“Er…yes. Natalia has birthday tomorrow. Want to make her a star, Marilyn Monroe.”
“Ooh, the white halter dress?”
“That one, yes.”
“I got you, Boris. You want to see how it works?”
Boris shrugged and made affirmative noises, and followed Pan back to the computer.
“Is she still the same size she was last year?” Pan asked.
“Oh, maybe a tiny bit thick in the middle,” Boris said hesitantly.
Pan pulled up a model on the screen, adjusting the height, shoulders, waist, and hips to match the picture of Natalia that he remembered. Boris talked him through the adjustments, a little extra on the hip, a little more on her belly.
“Not complaining,” Boris clarified. “I like soft. Is comfortable, and I am old man. Comfort is important more than…you know.” He made an hourglass shape with his hands, and Pan laughed.
“She’s a gorgeous woman, Boris. And she’s going to feel like Marilyn herself by the time we’re finished. So now that I have the model, I’m going to pick my fabrics…there we go…outline the cuts like so…second fabric….” Pan narrated the entire process, bit by bit, enjoying the natural ease with which they were existing in the same room. “And then we hit print!”
“Where does it print to?”
“Through the glass, here,” Pan said, walking over to the glass wall and beckoning Boris. They watched together as the dress poured from spouts to be shaped by lasers. The polymer that the scientists had created for shifter-friendly clothing wasn’t very easy to work with as a fabric, but it printed like a dream. Boris watched in utter fascination as the creation came together behind the glass. It took nearly half an hour, and Boris didn’t move once. When the light changed from red to green and the little bell chimed, Pan pulled the finished dress out and shook it hard, removing the bits of excess.
“Gift wrap?” He asked.
“Please,” Boris said, his eyes shining with happiness. “Natalia will love it, and you. Maybe you.”
“Loving the dress is enough for me,” Pan said gently.
Boris stuck his hand out to shake it, then pulled him in for a hug, careful not to squash little Riker. He had tears in his eyes when they pulled apart.
“The squirrels miss you,” Boris said, his voice cracking a little.
“When it warms up, I’ll come play for them,” Pan promised with a smile. “In the meantime, I think Natalia’s going to need more than one fabulous dress.”
“Yes,” Boris laughed, wiping his eyes. “One every week.”
“I’ll be here,” Pan smiled, wrapping up the dress. “Whenever you like.”
“I miss the gym,” Pan sighed as he and Killian walked home together, arm in arm.
“Me too. But I’m not about to sacrifice my sleep for it.”
“Fair,” Pan said through a yawn. “I think it’s naptime.”
But when they got home, and put Riker down, sleep suddenly didn’t seem like the top priority anymore. They watched him for a moment, sleeping soundly beside their bed.
“Think he’ll be there a while?” Killian asked.
“He was awake most of the day,” Pan replied. “He likes watching me make things. He could be out for twenty, thirty minutes maybe.”
“Long enough for a nap,” Killian said, sliding his eyes to the side to watch Pan’s reaction.
“Yeah,” Pan said, grabbing Killian’s arm and pulling him into the living room. “A bouncy, sliding, naked nap.”
“My favorite kind!”
In the end, Riker gave them ten minutes. It was more than enough, and well worth the lost sleep.
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When an asteroid sheds meteorites on earth, people suddenly begin to change. A research facility in Nebraska is the first in the world to find and study one of these changed humans; a man named Sven. Sven is married to the nephew of the founder of the research facility. The story follows Sven and Broderick as they discover what the change means for them. As shifters in increasing number are sent to the facility, Broderick becomes overwhelmed at the sheer amount of work and begins sleeping at his desk. Sven, meanwhile, has fallen pregnant.
The very first pregnancy of the very first shifter on earth gives way to the founding of a new kind of city-state. With human pressure to disappear rising, the shifters come together to build something all their own.
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Dying to Live: The Shifter City Complete Series Page 37