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“Matagan is a nice young man,” Ayla said, “and the fur-lined parka with the hood that his h that I will be able to wear it this winter She asked me to visit them after we return this autumn Wasn’t the home of the Fifth Cave the place we passed by on our way here?”

“Yes, it’s upstream on a small tributary of The River Maybe we’ll stop on our way back By the way, I’ with Joharran and several others in a few days Weto make it sound like a normal activity

“I don’t suppose I could go?” Ayla said wistfully

“I’ for a while You know, and Matagan’s accident has erous, especially if you are not quite as fast on your feet as you used to be And after the baby is born, you’ll be busy nursing and caring for it,” Jondalar said

“I hunted after Durc was born One of the other woet back in time to feed him”

“But yo

u weren’t gone for several days at a time”

“No, I just hunted s,” she admitted

“Well, you o out with hunting parties for days at a time Anyway, I’m your mate now It’s my job to take care of you and your children That’s what I promised e mated If a man can’t provide for his mate and her children, what use is he? What’s a man’s purpose if women have children and provide for them, too?” Jondalar said

Ayla had never heard Jondalar talk that way before Did all men feel that way? she wondered Did men need to find a purpose for their existence because they could not have children? She tried to iine hoould feel if it were the other way around, if she could never have a baby and believed her only contribution was to help provide for them She turned to face him

“This baby would not be insideher hands on the bulge below her breasts “This baby is asinside otten started”

“You don’t know that for sure,” he said “You may think so, but no one else does, not even Zelandoni”

The two stood facing each other in the onistic, but with conflicting beliefs Jondalar noticed strands of sun-bleached blond hair had escaped fro across her face in the wind She was barefoot, and her tanned arar loosely down to her knees to protect her body fro Her eyes were deterrily defiant, but she looked so vulnerable His look softened

“It doesn’t matter anyway I love you, Ayla I just want to take care of you and your baby,” he said He reached to enfold her in his arms

“Our baby, Jondalar Our baby,” she said, putting her ar to his bare chest He felt her bare breasts and the bulge of her stolad for both