by Leah Matheny
“Wow!” She looked at me. “Are there any more like these two?” She was shaking her head.
Thinking of Kosumi, I laughed. “Believe it or not, yes.”
We never heard from Karen and Liwanu the next day. That night I took Honon to the movies. When the screen lit up, I felt him push back in his seat. I had a blast showing him new things.
The next day was a work day. “What are you going to do while I’m at work?” I asked him. “Luckily my shifts are only eight hours now.”
“I don’t know, maybe I’ll walk around. I’d like to spend some time on the internet you showed me. I want to research more Miwok history.”
“That’s good. I’ll check into the childbirth classes at work today. You still want to do that?”
He looked at me. “That’s the class so I can be with you when you have our baby?”
I nodded, “Yeah.”
“Then yes, I want to take the class.”
I hated leaving for work and Honon didn’t make leaving any easier for me. He kissed me until I forgot all else--almost. “Honon, please stop. I have to go. I’ll be back in about nine hours, tops.” I pulled myself out of his arms and left the house. Damn, it was going to be a long day.
I got to work just in time. During my break I handed in my notice. A couple of the nurses came up to me and asked me what had happened on Monday. Others wanted to know if that “tall hunk” was the father of my baby. Some wanted to know if that “Adonis” had a brother; I laughed at that one. We were so busy I didn’t even have time to talk to Karen, other than for her to tell me she’d dropped Liwanu off at my house.
“Okay, I’ll take him back to your place when I get home.” When I left, she was still working. I was asked if I could stay late, but luckily I had an excuse. “Sorry, doctor’s orders, I can’t work over eight hours.” I couldn’t wait to get home to Honon.
When I walked in the door, he rushed over to me and picked me up. “Come, cujcuje, I’ll give you your bath.”
I laughed, “I could get used to this.” I looked around the room, “Where’s Liwanu?”
“He walked back to Karen’s.” He kissed me on the way to the bathroom.
“Oh, there’s a childbirth class this Saturday.” He didn’t respond--at least, not to my statement.
Later that night while we were making something to eat, I was thinking about my return to the village. “Honon? I know when I left the village the plan was to tell everyone I’d been killed by an animal. How’re we going to explain my reappearance?”
“We came up with a plan before we left, I’ll just have to change the story a little. When Liwanu returns, he’ll tell them we found you out hunting, you’d been living in a cave. You were pregnant and sick, too weak to travel. And that I’ll be staying with you until the baby is born and you are healthy.”
“What if they want to send the midwife or medicine man to help me? Or someone, like your mother, wants to come to me.”
“Dani, my mother knows the truth,” he said with a little laugh.
“Oh, that’s right.” I hit my forehead with the heel of my hand and felt stupid.
“My father will say no one can leave. He wouldn’t want to infect the whole village.”
“Speaking of Liwanu…are you sure he wants to return right away?” I was hoping he could stay. I’m pretty sure that something was going on with him and Karen.
He looked at me blankly. “I’ve asked him to go. Why wouldn’t he?”
“Oh, I’m sure he’ll go because you asked him. But, he may not want to leave yet. I think he finally found someone who wants to be with him…Karen.”
“Hmm, I thought I sensed something there. Well, he’ll just take her back with him. This is good.” He smiled.
My eyes and mouth popped open and I shook my head. “Oh no, he can’t just take her…not unless she wants to be taken. He better not force her. I need to talk to her.” I got up and left a message on her cell. “Karen, I need to talk to you, it’s important.” I turned back to Honon, “You don’t think he’d just leave without saying anything, do you?”
“I don’t think he’d leave without seeing me again first. No.” He shook his head but looked a little doubtful. I paced around, thinking. Honon kept asking me to come to bed. He finally picked me up and gave me something else to think about.
The phone rang a little later. “Karen!” I dove for the phone. “Karen, is that you?”
“Yes. Is the baby okay?” She said in a rush.
“No, yes, the baby and I are fine. Are you at home?” I asked and she said she was. “What’s up with you and Liwanu?”
“That’s the emergency? Are you crazy?” She said with a raised voice.
“I’m sorry.” I explained what Honon and I had been talking about. “Well, if he hadn’t already taken you, then I thought I’d better warn you.” She couldn’t see me shrugging my shoulders.
Karen laughed. “What would he do, carry me unconscious on an airplane?” She laughed again. “He’s leaving in a couple of days. We’re just enjoying each other’s company right now.”
I wondered if Liwanu felt the same way and hoped he wouldn’t get hurt.
On Saturday, we went to the childbirth class. While they showed the movie of a live birth, I watched Honon sitting there with his stone face. During our lunch break he didn’t say much to me. “Honon, are you okay? Do you think you’ll be able to do this?”
He looked at me in astonishment. “Me…you’re wondering about me? What about you, how do women survive that?”
I held his hands. “So you weren’t with Kaliska when…during her time? Aren’t husbands there for support?”
He shook his head. “No. That’s for women.” Luckily the rest of the class wasn’t so graphic. When we went to the nursery, he was surprised to see so many babies at once. We saw a couple of the nurses I work with and one wanted to know if Honon and I were going to get married. That stumped me, I hadn’t even thought of it. I looked at Honon.
“If you must know, we’ll get married when we return to my family.” He said with one eyebrow raised, the look stopping any further questions. Honon saw my discomfort. Once we got home, he pulled me onto his lap. “Dani, you do want to get married don’t you?”
“Yes! I really hadn’t thought about marriage before. But now…I guess…I wish Karen and Tamara could be there.”
Honon sat down. “Well, we could get married here. And once we get back home we can get married the Miwok way. Okay?”
I called Tamara and told her what we wanted to do. “You can have a ceremony, but it wouldn’t be official. Honon would need to show ID for you to get a marriage license. I’ve been deputized to perform marriages, so I could marry you. Would that be enough for you?”
“Yes, I only care about you and Karen anyway. Liwanu is going to be leaving next Wednesday. How about we have the ceremony Tuesday evening?” I asked. Tamara said she could be there. I called Karen again and told her that we were planning to have the ceremony after dinner. She wanted to know if I wanted to invite people from work. “No, I just want you and Tamara. Besides, I’m going to want to take the day off and I’ll need to look for someone to cover for me.”
The next two days at work were long and drawn out. I found myself thinking about my wedding, my parents, Karen and Tamara. I was already missing them. Twice I was found crying.
On Tuesday morning, I woke to Honon’s kisses. “Good morning, cujcuje. Are you ready for your wedding?”
I smiled and stretched.
“Are there any traditions you have?” He asked me.
I thought about it. “Well the father of the bride is supposed to ‘give her away.’ I guess I could have Liwanu do that. Since Tamara is marrying us, I can have Karen be my Maid of Honor. Normally we’d exchange rings, but I guess we can’t do that since we can’t go back with rings on. Hmm…I’d normally hold a bouquet of flowers. That’s really it.” I rolled him onto his back and sat on his lap. “The fun tradition is the honeymoon.” I wa
tched his sexy smile move into place.
“And what’s a honeymoon?”
I bent down to kiss his chest. “That’s where the newlyweds go off to be by themselves and celebrate their marriage.” I moved down and kissed his stomach.
“And how do they celebrate?” He asked with a husky voice.
“Any way they want,” I said as I moved lower.
At about ten o’clock, Honon came to me and said he had to go out to get something he needed. “I’ll be right back.”
A few hours later I heard him return and went to look for him. He was just closing the closet door when I walked in. “What’ve you been doing?”
“Nothing, just walking around,” he smiled and went to sit down at the computer.
Chapter 16
Tamara showed up by four-thirty and she had a bouquet of flowers and a veil for me to wear. I laughed. “You want me to wear this?”
She nodded and I gave her a big hug. “Thank you…for the flowers and the veil.”
I put the flowers in water to keep them fresh and I made some appetizers. “Here are some munchies. Honon’s in the shower, Karen isn’t due until eight, and Liwanu should be here around five.”
Tamara’s eyes suddenly flew wide open and she choked on her wine. I went over and patted her on the back, and my different viewpoint showed me the source of her shock.
“Cujcuje, do you have anything to eat? I’m starving.” Honon was standing there with his wet hair and body, and only a towel wrapped low around his waist. I smiled and brought a tray of cheese and crackers to him. “Here, why don’t you take this into the bedroom with you so TamTam can catch her breath,” I grinned.
He looked over at Tamara, who was still coughing a little bit, and then he looked back at me. He leaned down to lick my lips. “Yes, cujcuje.”
A simple look, two words, and a touch--I was ready and melted against him. He gave a knowing smile and cocked his head toward Tamara. I sighed, stood straight, and turned around.
Tamara was shaking her head. “Dani, you are one lucky lady. Hey, what’s he calling you?”
“Cujcuje? It means: Something that tastes sweet.” I don’t know why I blushed.
After Honon came back out, I went in to shower and get dressed. I’d wanted something pretty to put on besides maternity clothes, but I figured he wouldn’t care what I was wearing.
I was just putting the last of the food on the table when Karen showed up. Liwanu picked her up and carried her back outside and shut the door. We all heard something slam against the door and a few minutes later they came back in again. Karen’s hair was mussed, her lips looked swollen, and her eyes were kind of glazed too. I couldn’t tell anything from Liwanu’s expression.
“Damn, I’m going to have to go home and take a cold shower,” Tamara grumbled.
Honon was barefoot and kept playing with my feet and legs during dinner. Karen spent the first part of dinner mooning over Liwanu; you could feel the tension between them. As soon as we finished eating, Tamara stood up. “Come on, let’s get this ball rolling. I’m starting to feel like a fifth wheel here.”
I went to grab the flowers while Tamara brought the veil to me. She also put a turquoise bracelet on my wrist. “This is something borrowed and something blue,” she said as she gave me a big hug.
“Is everyone ready?” Tamara had me stand in the hallway with Liwanu and they all stood at the opposite side of my living room. Karen started dum-dum-da-dumming “The Bridal March” and I took hold of Liwanu’s arm to walk forward. Tamara asked, “Who gives away this bride?” Liwanu said that he did and he handed me over to Honon.
Honon lifted my veil. “I want to see you completely.” I could see his dimple. I loved his smile.
Tamara got to the part in the ceremony about the rings and I rapidly shook my head. “No rings, remember?”
She still said to Honon, “Repeat after me, with this ring I thee wed.” Honon took hold of my left hand and slipped a gold band around my finger. A ring. I looked up at him. “Honon?” He just smiled at me and finished repeating his vows. Tamara turned to me and said the same thing. “Repeat after me, with this ring I thee wed.” I started to shake my head, but I felt Honon slip something into my hand; I looked and saw a ring. I put the ring on his finger and finished my vows--barely; my voice was shaking. We were in each other’s arms before Tamara pronounced us man and wife.
Karen was crying. “That was beautiful. I wish we had movies of it.” We all hugged.
“Well, it’s getting late and I have a feeling you two want to start the honeymoon,” Tamara said while grabbing her purse. She looked over at Karen and Liwanu. “And you two need to get a room. Goodnight all,” she said as she walked out the door with a wave.
Liwanu picked Karen up again and they left. I smiled to myself thinking that things looked promising between the two; hopefully Karen would return to the village with us. I looked at Honon, “Well, I guess that just leaves you and me. Do you want to help me do the dishes?” I walked toward the kitchen and before I got two steps, I was swept up in his arms. I just smiled.
He stood me at the foot of the bed and slowly removed my clothes. I kept trying to remove his, but he wouldn’t let me. I stood naked while he was fully dressed. Smiling a sexy grin, he laid me back on the bed and positioned me so I was spread-eagle.
“Don’t move, wife.” He reached under the bed and brought out a grocery bag. “Since this is our honeymoon, I felt this was a good idea.” He brought out a bottle of honey. I started to laugh, but it came out as a moan when he squeezed out drips all over my body. He stood up and slowly removed his shirt and walked over to hang it up in the closet.
“Honon, you don’t have to be so neat right now.”
He grinned while he unbuttoned the top two buttons of his jeans. I moaned again. “Do you have any idea how sexy you are?”
His grin widened. “I do know you seem to like when my shirt is off and my jeans are like this.” He moved slowly toward me with the intense look on his face, like he was stalking me. I felt like covering myself up and I moved my legs and arms, but he quickly moved to grab hold of my hands. He shook his head--a look I remembered so well. I could feel the deep beating of my heart when he placed my arms back where he wanted them. He walked to the foot of the bed and moved my legs back to where they’d been. I couldn’t hold back my whimper of desire.
“Now, my cujcuje, I want my ha’ni.”
I was exhausted. “I don’t want to go to work today,” I whined. In order to get my wedding day off, I’d had to trade and work the day after. Honon pulled me against him. “Then don’t. In fact, why do you need to go back?” He got up and reached for his pants. “I have money from the gold I exchanged and I still have three more bags. Isn’t this enough to last us until we leave?” He brought everything over to me.
My mouth hung open when I counted the money. “And this is after you bought the rings?”
He nodded, looking hopeful.
“Well…I have money in the bank too.” I thought about it and slowly nodded. I got more excited as I thought. “Yeah, there’s a lot more I’d like to show you while I still can. I have to go in today, but I’ll tell them I want out as soon as possible. I’ll blame my pregnancy for not being able to work.” Honon smiled and tried to pull me back to bed. “Honon, no, there’s no way I’ll be able to work my shift. I won’t have any strength left.”
He kissed my mouth and then my belly. “Go take a shower, my wyhki, and I’ll make you breakfast.”
When I got to work Karen was already there. “Good morning. And did you enjoy my honeymoon night as much as I did?”
Karen laughed. “You crack me up. Sugar, you’re just what I needed this morning.” Her smile slowly faded.
I put my hands on her shoulders. “Karen, what’s wrong? What are you doing here? I thought you were taking Liwanu back to Bishop today.”
She bit her lip and swallowed. “I switched my days. He’s leaving first thing tomorrow morning instead. I’ll b
e driving him then.” She walked away from me quickly.
I still had time before my shift started, so I gave notice that I wanted out of there ASAP. Trish said she’d work to get my schedule covered and let me know. When I saw Karen again later, and we had a minute to breathe, I told her Honon and I would ride with her so she wouldn’t be alone on the return trip. “Thanks, but I think I’d do better alone.”
As she walked away, I stopped her. “Karen, are you in love with him?”
She laughed and it sounded forced. “Me? No! I’ll sure miss that hot body of his, though.”
I didn’t believe her; she obviously had feelings for him. But I let her walk away; I knew she didn’t like to be pushed.
At the end of my shift Trish came to tell me I had to work Sunday. “If you can, we’ll give you the easy tasks, but I got the rest of the week covered for you and I’m sure the following week won’t be any problem to cover. I’ll get back to you.”
I pumped my fist in the air, “Yeah!” I went to find Karen before I left. “I’m leaving now. I’ll stop by your place to see if Liwanu wants to hang with us…”
She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. He told me he was going to walk over this morning. Have a good night, sugar.” Her smile didn’t reach her eyes as she turned away.
When I got home, Honon and Liwanu were in the kitchen. I walked over to give Liwanu a hug and Honon a kiss. “We started dinner. Go relax and have your shower.” He kissed me and swatted my bottom as I walked away.
“Yes, I could definitely get used to this.” I smiled.
The three of us had just sat down to dinner when Karen called to tell us to start without her; she was running late. “Liwanu, may I ask you something personal?”
He looked at me thoughtfully. “You may ask.”
“I was wondering how you felt about Karen.” I grimaced because I wasn’t sure if my question was out of line. I knew they considered personal questions to be rude.