Chapter 7: Crossroads

As the clock ticked its slow way to the end of two weeks, Pēteris stood, arms linked with Miriam and Robyn. The portal was before them, and Daniel was behind them, needing to wait an additional five minutes before he could return to his own love. Time ceased. The three stepped through the portal and were greeted by Soo-Min Hero Greeter, with an infant in each arm and a toddler clinging to her leg.

Fear gripped them until Soo-Min smiled and told them, “Meet your new daughter, Esther and your new son, Micah. Moira has at least another hour in the healing chamber, Annie and Katja are a little early and just started contractions, so Tina and I came to greet you.” She stepped forward and handed a bundle each to Miriam and Robyn. Then she lifted Tina up to Pēteris and told him, “This little one has missed you all terribly, especially you.”

Pēteris gathered the now happy toddler to him and smothered her with kisses. How he could let her grow up without him, he could not fathom, and now his family was growing bigger. There had to be a way. Just had to.

With Tina gathered in one arm, he went to his new daughter and looked, then to his new son. Tears streamed. He started, went to Soo-Min, and told her, “You have been a true friend.” He pulled her to him, and careful not to crush Tina, he planted a kiss on Soo-Min that she would taste in her dreams for years.

“Now, we have two others that we need to see,” he told her.

A familiar, disembodied voice echoed, “Welcome back, Pēteris. They are in your suite waiting.”

“Thank you, Galahad,” Pēteris responded to the resident AI. “We missed you, too.”

As he led the way into the suite, two very pregnant beauties glared at him from the big bed. “Four babies, all at once!” exclaimed Annie. “What were you thinking?” added Katja.

Pēteris knew better than to laugh or even smile. He knew the man was always to blame, and with two pregnant women – doubly to blame.”

He crossed the room, scootched upon the bed, and sat between the pair. Still holding Tina, he pulled them close and tenderly kissed them. Then he kissed again.

Robyn entered, handed Micah to Pēteris, and tilted Annie back against the headboard. “Spread ‘em!” she demanded, as her nursing persona kicked in. Satisfied, she returned Annie to a semi-sitting position, kissed her soundly and moved to examine Katja. She stood and told them, “Neither of you is dilated to ten centimeters yet, so you have a while to go. Why don’t you hold the twins? That will distract you.”

Awkwardly juggling two children Pēteris handed Micah to Annie, turned to Soo-Min, and inquired, “So, why aren’t the twins hungry and crying? I wouldn’t expect them to sleep like this.”

“After we cleaned them up, I let Moira hold them and put them to breast while we cleaned her up. After a while, her milk let down, and the greedy little things drank their fill,” Soo-Min said with a smile. “Annie and Katja held them while I got Moira into the healing chamber. I expect them to wake up hungry about the time Moira is due out.”

Robyn looked at her and asked, “Where and when did you learn all this? I didn’t know you were a midwife.”

“I’m not,” answered Soo-Min, “but Anne, Katja, and I took some crash courses while you were gone, and Galahad coached us through it all. It wasn’t a piece of cake, but I’ll be glad to turn these two over to Robyn and Moira’s care for a while.” She looked and sounded tired - past the limits of a restorative.

Miriam took Soo-Min’s arm and led her back to the master bedroom where she stripped, kissed, and put her to bed. She returned to the others as Galahad announced, “Moira is due out of the healing chamber in five minutes.”

“Go!” insisted Katja, “She’ll need to see you, and you’ll only be gone a moment. We can manage.” She winced with a contraction, but shooed them away with her hands.

The trio entered the recovery room, the women each carrying an infant and Pēteris the still clinging Tina. When the lid of the healing chamber popped open, Moira sat up and was overjoyed to see her spouses. She held out her arms, and Pēteris was able to help her stand. Careful hugs, tender kisses, and as if on cue, the twins woke and made their hunger known.

The next several hours – days? – were filled with labor, delivery, cleanup, baby care, healing chamber, love, kisses, hugs, and food. No sex – none. Babies can do that, especially four babies.

Annie named their son ‘Martin,’ as she had ‘Tina,’ after her fallen Hero. Tina loved being his big sister – big sisters and brothers are a true rarity on Cassandra, but she also shared her attention with Katja’s Olga and, indeed, all the babies.

One morning, Pēteris woke to quiet. The babies were all fed and asleep. He was cuddled with a naked bevy of beauty, enjoying the peace, when Galahad whispered in his ears, “The agreement was ‘until the babies are born.’ Annie and Katja must return to Cassandra today!”

“One last ride?” Pēteris asked, and receiving an affirmative, he gently woke Annie, and loved on her through six cums and two restoratives. He turned to see his Damsel, Katja, watching quietly. Knowing he might not, probably wouldn’t, see her again, he tenderly took her in his arms and ensured that she had another morning to remember for the rest of her life.

“I’ll be escorting them back to Cassandra,” Soo-Min told him, looking across Annie with a wan smile. Pēteris glanced at his wives, and receiving a trio of nods, reached across and dragged the squealing Soo-Min across Annie and on top of him. He lifted his hand, and Galahad, as he had been requested long ago, filled it with yet another restorative.

“You have been appointed ‘Friend With Benefits’” Pēteris told the startled Hero Greeter, “and those benefits may start now! You’re the one who knows the potential consequences when you return to Cassandra – your decision!” The happy woman seized his ears, laid on a kiss, damned the consequences, lifted, and impaled herself. She wasn’t quite frantic – frenetic maybe – and she was determined to wrest the biggest O she could. When she came, Pēteris gentled her and whispered, “That was sex – good sex – but now comes loving.”

Pēteris and his wives stroked, caressed, kissed, and loved on Soo-Min through gentle cums and raging fires. When restoratives no longer worked, they dozed. After a bit, Pēteris woke to a whisper in his left ear – this one from Soo-Min. “This could very well be our last time, so I want you to know ... I told Galahad to ensure that Katja and Annie were at the peak of their fertile cycle when they came out of the healing chamber. No one has stayed through a pregnancy before, so there was no rule and no precedent.”

Katja chose that moment to declare, “I feel pregnant.”

Soo-Min rushed to gather up the Damsels and their children. There were tears and kisses around, and suddenly, Pēteris’s suite felt empty.

Moira was sitting with one twin at each breast and five files before her on the table. “There’s an interesting assortment to choose from, and these five particularly so,” she began. “Of these, the most recent Damsel to arrive on Chaos is, at the moment, in the least danger. That may quickly change.” She looked puzzled. “At first, it looked as though Monica Mechanic was seeking you, Pēteris, because she headed for the farm shortly after she arrived. She’s a renowned Chaos trivia champion and likely had its location pretty well figured out before she left.”

“Here’s the strange part. She wasn’t at the farm but a few days, and then she left and started traveling back the way she came - towards Hastert’s stronghold. She is armed, appears to have some self-defense skills, and some of your Chaos friends are with her.”

She placed the folder aside and picked up another. “Ellen Farmer, has been on Chaos for a little over four years. Until six months ago, she was in a relatively safe situation in a farm community. Then, a band of renegades burned the village and took all the younger women as slaves – most to be sold as whores. Typical story on Chaos; Ellen, was the most beautiful, so the leader picked her for his own. Then, when he raped her, he found that she is a cock burner.”

Moira looked at Pēteris and his two Companions and told them, “Looks like he is traveling with her in the direction of Hastert as well. Your setting the stage during your first venture appears to be working – at least some. In fact, all five of these five Damsels appear to be heading towards Hastert – some faster than others.”

Swapping the twins before opening the third file, Moira continued, “Then, there is Trudi Masseuse. It’s hard to tell what level of danger she is in, and it can change quickly. She’s black – a rarity on Cassandra and unique on Chaos. She’s only been on Chaos a few months and already has had several ‘owners.’ She is, of course, beautiful and considered exotic. Trudi was seized by a local thug the first time she made an appearance in the local inn’s common room. She’s been fought over ever since. As soon as one of them discovered that she is a cock burner, the ante went up significantly. Her current captor is known as ‘Demon Devin’. He is a volatile and unpredictable highwayman and killer.”