Chapter 9

I sat back in shock. I was a one-man Craxill population bomb. And, since I had no delusions of uniqueness, so was every other human male on the planet. The possibilities were disturbing.

"Husband?" Priya asked, concerned.

"She's right," I said. "We wondered, and now we know. I jacked off into her vagina, and her mate got her pregnant with twins. I fucked her up the ass, and her husband gave her quadruplets. And the exact same thing happened to Nilwint. Add up Lisa, three of Rillnam's new babies, three of Nilwint's, and either John Jr. or Patrick, and I've caused eight babies that I have no genetic connection to, plus our three."

"Wow, you are a stud," came an unfamiliar voice, and I looked up in shock as Linda and Roger Patel, and a Craxill female I assumed to be Cornmil Lantral of Simatorl entered the room. We'd been so occupied, we'd missed the arrival announcement. I realized that it was Linda who'd made the remark, her father and his would-be mate were too much in shock to have done so.

"That needs to be kept quiet, please," I told Linda. "The number of births will be public knowledge soon enough, but we don't need any discussion of causes until I can talk to some of the Craxill authorities and decide how to handle it."

"So, does that mean you'll do us a favor if we keep our mouths shut?" asked Linda, in what I hoped was a teasing tone.

"LINDA," her father half-shouted, "Never even imply that kind of extortion. It is not a joking matter."

I raised a hand, and said, "Be calm, I took no insult. Your daughter has convinced my wife she is capable of helping with our children, and that means she is not foolish enough to attempt such an act. She is, however, enough of a child to think it funny. She will learn better, when she grows up."

Linda glared at me when I spoke that last, then blushed when I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Nyah, nyah, got you!" I said in the most childish sing-song I could manage.

Linda looked at the suddenly fascinating floor, and said, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me. It was a stupid thing to say,"

"Apology accepted, we do, and it was, very," I told her, then lifted her chin and smiled at her. "And no, I won't forbid you from helping with the children over this, nor will I decline what ever help I can offer for your father's problem."

Linda had tears in her eyes as she said, "Thank you. My mouth gets me into so much trouble, sometimes..."

I gave her a quick hug, patted her on the back, and said, "You've still got little-girl-cute going for you. Exploit it while you can."

As a joke, it was weak, and she could have taken offense, but she said, "You're not very good at jokes either, are you?"

"No, he isn't," my loyal and loving wife said.

Changing the subject, I turned to John and said, "Please tell Cook that there will be three unanticipated guests for dinner. If she needs additional time, ask her to let me know."

"Thank you, sir, I'm already aware of it. Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes," came Cook's voice, from the entrance to the dining area.

"Very well, thank you, and my apologies for the surprise," I told her. She smiled, nodded, and left.

"Unanticipated, lord?" asked Lantral, speaking for the first time. She had a lovely voice, for a Craxill, and a face even humans could find beauty in. There was pain in her eyes, but it was in abeyance, for the moment at least.

"Yes, I'd expected you at 1900, which I thought was what Roger and I agreed to," I told her. "You are welcome, I must say, but I prefer to give Cook enough time to do her best, not challenge her at the last minute."

Roger paled, and said, "My apologies, sir, I didn't have my data pad, and I rarely use my phone's data entry tool; I must have miscoded it."

"As I said, the matter is unimportant," I said, waving off his apology. "Let us introduce your daughter to the children she will help to supervise. Some of the children, I should say, since you heard what you heard."

The ladies of the house went to collect the various babies, and soon returned with the bundles of noise and energy I called my sons and daughters. I knew that Little John and Patrick weren't mine any more than Lisa was, but with the near-certain confirmation that I'd caused the twining event that caused two babies where one could have been, I was starting to feel a bit more proprietary about them.

Nadiya and Jessica came along, and we had introductions all around. Nadiya said that Lisa was particularly active today, and she let Linda touch her belly, and feel the kicks of the baby within her. Lantral was also granted the privilege, and her face showed great emotion, joy at being allowed the liberty, and sadness at the thought that she could never bear a child.

When Lantral returned to him, Roger held her close, comforting her, and I could see the look of love in her eyes as she looked at him. Linda watched them both with both joy at her father's happiness, and sorrow at the loss of her exclusive rights to him.

"Don't worry, Linda," I told her quietly, "You're not losing a father, you're gaining a distraction, allowing you to pillage the countryside without parental interference."

Linda snorted, and glared at me. No one else had heard, so I just said, "Private joke. She said I need to practice..."

"No," Linda corrected, "I said you weren't very good. I never claimed practice would help."

"She'll fit in well around here," I said, "We need more uppity women. Nadiya can't do all the necessary teasing without more help."

My remark was met with glares and suppressed snorts, particularly from Jessica. Further silliness was prevented by Cook's announcement that dinner was served.

As I led my guests to table, I whispered in Lantral's ear, in Craxill, "I see your love, and I know your need. We will speak later of how I may aid you." Roger got a similar reassurance, in English.

The meal went well, and there was absolutely no evidence that portions had been adjusted or dishes added at the last minute. The previous night's meal had included North American cuisine; tonight's included foods from the Brazilian Conglomerate, and from the Sudamerican Confederacion, the two major South American powers. As in North America, consolidation in the south had been voluntary, and had deliberately excluded those regions controlled by 'collectivists.'

The BC, the SC, and the NAA all had strong central governments, with sharply limited powers. Where they had authority, it was absolute, but the bounds of that authority were sharply constrained. No abuse of "food purity" regulations to prevent competitors to established brands from launching, no 'subsidies' that distorted markets while pretending to 'stabilize' them. All three were democracies, with mostly-fair electoral processes.

The post-war mixing of previously distinct cultures had produced substantial innovation, in cuisine in particular, and the varied and interesting tastes of the meal before us demonstrated that admirably.

After the meal, Linda went off with the various ladies and babies to learn more about the latter's care, while John and Kirnwan took their leave without being terribly clear about where they were going. I took Lantral and Roger to my office, and sat down with them.

"Roger has told me that the two of you are in love, Lantral. Just from seeing the two of you tonight, I accept that as true without question. I have been told of certain medical issues you have, Lantral, that are said to be common knowledge. Beyond that, I know nothing of your situation. Tell me what I need to know, and how I can help."

Lantral took the lead, drawing a deep breath before she spoke.

"As is widely known, I lack certain vital reproductive organs. I am incomplete, a female in appearance, but effectively neuter. Among your species, the glands that produce reproductive cells are the same as those that produce the hormones that cause the development of gender. In my species, they are related, but distinct. I have the urges and the physical characteristics of a female, but no sperm. So when my would-be mate entered me, I became stimulated, but could not trigger his release.

"Because he did not release his egg, I did not experience the release of hormones that would trigger my bonding. And because he did not release, he did not bond with me, either."

Roger was looking at his love with concern, driven by the pain in her voice, but he'd clearly heard this before, and it didn't seem to explain whatever was bothering him.

Since Lantral seemed to have stalled, I said, "So, you failed to bond, and have lived without hope of bonding, contributing to a life of sadness. But then the sadness began to lift, and you began to show signs of happiness again."

Roger nodded, "I'd started to notice Craxill emotions and how they expressed them non-verbally. When I began to befriend Lantral, on an intellectual basis, I started to notice her pain, and I wanted desperately to help her. She says I can, but she's embarrassed, for some reason, and can't explain. All I know is that she wants surgery, and for me to have sex with her. I've told her I love her, and that we can marry without that. I've been without sex or a woman's love for so long, that I won't miss the former if I have the latter, and Lantral is a woman to me, despite what she thinks."

A light was beginning to dawn, and I thought back to the dirty little details of Craxill sexual anatomy that they were so shy about in general, but that my 'special position' had allowed me to investigate, when I had wanted to determine the best way to 'use' Nilwint and still leave her sexually fulfilled.

I looked at Lantral, and said, "You wish to restructure your vagina, enlarging it to accept him, so that when he achieves orgasm within you, it triggers your bonding with him. You seem intelligent, and so I assume you realize that he will not experience the same irreversible joining as you will. If the two of you are wrong, and he does fall out of love with you, he can leave without permanent harm, but you will suffer terribly. Are you really prepared to risk that?"

Roger was staring at me. Apparently Lantral had never quite managed to make the reason for her desire clear to him.

I turned to him, "You can marry according to Earth customs, even without sex. But sexual contact is how the Craxill marry; the blessings of the Elder recognize the marriage, they don't create it. As to the other, the Craxill lack a word for 'second marriage' for the same reason that we both lack a word for 'second death.' In the Craxill, a marriage precludes the possibility of a second marriage, just as dying precludes the possibility of dying again, in the absence of a belief in reincarnation."

Roger looked at me, and said, "I understand, now. She's always been uncomfortable with biological discussions, so I can see why she couldn't tell me this." Turning to Lantral, he said, "I'm sorry it was so hard to convince me. 'Surgery' is such a scary word to me, I couldn't see why you would want to do that for something I told you I didn't need."

"My only concern," I said, "Is that your inability to discuss this may extend to other important topics. What else have you been unable to discuss, and what will happen when it breaks into the open?"

Lantral shifted her shoulders in the Craxill gesture of negation, and said, "No, there is nothing else; we have discussed where to live, and how, and what it will mean for me to be ostracized. I will have him, I will require nothing else."

I must have looked puzzled because Roger said, "That's the other thing that bothers me. The local senior in her clan has forbidden the surgery and any attempt to bond, and messages sent to the clan Elders to overrule him have been rejected. If she disobeys him, she will be cast out of the clan, and since I have no clan to defend her, she will be cast out from their society in general."

I nodded, my role now clear. "You wish my blessing of your bonding, as the Lord of Clan Phoenix, as a sign that you are still part of Craxill society, even if your clan leaders have rejected you."

"Yes, Lord, that is what I sought," Lantral said, "That, and your help in teaching my beloved what I could not teach him."

An eyebrow raised, I asked, "Including the appropriate behavior during the Ritual of Bonding?"

Lantral ducked her head, embarrassed, and said, "Yes, Lord."

"Honesty becomes you, and has served you well," I told them. "Here is my decision. I will educate Roger in the proper forms for the Ritual. I will attempt to convince Lantral's clan superiors that they should allow the mating, since it will occur with or without their permission. Should they refuse, I will preside over your Ritual of Bonding. If that requires you to become part of my clan, so be it; you are all welcome. If membership is not required, it is still offered, but may be declined without offense."

Lantral's eyes were full of emotion, and Roger's brimmed with tears as well, and the both made a gesture of reverence, with Roger speaking for the both of them.