“Then, take some handheld food and a bottle of water and eat.”
Ithal blushed.“Sorry, sis.Yes, she is hungry.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Sit and eat.When you come back from playing, there will be dessert, or I have invited a doppelganger in instead of Keska.”
Keska grinned.“I haven’t been to this place.It is nice.When are you going to personalize it?”
“When the baby is with their parents, so basically, I will start tomorrow night.”
Keska stared.“What?”
Alody helped Diena back to her spot at the taller table.“Yeah, sometime before dawn, I am going to have to head to the maternity centre to let this little one meet their parents.”
Diena smiled and had a sip of lemon soda.“Yup.Tomorrow, I start to get smaller.Huzzah.”
Sorooth frowned.“You are a surrogate?”
“Yes.I was unsure of what it would feel like, so before I used my own genetics, I let someone who can’t bring a child to term any other way hire me for this.This way, they get at least one child that they would not otherwise have had.From the vague information in the file, there was an issue with the male side of the genome and some damage to the mother.So they get one, and they get it very soon.”
Sorooth sat on the floor with Keska and the food.“What next then?”
“I go looking for a mate.Maybe lay out a trail of cupcakes.Guys are ridiculous around good food.”
Keska laughed and looked at Sorooth.“You aren’t wrong.”
Diena smiled.“I am just a low-visibility active and not an omega, so I can’t just exude pheromones and use that to haul one in.”
Alody smiled.“Ithal has already seen her match and a child for her in fourteen months.”
“Yeah, so I am going to be hella twitchy for the next five months.”
Sorooth asked, “What was said about the match?”
Alody smiled.“Just that he is sparkly.”
“Interesting.Diena, have you known Keska long?”
Diena nodded.“We met nearly eight years ago.She had gotten into an automated vehicle collision, and I was able to help.There was a need.Well, there were two needs at that time.”
Keska nodded.“I was in a transport on the way to an appointment.There was a short in the system, and two vehicles collided.I was in one of them, and Kessie was very far along.”
Sorooth stared.“I didn’t know.”
“Nope.Because no sooner had the vehicles locked together than Diena was there pulling them apart, healing my wounds, and stabilizing Kessie.We were dirty and scuffed five minutes after the accident.I removed traces of myself in the transport, and Diena flew me to the appointment.After that, we went for hot chocolate.”
Keska smiled.“And then, we were friends.She told me she was a registered active with no particular activation, and that was intriguing to me.She explained the need issue, and it stunned me.That kind of activation had not occurred to me.”
Alody smiled.“It is odd.I am on record as a healer because that was the first manifestation.”
Sorooth looked at her and Diena.“You are very similar.”
Alody grinned.“Diena is my clone.I was a sold Sethir child and raised in the capitol program.When my healing manifested, they were impressed enough to put my genes into the new canister gestation program.”
Diena sipped her beverage.“That is why I wanted to try my body out.I wasn’t started that way, so I didn’t know if I would be able to give birth traditionally.”
Alody smiled.“She had a need and went to fulfill it.”
