Chapter 25

Cobweb awoke amid the golden glow of mid-morning sunlight, just passed over the trees and streaming through the windows onto the bed. It reminded him of the way it had been the morning after Swift had delivered Opal.

Lying there, he felt warm and lazy, knowing that it was half-way to lunchtime but also that it didn't matter. He turned onto his side knowing exactly what he would see, what he gotten used to seeing and what he hoped to see for many years to come: Lisia in bed beside him.

Observing Lisia's still-sleeping face, Cobweb considered the knowledge that couldn't help but be uppermost in his mind. His thoughts had turned it round and round all night long, even in his dreams. Twenty years earlier Cobweb would never had believed what had come to pass: he was going to be a father.

No one else would have believed it either -- not anyone in Galhea, not even Swift, and certainly not Terzian. Finally distant enough to consider such matters, Cobweb found himself wondering what Terzian would think of this new Cobweb, if he knew. Terzian had been so very sure of himself, so very strong, and so very ouana. Despite the inherent wariness with which he had treated his consort, Terzian had thought that Cobweb was soume through and through. Cobweb had been given a role and they had both believed it. Now, one arm draped over Lisia's chest, he knew he had discarded that role and take up one of his own: he was Cobweb. Period.

Lisia finally stirred, his eyelids fluttering. "Good morning," he whispered, reaching to stroke Cobweb's arm.

Cobweb propped himself up on one elbow and looked down at his chesnari. "Good morning," he said.

"How do you feel?" was not a question he needed to ask out loud; through their bond they both knew: Lisia felt wonderful, the best, the happiest, he had felt in years.

Fifteen minutes later, they were descending the staircase arm in arm, robed and ready for breakfast. Stepping into the dining room, they found it empty except for the cooling remains of breakfast. Swift had spied them from the hall, however, and soon he came into the room, Opal following close on his heels.

"So, I see you two are finally up," Swift remarked. "Want me to pour this coffee?"

Cobweb nodded even as he pulled out a chair and gestured for Lisia to take a seat. "Thanks. Yes, Swift I know we're a bit late."

"Well, that's all right, you can do what you want of course, although I wonder how you two all of a sudden got so tired." Swift plopped down in chair and took a bit of bread. "We came back last night around 9 and Morro told us you'd gone to bed 'hours ago.' Funny, you didn't seem that tired at dinner."

Cobweb settled into a chair and shrugged, taking the coffee cup. "Yes, we went to bed early -- unexpectedly."

Lisia, spreading the jam on cold toast, was smirking. "Swift, perhaps we should really let you know... You may be encountering more 'unexpected' behavior from your hostling and me. And I might be sleeping more."

"You see," Cobweb explained, "Lisia's hosting."

"Hosting!" Swift exclaimed. "That's wonderful! By Aghama, how long?"

"Since last night," Lisia replied.

Swift looked over to his hostling. "Congratulations." He was surprised but certainly pleased. "Wow. So you feel all right, Lis?"

"Oh, yes, I feel wonderful, like I'm glowing inside and out."

"I felt the same way," Swift said, taking another piece of bread. "It's a beautiful feeling."

For a couple of minutes none of them spoke, not even Opal, who Swift had put down to play under the table. Lisia was making a great fuss of loading up toast with jam, so much so that Swift and Cobweb ended up eyeing him. "Hungry, Lis?" Cobweb asked.

"Hmmmph," Lisia attempted to reply, swallowing down his last biteful. "Yes. Didn't finish dinner last night, remember?"

In the meantime Opal poked his head up, bored and wondering what was going on. Swift pulled him into his lap. "Well, Opal, it seems there's going to be another harling in the house."

The harling's grey eyes opened wide. "Another little harling? A brother?"

"Yes, a little harling." Swift gave his child a hug. "He won't be your brother, but your... Well, I'm not sure what he'll be but we'll call him your brother probably. Your grandhosting is the father and Lisia is the hostling."

Opal, always affectionate towards Lisia, popped out of Swift's lap and scampered over. "You're going to make a pearl?"

"Yes, Opal, I am. But I can still play with you." He winked. No doubt about it, Lisia was, as he'd said himself, feeling wonderful. Hosting had almost always been a joy to him and now it was again, only more than ever before.

From that day forward, Lisia was a different har or least, he was a changed har. The changes were for the better. Being chesna had already transformed him, but being a hostling again was something else altogether. For Lisia, it was a time he had looked forward to for years in the secret corners of his heart and one he seemed determined to treasure.

Cobweb did all he could to treasure the experience along with him. Two weeks into the hosting, when Lisia announced that he was beginning to be able to feel the pearl, Cobweb lay down with him in the dark quiet of their room. Pressing ever so carefully with his hands, he probed until at last he found the spot on Lisia's abdomen that was a little harder than the rest.

"Am I hurting you?" Cobweb asked.

"No, not at all."

"Can I try talking with it?"

His chesnari now nodded, smiling. Cobweb let his hand rest on the spot and for a few minutes, he spoke to the pearl with his mind, or at least he projected his thoughts in the pearl's direction. He wanted the pearl to feel loved and comforted, connected to his father and hostling from the very beginning.

"I can feel it working," Lisia murmured. "The pearl... I think it's happy. I'm not quite sure, but I think I can sense that. I never really could feel such things the other times."

After that, talking to the pearl became a regular ritual. They tried it different places, from out in the fields to in the bathtub. Half-way through term, Cobweb had his hand over the pearl when he felt something he had never felt before.

"Oh, Lis, it's--"

"Moving," Lisia finished, whispering. Instinctively, both of them kept very still, feeling for more moments. It was a long minute or two, but finally there it came again, faint but very real. Their son was real and coming.

Four weeks later, they met him, or least they met his pearl.