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is Jonayla,” Ayla said. The infant was already awake from the commotion and Ayla lifted her out of the carrying blanket as she spoke, then turned to look at the baby boy. “Oh, he’s perfect. May I hold him?”
    “Yes, of course, and I want to hold your daughter,” Janida said.
    “Why don’t I take your baby, Ayla,” Levela said. “Then you can take Jeridan, and I’ll give … Jonayla?” she saw Ayla nod, “to Janida.”
    The women shifted infants and cooed at them, while they looked them over and compared them with their own.
    “You know Levela is pregnant, don’t you?” Janida said.
    “I can see that,” Ayla said. “Do you know how soon you will have yours, Levela? I’d like to come and be here with you, and I’m sure Proleva would, too.”
    “I don’t know for sure, some moons yet. I would love to have you with me, and definitely my sister,” Levela said. “But you won’t need to come here. We’ll probably all be at the Summer Meeting.”
    “You’re right,” Ayla said. “It will be nice for you to have everyone around you. Even Zelandoni the First will be there, and she is wonderful at helping a mother to deliver.”
    “There may be too many,” Janida said. “Everyone likes Levela, and they won’t let everyone stay with you. It would be too crowded. You may not want me; I’m not very experienced, but I would like to be there with you, the way you were with me, Levela. I’ll understand, though, if you would rather have someone that you’ve known longer.”
    “Of course I want you with me, Janida, and Ayla, too. After all, we shared the same Matrimonial, and that’s a special bond,” Levela said.
    Ayla understood the feelings that Janida had expressed. She, too, wondered if Levela would rather have friends she had known longer. Ayla felt a flush of warmth for the young woman, and was surprised at the sting of tears she fought to hold back at Levela’s willing acceptance of her. Growing up, Ayla hadn’t had many friends. Girls of the Clan mated at a young age, and Oga, the one who might have been close, had become Broud’s mate, and he wouldn’t allow her to be too friendly with the girl of the Others that he had come to hate. She loved Iza’s daughter, Uba, her Clan sister, but she was so much younger, she was more like a daughter than a friend. And while the other women had grown to accept her, and even care about her, they never really understood her. It wasn’t until she went to live with the Mamutoi and met Deegie that she understood the fun of having a woman friend her own age.
    “Speaking of Matrimonials and mates, where are Jondecam and Peridal? I think Jondalar feels a special bond for them, too. I know he was looking forward to seeing them,” Ayla said.
    “They want to see him, too,” Levela said. “Jondalar and his spear-throwing weapon is all Jondecam and Peridal have talked about since we knew you were coming.”
    “Did you know that Tishona and Marsheval are living at the Ninth Cave now?” Ayla said, referring to another couple who had mated at the same time as they did. “They tried living at the Fourteenth, but Marsheval was at the Ninth Cave so often—or I should say at Down River learning how to shape mammoth ivory, and staying overnight at the Ninth—that they decided to move.”
    The three Zelandonia were standing back, watching, as the young women continued to chat. The First noticed how easily Ayla fell into conversation with them, comparing babies and talking excitedly about the things that were of interest to young mated women with children, or expecting them. She had begun teaching Ayla some of the rudiments of the knowledge she would need to become a full-fledged Zelandoni, and the young woman was without doubt interested and quick to learn, but the First was now realizing how easily Ayla could get distracted. She’d been holding back, letting Ayla enjoy her new life as a mother and mated woman. Maybe it was time to push her a little harder,