Chapter 120: Happy And Overworked


    Franz''s men left before the first snow hit because of how terrible the winters in this mountains were. Thankfully we finished all of the major construction before then, even the houses for the returning Kanta who cameter in the summer.


    They had to supply us with rations for winter because our own hadn''t grown yet. By this time next year we should be self-sufficient.


    Once everything was built we were able to breathe a little and focus on trying to build up our economy and shops in town that would keep us running. That was difficult to do once the snow hit.


    Winter here was ten times colder than winter in the capital of Annias had been. I woreyers andyers of clothes and still felt cold, even huddled in front of the fire. An Arizona girl was not equipped for this kind of snow without an electric heater.


    Life in the vige slowed to a standstill. The older generation knew how to keep going in the cold but no one else had lived here since they were very young or not at all.


    As the n leader''s wife, I was expected to help everyone all the time. But I was frozen to my very core so I didn''t see how I would be able to help anybody. I spent the first month of winter huddled up under every nket we owned, hardly daring to step outside.


    One good thing came of that winter though. To keep warm, Al and I spent a lot of time under the sheets (if you know what I mean) and I ended up pregnant with our first child.


    I already knew it would be a boy because of the blessing of the mountain spiritswhich nobody here knew extended to temporary immortality until Sigmund dropped that bomb on usand had a hard time deciding on a name.


    "Ayana says the n leader''s name has started with A for generations," Al said casually. "Would you be alright with continuing that tradition?"


    That still left me with a lot of options. I didn''t mind. "As long as I get to pick a name from my world."


    He tilted his head at me curiously. "What kind of names do they have in your world? Katrina and Abigail seem like they could feasibly belong to people in Annias."


    "My parents were old-fashioned," I exined a bit self-consciously. "Abby and I always went by nicknames because our given names are so outdated." I went on to tell him about popr names from my home, almost all of which he had never even heard of.


    Discovering I was pregnant brought my frozen self back to life. I was revitalized enough to continue my duties as the n leader''s wife for the rest of winter. But I had to admit, when spring finally came to melt away the snow I nearly cried tears of joy.


    We abandoned all of our other jobs to harvest the grains we nted in the fall and store them in the granary. Once the harvest was over we held a celebration of a traditional springtime festival. Not all of the Kanta traditions were dead even though many had been forgotten.


    The mountains were absolutely beautiful in the spring with all of those wildflowers beginning to bloom. Seeing that, I could understand why Al''s people loved their homnd so much.


    As spring turned to summer more refugees joined us so we had to focus on building again. Our mining export business was slowly but steadily growing even though we had to stop production so often to work on construction projects instead.


    There were so many ideas I wanted to implement but I wasn''t able to do much while we lived in a construction zone. At the very least, as promised, I got my library full of books donated generously by Franz and Mari.


    Many of the Kanta didn''t know how to read so I did my best to teach them. I was the n leader''s wife and had to stick to my duties but I was also a librarian and librarians helped patrons no matter what.


    Summer turned to fall and I was too pregnant to help with the vegetable harvest but nobody begrudged me that. I ran around a lot for a pregnant woman.


    It was exhausting and I struggled without the modern conveniences I thought I would have when pregnant. I craved foods that didn''t exist here and wanted to watch movies I couldn''t watch. Sometimes that, coupled with my hormones, made me irrational and angry.


    Throughout all of this Al was a saint. He continued to patiently love me through it right up until it was time for me to give birth in the fall.


    I refused to follow the tradition of kicking the husband out. My mother and sister weren''t here to coach me through this and I refused to push a human being out of me on my own. The midwife looked at me funny but let me be.


    Adam de Kanta came kicking and screaming into the world right as the sun began to rise over the mountains following and long and difficultbor. He was absolutely beautiful. My family would have loved him.


    Everyone in the vige celebrated the birth of the future n leader in a party thatsted for two whole days. I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of handmade baby items that people gave me wanting the future n leader to have something they made.


    Al epted everything graciously, thanking everyone for their contributions in the way only he could as their leader. Once everybody finally left, we had a moment to ourselves for the first time since the birth.


    I held Adam in my arms so he ended up holding me in order to cuddle both of us. He radiated both exhaustion and contentment.


    "I didn''t think it was possible to be this happyor this overworked. Or this happy about being overworked," he said with augh.


    I knew exactly what he meant. Snuggling closer, I replied, "This is what we get for starting our own country and starting a family at the same time. I''m happy too though."


    Looking up into those beautiful gray eyes seriously, I thought about how lucky I was that out of all the people in this world I ended up with him. I often wondered why my soul hade here after my death instead of going to a more traditional afterlife but as time went on I thought I knew.


    I was supposed toe here to be with Al and help the Kanta people recover what they had lost. My second chance at life hadn''t started off on the best footing but now I was happier than I had been since before my parents died, even though I still missed Abby terribly. If she could be here, everything would be perfect.


    "I''m d that out of everybody I could have met aftering here that I was able to meet you," I told him with a smile.


    My husband''s eyes softened and he kissed me before kissing our baby. "Me too, Katie. Me too."


    No matter what happened from here on out, I knew I would be okay because I had Al and Adam by my side. I had a family again and I would cherish them no matter what.