313
The morning of Christmas Eve, Henry awoke to Aadiya and Mahali crawling up the bed over the sheets. Kali was still against his side but had slipped under the covers to keep her head warm. Mahali noticed the extra body under the blankets and got a wicked smile on her face as she ran her hands up and down the sheets as Aadiya stole her good morning kiss from Henry.
Kali pushed the blanket down to see who was giving her the delicious rub down and found Mahali’s lips pressed against hers. She squeaked in surprise.
“Who sent you two up here to wake us up?” Henry asked.
“Camila!” they said in unison with big grins.
“Figures. Okay, we’re up. Let her know we’ll be down shortly,” he sighed.
Mahali crawled over to kiss him as Aadiya slipped under her body to steal a kiss from Kali, who squeaked again.
Then they were prancing over to the door. They waved as they left.
He looked at Kali, whose eyes were large as she watched the ladies leave. She glanced at Henry guiltily.
“What’s that look for?” he asked.
“I’ve never kissed a female before,” she said quietly.
“I highly recommend it as they are soft and delicious!” he said as he captured her mouth with his and teased her lips before kissing her hungrily.
“Oh! God, I love your kisses!” Kali purred once he pulled back.
He smiled and threw the blanket back. They had to get up and take their showers to get the day started.
As if reading his mind, Kali slipped out her side of the bed and smiled at him timidly. “May I join you in your shower this morning?” she asked.
He saw the hope in her eyes, so he nodded. He set his glamor to a pair of shorts, and they quickly made the bed. He walked out into the hall and heard sounds of happy voices below. That put a smile on his face.
He stepped into the hall washroom, and Kali followed. The shower stall was large enough to accommodate them both if Kali used her glamor. She washed his hair as he washed hers. She kept losing track of what she was doing as his powerful hands massaged her scalp.
Finally, they rinsed the shampoo and soap off, and Henry rubbed a thick towel over Kali’s body as she got a little glassy-eyed. With a mischievous smile, Henry quickly knelt and pressed his lips to Kali’s mound. She cried out and clung to his head as his tongue went to work.
It took less than a minute to bring the highly excited woman to her peak and over it.
She leaned back against the counter as she panted.
“Kali?”
“Yes, master,” she sighed.
“You will only call me that in private,” he said, seriously.
Her eyes opened, and she nodded quickly.
“I’m fine with others knowing about us being together, but they don’t need to know what kind of a relationship we’re in. That should be private.”
“Mahati?” she asked, timidly.
“She can know, but only if she agrees to keep it to herself,” he asserted, and she nodded. He took her chin in his hand and looked into her lovely dark eyes. “I’m not ashamed of this, but the details are for us. Understood?”
She smiled happily, so he kissed her again. “Let’s get moving.”
-=-
Everyone had returned for breakfast, but the Faun families brought the fixings this morning and were busy in the kitchen. The ladies complimented Meixiu on the kitchen, its flow, and how much workspace there was.
Today, Henry managed to get a seat at the table and found himself facing Chris.
“I’m sorry I triggered your transformation yesterday,” Henry said.
Chris shook his head. “It’s okay. I’m told I actually hit the jackpot as Bastets include a human disguise.”
Henry nodded. “I know very little about Bastets, but I do know they’re shapeshifters with three forms, Bastet, Human, and Cat. They’re really fast runners, and they’re strong. Not Satyr strong but better than Human strength.”
He looked to Camila. “Speaking of strong, any word from Sigrid?”
The woman shook her head sadly.
“How is Natalia?” he asked.
Camila smiled proudly. “She’s perfect. It was her senses amplified by abilities inherited from her mother. Marisa helped her pull them back, so she’s happy now. They will make an appearance this afternoon.”
Henry enjoyed his meal as he soaked in the sounds of the happy families. Tish was in heaven, and she smiled at him from a few seats away.
When he finished his meal, he collected his dishes and gave up his seat to Gene, carrying Bean. He marveled at how small the baby was. Her name was so appropriate.
He met Meixiu in the kitchen and gave her a sweet kiss.
“Roy let me know yesterday that I should remain here until I can guarantee I can control my rift. Is that okay with you?” he asked.
“Of course! What room will you use?” she asked, and Henry wondered at the little smile on her face.
“I-I kind of like the one at the end of the hall on the third floor,” he answered. Meixiu smile became a pout. “What? Is that room not available? It’s okay-”
“No, it’s fine. The room is available. I lost a bet with Sigrid because we had a bet on which room you would choose. I said you’d choose the master on the second floor, and she said you’d pick the one you did.” She moved back to the counter to check on the warming trays for the breakfast foods they’d prepared.
He grinned. “I like the second-floor master, but it’s a bit grand for me. I don’t need that much space. Remember, I grew up with a small room in the attic of my Baba’s cottage in a swamp.”
Meixiu turned to face him directly as she changed the subject. “I’ll need your help setting up a dining room in the main chamber of the cave for our Christmas Day dinner. Can you install those fireball lights hanging from the ceiling?”
He thought about that and frowned. He tethered the ones for the kids from the top of the kids’ heads like balloons. Tethering them from the top was another magnitude of complexity.
Michelle arrived and rushed over to Henry for a kiss. As her soft lips pressed against his, he had a sudden epiphany. She pulled back and smiled happily at him. She plucked a strip of bacon from the tray and nibbled at it.
Henry explained what popped into his head. “We need to string up lights in the main chamber of the cave. The lights will be large Will-‘O-the-Wisp fireballs, but I need something to anchor them to.”
“Webbing?” Michelle suggested.
He nodded. “Yes! If there were strands from side to side, then I could tether the light orbs to that,” Henry suggested.
“Sure! Let’s go!” Michelle said.
“Finish your breakfast, no hurry,” Henry insisted.
She popped the last of the bacon into her mouth and wiped her fingers on a napkin. “Done!” she grinned.
Henry snorted, and Meixiu grinned as the three set off to design some beautiful lighting for their dining room.
-=-
Brigadier-General Gordon Crane was beginning to feel the discomforting realization that he might have been over-promoted.
Sitting in on endless defense meetings was mind-numbing. He wanted to be out there doing things!
He’d managed to keep command of his people, but that was only because no one else felt comfortable commanding them.
Something caught his attention, and he focused on General Brixton, who was saying something in his usual full-auto machine gun cadence and volume.
“… anomalous activity noted near the New York-Connecticut border by several commercial flights. They reported an enormous burst of blinding light in a forested area about two hours drive north of New York City. They claimed it looked like a brief flash of an atomic bomb, but there was no mushroom cloud, EMP burst, or shockwave. Satellite coverage of the area at the time confirms the visible light but shows no increase in radiation. Briefly, after the flash, there was a significant burst of infrared.” The man’s cold eyes swung to lock onto Crane. “Anything you’d like to add to that report, Brigadier-General Pain?”
Crane sighed. “It’s Crane. Could we at least pretend we aren’t in Kindergarten?”
Brixton raised a hand in apology though his smile never made it to his eyes.
“My team has no presence in that area in the past few days,” he remarked, indicating none of his Silver Soldiers were responsible for the infrared burst. He tapped out a quick text with the location coordinates and sent it off to the sergeant. “I’ll have my team take a look.”
“Did you just send coordinates in plain text?!?” Brixton barked.
“No, I use an encryption app to ensure my communications are secure,” Crane replied, maintaining his calm, with effort. His cell pinged, and he saw her response indicating the team was on its way. “They’re on it.”
“That’s great! Brigadier-General Internet and his team of freaks are on the case.” Brixton snapped.
“Soldiers, Brixton, not freaks,” Crane said, glaring at the thick-necked buzz cut throwback. He leaned forward in his chair to hold the man’s eye. “I couldn’t care less what you think of me, but I’ll be damned if I’ll stand by while you disrespect these excellent men and women.”
“THAT’S JUST IT! They AREN’T men and women. They are silver abominations!” Brixton yelled.NôvelDrama.Org holds © this.
“Have you been living with your head up your ass for the last year? The very fact that you’re still here means you’ve been changed by the energy bleeding in from the other dimension sufficiently to protect you from the genocide! Someday, sooner or later, you are going to reach a threshold, and you’re going to become one of these other beings.”
“That bullshit story of yours doesn’t become any more convincing with another retelling. I’m as human now as I was the day I was born, and that’s how I’ll stay!” Brixton growled.
Crane just shook his head as he saw a few others nodding in agreement. He wished he could be there when they changed just so he could see the look of surprise and disappointment in their eyes.
“Over three billion people suddenly disappeared. This happened after multiple incursions into our world by these pseudo-clouds, the lava creatures, and even creatures who prefer to swim in the water inside a nuclear reactor. Why do you think the three billion were removed, and you got to stay? And please don’t bring up the Rapture as a very large percentage of the people taken weren’t Evangelistic Christians. My driver, Corporal Tom Dulane, was Agnostic, and he was taken,” Crane insisted.
Expressions just closed up, so he just shook his head again. “Are there any more points to discuss?”
Brixton shook his head stiffly.
“I’ll let you know what my team discovers,” Gordon said as he pushed himself to his feet and walked from the room.
If there had been any way to make it happen, Crane would have willingly switched Dulane with any of the Generals in that room.
Even himself.
-=-
Yablonski loved running. Working for the Brigadier-General, he got to run to many amazing places and help people. That felt good.
Today, he and the others were racing north from New York City to the sleepy little towns along the two-lane highway. The weather conditions were terrible, with a huge snowstorm crawling up the coast and dumping its payload all over them.
Not that they had any issues with traction. They quickly discovered their feet found purchase on almost any surface, including snowy and icy roads.