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Spinna focused her mind inwards, towards the swirling threads of racial memory. She remembered her ancestor, Aranea, refining her web lines. ‘A proper child’s playline should be more elastic, less adhesive. The harness should be sturdy, strong, yet flexible.’ Spinna began extruding elastic lines from her palms and fingertips, using the fingers to weave the lines in a braided formation, creating a pair of elastic woven ropes attached to the ceiling of her home, bringing them down to meet a sturdy harness.

As she finished the weave, she placed her Starchilde in the harness, watching him happily push off the ground and bounce with his legs. She sat for a while, watching him play before he finally drifted to sleep. As she gently placed him in his hammock, she shifted her chest gingerly, thinking back on what the scientist had told her.

“Hmmmm. Pah pah pah. Hmmmmmm. No discernible teeth, though there appears to be one or two emerging.” He said, probing the infant’s mouth. “Brain case is enlarged in comparison to any animal, indicating intelligence, possibly personhood. Soft, pliable skin, vestigial nipples, umbilical scar. Evidence of a placental, milk producing mammal. Body structure seems to indicate a biped, though this shoulder girdle would seem to indicate an arboreal brachiator. Oh goodness, ticklish are we?” He said, having stroked the soles of his feet. Jarn poked and prodded for a short time more, before finally replacing the silken blanket.

“Well, Miss Webber, from what I can see, you have yourself a happy, healthy male child. He will need a high protein liquid until his teeth finish growing in. I can guess at incisors, there in the front, but I won’t be able to tell you any more about his diet until then. If you see pointed, conical teeth start to emerge, you can start giving him softened meat, otherwise I think high sugar fruits are a safe bet, given he seems to be a Climber-like species. Anything you can find out about him would be a big help, as I won’t be able to determine anything else until he grows a bit.”

Spinna thought for a minute, her fingers gesticulating slowly as she pondered. “You said a high protein liquid? What did you mean?”

Jarn flushed slightly. “W-well… mammals… that is to say mothers… erm. Well. Erhem. Female mammals produce a nutrient rich liquid from specialized glands located on the… erm… chest. Our young subsist in this liquid, milk, until they are old enough to digest solid food. He will need as much as he’s able to hold until his teeth grow in.”

“Mother-silk… I think I can accommodate him. Thank you Jarn. You’ve been most helpful this night.” And with that, she collected her child and left for home again.

On the way home, she began producing something she never thought she’d have the need or opportunity to produce; mother-silk. She remembered her mother teaching her and her sister about ‘the web and the song’ long ago. Attracting a male, how to behave once you had enticed one into your home, how to care for young. Most especially, the formulation for mother-silk.

‘Listen close my loves. A mother’s most important duty is to care for her young. The most obvious form a mother’s love can take is this, mother-silk. It’s just like normal webbing, but it’s soft, watery. Easy to digest. Unlike normal silk, it can be stored in the silk sacks on the chest. Hold your little one up to the spinneret, allow them to suckle, and they will receive nourishment in order to grow strong and big.’

‘So goes the Wisdom of Mothers.’ They answered.

‘So goes the knowledge of daughters.’

And so Spinna began to produce. She had fed her precious one, marveling at the similarities between Arache, Lago and whatever race her Starchilde was. Three species, all so different, yet still so similar. All three were blessed by the Great Weaver with the Mother’s Love.

Still, she needed to learn more. She would have to venture back to the egg. And she would have to find a babysitter. ‘It’s been too long since I’ve spoken to my sister anyway. I’ll bet Arane would be overjoyed to watch her nephew for a while.’ With that thought, she curled up to sleep for the day, a smile on her face.