Page 90 of Wild Life

“NOW!” the woman between her legs shouted. “Push!”

Maris groaned deeply, like she was angry.

“Keep going,” Aleki encouraged her. “It’s almost out!”

Maris’s groan continued, until finally, the woman between her legs pulled something out with her hands. It was covered in a slop that didn’t smell good like mud. Then thethingbelted out a loud screech.

Maris let out a cry of her own, her face wet with tears. Aleki let go of her foot and rushed to her side to kiss her head. “It’s a girl! I’m so proud of you, my love. Thank you for making me a father again.”

The other woman took the crying thing and put it on Maris’s chest. Maris and Aleki were smiling now and showered it with enough attention that it stopped crying.

“Do you have a name for her?” the woman at the end of the bed asked.

Aleki looked at Maris. “Marina,” Maris said.

“Oh, that’s a beautiful name. Perfect for an island girl,” the woman who had held her foot crooned.

“I can’t wait for Forrest to see his baby sister,” Maris said softly, grinning down at the now quiet thing.

Baby sister.My family had grown bigger with this new baby. Aleki and Maris were great parents to Forrest, and Marina was lucky to have them, too.

“Are you ready for Forrest to come in?” Aleki asked Maris.

“Yes, poor thing must be lonely playing outside for so long. I feel guilty excluding him, but I didn’t want to scare him with the visual of childbirth. He’s only five years old.”

“That was a good call,” said the woman at the end of the bed. She moved around quickly, using various shiny instruments to cut the long rope that hung from the baby and then massaged Maris’s belly.

“Thank you again, Dr. June. We’re so grateful that you and Heather were able to come out here again to deliver Marina.” Maris smiled at the two strangers.

“It’s no problem. We’ll stay for a few more days to make sure you’re okay.”

“Thank you,” Aleki said. He noticed me standing by the bed. “Hey, buddy. Have you been here this whole time?” He scratched my head. “Did you see your new sister? Her name is Marina.”

Maris held the baby up for me to see. She was asleep now and seemed so little that it was hard to believe that only moments ago she had been screaming loudly. She looked a lot like Forrest.

“Do you think you can go fetch Forrest for me so he can meet Marina?”

I let out a grunt, but it came out more like a honk. My voice didn’t work like it used to.

“That’s a good boy,” Aleki said. “And, Poaka, we love you.”

His affection was as good as an ear rub. I loved him, too. I loved all of them very much. I just wished I could tell them in their language. Instead, I nudged his hand with my nose and then made my way back outside.

I couldn’t move very quickly and did my best to make it to the back of the hut, where I saw a figure huddled on the ground, stacking rocks in a pile. Forrest greeted me.

“Poaka, is Mommy okay?” His mouth tipped downward. He loved Maris a lot and didn’t like spending any time away from her. He loved Aleki, too, but not as much as he loved his mother.

He had the same color hair and green eyes as her, yet his skin was dark like Aleki’s, especially since he only wore fabric around his waist, which allowed his skin to tan in the sun.

I let out a honk.

“Can I go inside?”

I honked again.

He stood up and followed me to the front of the hut. Except, he didn’t go in immediately.

I looked up at him.

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