by Lucy Kelly
Her parents weren’t Nephilim. They had adopted Cassandra when Michelle wasn’t able to have a child. Of course, that changed when she came in contact with Addie. Michelle was about a month from her due date, so Addie wasn’t surprised to see them sitting down, instead of dancing in one of the ballrooms.
“Hello, Olivettis! How do you like the ball so far?” Addie asked them.
“We’re doing great. The baby has been kicking up a storm,” said Michelle as she looked over Addie’s hair to make sure the style was holding up.
“Are you going to stick to your plan and wait until the baby is older before you open your salon?” Addie asked.
“Yes. We loved getting Cassandra as our little girl. Being there for a newborn will be a new treat for us. I’ll keep my hand in, though. I’ve been studying all the styles here on HeVan. I hope you and Grace will still let me do your hair. We appreciate being able to stay in the palace,” she said.
“You can stay here as long as you like. The palace is like a small city, anyway. You can still have buildings in the city for your businesses, if you want them. I am glad you’re here, though.”
“How’s everything with you, Sergio? Is your job okay?” Addie asked, turning to Michelle’s husband.
“I don’t mind working on the palace maintenance staff. I have a lot to learn about the cars—I mean, transports on this planet. When I feel ready, I’ll start up my own shop. Who knows what the future will hold? I’ve stopped making long-term plans. All these surprising wonderful things keep happening,” he said, looking at his wife and daughter with love in his eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about a lot of the stuff that’s been happening. You know, the ancient Nephilim, Grace and Josephine having to fight in the Mok-Tar and everything. Hursag, the Seer, came to see me in one of my knowing dreams. She said she had regretted telling Aruru her vision of the future. She feels it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. She said sometimes things just had to happen the way they were meant to. I still have a lot to learn,” Cassandra said in a quiet voice.
Addie appreciated the burden this young girl carried on her shoulders. She struggled to find something to say to reassure her. Rescue came from Arjun, who had walked up behind her.
“Never doubt your instincts, Cassandra. You do not act, you only see. What we do with the information you give us is our weight to carry. Once Hursag told Aruru her vision, it was Aruru’s choice to save the women,” he said.
“If you don’t feel comfortable being my Seer, take a vacation and think about it. I’m sure your parents would like some help with the baby. Plus, we have to think about school for you too. Arjun, what colleges are there here on HeVan for Cassandra?” Addie asked.
For the next twenty minutes, they discussed the current situation on HeVan when it came to higher education.
After leaving them, Arjun took Addie to another one of the ballrooms. She had learned a dance popular on HeVan, which allowed her to dance with all her Ankida together. She wasn’t surprised to find Grace and Josephine there, as well.
Arjun led her out with Rune and Kylan following behind. The steps of the dance had her passing from one man’s arms to another. As they revolved and moved down the dance floor, people began to step back to watch. Addie was giving off little gold sparks. Grace, dancing with her own Ankida, was also emitting sparks; hers were silver.
Glynnis stood with her Ankida—Rale, Rufan, and Recca Kolrami. She had tears in her eyes, as she watched her granddaughters float along the floor in the arms of their Ankida.
She had given Grace and Justyn a good scolding when she heard about the Mok-Tar battle. They had kept it a secret from her.
For now, life was good; life was very good. She allowed her own Ankida to pull her on to the floor to dance with her girls.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Earth…
When the Venger arrived back at the Far Star Station, Jo had been gone from Earth for nine weeks. They didn’t have a good reason to risk taking a war ship close to Earth again, so the last leg of the trip would take another seven to nine days by shuttle.
She knew her boss, Mike McLuckie, would be anxious for her report. Before they could go home to Chicago, though, she wanted to take Margan and Trake to meet her parents. Jo had actually contacted Aimeé as soon as they arrived at the station.
Aimeé was waiting for her to get back before introducing Jorne and Tonne to their mom and two dads. It wasn’t so much there being two men for each of them. It was the whole aliens from another planet thing. Aimeé wanted Jo to handle the explanations, and she had agreed.
For now, she was looking forward to meeting Suzanna. Suzanna had been in medical when Jo had passed through the station last time. Jo wanted to spend some time with her before she made the trip back to Earth. When the chime sounded in her temporary cabin, she decided the woman standing there with what could only be a Great Dane, was Suzanna. She was wrong.
“Hi, come on in. You must be Suzanna,” said Jo.
“Actually, no, I’m not. I’m Heidi O’Connor Sumare. I’m joined to Gaius and Gael Sumare. Suzanna is in the arboretum. She asked me to come get you. So come with me, it’s this way,” she said, stepping back into the corridor and pointing to the left.
Jo was curious as to why Suzanna hadn’t come to see her. She followed Heidi to find out.
“What do you do on a space station all day?” she asked Heidi.
She was honestly interested because she thought it could get boring after the novelty of being in space wore off. The Nephilim on board had jobs, equipment to monitor and run. What would a woman from Earth do?
Looking over, Jo saw Heidi was the same five foot five height as herself. Only instead of Jo’s brown hair and brown eyes, she had black hair and hazel eyes.
“I’m in charge of all the gardens and farming. While most of our food is supplied, I grow some vegetables here and we have chickens, a few sheep, and some pigs. We have small animals mostly, though we recently added a small herd of milk cows. Now that all the repairs are finished, and the station is stronger than before, all the women who had gone back to Earth have returned. We all want fresh eggs for breakfast and fresh milk for our cereal. And with the babies, milk for them too,” Heidi explained.
“You have room for all that?” Jo asked. She hadn’t gotten a really good look at the station from space.
“Oh, yeah, easily, this place is huge. I even convinced the guys to bring me some redwood seedlings. They’re already twenty feet tall, and we have room for them to grow to their full height. Did you know there are ancient redwoods in California over three hundred feet tall?” Heidi asked.
She continued to give Jo the inside story on all things green and growing, as they traversed down corridors and one glide. When they passed anything of interest on the station, she would point it out with a wave of her hand. Then she would go back to discussing her latest garden and crop experiments. The Great Dane never left her side.
“It’s nice you were able to bring your dog,” Jo pointed out, when Heidi came up for air.
“He’s great, isn’t he? This is Boris. His mate, Bella, is here too. They’re both fixed now, so no more puppies for them. But I haven’t had them very long. My friend, Miranda, took me to Addie when it looked like my asshole ex was going to find me and put me in the hospital again. He can’t find me here on this station,” she said gleefully, before finally ending her discussion of all things growing, to her rescue from the asshole, and life on the station with her Ankida and their baby girl. By the time they finally reached the arboretum, Jo had a fairly good idea of how large the station was.
I feel like I’ve walked across the length of Chicago and back again!
She also knew Heidi’s life story by then.
When they entered the arboretum, Jo would swear she was in a park or even out in the wild. The grass came nearly to the door. There seemed to be a maintenance path around the edge. The two of them had taken a few steps in, when a cart drew up on their
right side. The guy driving was cute, wearing jeans and a plaid flannel shirt.
“Heidi, I need you at the farm. The rutabagas don’t look right to me,” he said.
“I’ll go have a word with them. Suzanna is over there by those trees. Head to the flame berry tree,” she said, waving off to the left before she hopped in the cart with the guy. The dog was too big to fit and jogged along by Heidi’s side.
Flame berry tree—what the hell is a flame berry tree?
Jo started walking to the trees indicated, and actually hoped she wouldn’t get lost on a space station! It took another five minutes before she found Suzanna. Her quarry was reclining on a blanket in the dappled shade of a tree Jo didn’t recognize. The leaves were hot pink.
This must be the flame berry tree. It looks more like cotton candy.
When she dropped, tired after her walk, onto the blanket, Suzanna opened her eyes.
“Did you enjoy your tour?” she asked. “The medicals don’t want me walking for long periods for another month or so. I’m only supposed to have light exercise.”
“You mean there’s a shorter way? I hope you’re going to show it to me on the way back. Heidi sure showed me everything else. She also talked my ear off,” said Jo.
She reached for a glass sitting on a nearby tray and a pitcher of what she assumed was ice water. When she took a big gulp, she was surprised at the spicy cinnamon flavor.
“Its flame berry juice,” said Suzanna, pointing up. “This is a flame berry tree. All the color goes to the leaves, though the berries are white,” she said, confirming Jo’s guess. “Heidi is talkative,” she said, answering Jo’s comment. “She was so shy and scared when she first came. She wouldn’t say boo to a goose. It’s nice to see her so happy with her Ankida and their little girl. Happiness just pours out of her all the time now. After all the misery her ex put her through, she deserves it. Now, I understand you have some questions for me?”
“How did you know?” Jo asked, taking another sip of her drink.
“FBI agent insists on escorting her prisoner all the way back to another planet?” she said, raising an eyebrow.
“Busted,” she said with a laugh, and realized the Nephilim could have prevented her from visiting their planet at any time. Nearly all her questions had been answered on HeVan.
“I heard you used to have a federal job,” she said next.
“Ah, yes, my now infamous career as a “man in black”. Or in my case, an agent for the gray department. What did you want to ask me?” Suzanna said, getting a glass of flame berry juice for herself to hide her expression.
“I’m in a position similar to one you were in. How did you decide not to tell the government about the Nephilim?” Jo asked.
“By now I’m sure you’ve noticed all the Nephilim descendants on Earth have various gifts?” Suzanna asked.
Jo didn’t know where she was going with this, but she had noticed the phenomena. “Yes, I have my own psychic gifts, along with my sisters.”
“Well, I have gifts too. My gifts helped me quite a bit in my former job. When I met Addie, those same gifts screamed at me to protect her. While there might be a few people in government it would be safe to tell, I really don’t trust most of them. The Nephilim will leave Earth alone, and they aren’t really interested in interfering with the politics of the various countries. They care about their descendants, and have stuck around to look for them. They care about women. They created a sanctuary for them, and they give heavily to causes for fighting violence against women. While I first protected them for Addie’s sake, I soon realized it was the best thing to do,” she said.
Jo thought about it all. “It’s true. If any government found out about them, they would instantly try negotiating for advanced technology. It wouldn’t be long for word to leak out to other governments. Take it a step further, and our government or other less friendly governments might search and find Nephilim descendants and hold them hostage for technology or advanced military weapons. Nephilim scanners are better than any satellites we have. There are more than a few people in Washington willing to do a lot for those alone,” Jo said, thinking aloud.
She had thought of this before and rationalized much of it. She herself knew how helpful it would be in parts of the world where U.S. servicemen and women were fighting. Now her perspective had altered slightly. She was joined with two Nephilim herself, she intended to eventually move to HeVan. She had already accepted her future and more importantly, her sons’ futures would be on HeVan.
What should I tell my boss? Or my parents!
“I can’t tell you what to do. It’s for you to say,” said Suzanna, not wanting Jo to feel as if she had been swayed. It must be Jo’s own decision. By mutual consent, the two of them changed the subject. Josephine would need time to make up her mind. For some reason, she wasn’t as concerned with her boss as she was with her dads.
When their Ankida came to get them both, they were having a lively discussion about flying fast space jets. Jo still had fond memories of her quick trip between the Venger and landing on HeVan.
Margan, Trake, and Jo only stayed on the station for one day. Jo was anxious to get back. Her sister had contacted her again. Their parents were worried. They had tried to contact her when Aimeé let it slip they had talked. They had heard conflicting stories. An agent friend had told her father she was on a leave of absence, and then Mike had told dad she was on an undercover assignment. Aimeé said they were quietly freaking out. Reeko was going to drop them off in the desert inland from San Diego, and Aimeé and her Ankida would drive out and pick them up.
At approximately three-thirty in the morning, the shuttle in stealth mode, landed in the southern California desert. Somehow, Jo wasn’t very surprised to see her fathers, Ken March and Woody March, get out of the Jeep. Aimeé gave her a sheepish look. Jo didn’t blame her, their parents were a force, one-on-one. Put them together, and look out! Jo, Margan, and Trake got out with their luggage, and then the shuttle lifted off again. The three of them walked over to the Jeep. Jo gave both of her dads a hug.
“This is Margan and Trake Jors. I’m guessing you’ve already met their younger brothers, Jorne and Tonne?” she asked in a dry voice.
“You have a great deal of explaining to do, Josephine March,” said Woody in a hard voice.
“I’ll be happy to explain everything. But I’d like to only go through it once. How about we head home and get some sleep? We can go over everything in the morning. It’s going to take several hours to hash it all out and I’m beat. Okay?” Jo asked.
Since they could see how tired she was, they agreed with her plan. Jo didn’t tell them the reason she was so tired was because the three of them had a marathon session of weightless sex. She didn’t think they would appreciate the visual.
It took them an hour to get home. Everyone in the house was asleep. Jo set the alarm on her phone to wake them all at seven. She knew her mom would be up early prepping for breakfast, by making pancake batter from scratch and baking fresh biscuits. If she got mom on board with their relationships, the dads would follow along. They would do anything for her mother.
She ended up sleeping in, because Margan took her phone and turned off the alarm. The two men left her sleeping, and they went down to speak to her fathers. Jorne and Tonne were also up, so the six men headed to the beach. Woody had been a Navy SEAL and both he and his brother, Ken, had kept in shape. They put the four brothers through the paces. In turn, the four brothers did their best to earn the respect of their mates’ fathers.
After two hours of swimming and running on the beach, the six of them flopped down on the sand.
“Tell us why we should entrust our daughters to you?” Ken asked.
He and his brother, Woody, believed the men were physically strong enough to take care of their precious girls. Now they wanted to make sure the men would be good to them.
“All of us have waited a long time to find the one woman right for us. Did Aimeé or my brothers e
xplain about joining wings?” asked Margan, looking around before speaking aloud. As the oldest of the four brothers, he would do most of the talking.
“No, why don’t you explain it to us now?” put in Woody, with an eyebrow lift.
At that moment, he was pointedly reminded of Jo doing the same thing, and Margan smiled.
“We have a physiological reaction to the person who is our best match for joining. This reaction causes our wings to erupt from the skin in our backs. We then excrete a pheromone which compels us to physically join with our mate.”
Both Ken and Woody got angry looks on their faces. When Margan said that, Jorne rushed in to explain.
“I know what you’re thinking. Aimeé had the same worry. The pheromone doesn’t take away free will. We didn’t force your daughters to be with us. They each made the choice with a clear mind,” explained Jorne earnestly.
Calming down, Ken waved for Margan to continue.
“We fell in love with your daughters before we joined with them. On HeVan, the female is the head of the house. We will do everything in our power to make sure Josephine and Aimeé are always happy,” Margan said.
“Happy wife, happy life,” said Woody.
“Or in your case, happy spouse, happy house,” added Ken.
They had meant it as a small joke. The two of them bent over backwards to keep their wife, Janine, happy. Especially with all the negativity she had had to put up with over the years when she committed to living with two men.
All the Jors siblings simply nodded their heads very seriously. They felt the same and obviously were taking the words to heart as sage advice. The two fathers spent another hour giving the men tips on living in their specific type of relationship within the U.S. and more particularly, they passed on information on how to handle their daughters. Then they told the brothers not to screw it up!
The Jors brothers now had a better understanding of why it had been so easy for Aimeé and Jo to accept having two Ankida, even from the first.