"I'd like to help," Uchel was turned away from me, surveying the room. If things went well, he would be living here too, and I had no intention of keeping our child away from a good parent.
"I would love that." I turned to Ocello and checked the items he brought.
Broom, bucket, something that looked like a mop. Cloth to wipe things and some smaller brushes that might help in the grimier areas. Not quite modern, but basic cleaning seemed the same everywhere.
We decided that the most important places to clean first were the main room and the bedroom I would be staying in. Uchel went off to fill the bucket as Ocello started clearing out the main room.
Dust and leaves littered the compact floor. Since it was carved into the mountain, it looked like the previous occupants had woven mats and laid them on the floors.
With time, the natural moisture of the cave-like room saturated them. As we pulled them up, a musty fungal smell filled the room. Ocello ushered me out and said he would take care of ripping up the rest.
"It isn't good for pregnant women to inhale too much dust and mold. Uchel and I will clean this up first and you can help later."
"But…" Ocello held his hand up. Uchel came up behind me with a bucket of water.
"It really would be better for you to let us clean the worst of it, Kami." Uchel set the bucket down and grabbed the broom from where Ocello had set it against the wall.
"It is less dirty downstairs. We can take care of this." He smiled as I took the broom. Peeking around him back into the room, I realized that the idea of getting so grimy did not appeal to me.
If this is what I would have to face in this world, I think I could very easily get used to it. As I walked down the steps, Ocello stuck his head out of the door and yelled down.
"The Chief is sending my fathers over with the chests of items later. Ask us when they get here and we can come down and help."
"Alright," I called up. Cuddles scooted down the steps and sat next to me. The little creature was already covered in a thick layer of dirt and filth. I laughed and took the broom over to the far wall.
As I began to sweep, I realized that I really missed being able to listen to music while I worked. It didn't surprise me that I eventually started humming as I got into the groove.
It wasn't long before I had several large piles of dirt. Unlike up in the bedrooms, it looked like someone had decided to lay down stone flooring. Without grout, the grooves should have been a lot deeper and filled with crud, but they looked fused together.
It even looked like someone had put in a pattern on the floor that was revealed now that the layer of dust had been removed. I looked around for something to help me get the dirt piles up when I noticed someone at the door. He was about to knock when I walked over.
"Hi! I think I recognize you as one of the Chief's husbands?" I asked. He nodded. I looked behind him, I saw the two other husbands carrying the other chests. The one at the door hefted the chest he had put down back into his arms. "Come in! I'll get the guys. They said you'd be by."
The three took the chests to an area that had already been swept up and set them down. I was really excited to go through them, but cleared my throat and turned back to my father-in-laws? Was that what they called them here? I wondered how that worked here.
"I hope my son is treating you well?" I faced the man who spoke and looked at him carefully. When he said son, it was likely that he meant biologically.
He was taller than the other men and had the same dark shade of hair as Ocello did, though it had streaks of grey at the temples. The eyes really gave it away. They both had the same beautiful hue.
"Ocello has been wonderful. I am very thankful that he found me and not someone else." I shivered. So far I have been treated with nothing but respect in this world. And from everything I had been told, women were rarely mistreated because of their importance here.
Still, the level of care I received from Ocello made me fall for him, at least to the extent that I didn't want to let him go. I wanted to be sure that my feelings weren't only gratitude.
"He'd probably say it was fate. He always brings back interesting things from his adventures." The older man smiled from nostalgia.
"I hope you aren't going to regale her with any humiliating stories?" Ocello asked as he came leaping down from the upper floor. I stared up at him, amused.
I guess parents embarrassing their kids was not just universal but multidimensional!
"You were supposed to call us," Uchel pouted as he walked down the stairs carrying the bucket of now dirty water.
"I was going to." I said. "How did you know they were here?"
"We could hear them lumbering in." With that, he walked into the convenience room to dump the water. Which is when I realized that I forgot to ask for the bathing room and the convenience room to be cleaned, too. I put it on my mental list for later and turned back to my father-in-laws.
"I see you have met Uchel!" The three exchanged glances and nudged each other in amusement. Would it be rude to ask what that was about? I looked over to Uchel who was coming out of the convenience room.
His jaw was clenched and he looked upset. He had heard their statement and on the surface it seemed innocuous. But there were dynamics here that I needed to understand but now was not the time to ask questions.
"He is the father of my child." I rubbed my belly as I spoke. I felt the little one kick me and I grinned. "I think that he is really happy to meet his daddy." I looked over at Uchel and smiled. While I couldn't figure out why he was being subtly disrespected, I could treat him well myself.
"You should head back up to help mother." Ocello's voice held a measure of steal, "and we need to finish cleaning before night so that Kami has a comfortable place to sleep."
His father looked like he wanted to say something, but the other two grabbed him and dragged him back through the door.
"We'll give you a better introduction later!" They called out.
Ocello walked over to the door and watched as his fathers walked away. Sighing, he shut the door.
"You shouldn't let it get to you, Uchel." I looked between the two men. Walking up to Uchel, I took his hand and held it.
"Why were they like that?" I asked.
"It's nothing really. Just a stupid joke that has long since stopped being funny."
"But it bothers you. I want to understand." Looking down at him, he was able to hide his face as he stared at the floor. I didn't want to pressure him too much. We had just met, even though part of me felt that I had known him for a lot longer.
He looked at me as if he felt I would laugh at him too.
"They make fun of my height."
"What's wrong with it?" I asked, genuinely confused. Of course, he was shorter than me, but he seemed to have a decent enough stature. He was still handsome, though in more of a cute way. He would likely always pass for younger than he was, but that wasn't a bad thing.
"He just happens to be the shortest man in Bena village." Ocello said.
"You are the tallest person I've seen so far, do they tease you too?" Ocello sent me a wry grin.
"I am the tallest. I've had my fair share of the taunts, but women don't seem to mind tall beastmen." He sent me a sheepish grin and ducked his head as Uchel glared at him.
"I just never met anyone who I wanted to spend any time with." Uchel grumbled. He was trying to pretend that it didn't affect him, but it was obvious that his height was a sensitive subject that had been used to hurt him in the past.
And it seemed women here discriminated against him for his height. I guess when you had your pick of men, little things like that helped make the choice easier. I thought it was a stupid reason, though.
I couldn't say that my world had been much better. Height disparity was something that people joked about, but being targeted for your differences was always painful eventually.
Uchel seemed like a gentle person. He didn't make me seek him out and I think he made sure that I would have a chance to reject him privately if I chose to. Then he immediately started cleaning a house he didn't even know would be his.
"Well, it is a good thing that you didn't want any of them or else this would have been really awkward." I joked as I placed his hand on my belly. The baby kicked and Uchel immediately focused on the movement under his hand.
"Does it hurt?" He asked. I shook my head.