by Rachel Clark
Tosh nodded. He’d seen the reports on the newsreels. Some of the concerns from average Desconians were very valid. Compared to the Desconian way of life, Earth was a horribly crowded, overly polluted, violent, dangerous mess. But how many humans could Descon take in before they started to face the same problems?
Yes, the majority of the Desconian population wanted human women to help them produce offspring, but that didn’t mean they wanted humans taking over the planet. The hysterical claims of “invasion” were wildly exaggerated but in some ways were also understandable. Desconians didn’t want large communities of humans living among them who refused to assimilate or accept the Desconian way of life. With the low birthrate of Desconians it was a valid concern. Tosh personally knew being overrun with humans was not yet an issue, but it could be only a matter of time.
Unfortunately, Katarnia seemed more concerned than just someone in her position reacting to the planetary news. She glanced at Deanna before continuing.
“I have it on good authority”—considering she was close friends with the prince and princesses, he didn’t doubt her sources—“that there are plans to restrict how long humans can stay on this planet without marrying into a Desconian family. Even the family groups that arrived on the last ships will be expected to find Desconian sponsors.”
Tosh nodded. In principle it sounded like a fairly solid idea. Expecting them to marry into and live a Desconian-style marriage wasn’t unreasonable under the circumstances. It would ensure that they understood and embraced their way of life. Putting a time limit on it would ensure that the humans who violently disapproved of the Desconian lifestyle wouldn’t be able to play the system indefinitely. Either they embraced the Desconian way of life or they went elsewhere.
But none of that explained Katarnia’s agitation. A certain amount of political posturing surrounded any event like this, but usually things got sorted out in a reasonable manner. He had faith in the laws of this planet.
“How well do you know Jenelle?” Katarnia asked in an almost whisper. It seemed clear that she didn’t want to wake Deanna.
Confused by the strange sideways step of the conversation, Tosh shrugged and answered just as quietly, “We’re friends.” He smiled slightly. She’d stayed with them for over a month when her nightmares had been bad and, despite the reason, it had been very satisfying to have her as a part of their everyday lives. They hadn’t been able to convince her to come home with them since the refugee ships had landed, but he, Jax, and Baylen still considered the woman a close friend.
“Has she said anything about why she hasn’t liked any of the couples the Desconian Fertility Council has introduced her to?”
And suddenly the real reason for this conversation reared up and slapped him in the face.
“They want to deport her?” he asked as anger burned his gut. Fuck. When it had been a nameless, faceless person he’d been all for rules and restrictions, but when it involved a person he cared about…
“No,” Katarnia said quickly. But she winced and added, “Not yet.” She glanced at Deanna again and sighed heavily. “The time limit they’re talking about is the equivalent of one Earth year. Jenelle has been here almost that long already. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Whether the laws get backdated or not is anyone’s guess, but I would hate for Jenelle to get caught up in it.”
“What can we do?” Tosh asked, even as a small voice whispered the answer in his mind.
“Convince her to marry someone. I know that several of the couples she was introduced to were quite disappointed when she turned them down. I know at least one of those couples is still hoping she’ll change her mind.”
Tosh glanced at Luddeke and realized that he and Katarnia were also concerned for their wife. Deanna and Jenelle had been expelled from Earth at the same time. They’d been friends ever since. It would be devastating for Deanna to lose her friend and in her last trimester of a high-risk pregnancy possibly even deadly.
“I’ll talk to her.” Tosh was already half out of his chair when Katarnia sighed a sound of relief.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Chapter Seven
“Pack some stuff. You’re coming home with me.”
“Well hello to you, too, Mr. Bossy.” Jenelle smiled but didn’t move to do as Tosh demanded. He and Baylen, and even Jax, had all dropped by over the past week to offer her a night away from the compound. She’d politely refused each time. After Baylen’s suggestion that she join them in a marriage of convenience, she’d done her best to stay away. They were all great guys. The very least they deserved was a mubella, a wife, who could give them children. Even without the medical tests Tosh kept suggesting, she was certain that babies were not in her future.
“I’m serious,” he said as he pushed past her and started packing her clothes. “The paperwork is already done.”
“Tosh,” she said, feeling just a little bit worried, “I don’t want to go home with you.”
“I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”
“Tosh, honey, I’m okay. You don’t have to take care of me. I’m fine here.”
“Wrong,” he said in a tone of voice that didn’t sound anything like his usual affable personality. He was still shoving clothes into her overnight bag when she finally realized he was shaking.
“Tosh?” She stepped closer, placing her hand on his bicep, feeling for herself the slight tremble that shook his muscles. “What’s wrong?”
He turned and pulled her into his embrace, practically squeezing the air from her lungs.
“Please just come home with me. I’ll explain everything.”
Unable to deny him anything when he was in such an upset state, Jenelle gave him the only answer she could. “Okay.”
* * * *
Baylen was surprised to hear the front door open so early in the afternoon. Neither Jax nor Tosh were due home for at least another hour, but when he discovered who was actually in his hallway, he couldn’t contain his delight.
“Jenelle,” he said with a bright smile as he stepped closer to give her a tight hug. “I’m so sorry I upset you the other day. Please forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said, hugging him back just as hard. “I wasn’t upset.”
“Then why did you stay away all week?”
She shrugged as she stepped out of his embrace. He really didn’t want to let her go, but Tosh was already giving him a look that demanded he explain himself right now.
“I was busy, Bay,” she said quickly. “It wasn’t your fault. Honestly.”
“What did you do, Bay?” Jax asked as he came in the front door.
Baylen turned sharply, far more surprised to find Jax home this time of day than everyone else in the hallway apparently. “Why are you home early?”
“What did you do, Bay?” Jax asked again. To an outsider it might have sounded like his husband was angry, but Baylen knew the man well enough to know his reaction to stress. Whatever was happening, whatever had brought both of his husbands home early was bigger than the poorly thought-out proposal he’d made to Jenelle just over a week ago.
“Nothing,” Jenelle answered for him. “Just a misunderstanding, but it was nothing.”
Jax watched him for a moment before stepping closer to drag him into a hug at the same time that he pressed a kiss to Jenelle’s forehead. “Okay,” he said quietly as he held them both close. “Tosh and I have become aware of a situation that could affect Jenelle, but we think we might have a solution.”
“Oh,” Jenelle said, trying to hide the fear Jax’s words evoked. He’d seen the same brave reaction from her a week ago, but again she couldn’t quite suppress the shiver running down her spine.
Jax hustled them all into the living area, and sat Baylen and Jenelle on one of the sofas. He and Tosh sat on the snacks table in front of them. Whatever they were going to tell them, they obviously wanted to be close enough to read their reactions.
“Jen,” Tosh said, loo
king very worried, “we’ve come across some information that will likely affect your immigration status on this planet. If you don’t get married in the next few weeks, there is a really good chance that you’ll be deported.”
“Where would I go?” she asked quietly, apparently accepting that as a human woman unable to have children she wouldn’t be wanted by anyone.
“Nowhere,” Jax said in a deep, low voice. “You’re going to stay here and marry us.”
“Marry?” Jenelle and Baylen both exclaimed at the same time.
* * * *
Jax was honestly surprised by Baylen’s reaction. They hadn’t had time to discuss it with him, but Jenelle had been the only person he’d talked about all week. It had probably been unfair of them to just assume that he would want to share his life with a woman. It was obvious that he cared about Jenelle, but that was probably a long way from inviting her into their lives permanently.
“Damn it,” Baylen said angrily, “how could you just blurt it out like that?”
“I’m sorry,” Jax said, reaching for his husband. Baylen glared at him, refusing to move when Jax tried to lift him onto his lap. Jax could have easily overpowered his passive resistance, but he didn’t think it would help things any. He’d handled this badly. Very badly.
Jax turned to Tosh, hoping for some guidance on how to fix this, but Tosh was watching Jenelle with a strange expression on his face.
“What is it, Jen?” he asked in a quiet voice as he reached for her hand.
“I can’t marry you. You know why I can’t marry you.” She turned to Baylen. “I can’t believe you ganged up on me like this. I explained last week why I can’t marry you guys.”
“What?” Jax shook his head in the hopes of clearing it. None of this was going the way he’d thought it would, but Jenelle’s verbal attack on Baylen was confusing. “We’re not ganging up on you, Jenelle. Baylen didn’t know any more than you did when we walked in the door.”
She gave Jax a disbelieving look and turned to face Baylen.
Baylen blushed.
* * * *
Tosh knew he should have expected Jax to say something, but the man was usually so quiet, only speaking when absolutely necessary, that he was continually blindsided by his husband’s talkative demeanor when they spent time with the woman in front of him.
“Actually,” Baylen said with a nervous laugh, “I asked her to marry us last week.”
“You what?” Jax practically bellowed. “Without speaking to me or Tosh first?”
It was an unfair accusation, especially considering they’d just done the exact same thing to Baylen. Tosh couldn’t help but smile as Baylen crossed his arms and glared at their husband until the man realized the ridiculousness of his outburst. Jax at least had the sense to mumble an apology. Fortunately, this time when he reached for Baylen, the man went willingly.
“I think the important thing here is that we’re all thinking along the same lines.”
“I’m not,” Jenelle said angrily. “In fact”—she stood up and moved to the other side of the room, her spine rigid, her anger very clear—“none of you seem to be listening to a word I say. I cannot…” She shook her head. “Make that I will not marry any of you.”
“Technically it would be all of us,” Baylen added in a helpful tone.
“Fine, I’m not marrying all of you, ever. I can’t believe you would think it was a viable solution.” She turned angry eyes on Tosh. “Did you even tell Jax about my medical issues?”
“I know you’re worried you can’t have children,” Jax said in Tosh’s defense. Unfortunately Jenelle caught the implied meaning behind those words.
“No, Jax. I’m not worried. I know I can’t have children.” She tapped the side of her head “I know it in here.” She placed a hand over her heart. “And I know it in here.”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s not an issue,” Tosh said, trying to salvage a disastrous situation. “We never planned to start a family. If the law hadn’t been changed, it would never have been possible anyway. The three of us made a commitment to each other long before then.”
“Tosh,” she said, rubbing her head tiredly, “the law did change, and you do have the opportunity now. If you’re going to claim a mubella, she should at least be someone you love.”
Jax went to say something, but fortunately Baylen did something to shut him up. Declarations of love would have been premature. It was true that they’d all grown very fond of her in the past weeks, but Jax and Baylen didn’t know her well enough to say it with all honesty. Even in the early days when mubella claiming ceremonies for humans were performed the same day the triad met, they’d been based on a mutual commitment to make things work, not love.
Perhaps that was the better approach in this case.
“Jen, we’ve fucked this up, and I’m sorry for that, but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re worried for you.”
“I know,” she said as tears filmed her eyes. She blinked several times before continuing. “And I feel very blessed to have friends like you three.” She gave them a watery smile. “But I can’t ask you to do this for me. One day you’ll find a woman you can really love, one who can provide you with beautiful, healthy babies. I won’t do that to you.”
“So don’t,” Tosh said, desperately seeking the right words in his head. “Marry us now, save yourself from being deported, and if in a few years we meet someone we want to claim as our mubella, we’ll get a divorce. Simple.”
“So you’re proposing a temporary marriage of convenience?” She glanced at Baylen and Jax, who, thankfully, nodded in agreement.
Convenience? In his head it sounded awful. He couldn’t imagine setting aside such a lovely woman just for someone who could provide them with children, but if it convinced her to stay, the small little lie would be worth it.
“And you’ll divorce me when you find a woman you love who can provide you with babies?”
“Of course,” Baylen said quickly. He leaped off Jax’s lap and grabbed her elbow. “Perfect, now that we have that settled how about you help me get dinner organized?”
“Just one more thing,” she said, eyeing the three of them suspiciously. “We can’t exactly fake a mubella claiming ceremony.”
“Of course we can,” Baylen said with a dismissive wave of his hand. But Jenelle wasn’t fooled. She turned back to Tosh and Jax.
“Surely you like us enough to endure our attentions during the claiming,” Jax said in a tone of voice that Tosh had only heard from the man once before. It had been the day Jax and Jenelle had first met and she’d worried for Tosh’s safety.
She shook her head and opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Tosh leaned over and pressed a hand onto his lover’s knee, hoping to soothe some of the raw emotions Jax seemed to be feeling. Tosh had never seen Jax react quite so defensively to anyone else they’d known. Whatever was going on in Jax’s head, it seemed that Jenelle had the power to hurt him deeply.
“I’m sorry,” Jenelle finally said as she took a step closer to Jax. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.” She gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m very grateful for your offer. I just don’t want to upset your marriage. It’s obvious that the three of you love each other very much.”
“It’s okay, Jenelle,” Tosh said, still caressing Jax’s knee. “The claiming ceremony won’t change what Jax, Baylen, and I feel for each other.”
She nodded but still looked worried. “How long do we have before we have to make a decision?”
“A few weeks at the most. At least let us arrange the mubella claiming ceremony so that all of the legal issues are dealt with. If the laws don’t change, we can always cancel the arrangements.”
“Are you sure you’re okay with this, Jax?”
“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise,” Jax said in his growly voice.
Technically the man hadn’t asked. In fact, if memory served him, Jax had ordered her to marry them. With the mistakes the three of
them had made, it was a miracle she was even talking to them.
“Okay,” Jenelle said decisively, “but if the law doesn’t change and we don’t need to do this, we cancel everything.”
Tosh, Jax, and Baylen all nodded in agreement.
Chapter Eight
“Thanks for seeing us at short notice,” Tosh said as he and Jenelle stepped into his friend’s medical room.
“Anytime,” Kallum said as he offered them a seat and then sat at his desk. “How can I help you today?”
“Jenelle is concerned that she’s unable to have children,” Tosh said. Kallum quirked an eyebrow in his direction, obviously wondering why Tosh hadn’t done the tests himself—treating human women was his own specialty after all. He settled on a version of the truth to explain their actions. “Jenelle has agreed to be my, Jax’s, and Baylen’s mubella. If we are facing fertility issues, we just wanted to keep it to ourselves for the time being. You know how it is in a large workplace.”
“True,” Kallum said with a sympathetic smile. “It’s partially why I went into private practice. I got tired of everyone at the hospital knowing my tredella’s medical issues.”
“How is Drew doing these days?”
“Much better. Once we were able to get a correct diagnosis, the treatment was rather simple. He complains that I still hover over him, but it’s going to take a while for me to relax after getting so close to losing him.”
“We’ll always worry,” Tosh said as he wrapped an arm around Jenelle’s waist and pulled her just a little closer.
“That we will,” Kallum agreed. “Okay, Jenelle, would you like your future husband in or out of the room?”
She looked surprised to be given a choice, but it wasn’t unusual for married partners to want to keep some things private. “Um…in, I suppose. I don’t mind if Tosh stays.”
“Excellent.” Kallum seemed to hesitate before continuing. “Most of my patients are Desconian, so they’re happy to be naked, but I understand humans have different attitudes.” He turned and rummaged in a cupboard for a moment. He came back with a clean sheet, the type large enough to fit over most Desconian beds. “Will this help?” he asked Jenelle.