The Curran Sea

Strong Backs

The upside to all of the frenetic activity was, Judah found the strength to sleep beside his wife, and not make love. It was a testament to their forbidden science that he still could have; a greater testament to his strength of will that he did not.
   The morning was considerably more difficult, but the twins kept them busy enough to bolster their flagging resolve. Neither had had full, adult physical contact while they slept, in their entire lives.
   Judah had taken Ibrahim's lead when Jonah was a baby, and lain with him on his chest, for heartbeat and breathing regulation, but that had only lasted until he was big enough for the crib. After that, his son only slept in his bed occasionally, and it just wasn't the same.
   No, spooning with a woman was vastly different. It was both easier and harder to sleep.
   When the twins were settled, they dressed for the trip to Isla Ibra for breakfast.
   All of the houses had kitchens, but with their varied experiments, they oft took the first and last meals together, at the large, oval table. There were twelve chairs, including one spare, for company, made by different hands; but all were crafted from Ibra Tree wood.
   Ibrahim's chair, now occupied by a very uncomfortable Judah, had been carved by the man himself. The one the mer called patriarch of the entire Isles. It was sturdy, yet elegant, as he was. Unlike the tables he'd carved, there were no mer in its design. There were, however, tails and flukes, in among the leaves of the trees he'd cultivated long ago.
   Judah's chair, carved by his own hands, lacked the elegance of his template. He was a copy, and could only create copies, but he'd taken inspiration from his surroundings, as well as his brother had. His chair was etched with the vines that grew on his house. In fact, there could well be particles from those vines, as he'd taken one down to trace. Ibrahim oft said that he was the most precise, in his recreations. The birds on his roof, the statues, were all easily recognizable and detailed. He'd even carved a single marylass on the back, when they began to grow on the island.
   Liam's chair was elegant, which surprised no one. There were few details to fuss with. He'd focused on the style, rather than embellishments. Clean lines and curves made his chair stand out, against the cozy collection of carvings.
   Alfred had been anxious to prove himself as capable as his father. He'd carved the small chairs that he and his half siblings had used, with help from any adult who was free. While they built the house, he made chairs. When he was old enough to carve wood without supervision, he carefully sculpted llamas and alpacas for the uprights of the back, and little hooves for the feet of his chair. Liam teased him so much about it, he refrained from putting a tail on it. Ed agreed that it would be a bit much. Unlike the clones, his chair was not curved at the top, but gently arced between the llama and alpaca heads.
   Pierre and Edison had no gift with wood, so Ibrahim made their chairs himself. For Pierre, he copied Liam's design, with some of the limited alien text he could read and write along the arch of its back. What he did not know how to say, he asked Pierre.
   The writing, which was the same language that all of their statue names were written in, read: "A covenant bound in blood and deed." He hadn't had to help them, when they were on the mainland, but he had. He was Alfred's other father, but that didn't mean as much, to his former people. It was as much thanks as it was acknowledgement that he was different.
   If the script was spiritual, the undertones went over the alien's head.
   Edison's chair had a rocket for one upright, a submarine for the other. They had fire and water, respectively, trailing behind, down the sides of the chair; carved to be the same, yet different. The back had a stylized wave in its arch. Both of the inner spokes were adorned, as well. The one next to the rocket had stars, the one next to the sub had starfish. Since he never intended to grow his hair out, he didn't have to worry about the little arms pulling his hair. Judah would never sit in it by accident... again.
   Cora's chair was wood, like the others, but sprayed with metallic paint. There were gears and cogs carved everywhere she could persuade her uncle to put one. It sported wiring that twined like vines between the mechanical parts. When Ibrahim objected that their tech had few cogs or gears, she simply said that it was an aesthetic, and he "wouldn't get it." That was why she asked Liam to make it.
   "Not that your work isn't absolutely gorgeous, it's just too... soft." She'd said.
   Cara, the larger yet softer twin, helped her father make her own chair. While she had not inherited his gift for woodworking, she did make some sea life appliques that Ibrahim could affix to it, before sealing the whole thing. A dolphin wrapped around one upright, a shark the other. She liked the wave on Ed's chair, but hers was curved, and it had a small diorama that she painted on the back. She opted not to paint anything else on it, so it would blend in better, though she did paint her sister's chair.
   Andrew, when he was old enough for a chair that wasn't inherited from his aunts and uncle, asked for one like Cara's, but without the appliques. He wanted a carved version. She took it as a compliment. He said she ought to.
   Aiden, who was also the softer twin, wanted a copy of Judah's chair, but without the marylass on the back. He wanted a rocket, like his biological father. He, too, looked to the stars. Cara suggested an asteroid, instead, shooting across the back. Judah needed a reference--or better yet, a template--so she drew it for them. He beveled the design into the wood with various tools, while showing her how to do it.
   She went on to bevel etch everything in the room she shared with her sister that Cora would allow. There was a gentle tapping of hammer to metal for weeks.