Chapter 17: Surprises

~~ Delta - Feb/03 - (Earth - Aug/2095) ~~

I had little to complain about.

That man knew how to rub a girl in all the right places. I could only surmise Heidi was an idiot for not giving him a chance to prove what a caring husband he could be.

Lee’s house was rocking that night. She still only had half of her wing for the workers filled, so the overflow went there. No one cared as they all reckoned; they were as good as the other rooms. Lee had the most spoilt workers anywhere in the two solar systems.

She didn’t acquire any extra staff because we all found we were happy to pitch in and do our bit. Most of us weren’t used to being waited on anyway. And since she was feeding and entertaining us, we felt we owed a little effort for the rewards.

The huge entertainment area was set up, and most of us ate outside in the lovely summer air. Andre and his wife Larina had turned up earlier, and the two best chefs in the solar system had gotten the roasts on the spits. The smells alone were terrific.

Other guests turned up as the afternoon headed into the evening. James’ family arrived, and a room in the central dome had been kept aside for them. We dutifully showed them their bedrooms and left them to settle in.

I was then surprised by Lee, popping up and asking me to come with her. We found ourselves outside her Ring Dome, and Sean walked out with my family. I was in tears in seconds, and mum wasn’t much better.

We both got to laugh about our big bellies, and Rick was just ecstatic at being on Harmony. Vince, Rick and James hit it off, and when introduced to his dad and Joe, the fathers soon found a lot in common and happily wandered off together.

Agnes was a slightly harder nut to crack, but my mum has a way with reticent people. She soon had Agnes cooing over the fact they were both about the same time along in their pregnancies, and with both of them having had two kids already they soon found plenty to talk about.

Later mum asked me about the strange immunisation shot Sean had given them, and I grinned and said, she would find the rest of her pregnancy a dream and have more than enough energy to chase after my sister.

Happy with this, she decided it was time to hobnob with royalty and went to find Agnes her new bosom pal. I had to laugh at my mum. That lady was the Queen of every situation she found herself in. Not much got my mum down.

Rick had me amused. He hadn’t finished growing yet, and he was now taller than I was. He’d already cracked the two-metre mark and was starting to fill out. He wasn’t a bad looking lad either if I say so myself. Mum said he hadn’t found a job yet and was still trying to get into UNSEC.

Justin’s youngest sister, Barbie, took one look at him, and he was claimed. I decided it was lust at first look, and it wasn’t just on Barbie’s part either. A little later that evening Justin came up to me and said, “Hum, how old is your brother?”

I had to think about it and looked at my Mad. “Damn, I missed his birthday. He would have been eighteen last week.”

He sighed, “Well, don’t be surprised if he doesn’t go home.”

“Why?” I asked.

He grinned, “Barbie turned sixteen two days ago and got her rookies box.”

He pointed to one of the sun loungers in a darkish nook. Barbie was sitting on my brother’s lap, laying a big one on him. I bet he was poking her with a big one as well. I’d seen him in the shower at fifteen when I’d accidentally walked in on him. I guessed he was well hung by now.

He hadn’t had a girlfriend when I left, so I had no idea if he knew what to do with it, but I got the distinct impression Barbie was going to show him.

“I think we may have to get him enrolled at Futura’s Uni. We still have the apartment there so he can move in with us,” Justin said.

I looked at him. “Just like that?” I said in surprise.

He grinned, “We Ubobo’s, fall hard and fast, Trixy.”

I looked back at the couple and watched as Barbie got off from him and then led him away. Oh boy! Did that boy have a boner or what? He sure wasn’t fighting too hard to get away either. Justin and I both had to chuckle.

“Well it looks as if we really will become related if they stay together,” I said.

“I had a chat with him a little earlier, and he comes across as a nice bloke,” Justin said.

“He is a real sweetie and has very nice manners,” I said.

Justin grinned, “Hey, we will have to get him on our cricket team. I bet with you two on the team, we’ll wipe the competition next year, even without using magic.”

I had to laugh and told him that I loved the idea.

------

The next morning, I was fitted into my wedding dress.

It was an ashen shade of blue in some lights and even looked silver in most other lights. It was bloody gorgeous. The girls did my hair. That was no mean feat working out how to make a metre of long straight red hair look good, but they did.

I’d asked my Barb, Foxy and Jill, to be my bride’s maids. Paul, Alec’s cousin Eric and his brother Joe were the best men. I had noted how Barb and Jill had taken a shine to Eric at the party the night before. He was more Genteli than a Giant like Paul was. I had a sneaky suspicion the three had already shared a bed.

Foxy was still tight with Paul, and I wasn’t going to be surprised if they stayed that way. They had been living together as long as James and I had.

Joe had recently taken up with one of Nyoni’s cousins. I still wasn’t sure how Agnes was taking having a possible shapeshifter for a daughter-in-law, but I guess that was her problem I liked the girl.

I got Vince to give me away, and he was proud as punch to do so. I really did like my mum’s new husband. It wasn’t hard to tell he loved her, so I thought it only right to ask him, and Sean was happy to hand over the honours. The guy had me crying with him when I asked.

The look on mum’s face told me I had done her proud by asking, so it was all good, as Kyle would say. I think Vince was as nervous as I was when he walked me down the aisle. The entertainment area had been reorganised and looked fantastic. I was going to let Kale go first, but he said we’d do it together, so that was what we did.

The faeries led the procession and James, and I followed. I think I bawled through the whole thing. James was shaking so hard with emotion when he said the vows, and I just loved him more, if that was actually possible.

I was just glad to get it over with. I still couldn’t believe my hunk had actually married me. I kept looking at the rings on my finger, and then my tummy, and then him. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was.

While we mingled, the seating was rearranged for lunch, and we did a photo session to keep the relies happy. It took longer than the wedding ceremony. James said we had some strange customs, but he went with the flow.

Our dragonets had their own space. Bellna’s babies had hatched, and they had happily bonded to Kyle’s family. We weren’t surprised to find the larger female went to Kyle, the male to Debora. The second female chose Tony and the last male their other wife, Piper.

Piper said they had bonded in order of dragon hierarchy as to who was their equal in the human family. Her kids were with our dragonets and Drako was boss as the big brother.

They were having a lovely time, and Soot had taken a fancy to the largest female and ignored the fact Pearl kept cuddling up to Drako. I’m not too sure if he liked the other boys getting friendly with Ash and Cloud, but he couldn’t whinge when he was making eyes at their sisters.

I had a feeling that the girls would all end up screwing all the boys at some stage. I was pretty sure Soot would get his whistle wet often enough to not get too stressed about whom else, was doing whom.

Plus, his girls would mature faster than the others would, so he got first dibs. Then Piper’s kids could well take humans as lovers later in life. The dynamics of what could happen were making my head spin. I sighed; well, the dragons did like to share the gene pool.

They were making nice for now, so that was all I cared about.

------

Lunch was a lively affair.

I was watching the interactions between the guests, and my earlier thoughts returned to the dynamics of different races and them intermingling. It was being played out before me.

“Why the frown, my love?” James asked.

“I was just thinking about the people in this room. I hope the people back home find another world to colonise.”

“Why what is wrong with this one?” he said perplexed.

I smiled at him, “For us, nothing. But, many of the people back home; they just wouldn’t fit in here.”

Lee leant forward and looked at me, “Why not, Trixy?”

I smiled sadly at her, “I can see why you pick the people you do. Many people back home had been bitching that you were too picky about who you would let come here.”

Sean, who was beside me, pushed his chair back, so Lee was more visible to me. I inched back with him, so James was also better included. I explained more to James than the other couple because I already suspected what I was going to say, was well known to them.

“James, many of the people back home have a very narrow view of how life should be and how humans should behave. Many still practice bigotry and hatred towards people who are not the same, as they believe they should be.”

“These people may well be good to their kids and families, and the people they believe have the same beliefs as them. But here, here they would find this place too scary, too far from what they believe their world should be like.”

“They would be uncomfortable and soon hate what we love about the place. They may come with good intentions and believe that they would fit in, but they wouldn’t. They would try to make the surrounding people conform to their views and get angry when they don’t.”