A dozen rotations flew by. I had been avoiding the troubled couple, but I had a thought that brought me out of the shadows; one only gets a headache if one has the head for it. I relaxed my attitude and determined to hide no more.

I worked my garden whistling until my boldness faded. I was alone, after all. I had expanded the size of my garden with Odum's help. It was large enough to feed the three of us, but it was also too big for one worker. I gathered what I had and shifted. Thusa was empty. I took food to my apartment and shifted to the ranch. The work was done; Odum and Ava were absent.

My sanity required a precarious balance of denial and acknowledgment. I took some time to treat Apple, then I shifted to Hope. I walked slowly to the big cabin and stood looking at it. Had it not been for painful memories, I would have moved there from my apartment.

I turned away with a sigh I reserved for the cabin. Then, I thought to check on my fish. I had introduced what I caught outside to my fisheries but still had not troubled myself to fry one up. Shifting to the utility shack by the largest pond, I took a tube from the shelf and turned to walk to the pond.

Odum and Ava sat by the pond mending nets. It was a picturesque moment until Ava looked up and saw me. She rolled her eyes and turned her back to me. I considered the action with a shrug; at least, she did not complain.

Odum spotted the empty tube, and said, “Odum already test water.”

Several more rotations passed before I ran into Odum again. It was not that we were avoiding each other, I was spending more time outside the ship. So, I walked Apple to the ranch, stopping by the fruit trees for a treat. As I approached the ranch, I saw Odum carrying two bundles of hay into the barn, and by the time I had turned Apple in with the other horses, Odum was through. We ran into each other as he came out.

“Odum!” I said in alarm. “What happened?”

Odum touched his swollen left eye and answered, “Ava happen. Odum ready to give, but Ava not take.”

I said, “Maybe you should stop until after the baby. You might cause complications.”

“Odum think of that,” said Odum with a look of regret crossing his face. “Have great idea. That when Ava hit Odum.”

I shook my head. If I understood him correctly, it was no wonder Ava hit him. I said, “You look, smell, and act like an animal. Maybe it's time you rethought your strategy. Shave, wash, and show some respect.”

At that moment, Ava walked up. She carried food wrapped in a cloth. She approached Odum and held out the food until he took it. She looked at me briefly, raised her nose in the air, and turned a cold shoulder to me. I could see that her pregnancy was well along. Ava tied her work pants loosely below her belly for comfort, and the pant legs had been rolled up, exposing hairy legs.

I felt sympathetic, and said, “I'll bring you something loose to wear. Give me a moment.”

I shifted to my apartment, grabbed the robes and belt of the King, and returned to Ava. She glared at me but took them. Clutching the new clothing possessively, Ava walked away in sullen silence. Odum did not look up from the food but chewed with noisy satisfaction.

The rotations came and went in a sort of mindless monotony, but through it all, Ava's belly grew, as did her complaints. I gladly left Odum to deal with her, preferring solitude to entanglement. At times, I watched from a distance, thinking, poor Odum. I could not always stand at a distance, however; the work had to be done. And so it was that I found myself working the garden with them.

Ava wore one of the robes loosely, tied with a rope rather than the belt. She carried a canvas bag over her shoulder as Odum pulled carrots and passed them to her. I watched Ava take a carrot, brush away the soil, and take a bite of the tuber. I was flashed by one of the inconvenient gaps in the front of her robe and turned back to digging potatoes.

“Look,” said Odum, breaking our silence.

I looked up to see Odum pass a twisted carrot to Ava. He wiped away the dirt, smiling, and held it out to his wife. I could see one side was distended. “Big bump like Ava,” said Odum.

Odum lost his smile when Ava took the carrot and bit off the swollen part. “Mm!' said Ava with a threatening undertone. “Taste good with pig.”

I found myself at the end of the row. I stepped to the radishes and stooped to dig up the first. It was big, and as I stood wiping away the soil, I naturally felt proud. I thought I might set it on my apartment table just for show. That moment was brief and harsh. Ava snatched the radish from my hand and bit it in half. I looked up to see her chewing with great delight.

“Good,” said Ava with an exaggerated nod.

I gaped in disbelief, and Odum laughed at me. He said, “Stand far back. Be quick. Ava teeth find everything. Bite off fingers if not careful.”

Ava turned from me and finished the radish. She said, “Make big stew at longhouse. Add corn, radish, potato, carrot, and boss pig.”

Odum said happily, “Make Odum slobber.”

Ava turned with cold eyes. “Odum not invited,” she replied. Then she turned to me; I was still gaping over the loss of my radish. Ava said, “Jeez not invited. All for Ava.”

Ava turned and strode angrily into the cornrows, where she pulled and shucked an ear. She stood with her back to Odum and me while she ate the corn raw. I looked at Odum, who simply shrugged and returned to his work. I shook my head and moved to the next radish.

When I finished the row, I laid the bags off my shoulders and walked back for the young plants. Wherever I dug, I replanted. I quickly filled the potato rows and turned my attention to the single radish row. By that time, Odum had moved from the carrots to the beans. Ava was at the end of the first cornrow. Her bag was by her feet as she finished the ear and tossed it aside.

I took up the young carrots and began planting them. I worked fast; we still had the dark greens and melons to pick. I gathered full bags into my cart and walked into the melons to survey the progress; some were well along. One was very large. I stooped to tap it with a finger and chanced to look up at Ava. She turned to me just as I thumped the swollen fruit.

Ava must have thought I was making light of her condition. I was not, but she turned away in a huff and stamped a foot. I took a deep breath and sighed. It wasn't just Ava who suffered; all three of us had to live through her pregnancy. I broke the stem and stood with the melon balanced on my shoulder. Odum turned from the beans to look my way.

“You and Ava can have this after the stew,” I said that because I knew Odum had a fondness for melon. I laid the melon in the cart and shifted.

I had heard that misery needs an audience, people on whose shoulders she may lade her woes. I say she because Ava was in misery, and my shoulders simply refused the load. Case in point, I shifted early to leave a small basket of mushrooms on the longhouse. In and out was the thought. I stood by the corner furthest from the door, basket in hand, needing two steps to reach the bench.

That's when I heard the noise. Odum was rushing from the long house; I immediately stepped around the corner. I would have shifted had I thought to but I didn't; I simply wanted not to be seen in another of Odum's embarrassing moments.

“Ah!” he yelled as he walked outside. “Head explode!”

Ava followed him outside and shouted an accusation. “Ava hungry! Have two bellies!”

Odum replied, “Ava rob Odum's belly. See. Flat. Empty.”

I heard Ava sit on the bench and whine. “Ava hungry. Odum feed.”

Odum argued, “No corn. No greens. No potatoes. Ava eat Odum's melon. Leave nothing.”

“Feed,” whined Ava. “Now.”

Odum said, “Odum go to fruit trees. Bring apples to Ava.”

“Don't go,” said Ava. Her voice was childish and needy.

Odum said, “Be back fast. Wait for Odum.”

Ava made a petulant moaning noise and said, “Ava want stew. Bring pig.”

“No pig,” said Odum adamantly.

“Then chicken for stew,” said Ava her voice was small and hurt. “Don't be mean to Ava.”

Odum grunted in a way that said he was about to snap. He argued, “Have no vegetables for stew.”

“Don't care,” said Ava. “Take from Jeez. He have too much for one. Please,” she begged, drawing out the word. “Ava give Odum special kiss.”

Odum argued with virtue, “Not steal from Jeez.”

I was moved by Odum's argument. Yet, there I stood, around the corner with a basket of food in hand. I felt sympathy for the beleaguered husband. I shifted in front of them.

“Oh,” I said. “I'm glad I caught you. I have mushrooms.” I handed the basket to Odum.

Ava rose painfully from her seated position to take the basket from Odum's hand. The mushrooms had not been washed, but Ava didn't care. She filled her mouth and chewed as if starving. Odum turned from his wife with a deep sigh and looked quickly at me, then quickly away. He seemed ashamed.

I took the burden from his shoulders, asking, “Do you need help at the ranch? I'm free.”

Odum nodded. “Take horses out. Put Lamet with cows.”

I said, “I'll take one for the GUF. Go. I'll be there in a moment. Let Ava rest for now.”

I shifted to the fruit trees and shook out my tension; Odum's life with Ava was anything but easy. I saw a partially filled basket by an apple tree, I walked to it and gathered from the ground; Ava loved red apples.

I returned with a full basket of apples and was glad to see that Ava was inside. I left the apples on the bench and shifted to the ranch, where Odum was putting a bit in Hay's mouth. I entered through the gate clicking for Apple. She ran to me for a treat and got a bit. We led the horses over to the sheep pen. It was overgrown in the back and would provide the horses with much to eat.

At first, Odum and I did not speak. We separated the calves from the cows, roped them, and put them with the horses. Odum took a rag and a strong rope to the barn while I stood by the gate. Lamet came out blindfolded; led by Odum. Lamet was a gentle bull, but just inside the gate, he became agitated by the smell of the cows. Odum removed the rope, I removed the blindfold, and we watched Lamet head for the cows.

Odum sat on a bottom rail and leaned into his palms. I sat beside him, and we watched Lamet chase the cows. When he took one by the small tree, Odum sighed. I turned to study the man's sad expression as he sat straight with his palms on his knees. He turned to face me and shook his head.

“Odum no Lamet,” said Odum.

I said off the cuff, “Not all of us can be a Lamet. Everyone has a place and a name. There's room for an Odum in this world.”

He looked down and said, “Not Odum. Just dumb.”

I looked back at Lamet. I don't know why, but I said, “I don't envy your union with Ava.”

Odum sighed as we watched the mastery of the bull. Then, he said, “Odum envy Jeez. Jeez can go away.” Odum spread his fingers through the air, and said, “Poof.”

What an odd sound, I thought. Shifting had become second nature to me. I gave it no thought, but I understood what Odum meant and pitied him.

Odum continued his sad lament. “Jeez get to ride outside. Odum stuck with woman who never close mouth. No place for Odum to be alone. Say give. Odum give. Say give more, but Odum not have more.” Odum laughed tragically, then added, “Wake Odum in night and say hungry. Feed.”

I stumbled into a response. “Ava's going through something neither of us can share. She has to do it alone. She must be scared. She's hard on you because she needs you so much.”

“Too much,” said Odum.

I stood and stretched. Then, I said, “A man can't prove himself in easy times. The fires of hell shape a better man.” I sat beside him and tried to explain. “ Marriage is a union where each of the two must cut off a leg so both can stand as one.”

Odum turned from me with a shake of his head. He replied, “Odum see Jeez try to comfort, but not help.”

“Sorry,” I said.

Odum turned back and said, “Need hiding place from Ava. Too much hell. Fire burn Odum. Take Odum outside. Ride like before.”

I was tempted to agree. I stood and turned to look at the horses. I saw Ava walking toward us, and said, “Not yet. When you have a son, we'll ride.”

Ava stopped on the other side of the fence and said, “Ava's ears burn.”

Odum jumped to his feet and turned, gaping. Ava wore a clean robe tied with a small cord. She had washed her face and combed out her thick hair. She was a lovely woman, but the expression on her face said that she didn't feel lovely. Odum scrambled across the fence and pulled over a new trough. After quickly spreading hay on it, he helped Ava to sit. There, he crouched and took her hands.

“Ava good?” asked Odum in earnest. “Hurt? Hungry? What my fire need?”

Ava answered, “Not good when mother alone. Can pop unexpected.”

Odum smiled. He said, “Ava need to be with Odum. Understand.”

“Ha!” said Ava. She took back her hands. “Ava find Odum and Jeez heads together. Know why ears burn. Come to break up scheme.”

I said, “Odum was concerned how best to help you. What you are going through troubles him.” I thought that was a cleverly turned phrase.

Ava huffed and folded her arms while she stared at her husband. “Don't lie for monkey,” she said to me.

I attempted to lead the conversation away from Ava's petulance, saying, “Why don't we find a cool place under the fruit trees? We can relax and talk.”

We found our comfort beneath the peach trees. Odum climbed a tree and came back with a large ripe peach. Ava wasted no time; she smiled as she wiped her chin. Odum seemed genuinely pleased in his role of servitude. I sat quietly and saw a man who loved his wife.

Ava tossed the pit and looked my way. “Talk now,” she said.

I was caught off-guard. I turned my face away; an embarrassed smile played at my lips. “Well, this is nice,” I said. “We should do this more often.”

Odum said to me, “Tell story. One you tell Odum.”

Ava looked between us with narrowed suspicious eyes. She asked, “Jeez tell stories to monkey but not Ava?”

I answered, “They're not happy stories. They're stories of the good people we lost getting to the seed world.”

“Ava listening,” said Ava.

“Alright,” I said. “My brother, LUC, attacked the fleet. Ships were burning all around. We fled to a place called the Esthos. It was vast and empty. It had an ambient red light, and unlike space, it had air, but the air smelled really bad.”

“Like monkey,” said Ava. Odum smiled.

I continued, “It was a dangerous place with giant storm columns, lightning, and crashing worlds. I have many stories. If you like hearing them, I can tell more.”

“Tell first story first,” said Ava. “Then Ava decide.”

Odum sat straight and said, “Tell us fight between brother and dead King.”