Chapter 9

That discussion was a sort of turning point. The sisters had started reading Lil's notes and it turned out that she had gotten much further than anybody suspected. From me she had gotten an idea that the male 'satyr' -gene was latent and an exchange of fluids with a female counterpart was needed in order for the change to be activated. The more fluids that are exchanged the stronger the change becomes. During those six months we had known each other, Lil had already noticed the change in behavior of the other men towards me - with one notable exception: gays. In fact the only reaction that came from them was amusement, and even that seemed to be unintentional. All of that she had found out from old manuscripts, and examining the world around us. Well, at least I knew now what she had done during the days. There was no way that she had had time for that kind of work during our evenings together.

But she had also noticed that it was not only me that was changing. She had made almost humorous notes about 'imprinting of the females.' She had used herself as an example. Damn, I had loved her and she had obviously loved me. On the other hand, after reading her work, several things started to make sense to me. Both in high school and college, I had been the target of the pranks from other guys.M More often than not, it was from those others who envied ny luck with women. My mothers making sure that I treated all my girlfriends with respect, and my being almost religious in using condoms, had probably saved me from fatherhood in my youth. I should have understood that there was something different with Lilith, since we never even discussed contraception.

Our lives settled into a sort of balance. I continued working - remotely - and smiling Selena scared the shit out of my old co-workers. Eun would continue her studies at the college as long as her pregnancy would allow. She also told us not to worry about her parents, since they had already disowned her because she once had a lesbian lover.

Lil's studies helped us to solve one logistical problem - and also showed me a way to go out to a bar when the air inside the mansion became too thick. In a way, my life was good, very good; but it really is not good to play a game alone - or even with twenty pregnant women. I solved both problems by making friends with the owners of a gay bar, that included a restaurant. They helped us with getting our groceries, and I could go there and occasionally watch a game with guys – or gays. After a while I could tell which of the guys were bisexual but none of them really bothered me. Mrs. Jones? She just loved the huge mansion and the attention she was getting.

It turned out that about half of the sisters suffered morning sickness; which seemed to be an incorrect term, since it was not restricted to mornings. Living in a same house with ten cranky pregnant women was not too much fun, either. However, they claimed that getting some orgasms helped with the sickness and since I was responsible of their state, I was responsible of helping them, too. Those little guys inside my head were telling me that 'you reap what you sow.' There were some days that I didn't get much work done, but fortunately my boss was quite understanding – at least after a few orgasms.

It was late at night on the day of the Winter Solstice. I was sitting alone, downstairs, thinking about my life, when suddenly there was a knock on the front door.

I didn't know what to think. We never had any visitors - never! In fact we even used three different junctions while accessing the main roads so that the road to the house would not look used. The sisters were quite capable of doing all the things around the mansion, and I was learning from them. So, there certainly should not be any visitors. When I tried to look past the curtains all I could see was a battered pick-up parked in the yard, and a strangely familiar-looking character leaning on the side of it. There was another, smaller but definitely pregnant character standing at the door. Maybe they were just lost and asking for help. Well, as long as he would be staying down there it should be safe for me to open the door. Those little guys inside my head had been trying to getting my attention before I opened the door but I paid just as much attention to them as I usually did. Maybe I should have listened to them, this time. At least I might have been a bit more prepared for what I saw.

It was damned cold out there, but Lilith had a hoodie that protected her. Her face was just as pretty as I remembered - only her stomach was bigger now. As soon as she saw me, she started to smile.

"Oh, Ryan, you made it here! I have missed you so much!"

Without any further warning, she launched herself at me, and pulled my head down for a kiss. Those little guys inside my head probably fainted while I just noticed that she tasted exactly the way I remembered - and her lips were warm. From the corner of my eye I could see that familiar-looking guy down on the yard waving his hand and smiling wickedly before he jumped into the pick-up and drove away. I would never forget those flashing eyes and that crazy smile. Everything about him was soon forgotten as I felt Lil with my hands. My Lil. My pregnant Lil.

"Lil, are you okay? Is ... is the baby okay?"

She shrugged slightly.

"I guess. Well, he promised that we are, but I have not seen doctor since Halloween..."

Suddenly I became aware of other people coming close. There was gasping, touching, crying and just too many questions to answer. The only one who looked purely shocked was Kim and I had to take hold of her and calm her down while the other sisters were circling Lil.

"Kim, calm down. I guess that there are a few things you don't know, but there probably is an explanation."

"But ... I saw her die! I saw when he rolled her away..."

" ... and he was a weird-looking old guy with flashing eyes, correct? Remember when the hospital apologized that they had accidentally cremated her body already. I'm sure it was a lie to cover the fact that they had lost it."

"But I SAW her die. I was there, I saw it. Remember that I'm a nurse..."

"What if I told you that I saw Lilith ... talked with her, and touched her ... just before I saw that lady doctor and you?"

None of us wanted to sleep anymore. Once again we all gathered to the living room and the place was filled with pillows, cushions, blankets and whatever was needed to make the pregnant women feel comfortable. Lil was there in the middle and I sat down next to her since I had a feeling that I should also tell something. Those little guys inside my head were just telling me to explain it all so that the women could then sent me to the loony bin. Okay, that could happen. Then Lil cleared her throat.

"Before I forget ... Ryan, he asked me to give this back to you. He laughed and said that you might need it again, someday. He also asked me to tell you that your real birthday is October 31st, 1974. The one that is in the official documents is incorrect. That information may turn out to be useful to us in the future."

She handled me back the half dollar I had used as payment for my journey. I took the coin, smiled at Lil, and kissed her warm cheek. Yes, it was warm - just as it should be.

"Ryan, sisters ... and by saying sisters, I mean you all, since that is what we are, now ... I guess that you all are surprised or even shocked to see me - us - again."

She carefully soothed her baby filled stomach while saying 'us.' Then she looked around again.

"You probably have some mixed feelings to see me here, since you have probably heard that I died. Well, you all have a right to those feelings since I did die, I guess. I'm quite sure I did. I remember holding my stomach, and watching myself being rolled away to some odd elevator. The trip down took an extremely long time, and once there I felt a quick sharp pain in my head. Then suddenly I was lying awake in a hospital bed, in some strange hospital room. The old guy who rolled me down just told me to wait there since it was not safe to run around there. Besides, he told me that since I was awake I might soon have a visitor who loved me very much. Well, it was not very soon and I was quite bored listening to some dog howl and wondering what was happening to me until Ryan suddenly came to see me."

Suddenly all the women were staring at me. Those little guys were shaking their heads and yelling is despair but I knew that now it was time to reveal my last secret.

I explained to them my little tour. I occasionally looked at Kim and I could see the understanding hitting her at the some point. When I told them about the coin and crossing the stream Lil gasped. When I came to the point when I met Lil again I turned to look at her before continuing. She rolled her eyes.

"Come on. I'm quite sure all of them know by now what we might have been doing together. I'm not ashamed of it, in fact it turned out to be much more important than you could believe - even if it broke our hearts at that point. I guess it was the moment when we both realized that I was dead and you were alive."