Page 16 of Thalen

I’d barely gotten all of my furniture out, except for that new kitchen table and chairs, as those were a present for my mate, when I discovered I’d not only missed lunch, but it was late enough that it was already time to bring the animals back in and feed them. I did so and gave myself a mental kick after I showered and ate. In my zeal, I’d already taken my bed and my dresser, with all my underwear outside. I ended up replicating clean clothing so I could go out without worrying about accidentally getting seen by anyone happening along the road, and bringing my mattress back in. Then I tarped everything up so the late night rain shower and morning dew wouldn’t get onto the furniture and tried to sleep.

Sleep eluded me, so I picked up my datapad and reread the files sent to me. I had one on Evan and Jason, with Jason's a copy from Children’s Services, who’d had the care of him before he came to Evan. There was also a picture of Evan and Jason together, smiling as they stood outside of the saucer shaped shuttle the Mylos were about to take them up in. Their smiles were filled with an excitement that reached their eyes. One of Jason's eyes was very pale, unlike his other one, which was a golden brown color. It had been noted in his file, which also mentioned several carers and children found it unsettling and that Jason could be angry and aggressively defensive if it was mentioned.

I snorted at that.

Sounds like double talk for people, including kids, picked on him for it, and he fought back. Understandable. Well, he won’t find that an issue among the Dragonii. Rograh the Great was known to have one pale eye like that and one a deep purple, and it was said that the pale eye showed he was blessed by starlight from birth, so it’s considered good fortune to have mismatched eyes and even luckier if one is so much lighter. I shall tell him of Rograh the Great one day soon. He should know of him, as he led the Dragonii into space and saw to our first orbital residential space station, whose initial industry was building spacecraft and recycling space junk from old satellites and ship parts from our early days using rockets.

I fell asleep dreaming of all of us sitting outside on our front porch as we gazed at the three moons and stars, me sitting on the porch swing with Jason next to me as he listened raptly to me telling him about Rograh the Great. Evan was in the rocking chair, listening eagerly as well, and had just stood up to say “Good morning, New Haven!” in Bob’s voice when I awoke with a start.

“It’s a lovely morning indeed here in Walnut Grove! It’s a comfortable seventy-two degrees right now, and we’ll see a high of around eighty-two. That’s Fahrenheit, and for those of you still unfamiliar with this form of human measurement, your wrist comm’s weather report can tell you exactly what that is in Juliahns. In today’s morning news, we have a freighter from Felor VI coming in, bringing passengers I’m sure everyone will wish to give a warm welcome to. That’s right, Thalen’s mate and kit arrive today after journeying from Earth to Felor, where they changed ships to come here. I know it’s super exciting, but Jesse and Johree both ask that everyone give them privacy as they get to know each other. You’ll have plenty of time to introduce yourselves later!

And now for today’s funny! Why did the kilt-ha win a prize? Because she was outstanding in her field!”

That one was so bad it was actually kinda funny, I decided. Not that I would tell Bob that. He needed no more encouragement, getting far too much from the settlement’s children and the four armed little blue aliens who hung around the spaceport and rang bells and danced for him once a day. I had no idea what was up with that, and if I was being honest, I didn’t want to know. Johree could handle that nonsense; it was nothing that had anything to do with me.

I went to my closet and took out the clothes that Bob had the general store send over just for today’s occasion. There was a pair of boots similar to the ones Jesse wore, as well as one of the wide brimmed hats he favored, paired with a checker patterned shirt similar to his, albeit looser and with slits for my wings should I wish to free them, and a pair of the cloth trousers he’d popularized here, which were called blue jeans. This was my first pair, and the replicator had adjusted the style so my tail was accommodated. I took them all to the new master bathroom, and went to put on yesterday’s clothes first as I didn’t want to get the new stuff dirty while dealing with chores.

A quick breakfast of jump-a-long eggs and kilt-ha bacon and two warm bread rolls straight from the replicator, slathered with butter and haverberry jam, followed by my morning chores, and then it was time to clean my teeth, get showered, and go into town to meet my family. Then I took the flowers I’d bought from the general store out of the stasis unit and picked up the stuffed kilt-ha toy I’d gotten at the same time and walked over to the flitter I’d washed two days ago and left parked in the barn. I hooked the equally freshly cleaned trailer to it and set off, my hearts strangely calm as if this was nothing new and unusual.

That changed when I reached the spaceport and spotted the pair of them standing with Jesse and Johree along with several bags, boxes, and crates.

“Well, it feels weird in my head to not say prince or governor or whatever in front of your name, but if that’s your wish, I’ll honor it,” Evan was telling Johree.

“Unless it’s a diplomatic or other official function, please don’t. It gets quite tiring, and I like being just me as often as I can.”

“Roger that. I’d probably feel the same way.”

“Dad!” Jason shouted, spotting me, no doubt recognizing me from my own file they’d been sent. “He’s here! Wow, he’s as big as Johree!”

Evan turned to face me, his cheeks going a lovely shade of pink. He licked his lips, eyes lighting on the flowers and the toy in my hand.

“Oh my! Are those for us?”

I nodded, thrusting my hand out, words suddenly failing me at the sight of him. Pictures had not done him justice, not one single bit. He was slender, and his short brown hair was just long enough in the front to fall gently over his forehead and the top would allow me to grab on later when we mated. Heat filled my belly, and I felt myself grow hard.

“No one’s ever gotten me flowers before,” he gushed, taking them from me.

I immediately vowed that he would always have flowers and anything else his heart desired.

“Is that mine?” Jason asked, looking at the stuffed toy, and I smiled down at him, nodding as I handed it to him. “Thanks! I like stuffed animals, but the other kids at the home said they were only for babies and used to take Ted and hide him from me all the time.”

I arched an eyebrow inquiringly.

“Ted is his teddy bear. He sleeps with him.”

“Ms. Baines said you can never be too old to have stuffed animals and that it wasn’t babyish to sleep with him. She said she has a stuffed fairy doll that sits on the pillow on the other side of her bed while she sleeps. Her grandma gave it to her, and it makes her feel like her grandma is watching over her. I think my mom and dad, the ones I was born to, gave me Ted.”

I nodded, still smiling, and finding my voice at last, “Then it is good to have Ted watching over you as you sleep. He can chase the bad dreams away, just as they wanted when they gave him to you.”

“Yeah!” Jason nodded emphatically. “And now he can help Ted do it so they fight extra bad ones and make them go away!”

Evan smiled. “He sure can, buddy!”

“We’ll let you three get on home,” Jesse said. “I think the critters are ready to be free of their crates.” I eyed one particularly tall one.

“What is that?” I asked. It looked like some sort of canine, but was much larger than the domesticated one Jesse owned.

“Oh, that’s Duke,” Evan laughed. “He had another name at the shelter, but I changed it. It’s short for Marmaduke, like the cartoon featuring the same kind of dog. He’s sweet as can be, but goofy and clumsy as hell.”