Erasure and Affirmation (Hypernaturals 11)

Baby Order

Simi could not believe her ears when we relayed where we have been and why.

I'm happy to be home myself. Even if Helen and I came to this 'meeting' bearing bad news.

Tobey looked a little sick. His color blanched. His scent stressed.

"Sirens... My people... Planned on doing this?" Tobey asked, not expecting an answer. He started to visibly shake.

"Darling: They are not your people. We are your people. Here. In Ninovan." Simi told Tobey with some love and also some force. I thought her answer perfect.

I expanded. "Look, Tobey: Vera is Siren. Most Siren-y Siren I know in some ways. If there was going to be a Siren sitting on racks luring sailors to their doom, Vera would be one of them. Except their doom would not be drowning but being boffed to death. She'd be running around singing 'What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor' at the top of her lungs even as she dived back on the poor guys seeing their fate arriving in their bed. Girl is a Siren, I am saying. Vera helped us. Ginger and Wyatt helped us. It's not about being a Siren. It's about what you do. Who you are."

"Exactly right." Helen agreed. "Also: Nicely vivid. Well done. Vera to a bloody 'T'."

Tobey looked relieved, but Simi is nervous. I can scent that a mile away.

"Ok, Simi. Out with it. What is bugging you?" I asked.

"Damn. One really can't hide anything from you. It's like trying to lie from Tala." Simi said.

"Speaking of Tala, doesn't she live here too?" Helen asked.

"Yes; She made herself scarce for this." Tobey said.

"I see. What exactly is this?" Helen prodded. Simi and Tobey asked the two of us over for a conversation. I have a good local beer to go with it in hand. It was good to brief them on the recent events and get that air cleared, but now we are getting into the main event.

"Well. Baby order. I want to have a child with Tobey first." Simi said.

Tobey looked exasperated at that. "I told you Simi, it does not matter what the order is."

"It does to me. I want a child with you, my lover. I want to bond with YOU. I want to learn how to co-parent with you. You are my man. I am keeping you." Simi said.

"It makes sense. When the second baby comes along, you will be much more bonded already." Helen agreed. She is looking at it from the point of view of one who has been through it. Her binding was weird, in that we rotated through the Island of Martinique. She was never alone, but she was never wholly with me either. Helen's pregnancy, as suboptimal as it was, is the reason Morgan decided she would have her baby at home. It helps to not be on the Council and to be able to run your business by phone and via research. Have the legwork done by Angel and I. All options Helen did not have.

Helen was thinking along those lines. "Adrian: next time? You and I."

"I think that would be an excellent idea, and I look forward to you not being on the Council so we can do that." I told her.

"Next time is a while away: I know." Helen said. "If Denise can plan for babies hundreds of years from now, so can I."

"Is it weird that Denise has been so open about this with you?" Tobey asked.

"Not if you knew Denise, and not for a Vampire." Helen said.

"Does she really need to do what she says? Wait? Pay a price for her time on Crew?" Simi asked.

"That is self-imposed so only Denise can answer that for herself. None of us require it of her. She could marry us tomorrow. I for one look forward to getting that woman into my bed. She is older than me and has 300 years of experience I do not. I might learn some things. Unlikely, but worth exploring." Helen nodded at Simi to redirect the conversation. "Back to the child order. I do not understand why you felt it necessary to call us to your home and talk in this way. Neither Adrian nor myself care what order the children you are planning are in. Doing it this way, you do not have to move onto our property until you are ready. If you prefer, it even allows us to build a better facility for you on-site. A proper home, more like Danny and Lori's, as opposed to a mother-in-law over the old garage. With the HOA disposed of, thank you very much, we can build however we please on our property. I want a pool. Enclosed. Like we have in France. You deciding to proceed in this way, we can now engage to have both a proper pool house and a home built for you and the children. The only issue is that now the older child would be introduced to the family later in life, but Nakoma was nearly fifteen and that was no issue. Also, we are not strangers at Ninovan. We can take measures to ensure the children know each other well ahead of time. That they understand they will be siblings."