Chapter 56 #3
“Do you think it's possible that all of us are compatible with domini males?” Hattie asked thoughtfully, looking at Peony's stomach as though the answer might be displayed there.
“That's something Donivi and are I looking into,” Scarlet assured her. “It could just be Peony, individually. It might have just been a onetime fluke. There's a lot we still have to figure out and we only have the one data point.”
“I volunteer as data point number two!” Hattie said, raising her hand. “Atem, where's Tuvo?”
Atem chuckled, pulling Peony back to his side. “He's overseeing the burning of the bodies this morning so I can scatter their ashes later.”
Peony smothered a laugh. Scattering ashes was seen as something you did for a loved one on Earth, so it was odd to her that, here, it was an insult.
It probably wasn't an insult to the ratchi either, but it was still a fate Atem was going to give the ones who captured her and Temnavi because, to them, it was a terrible punishment.
She let out a sigh, leaning her head on his chest as the others talked around her.
The girls were explaining the concept of a baby shower to Atem, and he was absolutely on board with the idea of a party celebrating his mate being pregnant.
Probably not for the reasons that humans celebrated it, but she appreciated his enthusiasm nonetheless.
For now, she had nothing more to worry about than the possibility of maybe attending a baby shower and never leaving Atem's side.
***
Lounging back, a cup of warm blood cradled in her hands like hot chocolate, Peony looked around her room as her friends argued over traditional domini baby items. She wasn't yet at the point where she didn't want to leave her nest, but Atem had some dangerous duties to finish for the next few hours that he didn't want her around for, so they had gathered here so she could keep his scent close.
She was using the shirt he had given her as a small blanket.
He had only been gone an hour or two, so she didn't feel any anxiety yet, but she did miss him and having his scent nearby still made her feel at peace.
The girls were trying to plan a baby shower.
It was a task made slightly more complicated by the fact that domini didn't have baby showers.
Pregnant women instinctively sought lonely, dark places the more pregnant they became.
They would refuse to see anyone but their mate the closer they got to labor and no one but close family after the baby was born.
Peony wasn't having any of those symptoms yet, and she couldn't imagine she ever would.
That instinct would have to fight with her deeply ingrained, very human instinct to want her friends and family close.
However, just in case she did, they wanted to throw the baby shower early.
But since female domini nested with their baby in their bed, they didn't have cribs.
They didn't use strollers or prams or carriers since their babies reliably and instinctively clung to their mother's backs when they were taken anywhere.
Most domini didn't clothe their babies either, outside of a blanket to wrap them up to keep them warm.
Newborns' camouflage reflex wasn't well developed yet and so, for the good of the baby's skin, it was best to keep them in solid, muted colors that could be easily and quickly removed if their skin tried too hard to adapt to it.
Diapers were apparently a universal thing, but domini used cloth ones only so she wouldn't need a lot.
Their babies either drank breast milk or blood, so she didn't need formula.
That pretty much just left toys. Domini babies developed, mentally, faster than human babies.
They needed the stimulation. Strangely enough, physically, they developed slower.
She shouldn't expect her baby – if it was more like a domini – to start trying to walk until about two years old.
They would skip the crawling stage and go straight to trying to stand and walk, but until then, the baby would need to be carried.
It made sense to her that a species that evolved to climb would cling to their mother's until they could walk reliably, but she was surprised it took them so long considering how much stronger domini were compared to humans.
Maybe it took longer to build up that greater strength.
With no idea what necessities to get, no need to buy Peony medical supplies for post birth or nursing since Donivi could fix all that easily, and unsure what toys they even needed to get a domini baby, they were researching first before they planned the party.
It had been about a tenday since Peony's kidnapping and all of it seemed like nothing but a bad, distant memory. She had been with Atem every day since and he had made sure to spoil her completely as they fell into a new routine.
Today was the first time that he had needed to do something without her.
There was a nearby city – about an hour away by hover – that was having what she understood to be gang trouble.
Atem didn't call it that. He said it was some idiot clan trying to run an illegal fighting and drug ring, but she knew gang violence when she saw it.
He was going with First Guardian Havali to lead the city guardians in taking down the ring.
Literally fighting them. It wasn't going to be a police style bust. They were going in armed and ready and prepared to throw down, not arrest.
Therefore, Peony was not invited. However, usually, she accompanied Atem on whatever duty he was fulfilling that day.
She was learning a great deal. Not just about what it meant to run all of Turv – a lot of datawork and willingness to fight because this battle minded species settled all disputes almost exclusively through violence – but also being part of the Coalition.
She had learned that, out in the greater universe, there was an entire council of species that had come together to create literally universal laws, help establish trade, and to standardize almost everything for ease of communication.
There was a Universal Standard for language, money, bartering, even time.
The tenday calendar Turv had adopted was based on Universal Standard Time.
All of which seemed to run on a base ten system.
It wasn't a perfect conversion, as Turv still had to use their own years for trips around the sun – but especially for things like space travel, time had been standardized.
Ten marks in a standard day, ten days in a tenday, ten tendays in a subcycle, and ten subcycles in a full cycle – or a universal year.
She had learned that, in the Coalition, domini served almost exclusively as a military force.
The combat-based species was one of the best at prolonged fighting and killing.
They didn't suffer from things like PTSD from combat, their psychology perfectly adapted to battle.
As such, the Coalition hired them, through Atem and Tuvo as First Warrior, to act as a military arm to punish law breakers or to protect weaker species, and even on individual basis as bodyguards.
The vital role domini played in the greater universe had made them wealthy and powerful.
She hadn't realized it before, but her alien leader was also highly respected in the universe as a whole. He was an even greater VIP than she had ever guessed.
And she was his mate.
As adassani, she had no ruling power. That was solely Atem's job.
However, he did ask for her advice and opinion.
He didn't always take her suggestion, but he did always listen.
And her willingness to trust was balanced neatly by his suspicious nature.
Her forgiving human heart and his vengeful domini one created a fair middle ground.
Such as in the case of Tilii.
She was here now, serving food as the girls debated traditional baby shower games. Tilii was still their greatest source of information on domini culture and expectations. Her punishment, declared by Atem and agreed upon by Peony, was that she had been stripped of her clan name.
Normally, such a thing would be a devastating punishment as it meant that she had been exiled from her clan. But seeing how Tilii liked no one from her clan and they often bullied and took advantage of her, the hidden beauty of her punishment was that it was actually a second chance.
Atem refused to claim her as his family, as he still barely trusted her to bring Peony food that she had no hand in preparing. However, the clanless female had never looked so happy and carefree as she did now that she was out from under the thumb of her ruthless sister.
Tilii could be adopted into another clan, and she would be if she ever found her mate. However, for the first time in her life, she was being given the freedom to grow and learn and be whoever she wanted to be and not who Quvi told her she had to be.
It was a second chance, a new beginning, and a punishment all in one declaration.
Tilii was happy, and the other girls were happy, too.
It pleased Peony to see all of them fully settled into their new lives and roles. All of them had found a new direction in their life on the alien planet.
Scarlet and Donivi worked together every day now. Not just to watch over Peony's pregnancy, but also in a teacher/student role. Scarlet was learning directly from him and, according to Donivi, she was learning exceptionally well and fast.
The imprinting process for information was a quick and easy way to learn.
The information had to be looked over after the imprint, to make sure it stayed in the recipient's head, but it was still much faster and more reliable than old fashioned studying.
There was, however, still a bit of natural skill involved in the process.