Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Caspian
“Hey, bro, I finally got you alone.”
I’m standing on my parents’ deck, getting a little bit of much needed peace, when my brother Malik searches me out.
“Here.” He passes me a bottle of Castsuva beer. I look at it and raise an eyebrow at him, and he shrugs.
“You’re looking a little exhausted, so I thought you could use the pick-me-up.” He’s not wrong.
Activating a pregnancy is exhausting, messy, and fun work, but I still haven’t quite recovered. It’s only mid-morning, and I could do with a nap. I take a long sip and feel the instant burst of energy.
“Thanks, I needed that. What can I do for you? You obviously sought me out for something.”
My older brother doesn’t say anything for a moment, just looks out over the ocean as he tries to get his thoughts in order. “Lila’s great,” he begins, but I can hear the unsaid “but.”
“You don’t like my mate?” I ask through gritted teeth, not wanting to have to kill my older brother, but I will if he says anything against her.
“No, man. God, no, I meant what I said.” He turns to face me, leaning his hip against the balustrade. “I guess I never thought you’d settle.”
“Settle?” I’m not sure what he means.
He sighs. “Yeah, man, for a woman only.”
Suddenly it all clicks. Poor Malik hasn’t left Fluxx, so of course he’s been subjected to all of our traditional ideas, no matter how my parents have encouraged him to seek more.
“Mal, it’s not like that. Yes, my kraken mated Lila, but I’m not settling. Lila is Skarrian and polyamorous, so she has other mates.”
“Yeah, lucky her, but where does that leave you?” Malik grumbles grumpily on my behalf.
“Lila doesn’t mind if I play with her other mates. In fact, she loves the idea.”
His mouth drops open in shock, and he stutters, “But… She… Huh?”
“Mal, as much as I love Mom, Dad, and Fluxx, I would never return here to live full time. There is still so much stigma for same sex or bisexual couples. So much is placed on the idea that you can’t be happy unless you mate someone of the other sex and have babies.
Being out in the galaxy and working for the circus where there are so many different races taught me that Fluxx really is a little backwards.
I mean, mating outside of the same species was only really accepted in the last fifty or so years. That was very taboo previously.”
He looks like I smacked him over the head with a rock.
“Sure, there are still lots of planets who aren’t so tolerant of differences—the lightning cats being a perfect example—but I think that’s going to change soon. Races need to learn to adapt and change, or they risk falling into extinction.”
“So you’re not settling?”
“Nah, man, far from it. I have a warlock, a cyborg, and a Vilaxian, all of whom I’m fairly certain will happily tug my tentacles if I ask them to.”
“Wow.” He tries to put on a happy face for me, but I can tell he’s forcing it. Why didn’t I notice how sad my big brother is before?
“Hey, why don’t you come and work for the circus for a little while?
With the babies coming, I’m not sure how much time I’m going to be able to devote to the act.
Lila will be taking over the role of ringmaster one day, and someone is going to have to look after our children.
I can’t expect Link and Xavier to do it every time, though I’m sure they would be thrilled to.
You could take over my spot in the show when I can’t do it, and I’m sure we can find you something else to do when I am. ”
My mind is racing with possibilities, and I feel excited about being able to help my big brother.
“I don’t know,” he hedges, and I roll my eyes.
“What do you have that’s keeping you here? You’re too scared to form a relationship with more than one person, so you don’t have any at all, and you just have meaningless one-night stands. Am I right?”
He nods sheepishly, taking a big sip of his drink.
“And you’re working with Mom and Dad, harvesting the moss. They won’t care if you decide to try something new for a while. In fact, I’m almost certain they would be thrilled. They probably know how unhappy you are.”
“Yeah, I haven’t exactly made it a secret.”
“No, you haven’t, and we would be more than ecstatic if you took your brother’s offer.” Our dad pokes his head out from inside where he has obviously been eavesdropping.
That’s the only downside of the barrier—we can’t see in because it’s designed to reflect the sun, so it’s mirrored. My whole family could have been standing there, and we never would have known.
He steps out onto the deck carrying his own bottle of beer. “I knew this was going to be a serious conversation when I saw that you started drinking so early, so I grabbed one for myself.”
“Will you and Mom be okay if I leave? There’s another harvest coming up,” Malik reminds my dad, who takes a seat at the table on the deck. He gestures to two other chairs, so we move over and join him.
“Your mother and I will be fine. I was just chatting with Neri and Felix earlier. They implied that they’d like to move back to this side of the planet.
They want their children to grow up around the rest of their cousins.
Felix’s extended family isn’t close, and his parents weren’t happy when he mated a kraken.
They thought he should have mated a wolf, and his only sibling, who also mated a non-wolf, lives on this side too, so he would be closer to them as well.
Both of them would be happy to join the family business. ”
The table is quiet as Malik mulls over what Dad said, but I can’t hide my excitement. “See? Now there is no reason to say no,” I tell him as he drains the remainder of his drink.
He blows out a breath before standing up and taking his empty bottle with him. “Give me a little while to think about it,” he says, and I quickly agree.
“Okay, but Lila and I plan to head to Skarr first thing in the morning. You can come with us then if you want, or you can wait until the circus returns, which will be after the babies are born, so that would give you a little more time to think it over.” I offer the last bit somewhat reluctantly, but my brother has always been more cautious.
He may need that time to convince himself it’s what he wants—or for Mom to convince him it’s what he needs.
“Tomorrow is too soon, but I will let you know by the time the babies come,” he tells me before walking away. I sigh heavily, and Dad pats my leg.
“He’ll come around, Cas, and then it will be up to you to see that he makes the most of it. Promise me you won’t let him settle for anything less than what he deserves.”
“I won’t, Dad, I promise.”
“Iwant Malik to join the circus. Do you think your grandpas would mind?” I ask Lila at the same time she says, “I think your brother should join the circus. I want to introduce him to Magenta.”
We’re on our way back to Skarr after a teary goodbye with my family. We promised to video chat with them the minute the babies shifted and we were back on dry ground.
Broderick was waiting for us at the shuttle, and this time the trip is just us and him. The rest of the Fluxx shifters are staying on their home planet until they are recalled for the show. We were quiet until we hit hyperspeed, and then we both started talking at the same time.
We’re silent for a moment before we both start laughing at each other.
“I would say great minds think alike,” Broderick comments from the captain’s seat.
“He’s so unhappy. Fluxx is not the best place for people who are different. Not everywhere is as tolerant as Skarr.”
Broderick snorts. “Skarr’s not all that great either. If you’re an adult and you don’t have bonding plans or aren’t already bonded, you are considered an anomaly. I can’t tell you the number of times people looked at me strangely when I told them I’m not bonded.”
“Yeah, and I bet I’m going to get some looks when they discover my partners are not all Skarrian. Apparently that’s also uncommon,” Lila points out, and the captain agrees.
“Yup, I don’t think there is anywhere in the galaxy where people are so enlightened that they are completely tolerant of everything.”
“The Celestians seem pretty cool.” Lila leans her head on my shoulder and rubs a hand over her belly.
It’s not as big as it will be, but it’s still significantly larger than it was.
I can’t tell you how much I want to bang my fists against my chest and shout to the world that I did that, that those are my babies in there, and that’s my wife.
I’ve never felt the animal instinct as strongly as I have since I mated with Lila.
Now I just want to defend and protect, and hide her away in a cave and keep her barefoot and pregnant forever.
I bet she would have my balls if I suggested that though.
She is meant for so much more, and I can’t wait to be there to support her in whatever way I can.
“They are an enlightened bunch, and so are the Jelliads, but they reproduce asexually and use other people’s sex acts to fuel their own bodies, so I guess they can’t afford to be judgmental.” Broderick turns in his seat now that the ship has been locked into its coordinates and is in hyper drive.
“Reproduce asexually?” Lila looks between the two of us, and I nod.
“Yup, and to be honest, that really isn’t the weirdest way to reproduce. I mean, look at the Modovian the other night,” I point out, and Lila shudders.
“I still can’t believe one of them got on our ship,” Broderick muses, shaking his head, but Lila suddenly sits upright, paying attention.
“I was thinking about that last night. We didn’t let that information get out.
Xavier went back and erased it from Tully’s and Sully’s minds, as well as the dude who was violated.
The only people who know about it now are our family and Bubby here.
What if once the babies come and I have my mimic abilities under control, I go undercover as the Modovian.
I can report back to the Syndicate and see if I can get any more information out of them. ”
“Over my dead body,” I growl as Broderick shakes his head vehemently.
“Absolutely not. We can’t put you at risk like that. We don’t even know what they want with the circus.”
Although Broderick had been advised about the intruder, he hasn’t been read into the truth about what she was really doing there. The less people who know about the orb, the better. It’s still only the family on a need-to-know basis.
Lila deflates and sags back into the chair again. “Fine, but don’t think I’m going to let this go. I’m going to suggest it once the babies are here and you’re not in complete protection mode.”
“Did you enjoy your stay on Fluxx?” I ask Broderick, changing the subject and ignoring Lila, but I make a note to warn the Adams brothers and her other mates about her crazy fucking idea.
“It was fine. Fluxxians aren’t exactly the warmest of people when they find out you’re not a shifter. They become downright frosty when they discover I’m Skarrian, but I still managed to spend some time with a few enlightened people.”
I smother the smirk that wants to form when I feel Lila shudder next to me. I guess it would be like hearing about her parents having sex, and I am way too familiar with how that feels. Mira and Murphy have no concept of TMI.
“I see that you did some shopping.” He gestures to the pile of bags that accompanied us on the return trip.
“When you have nine siblings and enthusiastic parents, it’s hard to avoid excessive gifts. Not to mention they are all thrilled for us.”
“That’s awesome. I’m so happy for you both. I know things have been a bit rough on the ship with both Xavier’s harem and Saxon’s clan, so hopefully things will be better now.”
Lila snorts, and her entire body shakes.
“I’m sure someone will find something to take offense with.
Shit, I’m getting a new mate who hates me, so I don’t think things are going to be smooth sailing, but I don’t want to think about it now.
Let’s talk about something else. I will worry about the two cats when they arrive. ”
The rest of our trip home is uneventful.
Broderick settles in to read a book, and Lila and I stretch out on the free seats and nap, still trying to catch up on our sleep after our bonding time.
I also think growing my babies is taking a lot out of Lila.
She has dark circles under her eyes and is always hungry, so I have to keep an eye on her to make sure she’s being looked after.
I also think she probably needs to feed from Saxon.
Although my blood seems to sustain her, she doesn’t get rosy cheeks like she does after she feeds from him. Her body must be attuned to his blood.
I will let Link know so he can add it to his Lila database.
I spoke to them all on a video conference yesterday after my talk with Dad and Malik.
The fact that Lila is a mimic and the perfect mate for anyone is a bit of a concern.
Anyone could come after her for the use of her womb, so Link is setting up a database of all of her mates’ traits and abilities so she can assimilate the information.
He will add it to all the races found in the circus so she has more knowledge about what she is capable of if she ever mimics one of the performers or crew.
When we get back to Skarr, they are going to make her put her feet up and rest for the next month, and all she will be allowed to do is study.
I laughed out loud when they told me this and wished them luck.
I can’t wait to see them tell Lila that her only task for the next month is to learn everything she can about other species and that she’s not allowed to do anything else until she does.
I bet Link’s precious tablet will go flying across the room quicker than he can say gualala beast, but at least it will make the time go quicker, because I can’t wait to have my babies in my arms and tentacles.