"He is a very good man. And I have come to love him too." Snow Bird replied.
"Then you stand up for him, like he done for you." Margaret advised.
"You are a wise woman," Snow Bird smiled at her.
"I didn't get this old for nothing'. Now don't let me hear another word about her. She ain't nothin'." Margaret assured her.
Snow Bird reached to kiss her cheek. "Thank you."
Margaret blushed.
***
That night as her and Matt lay down, he hesitated to take her in his arms.
But remembering what Margaret said about fighting for her man, she reached to touch him now.
When she kissed him, he wrapped his arms around her eagerly. "I thought you were mad at me." He smiled with satisfaction when he came up for air.
She smiled against him.
"I was mad at her, not you." She explained.
"I didn't encourage her, Snow Bird." He began, but she reached to put her fingers to his lips. "Sh…. we are as one. That has not changed. I will not allow it to change." She smiled and sought to kiss his chest.
Her eagerness to be with him, made him relax. "I was worried you took it wrong."
"I know what she wanted. But I will not let her come between us. Unless you want her…" She offered staring through the darkness at his shining eyes. "If you say you want her, then I will not interfere. But you will have to say it."
He sighed and ran his hand down to the hem of her dress, raising it as his head bent to kiss her breasts.
"What I want is right here," he sighed against her breasts.
She smiled, "Show me…" she encouraged.
"You little minx." He chuckled.
His hand went to the baby and he massaged her there, then he felt it move and his eyes rounded on her, "I felt it."
"He is very active." She smiled.
He kissed her belly over and over. "I can't wait for him to come out and us to be a family. A real family." He smiled against her skin. "I never thought I'd have a real family."
"Why do you love me and the baby so much?" She asked softly, as her hands reached to comb through his soft brown hair.
He raised his head and stared intently. "Having my own family, suit me. I love you Snow Bird, I think I always have. Maybe I don't have the right, since your married to Too Tall, but I love you, and I can't stop loving you. The baby is part of you, I will love it too. I hadn't planned to fall in love. But from the first moment I looked at you, I felt something inside me begin to change, it was a good change."
"I have never known a man like you, white or Indian." She whispered and pulled his head up for a kiss.
The kiss was full of love and tenderness, and it heated him. "Is that a good thing?" He asked in a soft whisper.
"Very good." She smiled and kissed him silly. "Too Tall never loved me. I knew that. I accepted it. And I cared for him, because he cared for me, but I knew he didn't love me. I would have borne him children, but there would have never been love. I know that. But you and I are joined, we are as one, like the good book says."
"I really love you Snow Bird."
Clutching each other they made love for a long time, their clothes flew in the air, their moans were soft and private. "I love you too, Matt Younger."
He raised his head, "Thanks for trusting me."