Page 9 of Cozy Prisons
“If you wanted it, you could have the entire cake,” Grace said. “Without you, there would be no cake because there wouldn’t be a Maeve.”
Water gathered in Grace’s eyes, and Daxus had a panicked moment. Liquid leaking from humans’ eyes was never a good thing! Should he get Healer Falkilm or pick Grace up and carry her next door to the medical building?
Holding the cake out of the way, Nataly leaned close and gave Grace a one-armed hug. “You did all the hard work, all I did was say a few words.”
Grace sniffed and hugged Nataly back. “You know you did way more than that.”
It appeared this eye water was emotional, not physical. Daxus relaxed a little, thankful he hadn’t given in to the impulse to rush Grace to Falkilm.
“I really didn’t,” Nataly demurred, pulling out of the hug. “Now stop those tears before one of the Talins panics!”
Grace gave a watery laugh. “The next thing I know, I’ll be spending the night in the medical building. I’d much rather enjoy the party.”
Nataly chuckled. “I bet Merrick and Maeve prefer that too.”
Daxus couldn't help himself, he had to ask. “What did Nataly do? How did she make it so Maeve is here?”
Nataly huffed. “I already said, I didn’t do anything.”
“She saved my life,” Grace countered, turning her full attention to him. “And that meant she saved Maeve’s life too.”
It seemed she was eager to share despite Nataly’s shake of the head, so he encouraged Grace. “How did she do that?”
“You’ve heard how bad it was on Dandilow II, right?” Grace asked, then continued when Daxus sounded an affirmative rumble. “When we got there, I basically lost all hope. I knew I was pregnant, but I gave up. I stopped eating, moving, or talking. I wanted to die.”
“You were a little depressed,” Nataly interrupted. “All you needed was someone to talk you out of it.”
“This wasn’t a little depression,” Grace said firmly. “I’d lost my home, most of my possessions, and Merrick. I thought I wanted to die. You lay down with me and talked. Every free moment when you could be resting, you poured yourself into me. You described a future without hunger or pain. A place where we’d besafe and my daughter could grow up with all the resources a little girl might need.”
“That was a good way to urge you out from under your sorrow,” Daxus said. Looking at Nataly, he sounded an approving rumble. “You should be commended for your loyalty and dedication.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Grace said, with far more conviction than he thought the moment warranted. “She described this place. She talked about a village of little round houses surrounded by unbelievably tall trees. The forest didn’t have much except for the trees because they blocked so much light. Everything she described came true.”
Daxus sounded a rumble of amusement. “There are a lot of places that could fit that description. Forests with tall trees and mountains aren’t uncommon. And many species use the round style of prefabricated colony homes.”
Grace grinned up at him. “I guess, but then she told me about Maeve. She described my unborn child as if she’d already met her. Hazel eyes, light brown hair, a button nose, and the birthmark on the back of her left leg. She gave me so many details that I could picture Maeve. That’s the reason I started eating and moving again, I wanted to meet my baby. That’s all Nataly’s doing.”
“How interesting,” Daxus said, unsure how else to respond. He didn’t believe Nataly had any supernatural powers to predict the future. He also understood that there could be instances where individuals could predict patterns with a seemingly preternatural accuracy. Imagination and false memories easily explained the rest.
“I can tell you don’t believe me,” Grace said, with a little dismissive wave of her hand. “You don’t have to; Nataly will prove it to you.”
“No, I won’t be proving anything,” Nataly said. She handed the plate to Daxus then grabbed Grace by the shoulders and turned her around. “You need to save Merrick.”
They all looked over to the head of the table to see Merrick half laughing, half grimacing as Maeve tried to smoosh cake into his mouth and got it all over his face.
“More, Papa!” Maeve chortled as she reached for another handful of cake. “More burthdas cakes!”
“Oh good lord,” Grace muttered as she hurried off. “Everyone’s going to need to use the cleansing unit later!”
“Her speech isn’t very clear,” Daxus noted as Grace got close enough for Maeve to get her with a bit of cake. He hadn’t interacted with Maeve much. She was so tiny and delicate. He had the irrational worry that looking at her too hard might hurt her.
“Their nutrition was so bad the last few months that they were on Dandilow II that it stunted Maeve’s development a little,” Nataly explained. “But the healer on Progress said she wasn’t far below the normal developmental range. She could grow up to have only slight or no issues.”
“Even if there are deficits, she’ll never want for anything among us,” Daxus assured her.
She looked up at him with a smile so bright it lit up her eyes. The sight made his breath catch.
“That’s why I don’t care if we have to pretend to be pets,” she murmured. “Because without the Talins, Maeve would never get to grow up at all.”
