The Curran Sea

Secrets and Guys

When the twins were safely in bed, Pierre and Liam were tense.
   "You're certain you're okay?" Pierre asked.
   "Yeah. Kid's not full-grown. It's been a whole day. I'd know by now, if he'd done damage. Lucky Alfie pulled him off, when he did, though."
   All the same, the darker Curran model made the alien model sit, while he ran the portable scanner over his abdomen. "They seem to be intact."
   Liam sat straight. "'They'? The only one to carry twins safely was--"
   Pierre kissed him quiet. "We do not know their gender. Apologies, dearest heart. I did not intend to cause alarm."
   He sank back into the couch. His husband put the scanner away, came to snuggle with him, in repentant silence. Their thoughts focused on the tiny life that was thriving inside his father. It had taken them years to replicate the technology that their former people had used, and multiple failed attempts.
   But this one seemed to be succeeding, where the others had not.
   They were waiting until they could see the gender, before telling anyone. There had been so many furtive egg extractions, so many dashed hopes, they wouldn't risk the twins having their hearts broken again.
   While Judah had been afraid to try again, to give Jonah a sibling that lived with them, Liam had been nearly desperate to prove that he could do what the other clones could. Pierre was content to leave his body as it was, though the template had proven thrice over that it could carry to term.
   But Liam's template had been compromised from the start, and there was trauma that had never fully healed. He thought that if he did it just once, as his brothers had, he would prove that he was just as strong as they.
   Pierre apologized for every failure, assured him that it was the technology, and not his body that failed. He made his husband wait between attempts, with reminders that if he didn't, then it would be the man who failed; rather than the tech, alone.
   They had implanted the latest attempt one month before the accident, so there were still two more, before they could breathe a word.
   That was also why they worked so feverishly on Edi Sub. Pierre didn't like Liam going too deep in the water, or for too long. It was usually Edison, Cora, and Pierre working on the submarine; but sometimes, only Liam could do what was needed. The Curran morph raced to get as much done as they could, so they would know sooner when Liam would have to dive.

   In their room, Andrew and Aiden whispered, from bunk to bunk.
   "Do you think it'll take, this time?"
   "I don't know. Did you hear how wistful Dad sounded, when he talked about a little girl?"
   "Do we want a baby sister?"
   "If it makes our dads happy, then yes." Andrew was quiet for a moment, before asking if Aiden had seen anything on the walkway today.
   "If you mean 'did I see whatever made you almost pee yourself, when Ed talked to you,' then no."
   "I did not almost pee!" he hissed.
   "You did too!"
   "Fine, I won't tell you what I saw."
   Aiden wheedled, Andrew wavered, but they were twins. He couldn't not confide in him. Who else would understand, if not Aiden?
   "How come I didn't see her?" he whined.
   Andrew grinned at the ceiling. "Must be the hair."
   Aiden scoffed. "Uncle Ed and Dad have blue hair, and they didn't say anything."
   The blue hair was how they'd gotten away with their lie, as long as they had. "We don't know they haven't seen them before. You know darned well they don't tell us everything."
   The twin who'd inherited their mother's black hair, and their father's distinct dark eyes, while somehow built like a Curran descendant, stared at the bunk above him. "They treat us like kids. We're basically adults, already."
   "Time, man. We've only been on the planet for fifteen years, no matter what we look like."
   Andrew had inherited their father's blue hair, which none of them had known was a genetic alteration. His eyes, like Cora's, was a mix of his parents', though their mother's eyes were green. His were a darker shade. His build was slight, like their father, but as strong as their mother's people--and their great-grandfather's. They'd never met Edison's grandparents, but they were told that one of them was the same species as their mother.
   Well, their mother's mother, anyway. Genevieve was Ibrahim's daughter, therefore only half alien. Or, that alien species. The other half was the Curran alien who'd been obliterated by Pierre's People, mixed with human.
   The logistics always made their heads hurt. They were raised by their grandfather's clone, who basically body swapped with his husband. Their biological father was their grandfather's best friend, impregnated by their aunt...
   They tried not to think about it.
   "Grampa used to tell us stories about the mer. Maybe that's what you saw," Aiden said, instead.
   "But she made me Shift! Aiden, she made me go purple! I didn't know anyone but us could do that to our... selves..."
   His head popped up over the side of his bunk. "She what? You didn't mention that!"
   "Do we tell Puppa, or Papa?"
   Aiden thought for a moment. "I vote Papa. He's down there full-time. I bet he's seen them, too."
   Wide, dark green eyes stared out at him. "So you don't think I'm crazy?"
   He ruffled his twin's blue hair. "Nah. You're an ass sometimes, but not a crazy ass."
   Andrew just smirked, sing-songed "Language!"
   But it helped, knowing that his twin didn't think he'd made it all up. He slept a little better that night.
   A little.