Chapter 20 #2
Neither of them cared. The extra expense gave them both peace of mind.
“I just renewed it,” Han assured him. “And I checked with my friend at the port, and she said the company always keeps one of their speed ships here or in orbit, no matter how busy they are. They’re honoring the contract.”
“That’s good,” Zeph said, relaxing a little.
“I got a message from Golgim,” Han said, trying to be casual, but Zeph could hear the tension in her voice.
Golgim was the Ugarian that found them Nack and Yullie.
The female had just given birth and was sickly, along with all the babies.
The owners had neglected them, and Nack had become territorial because they weren’t being fed enough.
He’d seen anyone coming into the paddock as someone who might steal the little bit of feed Yullie had to eat.
It had taken almost twenty volunteers to get the jinjoos into a livestock transport and bring the little family back to their little farm.
With plenty of food, Nack had calmed down.
The food also meant Yullie and the babies started looking better quickly.
Now the litter was old enough to be away from their parents and start training.
By the time they pulled the young jinjoos out of their pen, Yullie looked relieved instead of upset.
Not everything was perfect. Yullie would always have issues with her mid-hooves from extended malnutrition, and no one could go near them when they were being fed or Nack would attack.
If Golgim was contacting Han, then there was probably another jinjoo neglect situation. Far from breeding and raising champions, they were saving individuals.
“What did Golgim say?”
“There is a farm closing down in Three Boulder,” Han said. She tossed a last treat to Mitzy before moving to the door of the paddock. Zeph followed her out. “There are some older jinjoos they’re talking about letting loose in the grassland because no one will want to buy them.”
Ugarians didn’t eat meat and didn’t believe in the killing of anything, but that also meant sometimes they did things like abandoning animals in an environment they weren’t suited to.
Elderly jinjoos would have a hard enough time surviving in their native mountain homeland on the planet of Valsoon; they wouldn’t last long at all in the grasslands.
“We have room. They should come here,” Zeph said without hesitation. He’d enjoyed rehabilitating Yullie and Nack more than training their offspring. “We have three paddocks and could build two more before we’d need to buy more land.”
“I hoped you’d say that!” Han said. “They’re arriving tomorrow.”
Zeph let out a rumble of amusement. “Then it’s a good thing we got the order of extra food yesterday.”
“Han! Zeph! Where are you?” Domonic yelled from one of the empty paddocks.
“Over here, Dad,” Han yelled back, taking his hand in hers and leading him to meet Domonic on the walkway between the paddocks.
“Felk needs help with one of the table bots and Zephus is worried both of you are going to miss out on eating,” he said. He was holding Hanum in his arms. The child was old enough to walk now but loved the way Domonic would carry him around and make zooming sounds while walking.
It was clear Domonic was working hard to be one of Hanum’s favorite humans.
“It’s food time!” Hanum declared just as Lirsum and Kal went running by, probably realizing they needed to get cleaned up or miss the feast. Hanum shifted his attention to the two children and wiggled in Domonic’s arms. “I need to run-run!”
“I can’t get over how fast Talins mature,” Han muttered as Domonic set Hanum down on the ground then chased after the boy as he took off after Lirsum and Kal. “He’s less than a year old.”
He and Han followed at a more leisurely pace. Zeph didn’t point out that Hanum was a little behind in his development because that didn’t matter. There was no empire here to judge him, which meant he could live a happy life of inconsequential joys.
Han
Even though Han knew everyone was going overboard this Christmas because it was the first holiday for Zeph, Sandar, Rensom, and their children, she was still shocked. The sheer amount of food and decorations set up in the communal area was staggering!
One of the tables had so many decorations on it that once someone sat down on one side, they probably wouldn’t be able to see the person opposite them.
“No wonder they’re having trouble with the table bot,” she muttered, seeing one of the bots listing a little to one side. “I think it’s overloaded by at least 100 pounds!”
She and Zeph rushed up to help Felk right the table and pull off some of the heavier decorations.
They ended up setting them down not far from the table, and Ilki put them in a nice display next to a small pile of presents the adults hadn’t opened yet.
All the kids had ripped open their gifts, and Han could see a few of the children clutching their favorite ones.
By the time they’d finished with that table, the other two were already full of humans and Ugarians. The last table was mostly Talins and humans with only a few Ugarians.
Han knew better than to try and sit down in a chair by herself. She waited until Zeph sat, then let him pull her into his lap. Everyone was used to them doing this by now because no one commented.
She snuggled against him as others found their seats and a few good-naturedly argued over who would sit where.
Finally every last person was settled, and they all started eating. Everyone chatted as they passed serving trays full of food around. There was laughter, rumbles of amusement, and huffs of joy.
Sandar was having a lively discussion with someone about the trip she was planning to take to the grasslands for study. She and Rensom had decided Zephus and Hanum were old enough for travel. That meant the two of them were finally going to get to study a mostly unexplored ecosystem.
Further down the table, Hanum sat next to Domonic, chattering about zoomies after dinner. Zephus was sharing a chair with Hanum but was fully focused on his food.
Looking around, Han spotted Lirsum and Kal sitting together at a different table. Rishmun sat on the other side of Hanum and Zephus, not eating much because he was constantly watching the two. He was gentle and attentive to the twins when they were close by.
It was sweet to watch.
“I didn’t expect this,” Han said, watching Rishmun push a plate back on the table before it could accidentally fall to the ground because Hanum kept nudging it accidentally.
Zeph purred. “Unexpectedness isn’t necessarily bad.”
She looked up at him. “Agreed. This unexpected life is amazing.”
He set down the cup he’d been about to drink out of and wrapped his arms around her. “Thank you for deciding to hunt me down.”
She pressed a hand to his cheek. “Thank you for committing treason.”
Lifting her face to his, she kissed him while the musical sound of happiness surrounded them.