Chapter Twenty-Eight
One Year Later
Olarte
I never knew that all my dreams could come true in such a spectacular manner.
Dr. H’looder’s team feels that they have a reasonable chance to make our dream come true.
Children.
The process is slightly…awkward. We work with another human-Pfahrn couple, Simon and Mohrn.
Mohrn is an ishblane Pfahrn, but phey are also Khalden now, through a long and convoluted twist of fate.
That means phey are one of the most powerful residents of our planet, in charge of our region’s government. Phey are also one of the richest, and own two estates, in addition to large mining operations.
The procedure requires Mohrn and me taking turns implanting and fertilizing eggs in both our human mates.
Which was the awkward part. Neither Mohrn nor myself considered it “sex,” because there was a contract in place and it was a medical procedure. Both our mates willingly opted to do this, because they want to have children, too.
There are easier ways to have children, and Mohrn and I could have carried our eggs. But because Mohrn and I are married to our mates, for our children to be recognized by our laws, only us or our mates can carry the egg.
Except you need two Pfahrn to lay and fertilize an egg, and they have not yet perfected artificial fertilization. There is nothing in our laws that say two Pfahrn cannot undergo this process if the egg is laid inside a human mate.
Meaning it was easier for Dr. H’looder and his team to figure out that logistical issue than it was for the laws of Pfahrn to be changed in time for us to have children.
Since both myself and Mohrn are dealing with considerable assets now—myself and Davies in terms of finances, and Mohrn in land, estate holdings, mining operations, and finances—we had to do it this way for our children to be protected and recognized by law.
Besides, both our mates opted to accept medications to ease their anxieties and stress and make the entire thing pleasurable to them.
But it was more than worth it, because both couples ended up with the human bearing fertilized eggs.
And now…we wait.
We have kept our human mates as inactive as possible over these past thirty weeks, because neither Mohrn nor I want to do anything to possibly risk our mates losing our precious blessings. Meaning no sex, which could possibly trigger contractions in our human mates.
That frustrates our humans more than it frustrates Mohrn and me, I believe. Mohrn and I are both fine with our chosen celibacy in support of our mates because the blessings we are about to welcome into our lives are so worth it.
Dr. H’looder assures us that with every day which passes, our chances of having healthy, thriving children grows.
Once the eggs are born, another wait commences until they hatch, but then Mohrn and I can take turns caring for our eggs.
There is a risk that our children might be ishblane.
Honestly?
I do not care.
Mohrn’s position as Khalden means that phey have shown our people that silly, superstitious prejudices have no place in our modern society. Davies and I have enough money to support our child, if we never wanted to work again.
But Mohrn and Simon have asked us to move in with them, at least for now, because we have all become dear friends and adopted family. Simon has also asked us to work for them, to help run their vast estates.
My two middle siblings are still coming to grips with my life choices, but as my snarky mate has said, fuck ’em. Phey are not hostile to us, and all of my family has come to visit us during Davies’ pregnancy. I believe my parents have accepted this situation most easily of all and are finally looking forward to becoming grandparents.
Simon’s mother and sister have adopted not only Mohrn into their family with open arms, but Davies and me as well.
More family—and I do consider them family, human or not. My blessings have multiplied, and I know it has helped heal Davies’ aching heart somewhat to once again have a “mom” and parents in his life, and “siblings” he never had before.
