“Friends,” Harriston called to the suddenly restless crowd, “my understanding is that they will return in a few moments, at which time we will have a BRIEF reception under the trees.” He indicated a group of folding tables about fifty feet away, on which were trays and bowls of light snacks, as well as soft drinks, beer and wine.
Concealed behind the shrubbery wall the two lapin lovers stood locked in a tight, almost frantic embrace. “In my wildest fantasies I wished for this moment,” D’jiin murmured, “but I never dreamed it would happen quite this way, or that I’d have to…to die for it to come to pass.”
“Did you truly mean what you said out there?” S’leen hesitantly asked. “There are many more H’kaah females than males, and a lot of them are far more…more attractive than I am.”
He quickly pushed her out to arms’ length, his grip on her shoulders firm to the point of almost being painful. “Understand this if you understand nothing else, S’leen,” he softly growled. “The first day I met you I knew—I knew—that I was in love with you. Despite all we’ve been through that hasn’t changed, and while I won’t deny that I find many other females attractive there’s a big difference between ‘attraction’ and ‘love’. I married you because I love you.” He emphasized that by kissing her, then gasped when they came up for air, “I don’t make promises lightly, Dear, and once made I make every effort to deliver on them.” He nuzzled her, adding, “And when this libido-suppressing chemical wears off I promise you a night you won’t soon forget.”
Only five minutes had passed before the newlyweds reappeared from behind the shrubbery wall, but this time they were clothed in red satin outfits that were duplicates of the ones worn by their escorts. However, they were still barefoot. As the two H’kaah strode toward the wedding guests they were welcomed with a round of enthusiastic applause—and several quiet sighs of relief.
“I don’t know if they’re applauding because you snagged me,” D’jiin whispered to his bride, “or because I snagged you.”
After a few seconds S’leen whispered back, “You should be thankful that I’m exercising restraint in front of all these people. That remark deserves a bite!”
The newlyweds followed H’kaah tradition by promptly taking bowls and trays of refreshments and personally catering to their delighted wedding guests. Only after everyone had been served did D’jiin and S’leen put down their trays and accept glasses of champagne from Reverend Harry Harriston, a uniquely human twist to their otherwise traditional H’kaah wedding reception.
“I propose a toast,” Harriston announced and the guests scrambled to acquire their own glasses of champagne from one of the tables. A few moments later he declared, “In front of God, friends and acquaintances, S’leen and D’jiin have begun their life together. We wish them long years of happiness, great success in their endeavors and children who will bring joy to their lives and make them proud.” Harriston clinked his crystal glass to theirs while the guests did likewise with those around them, then everyone sampled their drinks.
Most of the aliens had never experienced anything quite like genuine French champagne, and D’jiin had made sure the sparkling beverage was neither too dry nor too warm. Several squeals, both of surprise and delight, came from the H’kaah guests as they discovered the unique properties of the naturally carbonated drink.
“The bubbles are different from Coke bubbles—these tickle!” S’leen exclaimed, then promptly sneezed.
“I’m told that the trick is to keep them out of your nose, Dear,” D’jiin drawled, then discovered that not only his nose, but also his cat-like whiskers, were being assaulted by the cheerful effervescence. “However, drinking this stuff quickly may be the (ACHOO!) best solution to the problem.” He promptly followed his own advice.
Over the next three-quarters of an hour each wedding guest got to spend a few relatively private moments with the newlyweds. Some were genuinely ecstatic, most expressed sincere congratulations, one was bizarre.
The Reverend Harry Harriston was so proud he was about to burst. “This afternoon was a low point in my life, D’jiin,” he solemnly said. “Performing a funeral service for a long-time friend is both physically and mentally draining, and I struggled to get through it.” Then he grinned. “But when you made those cryptic comments after the service you set my mind spinning, and then when you called me this afternoon I knew God had kept me alive these eighty five years for a reason, and that He had something incredible up His sleeve!” He hugged both aliens, then added to S’leen, “My Dear, I just hope I’m still around to bounce at least one of your babies on my knee.”
She surprised the old minister with a quick, feathery-light kiss on his wrinkled cheek. “Nothing would please me more, reverend sir, than to give you that opportunity.”
Tony Wilson and C’maat were more subdued, but certainly no less pleased. “Even though you’re, well, not one anymore,” Wilson told D’jiin after making sure no other guests were within earshot, “you’re still my ‘main man’, brother.” He grinned, his ebony face split by a beautiful set of perfect, white teeth.
C’maat reached up and stroked her delicate clawed fingertips down D’jiin’s left cheek. “Tony says that despite your…your change you are still a mighty warrior. I regret not becoming better acquainted with your strength.” She looked at S’leen and smiled, but there was no implied threat in it. “Still, I am pleased that matters have worked out as they have. S’leen and I each have a fearless hero to love and care for us, and someday I might even convince Tony to make the ultimate commitment.”
Wilson blinked, then softly sputtered, “Me? Become a…a bunny boy?”
D’jiin laughed and clasped the man’s hand in an iron grip. “Tony, my friend, don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it. Given the chance, I wouldn’t go back.”
“No shit?”
“Not a bit,” the black-furred H’kaah stated. “I’m young again, perfectly healthy and full of piss ‘n vinegar. Someday soon I think you’ll realize that you’ve ‘done it all’ as a human, and at that point you’ll decide to ‘take a walk on the wild side’ with C’maat as your guide. Just remember that when that time comes she can set things into motion; she’s seen firsthand what’s involved and she knows who to contact.”
Teddy Shapiro and F’haan were quite popular with the other guests, but they managed to break free and spend a few minutes with the newlyweds. “D’jiin, my boy,” Shapiro boomed, “I wish you and your new bride peace, happiness and lots of children. Enjoy your head of thick, golden hair while you can, since I can tell you from experience—gleaned from the seven kids my ex-wives are raising, and that I’m still paying for—that kids will turn your hair gray before you know it!”
F’haan left Shapiro’s side only long enough to hug both D’jiin and S’leen, then the couple wandered back into the knot of guests.
A blue-uniformed, dark-featured man quietly sipping a Coke drifted over. “Shalom, Noach,” D’jiin softly said, smiling. “I’m glad you could make it, old chaver, and I’m pleased to see that you managed to drag Captain Horne along.” They both watched the petite female pilot happily chatting with several H’kaah, and a certain white-furred H’kaah male in particular. “You’d better watch it, though,” D’jiin added with a laugh, “or L’niik might steal her away from you.”
S’leen gently swung Green around, and before the man realized what was happening she raised up on her toes while pulling his grizzled head down to meet hers—and she lightly kissed his cheek. “I never got to thank you, Nolan,” she said, “for…for being my friend when I so desperately needed one.” Green’s swarthy skin darkened with embarrassment, but then he smiled and hugged S’leen when she added, “Should you ever need a friend, I’ll be there for you.”
And then there was Daryl Polk, who had been invited to the wedding over Lisa Thomas’ strenuous objections. The weasel-like young man seemed to materialize at D’jiin’s side, spooking both the dark-furred H’kaah and his new bride.
“I…I’m sorry for the rude things I said this afternoon at the dealership, D’jiin,” Polk offered with apparent sincerity. Then his attention centered on S’leen. “And, ma’am, over the past few months I guess I haven’t been very nice to you, either.” His gaze lingered just long enough to make the female uncomfortable. “I’m sorry for that, too. There were a lot of things I really didn’t understand—before.” He quickly glanced at D’jiin before adding with a strange, nervous smile, “Thanks for inviting me. I hope you have a lot of years together.” Polk slinked away.
“That was strange,” D’jiin said in H’kaah, his voice soft. “I feel as if I’ve just been kissed by a rattlesnake.”
“Something about him gives me a deep fear,” S’leen stated. “I want to run when he is nearby.”
“He makes me glad I have you to protect me,” D’jiin quipped with a sudden grin and a hug. “Just remember, it only takes one of your carefully-placed shots to his right eye— end of problem!”
S’leen drew back and thumped him in the chest with a surprisingly strong fist. “D’jiin, that’s terrible!”
Rubbing his insulted pectoral muscle, he said without any trace of humor, “In this case it would be classified as a ‘preemptive strike’, and something tells me we may regret not exercising that option.”
“What are you two cuddle-bunnies plotting?” The voice came from behind them, and it belonged to Lisa Thomas. Despite their keen hearing, Thomas had managed to slip to within a few feet of the newlyweds before speaking, and at the sound of her voice both aliens started like they’d had their furry tails tweaked. “Jeez, I’m sorry,” she soothed. “Didn’t mean to scare you, but after ‘Mr. Personality’ walked away you looked like you were plotting his untimely death.”
Both H’kaah stared at the woman with carefully stoic expressions on their faces, and she said, “Hey, I don’t understand your language, so forgive me for making a bad joke—”
D’jiin caught Thomas completely by surprise when he quickly reached out and folded her into his powerful arms in an apparent friendly hug. “Shhhh!” he whispered in an ear. “Hug me like you mean it; I’ll explain later.” After a momentary hesitation she returned the embrace, and just before he released her he added, “You were absolutely correct, but you never know who’s listening, so smile.” Then he grinned as he said in a strong voice, “Thank you so much for the kind wishes, Lisa!” In whispered H’kaah he told S’leen, “Hug her like I did, then thank her for…for something, anything, but do it fast.”
S’leen quickly hugged the startled woman, then cheerfully said as she released her, “I, too, appreciate your words!”
The Reverend Harry Harriston was smiling as he approached, a glass of his favorite beverage in hand. “I didn’t catch the remark,” he boomed, “but consider it coming from me, too. Does that entitle me to a hug from our new bride?” Almost hiding in his shadow was Daryl Polk, a slightly confused look on his dark-eyed, sharp features.
S’leen smiled at the minister and embraced him without having to be prompted. She spent a moment whispering something into his ear that suddenly made him hoot with laughter. When that happened he had to lunge to catch his upper denture, which had popped out of his mouth like a tiny pink-and-white creature making a dash for freedom.
After quickly replacing his wayward false teeth Harriston glanced sideways at S’leen, then laughed again, this time mindful of his loose denture. “Oh my!” He quickly clasped D’jiin’s right hand in both of his, enthusiastically pumping it while stating with a grin, “Son, I predict this lovely little girl will make you a fine wife! Yes, a fine wife indeed!” He walked away chuckling and giggling to himself like a kid.
Daryl Polk had oozed back into the crowd by the time Reverend Harriston walked away, and Lisa Thomas hissed to S’leen, “What in God’s name did you tell him?” The female H’kaah whispered something into the woman’s ear. Thomas suddenly squealed with laughter, paused to look at D’jiin’s perplexed expression, then laughed again. She, too, walked away chuckling and giggling to herself.
The black-furred alien was burning with curiosity. “S’leen, what did you tell them?” She tried to ignore the question but he wouldn’t allow it. “Tell me, Dear, or…or else—”
She looked at him with a defiant gleam in her eyes. “What would you do, D’jiin? We are married now, so there is little you can legally do to me, the mother of your children-yet-to-be.”
He bared his impressive front teeth at her. “You feared my teeth when they were small,” he declared in H’kaah, “so imagine what I can do with this fine set.” He clicked the teeth together.
“We are evenly matched,” she responded, totally unimpressed, “and I have had a lot more experience with mine.” She flashed her gleaming rabbit-like teeth at him, then smiled mischievously. “I will, however, tell you what they found to be so amusing.”
He leaned slightly closer to S’leen, not really knowing what she had in mind. “I said,” she began in a low voice, in English, “I had been told that when you are at the peak of your passion, your ears flap up and down like the wings of a bird.” She lightly touched the tip of his nose with a sharp claw as she lithely danced out of his reach, laughing. Moments later she joined a small crowd at the punchbowl.
D’jiin stood with his mouth hanging open in stunned surprise, then he absently reached up and touched his ears. “Who…who told you that?” he weakly muttered to nobody in particular. “I haven’t—we haven’t—” His eyes suddenly widened in horror.
Betrayed!
Chapter 16
*Loose Ends*
It was ten thirty and the minister had already left, a new Glenfiddich bottle happily clutched in his hand. Most of the other guests had either left or were on their way out the estate’s gate, and within the next few minutes crickets began cranking up their shrill nighttime serenade. Lisa Thomas, Cory Ross and Trudy Bond stood quietly with D’jiin and S’leen on the old house’s front porch, each person lost in private thoughts.
“Well, D’jiin,” Thomas eventually stated, smiling, “I don’t guess you’ll be putting in an appearance at the store tomorrow.”
“You guessed right,” he stated matter-of-factly as he took off his red satin vest and draped it over the back of a porch rocking chair. “Despite the fact that S’leen and I are legally married, we still have a lot of ‘bonding’ to do.” He put an arm around his new bride and she snuggled into the embrace. “This past week has been the roller coaster ride to hell and back, and since my change I really haven’t had more than a few hours to spend with the person I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.” He looked at Lisa Thomas and his two human children. “In all my years as Jack Ross I never dreamed I’d end up like…like this.” S’leen cocked her head around to look at him, a perplexed expression on her face. “Looking at it from this vantage point, though,” he said, smiling at her, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He gave S’leen a quick, human-style kiss to emphasize it.
Thomas grinned tiredly and said, “Well, I’m going to leave you two to do whatever ‘love bunnies’ do.“ Everyone laughed. “D’jiin, should I look for you early next week?” She got a nod of agreement from him. “You have enough money?”
“Yeah,” he replied, “I always kept a few thousand in cash squirreled away in the house for emergencies, and one of the many things I did while being ‘processed’ through Patrons was to get a well-stocked checking account, an ATM card and a VISA Platinum card in my new name. When I return to work I’ll show you how to have Stuart Williams, our comptroller, set it up in the books to split my old net profit percentage between Trudy and Cory. Official financial records at Patrons will show me getting the normal stipend amount from the company, drawn from funds paid to it by you. That’s the same setup we had for S’leen when she was my companion. Don’t worry,” he said with a grin as he observed her sudden frown, “we’ll make sure your compensation as Ross Chevrolet’s new General Manager handsomely reflects your position, and what makes it ev
en better is that my official Patrons monthly expenses will be in addition to your healthy GM salary.
“And should our hypothetical snoop manage to dig into Patrons’ books he’ll find that S’leen’s money will be coming from funds paid to Patrons by Cory. Now that he’s part-owner in the business he’ll more than be able to afford the luxury of a companion.” After another round of laughter D’jiin added, “It doesn’t seem fair, though, that Cory has to pay for a companion without the benefits of having one.” He grinned and winked.
D’jiin was surprised when Cory Ross said, “Oh, but you don’t understand, Dad. S’leen and I spent some, um, ‘quality time’ together in Jane while you were having your brains sucked out in that Mn’rii lab.”
“‘Quality time’?” the black-furred H’kaah said, his eyes wide with apparent shock.
“Yeah,” the young Ross elaborated with a leering smile reminiscent of his human father, “and I’ve even got a bite mark on my arm to show for my efforts.”
“On that cheerful note,” Lisa Thomas nervously injected, “I’m outta here!” She quickly hugged everyone, then hurried to her car and in moments was out the gate and roaring down the street.
“I’ve never been able to figure her out,” D’jiin stated. “She likes a ribald joke as much as anyone else, yet there times that suggestive comments and innuendoes literally freak her out.”
“I don’t understand,” S’leen said, confused at what had just happened. “What does Cory mean by ‘quality time’?”
“Dad and I were trading rude barbs,” Ross explained, “and Lisa took them at face value.”
“But,” the female H’kaah said, “you and I did spend some time in Jane, and…and I did bite you on the way back to the laboratory.”
Redeeming Factors (Revised) Page 37