Chapter 10: Two More for a Grand Reception

Alex and his entourage entered the restaurant where they were meeting Patricia. They'd stopped to pick up Peter and David again so they numbered quite a few people, but Alex was confident that Patricia had reserved a good portion of the restaurant for that. When they entered, Patricia was already waiting for them and she got up and kissed Alex, welcoming him warmly.

"Have a good time last night?" she asked teasingly.

"I'm not sure I'd describe it as a barrel of laughs, but I can't complain," Alex replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, I suspected you might have a problem with it," Patricia replied, reading between the lines. "Your girls in Illinois said you'd have difficulty with getting strangers pregnant."

"I think he worked through that," Cate said, whispering so the others nearby wouldn't overhear. Alex and Patricia had been speaking quietly to begin with, not wanting to insult the girls that Alex had just slept with, but Cate was even more cautious.

"So how many do you have planned for me tonight?" Alex asked, speaking a little louder now that the others were gathered around them.

"We'll get to that in a little while. I'm afraid if I bring them out now you'll spend the rest of dinner talking them up, and then I won't be able to appreciate my time with you," Patricia teased.

"Can I ask if my mother is one of the ones selected tonight?" Lekesia asked. Apparently she was anxious about sharing what she'd encountered with her mother.

"Yeah," Patricia responded, "we tested her earlier and she's officially ovulating, so she made the cut. Are you sure you want to be here when she and Alex first get together?" she asked.

"Hell yeah," she responded. "We've both talked about the issues and we know what's involved. We fully support each other in this, and we're here to cheer each other on. Mom was very supportive of me last night, so I'd like to be here to support her tonight, as well."

"Well, that's nice to hear," Patricia replied. "It's hardly the response I would have expected, though."

"I suspect most of Alex's followers are a little out of the ordinary, Patty," Lekesia told her.

"You know," Alex said, changing the subject, "you seem to have taken on a whole new persona. Should I be calling you Patty or Patricia like I have been?"

She smiled at this. "Please keep calling me Patricia, since it's my name. Patty is something I picked up because Henry thought it sounded more successful. He envisions the day I'm only known by a single name, like Cher or Madonna," she said with a laugh.

"Careful there," Gail said, "you're showing your age with your idea of modern cultural icons."

"Well, I suspect Alex is fairly culturally literate. I suspect he's even studied up on other famous blues singers since he was last here."

"That I have," Alex replied.

"Oh, wow," Lekesia replied, "I'm sorry, should I have been calling you Patricia all along?"

"Most people call me Patty now, but since you're now officially one of Alex's girls I consider you a close friend, so feel free to call me Patricia from now on."

They sat and Patricia once again had their dinners preordered for them, and they were both special and delicious, as they always were. Cate explained what had happened after they'd left the club the previous night, how they'd met Mattie and how they'd encountered their least favorite reporter. Patricia listened carefully, deeply concerned, but agreed with Alex that they'd have to see what he eventually reported before they could make or change any plans. They all knew if things got difficult Alex would be likely to flee the city rather than expose his followers to public scrutiny, but they also knew they were planning on leaving in a few days anyway.

"I've got a few items to go over," Alex said, speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear. "First, I wasn't sure what policy you wanted to apply to my sperm donations, but if it's the same to you I'd like the girls here to be able to utilize it in case they don't get pregnant from last night."

"Yeah, that's fine. I figured that would be your approach. The other girls and I talked about it beforehand, and everyone was sure you'd want to pre-interview anyone you were supposed to get pregnant."

"That was a good idea," Cate told her. "I could see Alex was wrestling with it last night, and it was one of the first things that Hannah asked about today."

"I'm glad you got a chance to see her, as she was very curious about you. What did she say about the girls? Are they all OK?"

"Oh, if you mean are they pregnant yet, you should already know the answer to that, since you can clearly see it," Cate told her. "Besides, I'm sure you had them each examined before you'd allow them to sleep with Alex, am I right?"

Patricia laughed and told her she was correct, and that each girl was not only healthy but disease free.

"OK, that brings up the second point," Alex told her. "I appreciate the slow controlled approach, even though I'm not sure forcing me to sleep with three women each night is exactly a slow approach, but don't you think I should meet the other potential Seers before much time passes. After all, if you can introduce three women at the peak of their fertile cycle each night, each of which is anxious to get pregnant, then surely there are a significant number of them waiting to be activated. After all, you never know when plans may change."

"You've got a good point, and I can tell you're thinking you may have to leave town quickly, so it's even more important. I'll try to get everyone together so you can activate them all at once tomorrow, although are you sure that's what you want to do? You seem to like knowing everyone you activate personally. I'd thought that was the approach you wanted to take."

"In this case, with the numbers we seem to be discussing, I think we can skip over the typical approach. As long as each one gets the full indoctrination and training, I can't see any problem with doing it all at once. I'd hate to think of any of them missing out because I had to leave town unexpectedly. Normally when I meet a new Seer I get to know them pretty well. But I usually get to know them very well when I boost their abilities. I try to only do that for those that I'm especially close to, or who I see as fitting into a special role in this mission of mine. But it's really not necessary for me to become close to every one of my followers. As the numbers grow, there's bound to be a little more distance involved with many of them."

"Well, I'll try to get you together with as many as I can, but as you said, I don't want to overwhelm you. But don't be fooled by the numbers you've seen so far. Actually there aren't that many waiting to get pregnant. There's plenty that are anxious to get pregnant, and they're dying for a chance to get you to be the father, but there isn't as many as the initial batch would lead you to believe. We only have two tonight."

"So have the two tonight already eaten? If not, why didn't you invite them to dinner? After all, I can get to know them over dinner just as well as I can afterwards."

"You've got a good point, but they're eating in the other room," Patricia replied.

"But we have seats ready for them, and we haven't gotten our food yet," Alex argued. "And I'm willing to bet that, even if they've already started eating, they'd be more than glad to join us."

Patricia sighed and signaled someone, Alex turned and saw it was Stacy. A few minutes later she led two women out. They were still a ways away, and as soon as they entered the room they immediately looked at Alex, but he averted his gaze, waiting for them to get to the table before meeting their looks. They were followed out by a waiter carrying their plates.

"Mom," Lekesia called, and got up to embrace her mother. Alex still didn't look, even as both women seated themselves across from him. Everyone switched positions, and Carolyn and Kristi offered to take the other girls' table in the other room to make room for everyone. Once everyone was seated and they had time to prepare themselves, Alex finally looked up and glanced at the two women, making direct eye contact with Noel first. They had both been prepared, so she didn't react too much, though if you were used to seeing it, it was obvious what was occurring.

Noel was easy to identify since she looked very much like her daughter. She was dressed nicely, with unusual jewelry and a beautiful dress. She had smooth skin, a nice smile and beautiful eyes. They both shared the same nose, the same cheekbones and lips, but they both plucked their eyebrows, relying on painted eyebrows, or at least heavily highlighted ones. Both were beautiful women, and Alex had no doubt their children would be beautiful as well. Well, aside from some unattractive eyebrows from both sides of the family tree.

As Noel recovered, Alex turned his attention to the other girl, who Patricia hurriedly introduced as Diane Tucker, a brunette who was pretty but who didn't stand out in particular. She had a scattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, she had thin lips and big brown eyes, and great skin that probably had more to do with her age than anything else. She was definitely pretty, and her eyes grabbed you, but she just didn't stand out as much as some of Alex's many girls. He thought it would help if he could get her to smile. Right now she seemed too intimidated to crack a grin.

However she didn't react in the typical manner. She didn't recoil and her eyes didn't go out of focus. Instead she looked Alex directly in the eyes with a look that can only be described as awestruck.

Alex turned and regarded Patricia. "I think your selection process hit another bump," he advised her.

"Damn. We were pretty sure about these. Diane described how she was adept at picking up subtle clues about people, which we interpreted as her reading their energy signatures."

"Well, it looks like it was something else," Alex informed her.

"That could very well have simply been her picking up on the normal visual clues," Cate said. "Women have been observing other women for millennia, so you've got to expect some mistakes from that. She's probably just more perceptive than others. But I thought you have a whole checklist of other items to corroborate your selections?"

"Generally we do, but sometimes someone fits some categories and not others," Patricia hurried to answer. "It's hardly a hard science at the moment. So far we're doing fairly well at picking them, since we've only had two misidentifications, but still, I'm sorry about this. I'll take care of her for you."

"Don't worry about it," Alex told her, patting her hand to calm her. "I won't have you shuffling her off due to your embarrassment." He turned back to Diane.

"So, I take it you aren't seeing any visions?" he asked, just to verify his observations.

"No, I'm really sorry, sir. I was so looking forward to it. I didn't mean to—"

"Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. So are you still interested in getting pregnant?"

She looked momentarily stunned, and took a moment to gather herself enough to answer. "Oh, yes, sir. More than anything. I've been ready for a baby for some time now, and when the opportunity turned up for me to have yours I jumped at the chance. The whole Seer/Watcher movement here has become such a major event in my life, and I so much want to help spread it so others can share these abilities we seem to ... uh ... share. Anyway, I wanted to help spread these abilities to others, even if I may not have them myself."

"Don't worry about it," Alex told her again. "I don't think any less of you for being a Watcher, but it's just important for us to address the Seers first, since they have so much riding on their activation. The Watchers don't gain as much from meeting me. So you were saying you're still interested in having a baby? Are you prepared to take care of it and watch over it, whether or not he or she has any abilities of its own?"

"Oh, yes, sir, I do. I'll love it, regardless of anything else. But I'll treasure it even more knowing it's yours. Even if he doesn't have your abilities to, uh, activate people, he'll likely have your personality, your kindness and your protectiveness. I couldn't imagine anyone I'd want to father my child than you, sir."

"OK, you can lay off the sir business. If we're going to make a baby, we need to know each other's names. My name is Alex, not sir. You wouldn't want to tell your baby about its 'sir' when it's 14, now would you?"

She blushed. "No, si ... No, I wouldn't, Alex."

"Good. Now hold on a minute while I check on Noel," he told her.

As usual, Alex had looked directly at each woman as he spoke to them, not veering his eyes since he knew what could happen if he did. Thus he hadn't been watching Noel for some time. Turning back he regarded her.

"How are you holding up, Noel?" he asked her.

She seemed to have recovered, as she continued to blink repeatedly and was glancing around, observing everything around her. She also couldn't look directly at Alex.

"I'm fine, sir... , sorry, I mean Alex. It's quite a significant change, I'll give you that. Everything has changed." Lekesia was holding Noel's hand, quietly whispering to her.

"Cate, I just noticed something a little odd," Lekesia said. "I tried speaking telepathically to my mother just after Alex activated her. However I couldn't communicate with her until Alex just spoke to her. I suspect we can't do it on our own. I think we're still dependent on Alex. I mean, sure, he has to activate them, but I think he's got to make the initial telepathic connection first."

"So it's like he has to give them their psychic telephone number before you can call them," Cate suggested.

"Yeah, that seems like a good analogy," Lekesia answered.

"Damn, where is that pencil and notepad. I've got to start working this out," Cate announced as she disappeared into her bag.

"It's nice to meet you, Noel," Alex told her, ignoring the side conversation. "I feel I already know you from what your daughter has told me. But there's still a lot I don't know. I know you were married to a Jewish man who traveled down to New Orleans, and that you carved out a home here, but I don't know what you do to get by, or any of the particulars."

"Well, I married Alvin during his spring break from college in New York and he never went home. He had a fair amount of money, but his family disapproved of us so they stopped communicating with him. When he died about ten years ago, they managed to revoke his trust fund so all of our funds were cut off. I went to work then, trying to earn enough to keep going while also trying to raise Lekesia. I worked while we were married, so I was able to find a job working at a small business. I answer the phone, help around the shop and man the register. It's a job but hardly a career, but I like the people and they treat me well. However, the neighborhood we live in isn't the best, and it's gotten worse over the years, to the point I don't trust Lekesia will be safe there anymore. I want her to do better, but we have limited means of accomplishing that."

"Well, you have a lot of new friends now, and it sounds like you've done a good job of raising your daughter, so it's possible someone here can find something she can do, or they might be able to help her out. We'll have to see. But right now I'm more interested in you than her. She told me all about herself last night. I think you deserve to have someone paying attention to you for a change. You've focused on Lekesia for long enough, let me take care of you for tonight at least."

"That's why I'm not allowed to be there tonight," Lekesia told her mother. "He says he wants to spend the time with you and that I'll be more of a distraction, and now that he's explained it like that I agree with him. We can talk about it afterwards, so I'll meet you in the morning. But believe me, it will be a wonderful experience for you. You'll never forget it."

"Does that go for us normal types as well?" Diane asked.

Sighing, Alex turned to her. "Diane, you've hardly been demoted to the normal type 3s. And even if you were, they're just as vital and as much a part of this movement as anyone else. I've been focusing on the Seers simply because they tend to demand attention, but I don't want you to think I value you any less because you don't see lights or speak telepathically. I had two Watchers living with me at my home for the last several months, and I don't think any less of them than I do the others. In fact, my two type 3 girlfriends would argue with you that I treat anyone any differently. Now I can understand if you're disappointed, but you'll need to get used to it. You're going to have a baby to think about soon, and he or she won't need a mother who is distracted thinking about what her life could have been. You need to focus on the here and now."

Diane dropped her head and mumbled that she was sorry, so Alex leaned over and lifted her head up and she repeated it louder this time. "Just remember, if we're going to be making love and having a baby, I don't take that kind of thing lightly. You and I are going to be tied together for life after this, and both you and that baby are going to be vital to me. I want you to realize that I'm getting close to loving you, and hopefully I'll be there soon. So don't belittle yourself. After all, I believe in you."

"That's my brother for you," Cate told her, "he tends to be a little over the top sometimes. It's best to just humor him, so I'd suggest you start acting like you're happy to be a part of what's going on."

"OK, getting to you now, Diane. What about you? What do you do, who are you and what are you good at?"

Diane took a deep breath, still a bit intimidated by Alex, and started to reply.

"I'm a marriage counselor. I work mainly through churches, although I also do work in divorce cases. I do good work and always hope for the best, but the majority of my cases end up in divorce and I end up feeling like I'm not making much of a difference. That's why I was so excited to join this, uh, movement of yours. I want to be more than just a cog in a machine. I want to be a significant part of something bigger than myself. I also want my child to be proud of his mother. I plan on telling him all about his father, and what I've been able to do for him, so someone in this life will know that I did something significant with my life."

"A marriage counselor, huh?" Alex replied, considering that as he stroked his chin. "You know, if you are looking for a new role in my mission, then perhaps we can put your skills to use. Since you have direct experience with not having the abilities you hoped you'd have, I think you would do well talking to and counseling boyfriends and husbands of the various Watchers and Seers. I can see them having problems with the women all having abilities that they don't, as well as their each having an unhealthy fascination with me. And I mean unhealthy in terms of forming normal relationships. I'd like you to talk to those close to me and hang out with me for a while, so you can get a feel for how I view everyone. Frankly, I'm not crazy about the idea of sleeping with everyone I meet. I'd much rather see them form normal healthy relationships, as well as continue to build their relationships with their friends and families. If you could work as a go between for these women and their partners, it would help each of them. And, if the men can't adapt to the women's new lifestyle, you can help the women learn how to relate to men in the future and help the men deal with our culture."

Diane considered it for a moment before a smile crossed her lips. "You're right. There are a lot of people who are likely to be having troubles. By dealing with people before problems occur, I may be able to have more of an effect than I do after a couple is already in trouble. Your history with men has never been good, and the fact that your abilities don't seem to affect men means you're going to have continuing problems with the men in your organization. I may be able to help the women adapt and include the men in their lives a little more fully. It will be a full time job, but I can see it's one that's needed."

"We think a lot of Alex's problems with men are likely due to either a perceived threat," Cate explained, "or Alex possibly projecting his interests on people."

"There's a lot I'll have to learn about, but I think it's a useful mission," Diane said. "I may not be any more successful than I have been, but at least I won't feel I'm just applying Band-Aids to mortal wounds. Here I'm working on something that's vital to our whole organization."

Both Alex and Diane smiled as they considered this. Alex was happy he'd managed to turn a potentially disappointed woman into a useful facilitator, and Diane was pleased she had her own useful mission, even if she wasn't a Seer.

"I also observed you've decided you're going to have a boy. Any reason for that confidence?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I figure I want someone just like you. He doesn't need to be an angel like you, or whatever you consider yourself to be, but I want him to be as strong, as concerned and as caring as you."

"And you don't think a daughter can have those traits, because she'll be more like you, then?" he asked, suspecting she was projecting her own insecurities onto her potential child.

"No, that's not it," she answered with authority. "I just feel confident he's going to be like you, and when he goes to play with his little toy guns I'll tell him you never needed a gun. That you always tried to avoid fighting unless you didn't have a choice, and then you tried to heal the people you had to hurt."

"I take it you've heard a little of my history," Alex replied, cracking a grin despite looking uneasy. "However I'm not sure you're going to be able to dissuade a young boy from playing with toy guns, nor a little girl from playing with dolls. I think a few people have tried before and they generally aren't very successful. Hell, even gay guys used to play with toy guns, they just sang show tunes while doing so," Alex joked, trying to take the sting away from his mild criticism.

"My brother, suddenly he's a childhood development expert," Cate said, laughing at the idea. "However, he does have very strong opinions and he's fairly well read, so he tends to recall a lot of details and is fairly good at understanding people and situations. I think this is one of those cases. Alex continues to amaze everyone because he seems to read people without having the talent the rest of you do to feel someone's emotions. I think he's just learned enough about people by studying them in fiction and nonfiction stories, that now he can apply it fairly well."

"Well, it looks like you have things well in hand once again, and it looks like my fears of your new girls taking all of your attention were well founded," Patricia noted. "But I've got to be getting to my club. As usual, any of you are welcome to attend, although I suspect Alex is going to have more pressing issues to attend to. If you other girls need a distraction while Alex is busy, come have some fun. And Lekesia, I think you should accompany me to the club so we can talk about babies and certain babies' fathers."

Lekesia was smart enough to take a hint, so she quickly excused herself and left with Patricia after they gave everyone goodbye hugs. She told her mother she'd meet her in the morning for a 'talk'. The other girls left as well, leaving Alex with Diane, Noel, Cate and Gail. Shanna told them she'd find a separate hotel room, but that she'd meet them in the morning.

Alex took everyone back to Allison's place, and he spent a long time with both Diane and Noel, both talking about their issues and showering them with love as well. After having gotten through the previous night without embarrassing himself, he was feeling much more comfortable with his situation. While leaving a bunch of potentially pregnant women behind continued to bother him, it no longer threatened to leave him impotent.

He also managed to show Noel how much he appreciated and cherished her for her own mature beauty, as well as demonstrating to Diane that she was no less valued for having to take a somewhat diminished role in Alex's pantheon. However, she received a more substantial boost to her abilities as a result.

The next morning Alex awoke to find himself once again surrounded by women, though it took him a few moments to remember who the heck they were. He assumed that Cate was the one spooned against him, since that was the position she always seemed to assume, but he first mistook Noel for Lekesia. Since no one else was awake yet, he extricated himself from his bedmate huddle and snuck off to the bathroom. When he returned he saw it was still early, so he climbed back into bed. Noel, awakened by the sound of his peeing, cuddled up to him, while Cate once again snuggled up behind him.

"How are we feeling this morning?" Alex asked.

"Hmm, I'm feeling pretty damn good," Noel answered. Cate simply hugged him a little tighter in greeting and responded with a slight murmur. "I'm not sure if I'm pregnant yet, so maybe we have time for another try," Noel suggested, playing with his chest.

In answer Alex began tracing his finger around her nipple as he kissed her. They kissed for a few moments, Cate reaching around and playing with him out of Noel's sight, making sure he was ready for anything he may encounter. At least that was the rationale Cate used.

Noel pulled back and looked down while still playing with Alex's chest.

"Alex, this is a little awkward for me to say, but Lekesia is only 17 while I'm 35. I'm a little worried about whether I might be too old to be having babies. I mean, I know you can generally have your first up to age 40, and a second child even after that, but complications start to arise the older you are. I'm—"

Alex leaned in and kissed her to halt her indecisive mumblings. "Don't worry about it. I don't know if it will have any effect, but I'll try applying some energy to the area. There's no evidence it will help, but strengthening the area could help." Cate quietly yanked on his erect cock, indicating she was aware he was spinning tales in order to make her feel better, since Alex was much more shy of using his abilities than that.

"Wow, that would mean a lot to me if you could," she told him. "I'm concerned about the baby's health. I know there's no telling what may or may not happen, but—"

Alex kissed her again, gently rubbed her lower belly, and moved his hand lower, running it over her pussy. He actually applied a little energy, but afterwards he relied on nature's magic to generate some special feelings in them both. Noel was so thankful for his easing her conscience she purred and returned his kiss. As she began feeling even better, she rolled over and grabbed for his penis, which Cate only barely managed to release in time. Noel was surprised, since she found that guys usually lost their morning erections after they'd peed, but she was pleased to see she could inspire such a reaction in such a young guy despite her being old enough to be his mother. After all, he was only slightly older than her daughter.

Alex rolled over, separating him and his sister, and began kissing Noel's neck before moving down to her chest. Noel was loving this. Here was a handsome young man, clearly in love with her, showering her with affection and not at all repulsed by her body. Maybe she was young enough for this. After all, she was only 35, there really wasn't a reason she couldn't be a mother again. Why, when her new baby was Lekesia's age—

"Ow!"

"Sorry, I thought your mind was wandering a little. So, are you interested in some oral foreplay, or..."

"Oh, no, I'm already prepped and raring to go. I learned last night how much better having you on top of me is. Frankly, oral sex just doesn't compare with what we shared last night. I never thought I'd pass up on oral sex, but I'm more than ready right now."

So Alex moved back up and positioned himself. Diane, who'd woken up while they were moving around, shifted over, disappointed she hadn't woken a little earlier. Still, she was surprised to find she wasn't jealous in the least. She knew they loved each other, just as she knew that Alex loved her, so she was happy seeing them enjoying themselves. Given how she now felt, she was convinced jealousy was simply the result of self doubts. The way she felt now, she had no doubts at all.

Alex and Noel began the long slow dance of love as he began gently thrusting into her. She held on and reciprocated, matching him stroke for stroke, swearing she'd keep up with him despite the years that separated them. She was glad he was at least 18, though, as she'd have a hard time justifying herself if she was making love with a ... scratch that, she was still making love to a teenager. Just a legal one.

Cate climbed out of bed, running her hand along her brother's side in a loving gesture. Diane observed she was completely nude. Not only that, but she was clean shaven. Not quite what you'd expect if you were traveling for several days with your brother. However Diane was a bit distracted by Alex and Noel. Cate got up and headed into the kitchen to fix the snack she was sure Alex would need shortly. After all, knowing him, he'd be going for a twofer this morning.