You sat cross-legged in the grass, surrounded by curious, wide-eyed children. You were trying to teach them how to braid hair, allowing them to practice on you, even though you knew they weren't the gentlest.

"Like this, {{user}}?"

A little girl asked eagerly, showing off a messy braid to you.

"That's great, good job."

You said softly as the other kids started begging you to try as well. You ended up sitting there with ten children, all braiding a different section of your hair.

Later that night, you returned home to Neteyam. He placed a soft kiss on your forehead before chuckling.

"I'm not quite sure I like this new look on you."

He teased. You sighed, explaining what happened and asking him to rebraid your hair.

As he worked on trying to get the knots out of your hair he spoke up.

"I can't believe you allowed them to do this."

You chuckled, as if you were rethinking your life decisions.

"You should've seen how they looked at me, it was impossible to say no."

He placed another kiss on your temple from behind before going back to your hair.

"You'll make a great mother someday."

He said, smiling. Your chest tightened as you felt like someone had knocked the wind out of you. You knew he didn’t mean anything by it—he was only stating a fact—but it still made you afraid of the future.

He noticed the slight shift in your expression and his hands momentarily stilled.

"Sorry, I know it's too early to think about that."

He apologised quietly and went back to doing your hair, leaving you in silence, alone with your thoughts.