The Shape of Things to Come (Hypernaturals 15)

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"Gods, I am sorry it all came to this." Denise grumped.

She has picked up using the plural 'gods' instead of 'god'. Another sign she is subconsciously becoming ever more part of the family.

"Sorry that we might kill more people? People that stole from us?" Victoria asked her mildly.

Denise shook her head sadly. "No. I don't like killing, but that is not it. I am sorry I had no faith in us being able to protect Adrian during the Conclave. As if. He fucking creamed Hitomi! He didn't need to be protected. I didn't need to kill Long, but I did."

"Temporarily." I inserted.

Denise waved that away. "I am sorry that because of that worry on my part I asked him to donate to the clinic sperm bank as a safety precaution."

"Which you helped collect." Victoria pointed out as if that were some self-assigned punishment. I suppose it was.

"That was not an issue. However, I am sorry that we did not protect the clinic better once he did as I asked, no matter how it was done. I let the fact that it was known Adrian does not donate to the clinic be security by obscurity when he actually did donate. Security by obscurity never works, and I know better. Also, his 'no donations' policy was not widely known until the damn Conclave. The Elders thought he did donate! And: guess what? With my help, he did! You had to be local to hear Adrian was not allowing himself as a potential father via the sperm bank. The damn Elders thought you would require him to donate, not give him a choice in the matter."

"They do not understand our attitude in that regard." Victoria winced. "I almost feel guilty that I have a child promise. It matches their view of what someone in my position would do. Almost. But I want more than the child. I want the opportunity to raise a child together someday. They see only that vampires have been denied children. They do not see, cannot see that we also have been denied partnership is raising a child to adulthood together."

"Ninovan's knew about the policy because only Simi has a baby promised to her, but I doubt even Jaqueline or the folks in the Euro Geo do. They work with us all the time, but that is a thing that has to come up, not be an opening line of a conversation!"

"I generally do not start a conversation with 'Hi, I'm Adrian. I don't want to have kids with you'." I admitted.

"That would be weird." Victoria agreed.

Denise went on with her sorrows. "I am sorry the Elders took everything they need to have his kids. Even with what we got back, they stole enough donations he made at my behest to split up, inseminate, and give birth to more kids than he has here, with his family. Jessica estimates they if they manage it correctly they took enough that 35 kids are possible. Thirty-fucking-five! They won't even know whose kids they are. Not at first, anyway. The first child that is fast, like Rachel, will probably give them a clue. They may not know about how fast he really is, but they saw him beat Hitomi via their hovering drone cameras, so they know he is pretty damn fast. They think you are lying about not making him donate. They don't know how it really worked, but it does not matter. Same result. You name it. Lots of reasons I am sorry, but none of them are about killing those thieves of my future husband's children."

Victoria gave me a very mild look. "You giving Denise shit about it? What she asked you to do? She was there to help you know. She had skin in the game. I am certain, knowing her and how she feels about you, she would have much rather put that time to better use."

"No. No shit being given." I told my boss.

"That's just it, Victoria. He never says a thing about it. Yet those bitches stole his sperm. Maybe a pile of his children. I know they would also be their children, technically, but he did not agree to it." Denise said.