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Thelong table was filled with strange faces—mostlyKindredwarriors and their wives.Therewas another, shorter table for the kids—the sons that were halfKindredand half human seemed to take after theirKindredfathers while the daughters seemed to take after their human mothers,Celiathought.
“Okay, wellI’lltake you around afterwards,”Katpromised her. “Butfor now, those are my two guys—DeepandLock,” she added, pointing out two otherTwinKindredwho were talking together. “Wehave three children together—all sons, of course,” she added and laughed.
“Oh, so you’re, er, married toTwinKindred?”Celiathrew her a glance. “Uh, howisthat exactly?”
“Well, they can drive you nuts sometimes—Imean, theKindredare amazing and sweet and kind and protective but they’re stillmenif you know whatImean.”Katlaughed. “ButIwouldn’t trade them for anything.They’resuch good fathers to our three boys—Deepis more of the disciplinarian whileLockis more of the teacher of the two.”
“That’swonderful,”Celiasaid politely. “But, well, how is the sex?Imean how does itwork?Ifthat’s not too personal a question—I’msorry,Iknow we just met,” she added, hoping she hadn’t offended her new friend.
ButKatonly laughed again.
“Thatwas my first question whenIgot with my guys too.Iwas at a complete loss to understand how they could possibly bothfitat the same time!”
“That’sexactlywhatIwanted to know!”Celiasaid, feeling relieved.Maybenow she couldfinallyget some answers to the question that had been nagging at her.
“Well, it has to do withBondingFruit—”Katbegan.
Butjust then theKindredwarrior at the head of the table—he had short, spiky blond hair and pale blue eyes and fangs, whichCeliaknew meant he was aBloodKindred—rose and tapped his wine glass with his knife.
“Oh, that’sSylvan—theHeadof theHighCouncil,”Katwhispered toCelia. “He’sthe guy to see if you’re trying to get out of yourClaimingPeriod.”
Celiawhispered a “thank you!” and the table grew quiet asSylvanbegan to speak.
“HelloandHappyThanksgiving,” he said, smiling at everyone around the table. “I’mso glad all of you could be here today as we partake in this feast and celebrate theEarthholiday we all love so much.I’dlike to thank my lovely wifeSophiaand her sisterOliviaand their kin,Laurenfor cooking all this delicious food.”
Henodded at three women sitting around the table—two of them looked like twins, though they had different colored hair and eyes,Celiathought.Thethird had lovely brown skin and striking amber eyes.Shewas sitting beside a warrior who looked to beScourge—he had gray skin and red-on-black eyes.Thesight gaveCeliaa start—she’d thought that all theScourgewere dead now!Butthis one seemed perfectly civilized.
“Hey—Ihelped too!” a burlyBeastKindredwith black hair and golden eyes protested.
“That’sright,” the blonde-haired woman who looked like a twin said. “Bairddid the turkey.He’scome a long way since he made me fruit cocktail and tuna fish pizza during ourClaimingPeriod!”
Everyonearound the table laughed,Katincluded.
“It’straditional for aKindredwarrior to cook for his woman during theirClaimingPeriod,” she murmured toCelia. “OnlyBairddidn’t know much about ‘Earthfood’ so he dumped all kinds of disgusting things on a pizza and tried to feed it toLiv.”
Celialaughed and made a face at the thought of tuna and fruit cocktail pizza.Butmainly she thought it was nice that all the people sitting at the table seemed to know and support each other.Itwas also nice that the men were willing to help with the cooking.Asfar as she knew,Peterdidn’t even know how to turn on the stove—but of course he didn’t have to, since he’d had private chefs his whole life.
“I’dalso like to thankKatfor organizing all of this and for decorating,”Sylvansaid, nodding atKat, who nodded back with a smile. “Iknow she’s going to do an amazing job of decorating theMotherShipfor another upcomingEarthholiday—Christmas,” he went on. “Andspeaking of that,I’mgoing to need some warriors to volunteer to dress up as theEarthsemi-deity, ‘SantaClause’ and take turns sitting by theChristmastree we’re going to be decorating near theSacredGrove.”
“Whatdoes the job entail?” one of the otherKindredwarriors asked.
“Justwearing a red suit trimmed with fur and letting children and brides sit on your lap for pictures,”Sylvansaid. “Theywill tell you what they wish as a present forChristmasand you will agree that they can have it if they’ve been ‘nice’ and not ‘naughty’ this past solar year.”
“Idon’t like the idea of my bride sitting on another male’s lap and asking him for presents!” another warrior growled. “Sheought to sit onmylap and ask!I’llgive her anything she wants, butIdon’twant her asking other males.”
“No, no—asking for presents isn’t really the point of this ritual,”Sylvansaid, frowning. “ManyEarthbrides like the opportunity to take a picture withSanta—it’s a memory they can save and cherish.WhoeverplaysSantawillnotmolest your bride in any way—Ipromise.”
“Well,Istill don’t like it,” the warrior muttered. “You’dbetter not let anyUnmatedwarriors play the part.”
“Matedwarriors will be considered first,”Sylvansaid. “Butif you’re interested, please come see me after we finish our feast.”
“Wow, they reallydon’tknow much aboutChristmas, do they?”Celiawhispered toKat, who shook her head and smiled.
“OrHanukahorKwanzafor that matter.We’dlike to bring the spirit of the season to the wholeMotherShipif we can.”
“Fornow,I’dlike to say that on this day of giving thanks,Iam thankful for all of you.”Sylvanwent on, raising his wine glass. “Yearsago, before weKindredcame toEarth,Ihad my brotherBairdand my two second brothersDeepandLock, but we were all lonely.”Henodded at various warriors sitting around the table. “Thenwe instituted theBrideDraftand began toDream-Sharewith the lovely females ofEarth.Whenwe found our brides, the loneliness left us forever andI’mso thankful for that.”Hesmiled down at a brown-haired woman with green eyes who looked back at him with love. “I’mespecially thankful for my lovely mate,Sophia,” he murmured. “AndIthank theGoddessfor bringing us together.”
Therewere tears inCelia’seyes when the bigBloodKindredsat back down.Heseemed to really love and care about his family and friends and they clearly felt the same for him and each other.Shecouldn’t help comparing it withPeter’sfamily and the way they were always sniping at each other and talking about silly, vapid things like how much their latestChannelhandbag cost.
