Suddenly I’m horny instead of frustrated, and then he pricks my nipple with his quill, letting the sharp needle-like torture linger for a few seconds.
I’m panting when he pulls back. Damn him. My anxiety ebbs. He’s controlling my emotions. He’s smelled my stress in the air because it somehow wafts off me, and he’s using that evil quill to manipulate me. I can’t even be angry because he injected me with a calming serum.
Nanish thumbs my offended bud several times before releasing it and standing. “Let’s go.”
My eyes are wide as I look around. I’ve been in the backyard twice, but this is the first time I’m seeing the street they live on. I was still asleep when they brought me home yesterday. I missed everything.
The colors are so vibrant. The sky is bluer than anything I’ve ever seen. Everything looks like it comes from a cartoon. It doesn’t seem real. It’s too perfect. Now I understand what they meant when they told me the air was more pure here. It really is. There are no sounds of traffic. No scent of fuel in the air.
There is a road next to us, though. “Do you have cars?” I ask.
Nanish is walking alongside my stroller. “We have efficient vehicles called cruisers. Solocruisers, duocruisers, triocruisers. Bamgin and I traded our personal cruisers in on a triocruiser since we are now a family of three.” He points toward the road.
I glance that way in time to see a vehicle pass us.
“That’s a solocruiser. It only holds one person. They’re similar to your electric golf carts on Earth. They make very little noise and have no exhaust.”
So many things to learn.
Nanish points the other direction. “There’s our local playground. A few Little girls are on the swings this morning.”
I see them as we get closer. Sure enough, both women have stones dangling from their nipples. The idea makes me shiver. I can’t wrap my head around it. I don’t want to.
I’m staring at my titties as the stroller comes to a stop, and Nanish opens a door in front of us. The next thing I know, we’re in a waiting room that looks similar to any waiting room for a doctor’s office on Earth. A pediatrician.
There’s one woman and her Papi waiting. She’s sitting on the floor across the room, stacking some blocks. The idea of playing with toys is still surreal to me. I haven’t had toys since I was a toddler. I’m concerned that my Papis expect me to do nothing but mindlessly obey them, spending my days with dolls and puzzles. It sounds terribly boring, and they say I will live hundreds of years as their Baby.
I’m so inside my head that I’m not listening to my Papis speak to the man behind the counter. The woman across the room waves toward me with a smile. When she does, her breasts jiggle, drawing attention to the stones dangling from her nipples. They’re turquoise. The woman is tiny. She’s probably not even five feet tall, though it’s hard to judge since she’s sitting on the floor. Her skin is pale, and her hair is strawberry blond.
She looks toward her Papi, who nods. Then she stands and comes toward me. “Hi,” she says. “You must be new here. I’m Mia.” She clasps her hands behind her back and rocks on her feet, drawing my attention to her titties.
My face flushes. I shouldn’t stare, and I have no idea why I keep thinking of my nipples as titties. If I say that out loud, I’ll sound foolish.
Nanish sets a hand on top of my head. “Can you introduce yourself, Baby girl?”
I lick my lips. “Hi,” I whisper. “I’m Margaret. I mean, well, I think I prefer Mags.”
Mia smiles. “Nice to meet you, Mags. Maybe I’ll see you at the park one day soon.”
She’s so kind. It startles me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that she’s kind, but I don’t know what to expect from anyone I meet. All of us have basically been taken against our will to a planet six months away. Everyone I meet will have a story to tell. Family they’ve left behind. Friends. Jobs. Lives.
Is it sad? Or are we lucky? I’m not sure yet, but Mia looks very happy as she skips toward her Papi and wraps her arms around his neck.
He lifts her off her feet, settles her on his lap, and kisses her on the lips.
I blush and look away, feeling like I’m invading their privacy.
“You can come on back,” the man behind the counter says. “I have a room ready for you.”
Chapter Fifteen
Margaret
The only thing keeping me from losing my mind is the fact that I’ve been through this before. The exam I went through on the spaceship was so invasive that I’m not surprised.
For me, it seems like it’s been two days since Dankin examined my naked body before my surgery. I understand that it’s been six months, but in my mind, I don’t need another doctor’s visit.
Once again, I’m spread out naked on an exam table. This time, the doctor is Thabo. He’s very kind, but I’m feeling surly. I’m restrained, but it’s hardly necessary since I don’t have much mobility.
