Comari Dawn

Part One: A New Dawn, Chapter Twelve

The next morning, when I finally deigned to wake up and found myself in very much the same kind of situation as I had the morning before. Once more Tracy had found a space between myself and Adam where she'd fallen asleep. Since I couldn't remember her coming to bed, I figured she'd climbed in after Adam and I had finished our fun for the evening. While I still had a strong desire for intimacy due to my Heat cycle, as well as Adam's need for intimacy was primarily due to his decided lack of female companionship for the past few years. Even though we both were needing the intimacy our interactions this time had been less... all consuming as they had been the night before. Indeed, we'd taken the time to fully appreciate our bodies and what we enjoyed with each other.

After a few moments of relaxing my body reminded me of why I'd needed to get up in the first place. Once I took care of immediate needs, I grabbed my phone and dialed Amanda's number, recalling I did need to talk to her.

"Hello Martin, what do you want? I am kind of busy right now." She answered.

I paused for a moment, "Are you okay Amanda?"

"Not really." She replied, "Dad is sick, probably dying, Emily has skipped out on him taking Dillon with her, all of my clients have cancelled services leaving me in a hole, my landlord wants me out, and to top it all off both my brother William and our son are sick." She said in a rush.

"Where are you, Amanda?" I asked her, though I did have some idea of where she was.

"Where else? Dad's oversized house." She replied with some acid due to how she felt about Emily and her father's lack of commitment to her mother.

"I'll be out there shortly." I told her, "I think I can help a bit with the kids..." I trailed off and shivered softly, thinking about how much I'd neglected my son.

"Mom is here..." Amanda warned me, "You know how she feels about you ever since Simon was born."

I felt myself groaning slightly at the mention of my Aunt Janet. At one point she'd been one of the people who'd helped keep from doing something dreadful to myself, but ever since Simon had been born, I was her white whale... Something to be hated. "I wish there was..." I felt myself blink, "I hate this Amanda... I hate being hated by somebody in my own family." I told her in a rush. "I will tolerate her for a short time, and I won't subject Tracy to it either."

"I don't blame you one bit Martin, there are times I can't stand my mother either." Amanda admitted.

"If I will make things easier, I will pick up the boys, and bring them to my place. If I am right, they need somebody like me to help them survive the changes Chimera is making to their bodies." I said before I further clarified the reasons why William and Simon needed me, or rather my milk.

After a short pause she finally said, "I see... this is the first time you've ever willingly..."

"Accepted Simon?" I finished for her, "Amanda not all of the changes Chimera wrought on me are physical. Some of the largest changes are to my psychology, how I view the world I live in and how I interact with the world." I explained to her, "Right now, the best way I can try and make things right is if I take responsibility for my own actions." I stated firmly, "Foremost amongst those is my son, yes I keep blaming you, but I have to remember I willingly partook as well, hell I had a great time, like we always did."

"That's for damned sure Martin, and I don't regret my actions for one moment, hell I'd do it again in a heartbeat." She said making me smile thinking about it. "If I... Mom..." Then I heard a shout on the other end.