Chapter 29

“And then there were sixty-four,” I acknowledged as we left Twin Lakes at last to spend the rest of our winter in Charlottesville.

“Just as prophesied. That should help with the fresh blood or genes, at least, not to mention more hands to help around the town. So, we’ve shed thirty-four more. That’s fine with me. They weren’t meant to be our permanent companions and spouses, that’s all. It was nice while it lasted, but we must move on from them.

“Face it, group marriage or not, you’ve bonded a lot more with some of us than the rest of us and we all know it. Especially the Lucky Seven. No offense taken, believe me. Tara, Bonnie, and I have fallen very hard for Ryan these days, too. Plural marriage is fine, but there are limits, even for a sailor turned Prophet. We gladly join you guys in bed, but there is no doubt of favoritism. It’s just human nature. Everybody has preferences, favorites, personal tastes, that kind of thing,” Leah winked at me now.

“Lucky Seven?” my ears perked up at that.

“She means Hannah, Autumn, Xia Delan, Kylie Anne, Kelly Rae, Stacy, and Eve, of course. Aka Blonde Ambition, Ginger Snap, Miss China, Twin One, Twin Two, Wrestling Diva, and Demon Queen. Those are kinda their nicknames and they’re well aware of them. None of them seem to mind at all. In fact, they want to use those as radio handles from here on out,” Tara laughed at that part.

“Is that so?” I asked Hannah, who blushed and nodded.

“Yes. Don’t you like them? I do. I doubt that I’d actually win a beauty pageant back home, but I like that people think that I could. And it’s a lot less racist than some of the other handles we considered. It’s the best way to celebrate my Han heritage without being too focused on it,” Xia Delan explained to me.

“And I dare say that my personal ginger snap is rather yummy, don’t you agree?” Autumn gave her best pouty lip now.

“Oh, definitely! I can and do it eat it a lot, as you know. With or without the bush,” I winked at her now for my part.

“And I was a professional wrestler, wasn’t I?” Stacy reminded me as she felt me up.

“So you were ... I must admit that I never enjoyed being pinned down more than I have by you,” I chuckled as we trudged along the highway toward our destination.

“That could have something to do with the fact that when I pinned you, I rode you until we both came and I waved my tits in your face the whole damn time,” Stacy recalled with impish delight.

“And as for me, what can I say, you can always get some tail with me, can’t you?” Eve swished her demonic tail rather playfully to drive home her point.

“And as for us, what can we say? We work best as a team!” Kylie asserted.

“That we do! Because we’re sisters!” Kelly agreed with a steamy kiss for her sibling.

“Okay, okay, guilty as charged. Look, I try not to play favorites, but I’m a sentimental guy on at least some level and I’m only human. To think that for a brief time, there was talk that I alone would breed every woman in the tribe. The Almighty clearly changed his mind on that, of course, if he ever intended it to happen. I wonder if that was another of his pranks as well. It was very convincing when spoken by the angel Ariel, I must say,” I remembered that command.

“Oh, yes, that! I did that largely as a way to test your fertility, see how many women you could breed in a short space of time under pressure, and you did NOT disappoint me! Once it was clear what a stud you really were, I decided to relax my demands a little. I admired the way that you single-mindedly worked overtime to quicken so many wombs. So did Ariel, in fact.

“Oh, by the way, you left someone behind. Remember Charity Ballard? She IS destined to be with you, after all. You don’t mind taking her back, do you?” God presented me with Charity Ballard, and sure enough, she was very pregnant with my child.

“Welcome back, honey! We could have used you in Stanardsville and Twin Lakes,” I smiled as I playfully scolded her.

“Yes, well, blame me for that. I’m still a very fallible God at this point in time. I get most things right, but sometimes I make the odd mistake. Once I learned that she had your baby, well, you get the idea. And yes, I’ve changed my mind at times about things. You’re stuck being the Prophet for me, not bad as Gods go, since I’ll own my fuck-ups, which is more than you can say for Jehovah. And, at the risk of being immodest, I wasn’t a half-bad actor, either,” God grinned with His charming Irish humor and wit.