~ GAR ~
Late that night as the fire died and the Cave grew ever darker, Gar lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling, Rika cuddled into his side.
It felt like the room was spinning. But it wasn't. It was just his head.
Rika had lost the baby. Again.
This was the second time she'd gotten pregnant, and the second time she'd started to feel ill and off and then she'd started to bleed.
He'd known immediately when she was pregnant, both times—thank you, Dad for passing that little gift on. And both times, she'd gotten really nervous about other people finding out.
Rika came from a world where losing pregnancies was common. In her world women often didn't even tell people until they were twelve or thirteen weeks into the pregnancy, when the chances of a child surviving were much higher.