Saving Jax

by L. M. Brown

  "Is anyone else coming with them?" he asked, wondering whether Orin and Lyndon might be showing up, too.

  The connection was awful, probably not helped by the storm raging outside, and the hologram flickered and vanished, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't contact Furyne again.

  Cal came into the room with one of the boys in his arms. "Did you speak to your father?"

  "No. Apparently, he's on his way here, as is my mother."

  Cal closed the door behind him, not that the flimsy fabric would do much to secure their privacy if anyone was listening on the other side. "What of Jax's uncle and Lyndon?"

  "I don't know. I'd just asked that exact question when the connection failed."

  "What are we going to tell Jax?"

  "The truth, of course. I won't keep secrets from him. I just hope that they stayed on Furyne."

  "I suspect that might be too much to hope for."

  "You're probably right."

  Ty made one more attempt to contact Furyne, but without success.

  "You won't be able to get in touch while this storm is raging."

  "I know. I'm surprised I got a connection the first time."

  "At least the little ones aren't bothered by the thunder," Cal said. "They'll certainly hear plenty of it back on Furyne."

  Ty chuckled. It rained more than eighty percent of the time on Furyne and there were plenty of storms throughout the cycle.

  The two of them returned to Jax and found him humming a tune to the two babies in their cribs. Blanche sat beside him, hissing at her holo-projector, clearly frustrated about something.

  "Stupid storm," she snarled. "It's the one thing I hate about both this planet and Furyne. Even with the best equipment, all the awful weather stops me from getting a decent signal to speak to Kelon."

  "Do you talk to him often?" Jax asked. "Is he well?"

  Blanche smiled. "He was when I spoke to him last. He tries to visit me once a cycle, but he and his mate have been too busy with the children to make the journey in the last cycle."

  Jax's face fell. "They've visited you?"

  Blanche frowned at his tone. "Yes, what's the matter? Is something wrong?"

  Jax turned to face his babies in the cribs, and Ty could tell he was avoiding his sister's gaze.

  "Jax?"

  "I'm being foolish."

  "How about you let me decide that?" Ty suggested. "I doubt that is the case at all."

  Jax glanced over his shoulder. "I guess I'm a little jealous that Kelon has come to see Blanche, but not me."

  "He's tried to see you," Blanche said. "Uncle Orin refused to let him speak with you. I promise you, he's tried, lots of times. He's been very worried about you, and often regrets that he didn't take you with him when he walked out."

  "He suggested I leave with him at the time," Jax admitted. "I was just too wrapped up in Lyndon to consider the idea. So, he's not ashamed of me?"

  "Of course not. He loves you, just as I do."

  "I thought maybe he stayed away because of what I did."

  "No. In fact, I've sent him a message that you're here with me. I was hoping to establish a connection to him so the two of you could talk. If only this wretched storm would break. Even though the news of your abduction never made it here to Falcair, I'm sure Kelon must have heard about it."

  "We didn't mean to worry people," Jax said. "We didn't think things through properly. I just couldn't bear the thought of losing my babies again."

  "How many did you have in your first litter?" Blanche asked. "I don't think you said before."

  "Three beautiful babies," Jax replied. "Would you like to see them? I have a recording from when they were born."

  Ty opened the trunk and got the chip from the secure drawer at the bottom. "We lost the holo-player to play it on, and it's not compatible with the new holo-projectors. Do you have something that will play it?"

  Blanche nodded and left the room. She returned a short while later with an older holo-player and Ty put the chip into it. There was no point in trying to avoid detection now their whereabouts was known.

  Jax pointed out each of the babies in turn. "This one here was the first born. Pre's dual-gendered. I named per Kelly after our brother. Then there are the two boys. This is Jaron, and the youngest was Nypper. He liked to bite my fingers."

  "You managed to come up with names for them in a day, but have still not named this trio?" Blanche asked.

  Jax ducked his head and Ty could tell immediately what he was thinking.

  "Jax is still worried that someone will take them off him," Ty explained. "It's not going to happen, because me and Cal won't let it, but fear is a very powerful thing."

  "I really should name them," Jax said. "They deserve to have names. I just…"

  Ty hurried to Jax and pulled him into his arms. "You take as much time as you need. There's no rush."

  Jax hugged him back. "Do you think their new parents kept the names I gave them?"

  "Yes," Blanche replied. "They did."

  Ty stared at Blanche. She spoke as if she knew.

  "I swear I didn't know or I'd have told you the day you arrived."

  "Told us what?" Ty asked.

  "Jax, I know where your babies are. They're being raised by Kelon and his mate."

  Ty had to grab Jax as his legs gave out from under him. "What did you say?"

  Blanche pointed at the holo-recording. "I didn't see them until they were a cycle old, but I recognise their markings, and their names."

  Cal sat opposite Blanche. He appeared as shaky as Jax. "You're saying that Kelon is the one who stole Jax's babies?"

  "No." Blanche shook her head. "He doesn't know they're Jax's, or at least he has never said anything to me to indicate that he knows. He and his mate applied to adopt a litter almost as soon as they claimed each other. They were on the waiting list, and then they got a call saying they had a litter of newborns looking for a home. One of them was dual-gendered and so they knew they might have trouble placing them all."

  "Kelly," Jax whispered.

  Blanche nodded. "More proof, as if I needed it, that this is your litter. As you know, Kelon has no prejudices against dual-gendered felines. So they adopted the trio and have been raising them together since then. I have some recordings of them from their visits here, if you'd like to see them?"

  "I'm sure he would," Ty replied on behalf of Jax. "Perhaps a little later when the shock has worn off."

  Cal frowned. "And Kelon has no idea he's raising his nephews?"

  "I don't believe so."

  "It's too much of a coincidence to believe that they were randomly placed with Kelon. Out of all the litters looking for parents, and all the parents looking to adopt… no, someone else engineered this, and I think we know who."

  "Orin," Ty said. "But surely he would have anticipated that Kelon would tell Jax about his new babies, and that Jax would figure out what he had done."

  "Which would be why Orin refused to let Kelon speak with Jax," Blanche guessed.

  Jax seemed to recover himself and shook his head firmly. "Uncle Orin isn't stupid and giving my babies to Kelon wasn't a smart move, unless he wanted me to know."

  "Maybe he did," Cal suggested. "Maybe he never intended to part you from them forever, or at least not at the time. If they went for a legitimate adoption through the proper channels it would be very hard, if not impossible, to reverse things and get them back. But if they were placed with a family member, things might be easier."

  "Cal has a point." The more Ty thought about it, the more sense it made. "You gave birth six months after you came of age. Your brother had only been gone for six months when the litter were adopted. There's no way he and his mate could have got to the top of the waiting list in that amount of time. Most couples have to wait at least a couple of cycles. Unless Kelon's mate is someone very important—which is highly unlikely since I've never heard of him—they couldn't have pulled strings to get higher on the list."

  "But Ke
lly is dual-gendered," Jax reminded him. "Not everyone wants to adopt those like us."

  "No, but they'd be more likely to split the litter in that case," Ty said. "The couple at the top taking the two male babies, and Kelly waiting until someone further down the list accepted per. For the three of them to stay together and be adopted by someone that far down the list, someone somewhere had a hand in it."

  Jax still appeared doubtful.

  "There's one way to find out," Ty said as he took a seat by the holo-projector and turned it on.

  "What are you doing?" Cal asked.

  "Looking into the adoption records," Ty replied. "It's not like we need to hide our location any longer. My parents are already on their way, so it doesn't matter if anyone traces my connection."

  "Can you access them from here?"

  "I don't know, but I'm going to find out."

  Ty worked away for several minutes, sifting through the various feline systems until he found the one that recorded all births and adoptions. The system wasn't perfect by any means. Far too many common felines simply didn't bother registering the births of their young, especially those who lived far away from the main settlements or off-world. There was no law that said they had to use the register, so many of them didn't. Apart from the inconvenience of getting to the registry, there was also a vocal faction who didn't like the idea that the information contained in the register was accessible by any feline with a holo-projector, just as long as they confirmed their own identity.

  Nobles, both high and low, did use the register, many taking pride in tracing their ancestors back to the earliest recorded generations. Ty knew his own birth had been registered within hours of his mother birthing her litter. He was also aware that she had omitted to include that he was dual-gendered in the entry. It was her right to do that, and many mothers across Furyne had done the exact same thing, such was the stigma attached to those such as him and Jax. Ty still wished she hadn't sought to hide his status.

  The search didn't take long and Ty soon found the entry he was looking for. A litter of three babies—their genders noted—born to Jax, a dual-gendered male with no recorded mate.

  An addendum to the record a few days after the birth had been registered, revealed that all three babies had been adopted by Kelan and Loris, two male felines. Ty skimmed to the end of the entry.

  "What does it say?" Jax asked from his seat across the room.

  "Blanche is right," Ty replied. "Your babies are with Kelan and his mate. But it wasn't your uncle who pushed through the adoption."

  "Then who?" Cal questioned.

  "Lyndon," Ty said as he twisted the hologram and pointed to the bottom of the text.

  "You mean he did this without Jax's uncle knowing?"

  Ty shrugged. "I don't know about that, but Orin definitely didn't sign off on the adoption."

  *****

  Jax found a quiet corner of the nest to take Blanche up on her offer to view the various holographic recordings of his first litter of babies.

  Cal and Ty were caring for the youngsters, giving Jax his first break since their birth, and Ty more experience in babies, in readiness for his own litter.

  Blanche had suggested staying with him as well, but Jax refused her offer. He wanted to be on his own the first time he saw these. He wasn't sure how he was going to react, but he suspected there would probably be crying involved, lots of it.

  He set the first recording to play.

  Kelon appeared identical to the last time Jax had seen him, at least in appearance. In demeanour he seemed so much happier. Jax recalled how desperate his brother had been to leave home, but only now did he realise how miserable Kelon had been. He had been so wrapped up in his growing feelings for Lyndon, he had failed to notice Kelon's own downward spiral.

  Now Jax could see Kelon was relaxed, as he used to be when they were younger. Every time his brother looked at his mate, the love he had for Loris was there on his face, for everyone to see.

  Loris appeared to be the one doing most of the recording, so Jax didn't see much of him. Instead, the focus was on the babies they were welcoming into their home.

  Kelon announced their arrival and introduced each of the babies in turn to Blanche, who it was already clear, was going to be receiving a copy of the hologram. The fact that it was for their sister, and not for the family generally—or for Jax himself—wasn't lost on him. A solitary tear rolled down his cheek and he brushed it away. If he was going to start crying this soon into the viewing he wouldn't make it halfway through the hours of recordings.

  He concentrated on the babies, trying to see how much they had grown between one hologram and the next. Thankfully, not that much, since Loris seemed to have the holo-recorder permanently attached to his hand.

  Over the next few hours, Jax watched the babies take their first steps, say their first words, and managed to avoid having a complete breakdown. It was a close thing when he heard Kelly call Kelon "Papa", but Jax managed to reach the end of the recording before he fell apart.

  Cal, who had come to check on him, suggested a break might be in order, and Jax reluctantly agreed.

  They headed out of the nest and onto one of the private walkways suspended between the trees.

  "How are you doing?" Cal asked.

  Jax sighed. "I know I should be happy that they're safe and cared for…"

  "But?"

  Jax sat on a wooden bench and dropped his head into his hands. "Kelon and Loris love them."

  "Isn't that a good thing?"

  "Yes. It's not as if I would want them to be living in a home where one or more of them was unwanted. It's just…" Jax struggled to put his thoughts into words. "They're a family. Kelon and Loris are their parents in every way that matters. They might not have carried the litter, but they are their papas."

  "I see."

  "Do you?"

  Cal wrapped his arm around Jax's shoulder. "If you try to get your babies back it's not just any family you're breaking up. You'd be taking your own brother's children away from him."

  "Exactly! How can I do that to him? To them. My babies have a stable home, and one that is probably a lot healthier than it would have been had they stayed with me."

  "You would have done a wonderful job of raising them."

  "Would I? I'm not so sure."

  "Of course you would. Look at how you are with the babies. This is the first time you've been away from them for more than a few minutes."

  Jax shook his head. "It's hardly a fair comparison. I'm not the same person now as I was back then. If I hadn't lost my babies, would I have tried to use them to convince Lyndon to claim me?"

  "No! You wouldn't do that."

  "I'm glad you're so confident about that, because I'm not."

  A cry from inside brought Jax to his feet.

  "It sounds like someone's hungry," Cal said.

  Jax was already heading back through the door, pulling down his toga on his way, as he hurried to feed his babies.

  Ty handed him his daughter and Jax guided her to his breast, cooing and whispering endearments all the time.

  When one of the boys began to cry too, Ty picked him up.

  "I'll take care of this little one," Ty said with a grin as he sat beside Jax. "No sense in letting my milk go to waste, right?"

  Cal laughed. "Just hope that the third one can wait a few minutes, because no amount of sucking on my nipples is going to produce any milk."

  "Idiot," Ty teased. "Though it does make me wonder what will happen when my own litter arrives and they're all hungry at the same time."

  "We'll manage," Jax said.

  The needs of the babies he still had distracted Jax from his worries about the ones he had lost, at least for a little while.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ty studied his reflection in the full-length mirror. Jax admired the naked body of his mate with open appreciation. There was no hiding his condition, not that Ty wanted to. At nearly five months pregnant he was already as large
as Jax had been at full term.

  Jax rubbed Ty's belly, feeling the movement of his babies beneath his hand. Ty put his own hand next to Jax's and they shared a smile of understanding.

  "We should probably get ready for your parents' arrival," Jax said, even though he was reluctant to end this moment. He picked up Ty's toga and held it out to him, but Ty waved him away.

  "Not yet. You've not fed yet this morning."

  Cal and Ty had fed from each other while Jax was feeding the babies, all of whom woke with the sunrise every morning. He had taken care of their needs, but neglected his own. Ty had no intention of letting Jax go hungry, even if he had to remind his mate to feed.

  "On your knees," Ty said as he took a seat and tossed a cushion onto the floor.

  Jax knelt and took Ty's cock in his mouth, sucking it deep into his throat. He reached between his own legs and took his hard length in hand. He hadn't had much of a sex drive since the latter stages of his pregnancy, but this morning it seemed to have returned. Ty was no doubt feeling as lethargic as Jax had been, but Cal on the other hand…

  He glanced sideways at Cal as he raised himself a little, displaying his arse for his mate. He beckoned him over with a jerk of his tail, hoping Cal could tell what he needed without words.

  It seemed Cal did. He shucked off his kilt and got down on the floor behind Jax.

  Jax moaned as Cal licked his arse, pushing his tongue inside, along with a finger. He was tight and the intrusion burned. He realised this was the longest period of time he had gone without having anal sex since the day he’d come of age.

  Ty pointed at the cabinet. "There's oil over there."

  Cal went to get the vial and returned to his previous position, preparing Jax with his usual care and devotion.

  Jax continued to suck Ty, drinking down his cream while Ty cried out encouragement and fucked his mouth.

  Behind him, Cal used his fingers to penetrate him and Jax pushed back against them with eager anticipation. He needed more, though. He needed Cal's hard cock inside him. He released Ty momentarily to beg.