“I’ll have to let you know when I decide. The jury’sstill out on this one.”
A trill of terror pierced the air, causing both Jude and Ezra to bolt upright. One of the children—it was impossible to tell which—had transformed into a squirrel the size of a golden retriever, seized one of the squirrel-sized children, and chucked them directly into Button’s mouth.
Buttons did not chew the child, but it did not stop them from screaming like they were being murdered, tiny squirrel arms flailing dramatically.
“Jesus Christ,” Jude muttered under his breath, then, louder, “You can only keep playing squirrels if you stop sacrificing your siblings to Buttons. Everyone, back to normal squirrel size, please, and come out where I can see you. All right, that’s…” Jude squinted, lips pursed. “Wait, why are there eight of you? Is there an actual squirrel in there? You can keep playing with it if you want, I guess, but I amnotfeeding it dinner.”
Seven bushy tails twitched happily. The eighth squirrel, still in Button’s mouth, gave Jude a thumbs-up.
With the crisis handled, Jude sank into his seat and folded his arms behind his head. “I know it’s not much of a consolation, but at least you’ll be here on Earth and they’ll be over on Darvrok 6 most of the time. You’ll probably have to suffer through one horrible visit a year, but the rest of the time, you won’t have to worry, and—bonus—you won’t have to suffer alone. Al and I will be there suffering right alongside you. We can all go on late-night Taco Bell bitchfest runs together.”
“Dude, you’re almost making it sound like a good time.”
Jude grinned. “What’s the point of having friends if you can’t dunk on your shitty in-laws together?”
The patio door squeaked as it opened, cutting short their conversation. Ezra rolled his head back to see who was coming to join them, and found a deflated-looking Titan standing in the doorway. He held his weird alien cell phone in one hand, its screen still illuminated—he must have been fresh off a call.
“Many sorries for the intrusion,” he said, sounding every bit as crestfallen as he looked. “I have come in search of my sweet Ezra, but perhaps it is fortuitous I have found you as well, Human Jude, as the news I bear will cause impact upon you as well.”
“Oh, yeah?” Jude asked, not budging from his seat. “What’s up?”
“You look upset,” Ezra added. “Is everything okay?”
“The letters O and K are not fit to describe this situation, I am afraid,” Titan admitted with a frown. He came to stand by Ezra, fingers finding their way into Ezra’s hair. They stroked slowly, idly, seeking as much comfort as they intended to provide. “I have just had correspondence with my father, and he has confirmed that Secretary of Defense Buttons has issued visitor visas for both him and Mother for the dates previously discussed. They will arrive mere days before the hatching of our clutch, and will remain until the offspring have emerged.”
It still boggled Ezra’s mind that his cat had been called in to replace him and Titan during their paternity leave, but it was maybe the fifth weirdest thing that had happened to him in the last few years, so he didn’t dwell on it much.
“Then they’ll be here in about a month?” Jude asked.
Titan nodded. “Indeed.”
“I’ll go make sure Al knows, so he can get prepared.” He rose from the deck chair and cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice, calling out, “All right, kids. Time to go inside. No squirrels in the house. No, not even very nice ones. We can come back out later, after we’ve all had a rest and something to drink.”
The kids flew across the yard in their human forms, laughing, hooting, and chittering like the squirrels they had been only seconds before. Jude corralled them through the open patio door, then looked over his shoulder to smile at Ezra, letting him know he was purposefully giving Ezra and Titan time to be on their own.
He closed the door with a squeak, and once he was gone, Titan dropped right where he’d been standing to sit cross-legged on the deck, head resting against the side of Ezra’s deck chair. It was Ezra’s turn to stroke his hair, which he did lovingly. As stressed as he was to have to play nice with someone who considered him an inferior being, Titan had it worse—this was his father they were talking about. Titan’s role model. It was difficult to be at such great odds with someone you once admired.
“I’m not thrilled about what’s happening,” Ezra said after a beat, “but we’re gonna get through this. No matter what, it’s gonna be okay. I promise.”
“I am aware of this,” Titan said miserably. “I simply wish circumstances were less undesirable. I have worries for your well-being. I do not want you to be made to feel like you are anything less than the exceptional, intelligent, handsome, and pleasingly hairy being that you are.”
“Good news—I’m pretty sure that even at his nastiest, your dad won’t make me feel less hairy.”
“Perhaps not, but he will reduce you in other ways, and I do not wish for you suffer.”
Ezra hummed thoughtfully, his hand going still.
After a moment’s pause, he slithered out of the deck chair—careful not to disrupt the eggs—and climbed onto Titan’s lap.
“Hey,” he said, looking Titan in the eyes. “Remember when I was delivering the eggs, and I was screaming and crying and throwing up?—”
“You did not?—”
“Shh.” Ezra pressed his finger to Titan’s lips. “No talking. Only listening. Do you remember how much I was struggling? How I wanted to give up? I was at peak suffering trying to pass those things, and in the heat of the moment I was sure I wasn’t going to survive, but I did, and do you know why?”
Titan shook his head.
“I made it because you were there with me, coaching me through it, giving me strength. I know things haven’t been great lately and we’ve both been feeling like we’re at the end of our ropes, but we’ll get through this together, okay? You have nothing to worry about no matter how bad things get, because I know you’ll be there for me just like I’ll be there for you.”
