They settled back into a comfortable routine of ordinary things. Flame Song hunted, as she always had, for their food and to trade with the dwarves of Coppertop for everything else they needed. Aidan was quite content to keep things up around the house. As winter deepened Flame's pregnancy began to show. In human form she was growing steadily rounder, though in firecat form it was still a little hard to tell. "I'd be showing quite a lot if I had a full litter, but with just one it's not as obvious. One of the weirder things about shape-shifting."

As she progressed she spent more and more time in her natural form, finding it much more comfortable. Even though she was still quite capable, Aidan insisted that she stop hunting as much, and rest more. She was fairly certain that she didn't really need any extra rest, but she didn't really mind letting Aidan baby her a little. He got a set of traps from Coppertop, insisting that he knew how to run a trap line. "My uncle, back on Earth, used to have a trap line. I went out along it with him a few times. I'm sure I can figure it out." And he did indeed bring in enough to keep them both fed. Mostly it was rabbits. When spring came there would be elk and migratory birds and other things, but in winter the arctic foxes and the white-coated rabbits were very nearly the only life to be found.

Winter passed slowly, but eventually spring arrived. Flame was showing now even in firecat form, and refused to take human form at all. And as spring moved into the short, cool summer, the time arrived at last.

Aidan was in the kitchen, skinning a rabbit for dinner. Generally Flame Song handled things like that for the simple reason that she made less of a mess of them. Aidan had insisted on doing it himself though, and Flame was feeling too tired to argue with him. She was lounging on a heap of cushions in the front room, trying to have a nap. Aidan had just got past the really tricky part of getting the skin itself off, and was cutting the rabbit into sections when he heard her call “Aidan? Are you done in there?” He continued working, asking, “Not quite. Why, what’s up?”

“I think that the baby is coming.”

“What?! Ow!” Sucking on a sliced thumb, Aidan dashed into the room. “It is? What can I do? Are you all right?”

Flame Song sucked in her breath in a gasp of pain, and then relaxed and smiled up at him. “Yes, I’m just fine. No, I don’t need you to do anything. I want you here for moral support. This may take a while though, so you might want to go do something about that thumb and about the rabbit before you come back.”

“I, yes, I, I’ll go…” He walked dazedly back into the kitchen. A few minutes later he emerged with a bandage on his thumb. “Ok, I’m here, I… er…”

“It’s all right, Aidan. You’re not the one this is hurting. But don’t worry too much, this is a lot easier for firecats than it is for humans.”

“I think I’d have an easier time if I was the one doing the suffering.”

"Don't worry so much." She smiled up at him. "Just sit by me, keep me company."

Aidan seated himself next to her, still looking worried. He rested his hand on her head, and she leaned against him a little bit. He was startled to realize that she was purring softly, rhythmically, the deep sound interrupted every so often by a sharply indrawn gasp of pain. He relaxed a little and stroked her fur gently. She rolled onto her side, and put her head in his lap. He continued to stroke her fur, and talk softly to her as her labor continued, the soft sounds of pain at each contraction growing closer together.

After what seemed like forever, and yet was, he knew, a very short period of time, their child emerged. It was messy, and Aidan could hardly tell what it looked like, but Flame curled around and licked it clean. Then she laid her head down tiredly on the cushions. "Pick her up, I'm too tired to change forms right now."

Aidan gingerly picked up the baby. As Flame had said, it was a girl, pretty much like a human infant in proportions and general appearance, but covered in fine white fur and with a distinctly feline face. Her tiny nose was pink and she had rather kittenish ears. Her eyes were open and they were pure emerald green. Her white fur was still somewhat damp and she was waving her arms and legs about. Each tiny, furred finger and each tiny, stubby toe had a delicate pink pawpad on it. He turned her over to check, and sure enough there was a pair of funny-looking featherless wings sprouting from her back. He cradled her closer then and just stared. Certainly she was a strange looking infant, but she seemed absolutely perfect. And there was no sign of anything wrong with her, she looked completely healthy, though he couldn't quite say she looked completely normal. And she was his! All at once he was caught up in the wonder of it. She was his own child, a part of him and a part of Flame Song. There had been just two of them, and now there were three. We came through the darkness together, Flame and I, he thought, and out from the darkness we brought this bright spark of new life. It seems impossible that she should be here, should be real, but she is.

Flame Song had started grooming herself while Aidan had been looking the baby over. Now she finished and laid her head back in Aidan's lap. He smiled down at her. "I can hardly believe this is real, that she is real."

Flame chuckled. "I can."

He had to laugh at that. “How come she doesn’t have any stripes?”

“Firecat cubs are born white. Their stripes come in when they’re about seven or eight. Her hair will probably go orange about the same time. Either that, or striped, which would be interesting.”

“What shall we name her?” he asked.

“Well, the firecat way is to choose a cub name, a nickname until she is old enough to choose her own. But if you want to name her a human name, I have no objection.”

“If you were going to give her a cub name, what would it be?”

“Littlespark, I think.”

“Why?”

"Well... my own cub name was Sparkbright, so it would be a kind of continuation of the family tradition. And... she was a spark of light and hope when I was in a very dark place."

“Littlespark." He nodded. "I could get used to it. And I was thinking much the same. She's something bright and wonderful that we brought out of darkness.” He smiled warmly down at the baby.

“Then let’s call her Littlespark Rhiannon,” said Flame.

“Rhiannon? You don’t have to…”

"She's a part of both of us. Her name should be too, don't you think?"

“Yes, I guess you’re right.” He smiled again. He just couldn’t seem to stop.

Littlespark chose just then to begin making unhappy noises. Aidan nearly jumped. "What do I do?"

Flame chuckled. "She's probably hungry. Here, I'll take care of her." Flame rolled over onto her back, and Aidan set the baby down against her chest. Littlespark looked tiny and impossibly delicate next to Flame Song. With infinite care and with the dexterity that always surprised Aidan a little, Flame cradled the baby in her paws and held her against one nipple. She stopped fussing and started nursing contentedly. Before too long she finished and immediately went to sleep. Flame yawned. "I think she has the right idea. I'm more than ready for bed."

"Yes." Aidan carefully picked Littlespark up. Flame got to her feet, with another wide yawn that showed an impressive display of fangs, and padded into the bedroom. She climbed into the low bed and curled up. Aidan undressed and lay down beside her, placing Littlespark between them. He stared at his wife and child, filled with a warm glow of happiness and joy, stronger than he would have thought possible. He thought he could just lie there and watch them all night, but soon his eyes slid shut and he joined them in slumber.