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"He's in a meeting in Aru's cabin." Frankie pulled out her phone. "Dagor hasn't texted me yet, so they are still there."
Kaia looked up at her mother. "You can't bother them with your issues now, Mom. They are planning what to do about the Doomers once we get back to Acapulco, and the last thing they want to talk about is your transition. You should wait until tomorrow."
"I'm going to talk with Gilbert, and if he wants to approach Negal today, I'm sure the god will not mind sparing a few minutes to talk to him. All he needs to do is say yes or no. If he agrees, we need to make plans for tomorrow or, at the latest, the day after. That's all the time we have."
Now Frankie felt bad. "Perhaps I can wait a day to introduce Margo and Negal."
Karen shook her head. "Margo is your and Mia's best friend, and Negal is Dagor's. You can't postpone introducing them even ifyou want to. Besides, maybe it's good to put some fire under us so we finally get on with it."
Karen
Karen didn't rush back to her cabin as she'd set out to do. Instead of the elevator, she took the stairs down to the third deck and used the time to think about what she wanted to say to Gilbert.
The truth was that he'd been the one pushing for her not to wait for him to grow out his fangs and venom glands.
In her opinion, her body wasn't going to age significantly in the four to five months it would take for Gilbert to be able to induce her transition, but it seemed like no one else shared her opinion.
Then, there were all the other changes Gilbert was experiencing. He was rewinding the clock, getting younger in front of her eyes, and his stamina would tire out an eighteen-year-old. His exuberance and energy had been exhausting when he was a nearly fifty-year-old human. Now that his body could keep up with his mind, Karen felt like she was left trying to catch up.
He claimed she was his one and only, but Karen had always known how important it was for partners in the relationship to have more or less equal footing on the scale of attractiveness.There were several measures that could compensate for one another, like looks, intelligence, and professional success, and she included full-time motherhood in that, but the aggregate score should be as similar as possible.
She and Gilbert had that equilibrium until he transitioned, but now the gap was widening by the day, and not just because he looked a decade younger than she did. His energy and reduced need for sleep meant that he could do more now than he could before, and he was using that time productively, including taking on more responsibilities with their children.
Karen felt outperformed, and she didn't like that at all. Still, was that reason enough to expedite her transition?
No, it wasn't.
But having a god's venom induce her was, and Negal was the only one still available, but not for long. She was on the older end of the range, and she needed all the help she could get to emerge immortal on the other side and not dead.
Karen had five children to think of, and if there was even the slightest chance that having a god induce her would make the difference in her survival, she owed it to her children to do everything in her power to secure his help.
With that realization solidified, Karen squared her shoulders and quickened her step. She'd already checked with Bridget that the clinic on board had all the necessary equipment, so that wasn't an issue. She would hate to miss the remaining weddings, but chances were that she wouldn't start transitioning until they returned to the village. It had taken Kaia five days to start transitioning, and she was nineteen. Karen expected that it would take at least twice as long for hers to start.
When she opened the door to their cabin, she was greeted by the usual chaos of her family. The twins were fighting over a toy, and Gilbert was chasing after Idina with a dress in his hand while their daughter was squealing with laughter and running around with nothing but her ladybug panties on.
Naturally, Gilbert could have caught her with ease, but it was a game they liked to play. Most of the time, Idina pretended that she didn't want to get dressed, and Gilbert pretended to be angry as he chased her with what he wanted her to wear. Sometimes, though, it was for real, and Idina refused to wear a particular item of clothing for this or that reason. When that happened, no game could convince her to change her mind, and Karen had learned just to go with the flow and let the girl wear whatever she wanted.
Was that bad parenting?
Maybe, but Karen was okay with not being perfect at everything. As a mother of five with a full-time job, she'd learned to compromise.
When Idina darted by her, she caught her around the waist and lifted her into her arms. "Stop running. You are making my head spin." She kissed her daughter's cheek and extended a hand to Gilbert for the dress.
"I need to talk to you," she said as she pulled it over Idina's head. "Remember what we talked about regarding the gods?"
He nodded.
"Aru and Dagor are out, and Frankie has just told me that she plans on introducing Negal to her friend when she comes on board in Cabo." She put Idina on the couch and gave her the remote. "Find a show you want to watch, sweetie."
Idina grinned like she'd just won a prize. "Thank you, Mommy," she said with the sweetest voice.
"You are welcome." Karen walked over to the kitchenette, with Gilbert following close behind her. "If Negal and Margo hit it off, there is a good chance that he will be out as well. We need to act now."
Gilbert ran a hand over his hair, of which there was much more now than there had been a month ago. "I need to talk to Negal."
Karen nodded.
"I'll get Eric and Max, and we will talk to him together. It will be easier to explain, and it won't sound like a creepy come-on."
