Chapter 55 - The Compromise

The kitchen buzzed with a mix of tension and determination as the women gathered around. Susan stood at the center, her face still flushed from the drive home, her enormous breasts rising and falling beneath her simple cotton shirt. Heather leaned against the counter, arms crossed, her expression a mask of concern. Mia paced restlessly, her blonde ponytail swishing behind her, while Zoé sat quietly at the table, her green eyes wide and attentive. Charlotte hovered near the sink, Evelyn perched on a stool, Sophia leaned against the fridge, Nora sat on the edge of the counter, Violet stood by the doorway, and Lily fiddled with a cup of tea.

Susan took a deep breath to calm down and began, told the group what happened at the clinic and in the car when they came back. The room fell silent for a moment as the women absorbed the information. Heather was the first to speak, her voice firm yet compassionate. “We need to make sure Steve knows that this isn’t just about the pheromones. We’ve always loved him, long before any of this started.”

Mia threw her hands in the air, her ponytail bouncing with the sudden motion. “Ah, c’mon!” she exclaimed, her voice tinged with both exasperation and passion. “I loved him even before puberty hit! I used to dream about marrying my big brother, for crying out loud! Pheromones had nothing to do with that!” Her words hung in the air, raw and unfiltered, a testament to the depth of her feelings long before any chemical explanations could muddy the waters.

Zoé chimed in softly, “But how do we make him believe that? After everything he’s seen ... after everything he’s feeling?”

Charlotte stepped forward, her voice steady but laced with a quiet intensity that drew everyone’s attention. “We show him,” she said, her green eyes locking onto each of the women in turn. “We remind him that he was conceived in the first place to be our husband. That we loved him before the pheromones even came into play. The only reason he wasn’t already with us in our bed was the clan rules.”

Heather shook her head, her expression a mix of frustration and resignation. Glancing around the room at the anxious faces, she finally voiced what they were all thinking. “That won’t be enough,” she said flatly, leaning forward with her hands on the counter. She looked straight at Susan. “He’ll just respond by saying that we believe we’re in love with him, but we can’t really know if it’s true or not. It’s the doubt creeping in, the constant what-if swirling in his mind. And that doubt?” She paused, letting the weight of her words sink in. “It’ll always linger. We need to prove it definitively, and I don’t see any way around it.”

Before Susan could protest, Heather raised her hand, silencing her with a stern look. “I know you don’t like it, Suze. I don’t either. But this is where we are. Without proof, without something irrefutable, that seed of doubt will keep growing.” Her voice softened as she sighed deeply, her shoulders slumping slightly and grimaced. “And honestly? I can only think of one way...”

Steve sat on the edge of his bed, his mind swirling with conflicting emotions. What had he done? He had impregnated them all—Susan, Heather, Mia, Zoé, Charlotte, Evelyn, Sophia, Nora, Violet, and Lily. Each one carried a part of him now, and he couldn’t just walk away. But did they truly love him, or was it all just the pheromones, the clan tradition, some twisted sense of duty? The doubt gnawed at him like a relentless storm.

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. “Open the door, Steve, or so help me, I’ll get someone to break it down,” Heather’s voice commanded from the other side, her tone firm and unyielding.

Steve sighed heavily, unlocking the door and running a hand through his hair. “Heather, I’m sorry, but I need time alone. Please.”

But Heather wasn’t having it. She grabbed his wrist the moment he opened the door, her grip tight but not painful. “C’mon,” she said, her voice softening slightly. “I’m not gonna let you sit here and pout in your room alone. We need to talk.”