Chapter 19

"So, this is a human bed..."

Daium slowly walked up to the wooden bed post. She wanted to saunter. Oh, by the Tree, she wished she could saunter. Alicia could do it. Probably took no effort. Whenever she walked, there was a swing of her hips that made Daium, and all so inclined, stare helplessly in lust. Tammy, Hannah, they all had the gift.

But not Daium. Maybe it was a human thing.

Luckily, such deficiencies didn't seem to matter to her wife and husband. She could feel their eyes on her, as they stood in the doorway of their new bedroom. Could feel their desire as she ran a black hand up the carved post of their new bed. A large bed. Built for three...

Arms wrapped around her waist. Daium gasped. Without even looking, she recognized Justin's strong, brown hands undoing her belt. Another pair of hands, still strong but more delicate, undid the fasteners on her shoulders, letting her suspenders and bra fall free. The angle had been weird ... she could picture Alicia, pressed against Justin, reaching over him to get to Daium. If there was symbolism in such an act, all three had moved beyond it having more than a historical meaning.

With a tug, Daium's skirt and panties fell to the floor, the weight of her suspenders and belt creating a nice 'thump' sound. Hands slid up her hips, through the black and grey fur, as she lifted her feet and kicked the unneeded clothing away. She thought the coming hands would head up towards her breasts. Her nipples were aching in anticipation, breasts already feeling the touch they knew was coming. The movement stopped at her waist, though, fingers gripping where her hips began to swell. What were they... ?

The sound of clothing dropping came from behind her, followed by something touching her hairless bottom.

He was going to take her like this!

Alicia was suddenly before her, nude body sauntering towards the Orang. Her face radiated desire, scar practically glowing. As if in a dream, Daium found herself fully pressed against the furless human, mouth open to accept the invading wet tongue. Her own hands went to Alicia's breasts, squeezing the beautiful orbs. The girl's hands dropped to Daium's waist, covering Justin's. As the four human hands became one, Daium could feel her husband shift ... and thrust.

She let out a groan, lost in the moans of her lovers. Justin was taking her hard, practically shoving her body against Alicia. The teen held her ground, keeping Daium from falling as the mating went on, and on. She wanted to get on all fours. She wanted Justin to ravage her, like the animals they all were. She wanted ... she wanted...

She exploded at the feel of his seed inside her.

Alicia was content.

She lay in the center of the bed, blankets and sheets carefully made by Hannah now tossed onto the floor, which would probably be their usual home. Justin, tired from his just completed activities, sprawled on her right. She could feel the trail left by his wet and very tired cock beginning to cool on her leg and thigh. Daium lay on her left, face nuzzling her neck while a hand played with breasts still tender from the Orang's teeth.

All in all, a good breaking in of the new room.

It had taken an extra day on the planet, but the modifications to the store seemed to now be complete. Or, at least, this phase. The small second floor above the bank and bottle return counter had been expanded into eight bedrooms and a nursery, leaving the main grocery space itself untouched (if with much lower ceilings). As the need arose, they could made additions later.

In the years to come. The years ... the decades...

Alicia let out a sigh. It was time to talk. One hand reached up to touch Daium's head, the other stretched out to Justin's shoulder. Both slowly moved into positions more convenient for conversation.

"Something on your mind, Alicia?" Justin yawned out the question. She nodded.

"We need to decide what to do."

"Now? Tomorrow? Next week?"

"In twenty years."

Both were silent. She looked between them, pushing herself up so she was sitting against the headboard. Daium and Justin did the same, taking her hands.

"We need a goal."

"Be happy. Be safe. Make babies." Daium recited it as if they were commandments. Hell, maybe they were now. Alicia, smiling, shook her head.

"That's what we're doing now. But, what we're also doing is just going to random planets, going someplace that has something we need to buy. After our hold is full ... what do we do? Where do we go?"

Justin was thoughtful.

"Do you want to find Earth?"

"Well..." She saw tears start to weld up in Daium's eyes. Squeezing her hand, she leaned in for a quick kiss. "I don't want to go home, no. We should look, though. For Nona, Hannah, others who may want to go back. If nothing else, I want to tell my family I'm alive."

"I doubt we'll find it, but looking can't hurt," Justin agreed. "That wasn't what you were thinking of, though..."

"No."

Her lovers were silent, waiting. Alicia took a deep breath.

"I think ... we should find a home."

"Home?" Daium looked puzzled.

"The ship is wonderful, Daium. I love it. But ... I don't want to raise my children on a ship. Do we really want their entire lives to be inside these walls? To know nothing else, except for a couple weeks a year, when we visit a planet? Are the three of us going to grow old together inside this shell?"

Daium's eyes widened, then closed. Her head dropped, hand releasing Alicia as she hugged herself.

"Tanah is gone," she whispered. "This ship ... is all that I have of Tanah. Don't mind living here..."

The mattress shifted. Alicia scooted closer to Daium, as Justin climbed over them to sit on the other side of their wife. The two humans hugged her.

"What if," Alicia asked her, softly, "we found an empty world we could live on? What if, Daium, we found a forested world where ... where we could PLANT the tree on the bridge? Or, at least, some of its seeds?"

Her eyes shot open.

"The seeds! The seeds of the Tree!"

"Think about it," Justin told her, nodding to Alicia. "Our babies, on a new world, full of trees. Living, growing, mating, in a village in a forest."

"Where?" Daium looked between them, so obviously wanting to believe. "Where? There is life everywhere! Where would we find a planet not already taken?"

"We won't know until we look," Alicia said.

"It could take years," Justin added. "Decades. But..."

"But we look."

Hannah had a beautiful blush.

She didn't blush often. She wasn't, really, that type of woman, one of the reasons Anthony not just loved, but had always liked her. There was a strength and sauciness to her that appealed to him. That being said, when she DID blush, he enjoyed it. Such was the case now, as the two of them made their way down the store staircase.

"So," Anthony said, cheerfully, moving forward to open the door at the foot of the stairwell, "the upstairs seems to have been finished off nicely."

"Yes..." Her entire face was red.

"And," he went on, taking her arm as they walked past the bottle return counter, "the bedrooms seem to have been tested out already ... although, maybe I can talk to Chuck about weighting the doors so they close by themselves."

"Yes ... do that..."

A laugh finally escaped Anthony, drawing a glare from Hannah. He could only grin in return. Seeing the man wasn't going to break, wasn't going to see the seriousness of the matter, she broke down herself and laughed, shaking her head. He put an arm around her waist, hugging her against him.

"What do you think, does that qualify as wild monkey love?"

"God!" She put her face in her hands, stopping before the entrance, composure gone again.

"I say we don't tell them," he went on, eyes leaving her and glancing, out of habit, around the store. "Maybe we just give everyone a reminder, now that there are kids..."

There was something out the front window.

It was faint. The dome was bright just then, Te's yellow sun shining down into the ship. Raising his hand to try and fend off the glare, Anthony squinted. Something. A ghostly image, just beyond the window, on the new stone path through the as yet empty plant beds. A ... man. An adult man ... and a little girl...

They were gone.

He blinked.

They were still gone.

Anthony cast his gaze around the store. Nothing was out of place. No strange images that he could see. No ghostly people.

He knew he had seen it. After all they had been through, nothing, no matter how strange or stupid, could be greeted with complete disbelief. He might not KNOW what he saw, might easily misinterpret it, but the basic situation had to be accepted until they had reason to do otherwise. That was a core survival tactic.

However, it didn't help that he was the only one who saw it.

Hannah had finally gotten herself under control. Responding to her squeeze, he looked over, smiling. She raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Problem?"

"Nope," he laughed. "Just checking to see if Danny is hiding anywhere whacking off."

"Oh God!" She laughed, face returning to its red state. "Why did you have to tell me that's what the stuff on his underwear was?!? I don't know if I can keep doing laundry!"

Anthony began walking her towards the door.

"Come one, what do you want him to do. Tissues are too valuable to waste like that, for all we have a whole aisle of them..."

"Still... !"

He took one more look though the window. The day was bright. Ghosts were nowhere to be seen.

For now.

Danny trailed behind the others as they walked through the botanical garden.

It wasn't by choice. The walking behind, that is. The flowers themselves, he found interesting. However, once again, his body was betraying him. He was hard. More than hard. Rock hard, every step causing the tip of his penis to rub against his underwear. It was NOT going to go down. He knew that. He'd have this huge thing sticking out of him five hours from now, five days from now! And the world had to see it. How could they not! The eye of every alien, let alone his friends had to be on him and his problem!