Chapter 8: The Next Week

Malok had just given me the news that I was going to be a father by Soya (AKA my ex-wife, Sonya) when he decided to confirm something else. "Rona is with your child too."

I could not believe it. I had spent my entire life childless. Now, in this new one, I had knocked up two beautiful women, while the other two women in my life were hoping for the same result.

The week leading up to Hogat's second wedding was a busy time for us. The first few days, I decided that we should start working on the barn, to provide shelter for the large animals. With the rainy season coming, I wanted to be sure to have somewhere warm and dry for our animal friends. Additionally, Malok had originally told me that all of the dangerous predators had been cleared out before I arrived. There was no guarantee that they (or others like them) would not return. A barn would provide our animals with some protection at night.

At least for the morning construction session, I had decided that Lyna and Zeena would work with the dogs, while Rona and her elder daughter, Sula would care for the chickens. Speaking of which, by the end of the week we had our first chicks start to hatch.

As far as the rest of us, we worked with the horse and cow and then started building a large barn. I had originally conceived building something smaller, but I came to the realization that in addition to extra horses, I wanted to get at least one more bison cow and perhaps, even a bison bull. A domesticated source of bison became a fascination for me. I eventually settled on the idea of three cows and one bull to facilitate mating. I figured that first group would be our pets and would provide us lots of dairy. Eventually, with the help of the bull, they would also create livestock that would be an easy source of bison beef during the winter.

Of course, these grandiose plans meant a larger structure for them all to live in. We not only had plenty of material for the job, but probably still had enough to build at least another structure of similar size. Malok laughed when I told him. He then uploaded a revised set of plans for the new kit to my primary node. Also included were directions how to set up the same roof as the house. That would mean rain collection, solar panels and three small wind turbines.

While I had a lot of experience with basic carpentry, I had never built anything so big. My labor was completely untrained too, which meant that this would be an adventure for all of us. Fortunately, I quickly discovered that despite the size and scope of this project, it roughly had the same level of complexity as putting together the chicken coop and the kennel. Like with those other structures, the pieces simply snapped together like a snap on plastic model. There were pieces for the bottom, top and sides that contained latches that could be connected to other parts of the structure too. While the size and scope of the project had changed, the only real need was to increase the size of the walls and the height of the structure. As the support beams were "snap on" too, it was just as easy to adjust them to fit.

My crew worked with good cheer and basically little complaint. Soya surprised me with her understanding of assembling things from kits, until I reminded myself that Sonya and I had built a tool shed together many years ago. The thought that Soya had subconsciously made that connection and smiled whenever she passed me another section to install managed to make me wistful and happy at the same time.

Jontar was also a very enthusiastic helper. Having lived in tents so much of his life, the idea of building something permanent with his own two hands (even if it was only for animals) excited him. The only person who took some convincing to participate was Geeta. Not only was she still struggling with the notion of keeping animals (especially for milk!), she was still having some issues with her size and gender (despite our passionate lovemaking sessions). I reminded her that I found her every bit as much a woman as any of my mates. I also said that her size and strength was a gift from the spirits. This was a blessing for her family. I told her that I would need her strength and admired her for it. After a little daylight kissing and light petting behind a tree, my tallest and largest mate was all smiles and a very productive worker.

By midday, we were hot, so we broke for lunch. After introducing Geeta and Soya to our "creek bath", we went up to eat. We still had some leftover venison stew, which we augmented with tortilla chips and salsa. As with the creek bath, it took Geeta a little while to get used to seeing food cooked on the stove and the crunchiness of the chips, but in the end, she admitted, "Your ways are strange, Mike, but the food is so good. It has been so much fun today. It is a lot better than gathering roots and berries like I did at my old home."

"Geeta, you may not understand this, but in my mind, you have nothing that can stop you from doing anything. You have been blessed with great strength and that makes you a natural hunter."

"Me? Hunt?" she gasped.

"Yes, my huntress," I smiled. "You are a woman in every way that matters. I find you quite desirable," I said, as I let my hand roam down to her ass and began to rub it. "You will make babies for me and we will mate often just for fun. You are also capable of making our lives better with your strength. We will not gather much here. Instead, we will grow our own food and reap what we grow."

"I do not understand what any of that means."

"Do you trust me?" I asked with a wide smile.

"Yes," she said quietly

"Very soon, Little One, you will understand everything."

We went back to work on the barn and made some good progress that afternoon. I figured that we had the frame almost completely built and tomorrow we would finish and then start on the walls. As I expected, in the morning, there was a lot more enthusiasm. This time, Lyna, Rona and Sula came to help. Even little Zeena came down played with the puppies (Liesl, Kurt and Gretl- hey, who doesn't like The Sound of Music) that were on leashes and were beginning to respond to her. After about an hour, I let Jontar and Sula join in playing with the dogs. Gradually, everyone started playing hooky in order to play with the adorable pups. At the end, it was just Geeta and I working. In my case, it was because I was hoping to finish the frame. For Geeta, I assumed that aside from her desire to help, she still was not comfortable with the idea of having animal friends. Finally, recognizing the unstoppable mutiny on my hands, I gave up the ghost of trying to finish the frame. I pulled Geeta over to the large group playing with the dogs. Eventually, Geeta seemed to warm to them; though I could tell that yapping kind of alarmed her at first. She looked like a big kid though when she saw Liesl roll over and Zeena rubbing her belly. I took that moment to put my arm around her shoulder.

"Everyone needs love, Geeta; even animals. Tall mates need love too."

"Love? Love is for children."

"No, my mate. Where I'm from there are all kinds of loving. This includes the kind of love, mates have for each other."

"Do you mean lust?"

"No, though lust is a healthy part of love between mates."

"Do you mean affection? Friendship?"

"No, though those are part of this love too."

"Again, I don't understand. Your ways are strange..."

I silenced her with a kiss. It started soft and sweet, before developing into a maelstrom of passion before ending with sheer tenderness. When I broke the kiss, I could tell that Geeta was as affected as I was.

I looked into her eyes. "Love between mates is all of the things you said, but even more. It is the way that your mate looks at you when they are happy, sad, angry, relieved, lustful ... it is looking at them back and feeling what they are feeling because you care so greatly about them. It is about supporting them when they need support and leaning on them when you need it. All of this goes far beyond affection, friendship and desire. It speaks to who we are inside and how we feel about each other."

"I ... I think I know what you mean," she whispered. "You were so kind to me. Even when I mocked you and tried to hit you ... you defended yourself ... but you comforted me..."

"I'd never want to see you hurt."

"It is more than that. You want me. Not just to mate with me. You respect me. You believe in me. You care about me like a child but desire me as your mate," she said pausing before she added. "Is that what you mean by love?"

I took her in my arms and kissed her again. When I broke it I smiled. "That's exactly what I mean."

Geeta smiled right back at me, before walking over to Kurt and giving the puppy a belly rub.

That night, I managed to make love to all of my mates. I had realized that Geeta had been kind of high maintenance due to her poor self-image. I had also spent some time with Soya, as I needed to make up for my lost time with her alter ego. I concentrated a bit more on Rona and then ended with my blond haired beauty. As I fired my seed into Lyna's spasming form, I hungrily devoured her mouth with mine. There was just something about her that set me off. It was not just her looks, which were exceptional, but I just felt this huge connection between us. When she made love to me, it was with her whole being. She told me it was never that way for her first mate. She told me all she would do was lie there and dream of wonderful mate who would treat her with kindness and tenderness. "Looks like I got my wish," she grinned, as I turned out the light, pulled my wonderful Lyna to me and soon we were asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning I introduced my brood to French toast with butter and imitation maple syrup. As it was unlikely I would find any "sugar maples" in my local woods, I had requested a lot of the imitation kind and some of the "good stuff". I did this primarily because of the shelf life of the real syrup compared to its imitation flavored kin. Everyone loved the sweetness. I had decided to slowly introduce sugar (corn syrup etc.) products to my family. Despite teaching my new family about tooth care (brushing, flossing etc.), dentistry was basically non-existent. I did not wish to rot out my family's teeth. Instead, we would save sugar products for special occasions and sweeten our beverages with Stevia.

After I milked Bossie, we started our morning work on the barn. I decided that we would go hunting in the afternoon instead of another work session. I was glad that Malok had provided the ladder I used on my first day. The roof was only about twelve feet high at the lowest point with a pitch that would go as high as about twenty. I was working on a cross beam that was about sixteen feet high. As the material itself was quite sturdy when anchored at the base and fastened on the sides, in theory, the extra support and crossbeams were not really needed. Still, I was not used to the idea of building a frame without them, so I decided that a little overkill to be safe was not a bad thing.

While I finished the frame, Jontar and Sula were working on assembling one wall together, while Soya and Geeta each worked on another wall. The two kids seemed to be getting along better since I made my proclamation that I had no intention of mating them. Every once in a while I thought a saw little glances from one at the other. "Well, what do you know? Maybe they're crushing on each other," I thought.

Jontar's blond hair and relatively fine features made him seem like a prehistoric Robert Redford. Sula's forehead was not quite as pronounced as her mother's (which was smaller than most Neanderthal woman I had seen). It seemed that Neanderthal women physically matured at a faster rate than their Cro-Magnon counterparts (according to Malok), so I guess Sula's form had Jontar's pulse pounding too. I decided to sit back and see what would transpire. Still, regardless of their feelings, I was determined to set the age of mating for my group closer to what was acceptable in my time. I would probably meet with some resistance, but if they really wanted each other, they would wait.

By the time Noon came along, I herded my workers to our cold creek bath. Then we adjourned to the patio for hamburgers, grilled to perfection by Lyna. As I ate the steer beef burger, I had a hankering for a bison burger. I was happy with today's progress, so I decided to forgo an after-lunch building session in favor of another activity.

I decided to go hunting. I was in the mood for bison burger; which quickly morphed into a craving for bison steaks. Since I had no intention of eating "Bossie", I gathered my hunting and butchering party. I took everyone except Soya, Rona and Zeena. This time, we brought the makings of three travois, as there would be a lot of meat to bring back if our hunt was successful

We headed north (not far from the banks of the Rhone). I chose this route because it seemed the most direct but also to ensure that we would not travel too near Hogat's caves. It was not that I did not like Hogat, because I did. In fact, he was my closest friend who was not part of my family. I sensed I could trust him and his mate Tola and would eventually invite them to our camp. Still, I sensed if I showed up with a group of us, he would insist that we should all stick around for a pre-feast feast (as our joint wedding feast was only a few days away). Normally, I might have been inclined to say yes, but I wanted to improve our food stores (not provide the Neanderthals with more meat).

After walking a bit over a mile, we found the herd grazing in the plains about a mile from the Rhone. It was a bit of a surprise as we usually encountered the bison almost two miles further north. It confused me a bit, but then I realized that maybe the herd had migrated a couple of miles or that this was a different herd. This herd seemed a bit smaller, so I began to think it was the latter.

I planned to take down just one, large male and was ready to notch an arrow. I then had a change of heart. I decided to allow the junior members of the expedition to fire first. I realized that this was a bit of a risk, but felt it was important (for Jontar in particular) to go first. His bow work had improved over the past week and he had become a fairly good shot when shooting at fixed targets. Likewise, Sula was improving her aim. She was not quite as accurate as Jontar, but her strength allowed for greater draw than her brother/playmate. As I saw them take aim, I notched an arrow myself. I heard Jontar whisper "Now," and the kids unleashed a volley of two arrows at the unsuspecting beast. To play it safe, I immediately aimed and fired myself.

Sula's arrow hit first, striking the bison in the front left leg. It had little time to react as Jontar's arrow hit it in its thick torso. Had he more draw, it may have been a kill shot. Sula's leg hit was quite powerful. As the beast prepared to limp away, my shot missed its target location, but the bison's movement caused my arrow to hit it in the rear left leg with a little more force than Sula's hit. This threw the bison's balance off and it then collapsed to the ground under its own weight.

We waited a few more minutes for the rest of the herd to meander off and then approached our quarry. Seeing it was still alive, I picked up a nearby big rock and brained it to put it out of its misery. Then the butchering party took over. Both Lyna and Geeta had experience in butchering animals, so they went along with their business (with a few hints from me to be extra careful with the razor sharp titanium knives). In about an hour, the animal had been mostly skinned (the raw leather bagged separately), divided into three even sections, placed on each travois and then we started home.

By the time we returned, we were pretty damn tired. At that point, Rona and Soya took over, as they used the small table (I originally used when I first arrived) to finish skinning and then slicing the beef into large steaks and then cutting out some bison ribs (at my direction when the rest of us returned from a much needed creek bath). We crammed several large steaks into the fridge for dinner for the next few nights (and a few to grind into bison burgers). The rest we fit in the large freezer chest. I figure that this one bison would provide us with many more meals. The ribs got me thinking about building our smokehouse. I knew that would be our next project once the barn was built.

That night, Soya and Rona grilled some bison steaks on the fire pit. We had roasted potatoes and frozen peas.

After dinner we butchered some thin cuts to salt and dry for jerky. After treating them and hanging them out, we cleaned and stretched the buffalo hide on another set of racks and cleaned up using the water tank water. Then we put the kids to bed. By now, even Geeta was participating as "mom number four".

As the five adults crawled into the "Master bed", we were too tired and sore to do much, except cuddle and kiss a little. I then fell into a deep and much needed sleep with Lyna on one side of me and Soya on the other.