Child of the Wild

Chapter Thirteen

I combed Ituha's hair out. She had taken a bath earlier and her hair was still wet. As I continued brushing, Ituha played with her toys.

Once I finished, I braided Ituha's hair and tied it with a piece of twine. I kissed the top of Ituha's head.

I squeezed Ituha's shoulders. "There you go, princess."

Ituha looked over her shoulder at me, smiling. "Thank you, Momma."

I bit my lip, smiling too. "You're welcome, honey."

Ituha got to her feet and rested her arms on my legs, leaning against me. "Can I go play with my friends?"

"Of course, darling," I said. "Be back before dinner, okay?"

Ituha nodded and ran off. I got up and followed her outside. I saw Ituha ran to a group of children. I smiled as she joined their game.

I walked through the village. It was alive with activity. Everyone was outside doing chores and other assorted things. Children ran around and played, giggling as they did so.

I passed through the village. It was quite busy with people walking around. There were chatter and laughter. I came to the center of the village and found Hinto.

Hinto held onto me and smiled at me. "Zitkala!"

Hinto picked me up and spun me around. I laughed and held on tight. Hinto set me down and kissed me hard. He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine.

I smiled. "What was that for?"

"Because I love you, Zitkala."

I laughed. "I love you too, Hinto."

Hinto spun me around and pulled me close. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Zitkala. Please, do me the honors of being with me forever?"

I grinned and held onto Hinto. "I will, Hinto, I will stay."

Hinto tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "I'm glad, Zitkala. You're a great woman."

I ran my hands down Hinto's chest. "I know. You're an amazing man."

"Where's Ituha?" Hinto asked.

"She's playing with her friends," I asked. "Why?"

Hinto just smiled. "I was going to tell her something. Can I talk to you privately?"

I nodded. Hinto and I walked out of the village together. He led me through the trees and we stopped under one.

Hinto held my hands and stood close to me. "I wanted to say, I want to start a family with you, Zitkala. Ever since Ituha joined us, I realized I wanted to start a family with you. You're amazing with Ituha and I know you'll be great with our own kids." Hinto leaned in closer. "I want you to be the mother of my children."

My heart was beating rapidly. "I'm just afraid I won't be a good mother. I don't want to be a bad mother."

Hinto tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. "You'll do fine, Zitkala. I promise. I will do my part of raising the children as well."

I smiled softly and tapped Hinto's nose. "Not too many, okay?"

Hinto smiled and nodded. "Of course. I don't want to put you through that much pain."

"Thank you, Hinto."

Hinto pecked my lips. He placed his hips on my hips. "Do you think we could meet here tonight?"

I knew what he meant by that and I was ready. I wanted to be closer to Hinto and I knew this was a way to do it.

"Yes, we can," I said breathily.

Hinto scanned my face, his eyes remaining on my lips for a second. "I will see you then, my love."

I nodded. We walked back to the village together. When we entered, I kissed Hinto's cheek and headed towards our hut. Ituha was still playing with her friends. When she saw me, Ituha ran up to me. I picked her up and smiled at her.

"Momma, when's dinner?" Ituha asked.

"Soon," I replied. "Don't worry, honey."

"I'm hungry," Ituha said.

I tucked a piece of hair behind her eye. "I know. Dinner won't be too long."

Ituha nodded as she played with a bead necklace. I recognized it as Angeni's, one she wore every day.

"Did you have a fun day?" I asked, walking towards the hut.

Ituha rested her head against my shoulder. "Yeah. I like my friends. They are really fun and play a lot of fun games."

"That's nice," I said as we entered the hut. "Having friends is always great. What's one of your favorite games?"

"We play these sticks and we hit pine cones around," Ituha answered as I set her down by our area. "We hit the pine around and try to get it into a goal. It's really fun."

I sat beside Ituha. "I'm glad you liked it. Do you like playing games like that?"

Ituha nodded. "I like playing games. Did you play games when you were a kid?"

I nodded. "I played lots of games. I traveled a lot when I was younger and I played with whatever kids I met. I played very similar games to you."

"Really?"

I nodded again. "I used to play this game where we'd kick a ball made of deerskin and try to get it in a goal."

Ituha tipped her head to the side. "That sounds fun."

"Maybe I could teach it to you," I said.

Ituha nodded excitedly. "I'd like that."

We talked for a bit longer before dinner was ready. Everyone in the village joined together at the city center.

I sat with the other women and children. The men sat together on the other side large bonfire. I made eye contact with Hinto from the other side of the bonfire. He winked at me from across the way and smirked. I blushed and looked away. I looked back at Hinto and saw him chuckling to himself. This was going to be an interesting night.