any trouble with winding the babies. The local gossip Neytiri had spoken about. How school had been for Leypa. If there was any signs of the demons returning. How green the forest was, how much the wildlife had returned after the battle. How big Spider had gotten, in Jake's case, as he often went to the old base before a hunt to see his former colleages. He swore the boy was one, and Neteyam was already bigger than him. How Tsu'tey had become more reliable on Jake, how Neytiri had become even closer to Ilhia. How Mo'at wiped at her eyes when she thought no one was looking.