The Curran Sea

Long Lines

Since Orla was now a member of the family, Alfie didn't have to lie, when he said he was going to talk to the old man about their future. If he meant his father, as much as Halcyon, the Smiths didn't know it.
   Shawn wanted to go with him, but he told his older brother to help the others guard the houses. Guard their sisters.
   Shawn paled, nodded.
   And so it was Alfred who stood with his father, and his future mother-in-law. Judah remained with his wife--which they were waiting until Ibrahim was in his new body to tell him about--with Liam and Pierre guarding their twins, and Edison helping Shawn guard the girls, all in one house.
   His Adam's apple bobbed several times, when the monstrous form of his great-grandfather drew close enough to distinguish from the mer flocked about it.
   Somehow, Ibrahim hadn't noticed that his son had grown an inch taller than him, sometime in the past five and a half weeks. That was his thought, when the hulking, still-graceful bulk stopped in front of the lab. Hal was again projecting the outside water onto the wall, making it look like one big window. The more shallow depth made the image clearer than it would have been, as deep as he had originally gone.
   :I have come to hear your line, grandson. I do not expect you to recall every name. Nora has gone to find as many as she can. If she can... accomplish other goals, in her time on land, it is well.: 
   Ibrahim didn't know whether she was going to tear his Alver children asunder, or try to find a strong man, to give Halcyon a strong grandchild. He didn't want to know, even if the old man would tell him, so he didn't ask.
   "Do I begin with those present, by parent, or by rough age?" he asked.
   :Begin at the beginning.:
   "I was young. High school, in fact. I did not learn, for decades, that I had a daughter named Genevieve." His fiancée prompted him to list last names. His teeth gritted, but he said "Halliburton." Did his grandfather have other grudges?
   "Then, in college, my girlfriend Moira, or Junet, bore me twins. I was not given their names, or even..." His voice broke. "Whether they were boys, girls, or one of each. They are... not human."
   When he'd taken a sip of water, he continued. "The pod you dislike branched my family tree five times. Anna would be twenty five now, June twenty three, and... she stopped telling me about them, so I do not know the other three names."
   His sorrow moved the old man, but not enough to stop the flow of words.
   "Chronologically, Mina and Tia were around the same time."
   :Begin with the longer coral branch.:
   He nodded. "That'd be Tia. She is one of the aliens who... assisted in my debauchery; the theft of..." He gagged on the word "materials", gaining more sympathy from the mer. For all their desperation, they would not stoop to such measures!
   "Siu would be twenty three. Mien is a year behind him, at twenty two. Jo and Ni are twenty one. Noa's twenty. Qin is... Judah's son. I don't know if--"
   :Judah shares your blood. His are counted, as are Li Am's.:
   Ibrahim scrubbed his face vigorously. "That's going to make this much more difficult, but I'll try. Miq, nineteen, is my son--"
   :Distinctions are irrelevant,: Halcyon rumbled. :We speak of blood, not names.:
   His jaw popped with suppressed anger, but he continued.
   "Tuen, Naya, and Ein are eighteen.
   "As for Mina, she bore Sean--spelled differently than Kitty's eldest--and James, both twenty three. Connor is twenty one, Maebh is twenty, and Moira is nineteen."
   He needed more water, because there were still Rosa's three, Eva's five, Kitty's six, Mari's four (whose names he had never known), Hila's five, and Safad's five (neither known to him). He didn't know how many Nova, Meara, or Serah had had. He knew that the clones were continuing their abominable work, but he'd been working on his own children, and could not keep track.
   "We did try to stop it," he said, sounding positively ancient. "After... she... died, we marketed all of the methods that didn't work on us."
   :You said you were growing your own children. How?:
   Alfie stepped forward, though his knees shook. "We grow in a pod, inside of our fathers. There are six of us, including grandchildren."
   :How is this possible?:
   "Wasn't easy," Ibrahim wheezed. "We nearly lost Judah and Edison. I... seem to tolerate it well enough, if there aren't twins."
   :That was not an answer.:
   Alfred Edison Curran dropped his human disguise, in front of his great-grandfather, and the mer that surrounded them. "It's not human science."
   The great beast recoiled. :So this is why Naimh said the younger one turned purple!:
   "We did say 'alien', as I recall," Ibrahim chuckled. Alfie was glad to hear him sounding more like himself. "Tia's children look similar to my son, though he has less alien blood than they."
   "Sir, do we not also possess skin colors that are not seen on the surface world?" Saoirse pleaded. "They can disguise theirs, as we do. Is this truly untenable?"
   The old man could not say otherwise, and it bothered him.
   :You have not named these... pod children.:
   "I am Alfred, nineteen. Pretty sure I can say that much for you, Papa."
   Ibrahim patted his back, in thanks.
   He listed his twin daughters and Jonah, but he paused before naming the youngest pair. "Beyond them, to my knowledge, we reach grandchildren. Andrew and Aiden are the only two I know; but I was told, after their conception, that there are four more. If it matters, they share a sire with Cora and Cara, and also Jonah."
   :How is it that your children only have sires? The mer are a matrilineal people. How do we name such children?:
   Alfie's eyes sparkled with mischief. "You could go by the guy that carried us."