Chapter 16: Gifts Exchanged

Bethany had my daughter on a changing table when I walked in. She smiled at me. "Don't worry, I don't mind changing babies. Especially when it's the child of my sister."

She lifted Madoka up and carried her over to me. With a gentle touch she laid Madoka in my arms.

I looked down at the child I had brought into the world. She was now just over two months old and still spent the majority of her time sleeping, but right then she was awake and reached out her tiny hands to grab at my hair. I swung my head to push several strands over her chest. The hair danced on her chest and brought a smile to her face. She gave a toothless smile and I lifted her up to kiss her forehead.

Bethany gave a contented sigh as I released the kiss. "It's perfect isn't it?"

"You mean having a child with a man I love so much that I cannot give him enough to truly feel like we're even? And having five sisters who mean more to me than I ever thought another woman could?" I asked.

Bethany giggled. "Oh, stop that. You know me too well."

I shrugged as I lay Madoka on the changing table. I was getting out the carry sling we used as I answered. "I also know that you have cried yourself to sleep a few times. I've guessed it was because you are older than the rest of us and sometimes worry about fitting in."

Bethany gave me a hug as I got the sling situated on my hip. "It's not exactly fitting in, but I can't find a word that really fits."

"And you're being silly," I said as I picked up my daughter and slid her into the sling. She immediately rolled to her side and placed a hand on my breast. I sighed and pushed the hand down while settling Madoka into the fabric.

"No, Madoka's being silly," Bethany said. "I'm being a fool. James shows how he feels about me every day. I know I have nothing to fear, especially after nearly a year with him. But I still worry."

"About?" I asked as Bethany worked to gather her daughter Astrid in a sling.

"Nothing ... Everything," Bethany said. "I'm the oldest. Does that mean I'll die first? I'd die without you, but I can't leave you alone either. And what about the future? Will Astrid become a citizen? Will she find the kind of love that I have? Or will she be a concubine with a bad master? I fear for her future while knowing that I'll have more children."

I shifted the sling and then wrapped my arms around Bethany, hugging her tight for several long minutes. Nothing could be said, but finally I felt Bethany relax.

"Let's go home. We need to cuddle with James," I said.

Bethany laughed. "That only works when our master is home. Last I heard he was in the command post."

"Citizen James has returned to his pod for the night," the AI intoned.

Bethany and I gasped and looked up at the speaker the AI had used to pass the information. Then giggling like a pair of schoolgirls, we dashed off for home.

That night proved to be one of those special touching and emotional moments you can never describe in words. James seemed to be extremely happy. Bethany and I went in planning on smothering him with kisses, but he turned the tables, wringing multiple orgasms out of me before turning on Bethany and leaving her a quivering wreck in the living room. He did not stop with us. Tina and Brittany were dragged into the hot tub and only emerged three hours later an expression of shock on their faces. Janice and Kitty fared a little better. Once Bethany and I recovered and were standing, James pulled my sister concubines into the bedroom and kept them there for two hours. My best friend emerged with a blush that took an hour to fade. Bethany and I licked and kissed her face. We discovered that it was not just embarrassment giving color to Janice's cheeks as we tasted Kitty's honey while we helped bring Janice back to the living.

The respite from command definitely rejuvenated my master, and he was cheerful the next morning as we had a communal breakfast. It was Brittany who started the morning conversation.

"We never really had a party for Freya's crew."

James nodded. "I asked Captain Walker last night. She'd love to be here for one, but her crew doesn't need a lot of rest yet, and she wants to get back into the fight."

"Wow," Kitty said. "The crew isn't going to be happy about that. Denied a party by a commander."

This surprised me, because in the short briefing I noticed that Tanya's officers offered her almost as much respect as most citizens gave James. I was going to ask about this when Tina coughed.

"Sorry," she said. "Kitty, what you say might be true with a normal crew. Freya's crew is definitely not normal. They worship their commander."

"Worship?" Kitty asked.

Tina nodded. "Understand, I got this from two of their concubines. They were here to have broken arms treated. I guess they talked Maggie into showing them the concubine room and the tapestries we are working on. I was working on mine when they entered."

"Oh!" Brittany blurted. "How much of its done? I want to see it!"

Tina smiled. "I'll have it completed in a week. Maggie needs about two to finish. But that wasn't the point. The two concubines were talking to us and when they found that the replicators in the concubine refuge would listen to us and make anything they asked for us to request something."

"What?" Bethany asked.

Tina looked down. "A cape. Well more of a cloak. They had a picture one of them spent hours working on. It was a female warrior. She was tall, slender and had long blond hair. In the picture she was wearing this elaborate fur-lined cloak."

She paused and I smiled. "I get it. I'll bet the picture looks a lot like Captain Walker."

"I never saw her," Tina admitted. "But the concubines said that the picture was actually a drawing of the original Freya. They found it in a book about the Norse deities. They felt that Captain Walker needed the cloak."

I sat there awed by this. I thought back to the short time I had spent with the woman. She was impressive and clearly cared deeply for her people. Thinking about the situation I could almost understand the desire that the concubines on the ship had.

Janice was tapping her teeth with a spoon. "Wow," she admitted. "I can't picture doing that for James."

"I want to watch Captain Walker receive this gift," Kitty said. "When will it happen?"

Tina laughed. "Maggie and I convinced the concubines to give it this morning when we send them off. They should gather in the recreation hall in an hour."

"Aren't we supposed to start using the new halls near the old district?" James asked with a smile.

Tina giggled. "This crew has been so nice I don't think anyone has minded. I even saw Alexis chatting with one of the gunners last night. She was actually relaxed."

We all cheered at that. Kitty reported that Tilly had selected the rabbits she wanted. She suggested we have them ready at the same time so we could hand them over.

"She brought a huge bag of barley seed, another of hops, and then a smaller bag with seeds for orange and lemon bushes," she chirped.

"I thought oranges and lemons grew on trees," Brittany said.

"Most do," James said. "But it was a longtime goal of many nurseries to grow lemons and oranges on bushes. Most of the time they did that by grafting branches from a lemon tree on a bush. Maybe someone managed to successfully engineer a bush."

"Is there anything you don't know?" Kitty asked with exasperation in her voice.

"The name of our first daughter, and the day she will be born," James replied, jumping up to dash away from the table as Kitty screamed at him. He left the room as we laughed at Kitty who was slowly turning red.

"I'm so going to get him tonight," she spat.

"Aren't you due in about two months?" Bethany asked. "Perhaps your daughter will be born soon."

Kitty shook her head. "I'm sure this one is a boy. Well, let's get going. I want to see this cloak presented to Captain Walker."

We gathered up our children putting them in strollers and left the pod. Janice, Brit, Kitty and Tina were carrying the four rabbits for the ship. As we passed the passage leading to the twins' pod their concubines joined us on our slow walk to our recreation hall.

Paula was bouncing with excitement as she joined us. "This group has been so much fun! Did you know we managed to hold a bowling tournament with their concubines last night?"

"I'm afraid that I was busy with something last night," Bethany replied.

Paula looked surprised. Her jaw opened, but Marilyn poked her in the side. "Think about it," the older woman hissed.

Craig snorted. "Nice save," he said. "So we get to send off Freya with a small party."

"They deserve it," Janice said. "The crew has been very friendly."

"Not all of them," Brit sad sullenly. "There was one officer who was a bit of a jerk."

"Who?" I asked thinking of the meeting I had witnessed.

"Herbert," Brittany replied. "But it happened in front of the commander and she immediately ordered him to the rooms we set aside for them. It was surprising; he looked like someone had slapped him in the face."

"I guess her people hate to disappoint her," I mused.

"If you are talking about Tanya, you're very much correct," someone said from behind us.

We all stopped and turned around. Behind us I could see the gunner commander Estefani standing with a young woman with brown hair. The girl looked to be just a bit younger than me, but was wearing a Confederacy uniform. She smiled shyly at us.

Everyone stood silently for a moment. Finally, I sighed and broke the silence. "We were talking about your captain," I admitted.

"It sounded like gossip," Estefani said with a smile.

"Don't blame Meiko!" Janice said moving to stand in front of me. "We like to know which commanders and ships will respect The Tradition when they visit."

Estefani looked a bit surprised. "I've never heard of any Tradition. What is it?"

Janice shrugged. "James, our master, started it. He told my sister concubines and me that he wanted to be more than just an owner. From the start he gave us respect. It became easy to give him love in return, and he returned it to us."

Brittany giggled. "I wasn't there when it started, but I joined before we had reached Ishtar. It's scary how it reinforces itself. I adore James and would do anything for him, but not just because he's my owner. I want to give back to him all of the love and pleasure he gives me."

Estefani looked surprised. "So that's all it is? Just that citizens treat concubines well?"

"Not exactly," I replied. "It's a bit more. James offered to make us more than just possessions. But the funny thing is that he completely possesses my soul. I'd do anything to make him happy, and to make his life better."

"And this is something you all experience?" the woman standing with Estefani asked.

"Certainly," Craig replied. "It took a while for some of our owners. And some of the concubines had to learn to trust the process."

"Like you," Paula said with a giggle. "I've heard how you tried to bully James on the trip out."

"He did?" I asked. "James never said a thing."

"He wouldn't," Janice commented. "But now I'm interested. What happened?"

Craig looked at the floor for a moment. The two ladies from Freya were looking on with interest. Finally, he sighed and looked up.