Ghosts of Philadelphia

Four

Later that Eve, after Zak'd gotten to spend some Time with his parent and been put to bed following his bath, Lynda remained up for another hour or two before she headed off to bed. Once she'd retired to her room–which was right across the hall from that of her grandson and next door to the guest room–that left the two men to just hang out, if they didn't head straight to bed. But even though Rob didn't seem inclined to start his Pagan research–prolly so he wouldn't wind up staying up all Night–he didn't seem inclined to head off to bed just yet.

        That was fine by Richie, though, 'cuz he wasn't exactly inclined to head off to bed just yet, and not just 'cuz he felt a lil uneasy in unfamiliar surroundings. Not only that, but he hadn't wanted to ask what'd been on his mind ever since they'd walked in when even the older brunette's mother was around. He didn't wanna offend him, but if that were to accidentally occur, he didn't wanna possibly offend his mother on top of it.

        A smirk curved his lips as he picked up on the younger brunette's nervous Energy as they lounged in the living room, the TV turned down low enough that they really only heard a murmur. Whether he was a psychic or not, he pretty much already knew what was making him nervous enough for that kinda Energy to be rolling off him in Waves. He didn't doubt for a split second that he was wanting to ask about how his son'd addressed him, but was trying to figure out how to go about it.

        "Ya don't have to worry about offending me, whether Mama's around or not," Rob chuckled.

        His head shot up from where he'd looked down at his lap, his eyes wide as he locked gazes with him.

        "Psychic or not, I can feel it in your Energy," the older brunette told him. "You're pouring Anxiety right now, so I daresay just about anybody'd be able to feel it."

        "Well, I can't really deny that," Richie said, managing a chuckle. "I mean, it's kinda confusing for your son to refer to you as Mama when you're obviously a guy."

        "Simple Truth of the matter–'cuz I am his mother." He pushed himself up so he wasn't slouching quite as much.

        "Wait, what?" the younger brunette asked, his expression turning confused.

        "Mediumship's not the only thing to run in my family," Rob explained. "Every generation of Mama's family's at least one hermaphrodite, usually the second-born son."

        "You're shitting me," he breathed, his eyes widening again.

        "Not in the slightest," the older brunette chuckled, shaking his head. "Sometimes it'll be the first-born son, others it's the only son for that particular branch of the family Tree in any given generation."

        "Damn, that's kinda freaky," Richie said, somehow managing another chuckle of his own.

        "Eh, not really," he admitted. "I mean, we look at it as something to be celebrated."

        "I guess that's true, considering that every other hermaphrodite I've ever heard of Ended up being sterile," the younger brunette mused.

        Nodding his agreement, Rob admitted that the only hermaphrodites he'd heard of that weren't sterile were the ones from his own family. Kinda like some kinda Mythological Creature or a Deity, all the boys born with such physical gifts like himself were able to reproduce in two different ways. They could father children like any other guy, but they could also carry children, provided they'd no other Health problems that'd prevent that.

        Taking a deep breath since he didn't talk about this very often, he geared up to explain how Zak'd even been conceived. As it turned out, his biological father was none other than the taller blonde who was part of their paranormal team, Rikki. Richie's eyes widened when he told him that, 'cuz it was certainly a curveball or three straight outta left field for him. He was aware that they'd known each other since high school–both'd made that quite clear to him right from the start–but he hadn't thought they were exes. When he admitted that, he was surprised by the laugh that answered him, which confounded him just as much.