In The Beginning

  Chapter Thirty Five

  The planting was done and the crops were growing well, all the farm buildings were complete and we were well over halfway done with the construction of the city. Just before bedtime one evening, Kalou suddenly looked over at me and said, “Cain, we need to talk.”

  I was at the table with the plans trying to decide if we needed to build another storage barn before we occupied the city, but I immediately looked at her, concerned. There was an odd tone in her voice. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong!” she said, laughing. “Why do you say that?”

  “Well, you've never said we needed to talk before. And... I don’t know, you sounded kind of strange when you said it.”

  “It’s not so much we need to talk but that I need to tell you something.” After a long pause, she finally blurted out, “We’re going to have a baby.”

  For some reason my mind couldn’t seem to understand what she had said. I just sat there staring at her blankly. Eventually my mouth worked and I said, “A baby? Now?”

  She got a good long laugh out of that. “No, not now,” she finally managed. “It will take a few more months, probably about four. I think I am over halfway through my time. I have been so busy with the city that I have not had a moment to even think about myself, but I have felt very peculiar. I have gotten heavy, I am always hungry and I get tired so very easily.”

  “This morning when I went to get some extra food from the cooks, I mentioned that I always seem to be hungry. Alata, the old woman who makes the very good sweetbreads, asked me when the baby would come. I was confused, since I did not know what she meant. She laughed very hard, and then said, ‘Girl, how can you not know you are with child? All the women in the kitchen have known for two moons!’”

  “How could they know? They only see you twice a day.”

  “I asked her the same thing. She said that usually a woman will become with child soon after she takes a husband, and since I had gained weight and was so hungry all the time, there was no doubt.”

  Now that I’d had a few moments to think and comprehend that I was going to become a father, I was overjoyed. I was also nervous, scared and a host of other emotions, but mainly I was overjoyed. I gently took Kalou’s hands in mine. “Kalou, we’re going to be parents! We are going to have a baby!”

  She laughed at me. “Yes, I know, Cain. So you are happy?”

  “Yes, I’m very happy! I think you will be a wonderful mother; you are such a good person.”

  But, I thought, I don’t know what kind of father I will be. Then I had another thought, “Kalou, you need to stop working so much. I have given you too much responsibility for the city and you never have a chance to rest.”

  “No, I think I am fine, I don’t need to work less. But I do need more rest, and I need to sit down more often. I get very tired when I am on my feet too much and when I have to walk all over the city to check on things.”

  “All right. I’ll do anything that I can, just tell me. There is no reason that you need to walk all over the city every day. People can come to you to tell you how things are progressing and what they need.”

  I had an idea. “You can spend your time in the public building. It is complete, and you can hear the river from there and be comfortable. The people will come to you, and when you do need to check on something, it is central to all the work and you won’t have to walk too far.”

  She smiled broadly, lighting up the room. “That’s a good idea Cain. I’m glad you’re happy about the baby. So am I.”