Tour Guide
I'd donned what I now officially considered to be my "tour outfit." Nothing said "farm" quite like plaid and overalls so I'd set aside the same romper that I'd worn when I welcomed Rose so many weeks ago. Luckily, the stretchy spandex-denim still fit comfortably even with my reshaping.
Given Mazer's attire at the clinic, I expected to see a sleek black sedan of some sort pulling up the drive, but the vehicle that had pulled off the highway was distinctly van shaped.
It wasn't impossible that someone else happened to be coming to the clinic at the same time that Mazer had said he'd arrive, but that struck me as unlikely. Once they were closer I could see Mazer in the passenger seat and a woman who was driving returned my wave as she pulled the van up near the sidewalk.
"Welcome!" I tried to screen my confusion and surprise out of my tone as a third passenger got out from the back seat. Her I recognized from the clinic. The receptionist who had been bored out of her mind the day I'd come for my fertility treatment.
I remembered that Carolyn had spoken of him having multiple wives, but I wasn't quite sure how to feel about Mazer making a family visit of this.
Any misgivings I might have had about the family were set aside as I heard children's voices. Multiple little voices were either excited for the end of the trip or for the farm. I had to hope they didn't have their hearts set on *real* farm animals.
"Hello Madeline." Mazer rebuttoned his suit and the first little pair of feet appeared beneath the door behind him, complete with little flashing lights on the colorful sneakers.
"We're here!" Their child popped into view only to be scooped up effortlessly by Mazer.
"Yes we are." He agreed warmly as he settled the small child on his hip. A moment later a second pair of feet hit the ground but this time there was only one shoe. I tried not to laugh as there was a yelp of surprise and a hushed admonishment to keep shoes on.
Finally, the third and hopefully final child was extracted and the mildly aggrieved mother nudged the door closed with her hip.
"Hi." She waved as her blonde companion scooped up the second kid before they could bolt.
"Hi?" I failed to keep the confusion from my tone.
Mazer turned to his family. "These are my wives, Mikah and Crystal." The blonde and brunette waved in turn. "And these are our children."
"What are their names?" I scrutinized the older of the two. I couldn't see any horns or tails but I wasn't going to rule out the possibility of illusions.
"Andy, and Azrael" he pointed to the toddlers in his and Crystal's arms. "And the youngest is undecided."
"Are you gonna name them Alex just to keep the gender-neutral 'a' theme going?"
"We haven't ruled it out." Mikah smirked. "Obviously we put down a placeholder name for legal reasons but we want to give the kiddo a chance to grow into what they want."
"Sounds like you aren't gendering them either." I let skepticism creep into my voice. I wasn't sure where this fell on the spectrum of freedom and de-personing.
"That's a tougher situation, and we aren't exactly in agreement."
"Between the three of you?"
Mikah nodded. "Our youngest is intersex, I actually wanted to bite the doctor when he suggested a procedure to make their genitals less ambiguous. But--" she sighed. "The three of us are in different camps. Do we use he/him for variety amongst the kids? she/her so they don't feel like the odd one out? Exclusively genderless so that they can decide later?"
"I'd suggest the name 'loki' but I think you'd be asking for trouble naming them after a gender fluid trickster deity."
I caught Mikah's meaningful glance toward her two oldest. "It's best not to tempt fate."
"I guess it really just depends on the environment they are going to be in. Striking a balance between freedom and conformity that keeps the child from being ostracized."
"See?" Crystal gestured at me. "She gets it."
Mikah squinted at her wife but I was already backpedaling.
"I'm not trying to take sides, sorry. Sometimes unsolicited advice just slips out."
"I'm sure it's fine." Mazer spoke smoothly, showing none of the exhaustion that plagued his wives. "We are being quite selective about possible kindergartens. And I think discussions with teachers and professionals will help us dial in that 'balance' as you put it."
I nodded, but I elected to shut my big mouth on this. Carolyn had floated the idea of enticing Mazer to join the clinic, and I didn't trust myself to actually make the correct first impression. I was actually rather sure I'd already blown it.
"Well…" I swayed in place as the silence dragged. "Welcome to the farm. I confess we uh… well I only expected Mazer-- not that you aren't welcome! It's just that I'm not sure where to go with the tour now."
Mikah chuckled. "That's fine. Could you direct me to your bathrooms? This one needs a new diaper."
One of the older children helpfully piped up with "stinky!" much to her chagrin.
"Sure!" I headed for the barn, cursing under my breath as I did. All my fixation on accessibility and accommodations and we didn't even have a diaper changing station. My mind raced to come up with solutions.
"We obviously have tons of breast pumping equipment if you wanted to bottle feed them, but I hadn't considered supplies for anything…" I trailed off as I noticed the pink, white, and blue stripes on her belt.
"Mazer mentioned that you are going to be trying for a baby soon." Mikah said conversationally.
"Yes…" I focused back on the present and nudged the button for the automatic doors. "Do you have any free advice? I assume you carried all three kids."
Mikah blew out a breath. "Well, don't take this to mean that I don't love all my kids dearly, but two was enough. We're lucky to have a ton of help between the three of us and some extended family. The only thing I'd do differently is maybe not carry them both at once."
"Oh." I looked at the children in Mazer and Crystal's arms. I couldn't be sure, but going on hair colors alone the children each seemed to resemble their current carrier.
"Sorry, TMI."
"No, no worries."
"I reserve the right to worry." Mikah chuckled. "I hear it's a perk of being a mom, as if everything else I have going on wasn't enough."
"Enough is never enough." I gestured toward the bathrooms, "The sinks in there have a tiny bit of space that could maybe serve as a changing table, but they are awfully hard and cold."
"I've got that covered," Mikah patted the gigantic bag slung against the hip that wasn't holding a child.
I debated asking if I could sit in on the process. It was probably going to be important for me to know in a year or so after all, but I had a feeling it would be irresponsible to just leave Mazer and Crystal to wait around.
"Well, while you're doing that…" I looked around the common area, "I don't think we should move on to the clinic without everyone ready so we should probably hang out here. Oh! I bet Xander would like to meet you if you're okay with that." I addressed Mazer mostly. But he only shrugged.
"Short for Alexander I suppose?"
"Possibly?" I was confused by this tangent but I did my best to recover. "I never asked her, but she's probably fine sharing."
I led the way to where Xander and Rose were watching a show. "Hey guys. Xander, Rose, this is Mazer. The-- doctor I was telling you about." I gestured to each of them in turn, hoping that would suffice for introductions. It was hard not to kick myself for hesitating on referring to Mazer as a demon.
Rose and Xander were each staring though, and I could sense that I maybe should have given them a little more advance warning about our visitors.
Rose sat up from where she was resting her head on Xander's lap. "Hi! I uh, your work is very impressive."
"You're too kind. Were you wanting to consult on my services?"
I was surprised that Mazer asked so directly, but Xander seemed relieved. "Ah, yeah. Maddie mentioned that you often worked in exchange for a child and I was- we were curious if you are- accepting applicants? Fuck- sorry. That sounds weird."
"Quite alright." Mazer chuckled. "It would be best for me to discuss the possibility with my wives--"
Crystal shrugged. "More peers for our kiddos sounds like an absolute win. I doubt Mikah will object."
Mazer rolled his eyes, but continued to smile. "I will have to get back to you once I know for certain."
Rose's face was practically red with embarrassment now, but Xander nodded. "Sure, no rush."
And with that we effortlessly came to yet another awkward standoff.
"Is Maddie going to have your baby?" Rose broke the silence and I felt myself burn in embarrassment. I was still forming a polite response when Mazer answered.
"No, we made other arrangements."
Rose opened her mouth to pose the dreaded follow up but I shook my head.
Not here. Not now.
Crystal's passenger seemed to get restless so she paced between the tables, pointing out interesting things to name and describe.
Mazer's passenger, in contrast to her sister, was staring at me. Unblinking.
"So…" I desperately tried to avoid the piercing stare.
Mazer noticed the intense star down and gave the child a small squeeze. "What are you thinking, Andy?"
"She's human."
Mazer gently caught the hand as she pointed at me.
"Very good, yes she is, but remember not to point."
"Why?"
"Humans can find that unsettling."
"Un…set…ling?" Andy's little brow furrowed.
Mazer nodded. "It unsettles a person when people do things that aren't normal."
"It's fine." I forced a smile, returning Andy's eye contact for a moment before looking at Mazer.
He smiled reassuringly, "Andy has nephilim lineage, from me of course. In old times she might have been accused of being fae or a changeling. There are many human behaviors that won't come naturally to her."
"I… see… What did she mean by saying I'm human?"
"Simply that. She sensed that despite your appearance, you are still human."
"There goes my aspirations of ascension and evolution I suppose."
If it was possible, Andy seemed even more baffled.
"Not words." Andy grumbled and folded her arms. I half expected Mazer to launch into another lesson but he just chuckled.
"They are words, you'll even understand them someday."
Crystal returned with the other toddler, Azrael. "Cow!" she announced gleefully, pointing at me as Andy had. However, before Mazer or Crystal could admonish her for pointing, Andy took up the argument.
"No! Human!"
"You're both right, it's okay." I laughed
"What about me?" Xander piped up, and the twins each turned to give this its due consideration.
"Human." The two spoke, just out of sync, and Xander made a show of pouting.
"Dang it." She folded her arms. "Oh well. I can't wait for them to call Carolyn and Deyha a lizard and kitty."
"Can you say 'dragon'?" I felt like a lame caricature of a kids show character asking, but I hoped I was a novel enough presence that they would humor me in turn.
"Bagon!" Azrael said confidently, much to Mazer and Crystal's chagrin.
"Apparently not." I shrugged at Xander and Rose as the two parents quietly explained the subtle enunciation that she had fumbled.
Azrael was still getting closer to correct pronunciation when Mikah returned from the bathroom. She had reworked the diaper bag into a backpack somehow and was carefully walking behind the youngest child, holding their hands while they took heavily assisted steps in our direction.
"Good job!" I knelt and did little claps as they made the last few steps to our little assembly.
They almost fell when they released Mikah's hands to clap as well, but she scooped the child up easily.
"Well--"
"Deep subject" Xander cut in and I shot her a mild glare.
"Quite." I turned back to Mazer's family. "Who wants to go on the clinic tour? I'm happy to take everyone but uh…" I trailed off.
"Rose and I are happy to help watch the kids if you'd like." Xander stood and stretched. "I hope you don't mind if I have a couple million questions about half-demon children."
I worried that Crystal and Mikah would be put off, but Crystal was already gratefully sinking into a plush recliner and Mazer was setting down Andy to leave her in Mikah's care.
"I don't expect my chat with Dr. Davis is going to be especially riveting, so I think I'll take you up on that offer if you don't mind."
"S-sure." Rose stammered and repositioned to sit on the carpet next to the TV. She grabbed an oversized Jenga kit from the board game closet and dumped the brightly colored wooden blocks on the carpet to amuse the kids.
"Fantastic." Mazer cast his gaze about the barn. "Which way should we go?"
"Uh, through the admin area I guess." I cursed myself for being so passive, but Mazer seemed to be, above all, polite and patient. Once we were back in the lobby I compulsively broke the silence "Did you have any questions for me?"
"Sure. How have the changes been? Is there any discomfort?"
"Hah, I meant about the clinic. And no, physically I'm golden."
"Only physically?"
I cursed my insistence on technically not lying. I'd never been good at dodging uncomfortable truths. "Uh, I mean… it feels like me, it's not like there is anything I'd dream of changing, but I also feel very self-conscious about it all. I'm certainly not used to existing authentically and drawing so much attention is mortifying. I don't know how Carolyn and Deyha do it."
"Ah, the human experience."
My kneejerk reaction was to argue that it was so much worse, so different, but I remembered what Xander had said about being stared at as if diseased, and how so many women relied on makeup for confidence and comfort.
"I… yeah. I guess." I wanted to ask if he could just do an illusion for me like he did for himself, but that seemed rude to ask for, especially after everything he had done.
"Covering up and feeling ashamed will only poison your self image."
"But you use glamour to appear human." I argued back.
He chuckled even before I could apologize for the outburst. "Touche, touche. There are precious few opportunities to cast off the disguise, but that insistence on not using the glamour was one of the first things that drew me to Mikah… still, you're right. I hide my horns for my comfort as much as anyone else's."
"You didn't hide from Rose and Xander."
Mazer's brow furrowed for a moment and then he smiled. "Ah, yes, you still have an exception to my illusion. They did not see me as you or my wives do."
"Your children?"
He shook his head. "We decided it would be better to risk questions about why I'm purple rather than hide from them as well. We'll burn that bridge when we come to it, as Mikah says."
"What?" I choked on my breath at the absurdity of the statement.
"She likes mixing metaphors. Often says that something is 'hardly rocket surgery' or that I've 'opened this can of worms, now lie in it.'."
"That is in fact pretty absurd."
Mazer nodded and stepped forward to catch the door of the clinic. I felt like as the guide I should be opening doors for him, but I decided not to stand around and insist on him going in first.
"Well, Carolyn should be nearby, so I'll take us by the usual suspects."
"Seems to be a well funded clinic." He ran his hand along the wooden railing that lined the walls, both providing something to help balance and protecting the paint from dings from carts and rolling beds.
"Oh, yeah. I suppose. It's government funding but so far I haven't heard about any gold toilet seats or million dollar hammers."
"Naturally, naturally." He mused. "Oak is a sensible choice I suppose, If only a little overkill."
"Oh, I just assumed it was stained to look nice."
Mazer shook his head. "No. Solid interior doors, reinforced glass windows… This clinic is a fortress."
"I… uh… I guess I'll ask Carolyn about that."
"Ask me what?"
"JESUS!" I flinched and stepped away from the voice as Carolyn spoke up behind us. Mazer, in contrast, did not seem surprised at all.
"Hmm, so I can sneak up on you. Good to know."
"No, no it is not good to know, not at all."
Mazer chuckled. "I was just admiring the clinic's construction. Did you have any say in the design?"
"Oh?" Carolyn put her hands on her hips and cast her gaze about. "A little I guess. Deyha handled most of it."
"It's built like a fortress, apparently." I looked between Mazer and Carolyn, trying and failing to discern some silent communication in their expressions.
"I suppose Deyha did say every dragon should have her castle." Carolyn mused and then winked at me. "And princess of course." She turned back to Mazer. "I'm glad to hear you appreciate the architecture though. Where would you like to begin the tour?"
"I suppose I'd like to see where the magic happens."
Carolyn shrugged, and opened her mouth as if to reply, before stepping between us and leading the way toward her lab.
"I'm not sure how literally to take that, but the lab is as good of a place as any, I suppose."
I fell in step behind Mazer as she pointed out the clinic's specialized rooms and diagnostic capabilities. I expected some of the equipment was familiar to him such as the MRI and Xray machines in the imaging wing, but others such as the sequencer and quantum computer struck me as a little over-specialized. I tuned back into Carolyn's spiel as she opened the door to the lab.
"The MRI and computer cooling systems work together, so we make a point to only use one or the other at any given time, just so that we don't saturate the cooling loop. Sadly, the power requirements are so vast that we aren't able to function off-grid, but the heat pumps are configured to provide their waste heat to the baths and central air."
"Huh." Mazer mused. "Completely digital."
"Is that a problem?"
"No! No, not at all. I've always done my best to adopt technologies as they appeared over the centuries, but quantum computing has been very inaccessible. I must admit I would be interested to dabble."
Carolyn's grin spread wide, though I'm not sure Mazer noticed or cared about her near-predatory glee at this admission.
"Well, I'd be happy to walk you through my process."
"On what? I'm sure you wouldn't violate HIPPA--"
"Naturally, I'll just pull up my own genome." Carolyn sat and spun on her stool. And I took up my customary position on the cushion next to her out of habit.
Mazer raised an eyebrow but I took glee in the way Carolyn tried and failed not to act embarrassed by my behavior. I took special delight in knowing she would have her revenge later.
I knew I was misbehaving now, stepping on an unspoken agreement for a certain professionalism while guests and clinic staff were present, but we had never really agreed that I should behave a particular way in certain company. Mazer, by virtue of our past dealings, was easily a rather fond acquaintance, but I intended to behave as though it was Deyha or Ellen rather than Carolyn's dearest idol.
Normally I would begin by hugging one or both of her legs and cradling her feet in my lap. But this time Carolyn resisted my tugging and shot me a glare as I pulled her closer. Unlike her, the stool had no issues rolling closer, and Carolyn conceded the first battle in no time. Still, no rebuke came, so I worked on unlacing her shoes.
I watched her expression, delighting in the distracted way in which she tried to carry on explaining the software to Mazer.
"Damn it Maddie." Carolyn broke off in a grumble and addressed me directly.
"Hmm?" I smiled up, playing at naivety as Mazer chuckled. "Don't mind me, I just know these shoes can be so uncomfortable.
She squinted at me a moment longer, clearly conveying a warning that I cordially ignored.
I decided that as a mercy I would leave her socks in place, but I proceeded in cradling her calf against my chest as I squeezed and kneaded the arch of her foot. I knew better than to try and tickle her or press any of her buttons further up her leg, but I took great satisfaction in her ongoing irritation as she struggled to ignore me.
Mazer caught a break in her explanation, gesturing at me. "Is this a perk of working here?"
Carolyn forced a laugh and looked down at me. "You could call it that, though I think it might be more of a byproduct of collaring her." she patted my head, shifting to cradle my cheek and rub my ear between her thumb and fingers. Before I knew it, my other cheek was pressed against her knee as I strained to follow the touch.
I was startled from my revelry as Mazer rolled a chair over and crossed one knee over the other. "Makes sense, I suppose. So if I remember correctly your process uses runes, yet you spoke of a serum delivery method? How does that work?"
"Well…" Carolyn was more insistent on extricating her feet this time and I grunted as she pushed off my lap to roll across the lab. "This is our rune printer. It's a modified silicon lithography machine with a cascading multiplier to duplicate each printed instruction a few thousand times." She toggled a latch on the side and pulled out a very out-of-place looking etched slate tile. After giving it a once-over she handed it to Mazer.
"How many uses do you get out of these?" he ran his finger along the rings of sigils and turned the plate over in his hands.
"They don't break, if that's what you're asking."
"How-- oh. Wow." he looked at the edges and held the tile up to the light. "Holy crap."
"Thats proprietary." Carolyn folded her arms and smirked and Mazer actually looked abashed. "Appologies, I'll of course sign any NDA--"
"I'm just giving you grief." Carolyn accepted the tile back and slotted it into the machine. "Anyways, as you probably could tell, the tablets don't wear out because rather than using alchemical transmutations that eat away at the structure, they draw from carefully routed channels. Saline, ammonium nitrate and a few other fluids provide both fuel and cooling as the plates duplicate whatever drops on them.
Mazer whistled. "The bottom plate has an awful lot of work to do then."
Carolyn shrugged. "I used to just loop through one plate until I reached the desired volume but these days I just starve the top plates to keep from overtaxing the bottom."
"You mentioned lithography. Like the etching used for old printing presses?"
Carolyn nodded and stood, this time opening the top hatch.
I wanted to maintain my attention, especially given how cool and technical it was, but I felt my grasp of the concepts start to slip as she talked about lenses and protein folding.
I found myself gravitating back to my phone. Checking in-snare out of habit before finding once again that the app couldn't contact servers. I instead cleared notifications on my emails and messaged Rose to see how the babysitting was going.
Carolyn rolled back toward me again and I hurried to put my phone away as she resumed her usual station at the computer. I was pleasantly surprised that she rested her feet in my lap willingly this time but I decided to coax her shoes on rather than continue distracting them.
"I think I'm going to go bother the kids. Let me know if you need anything?"
"Sure babe." Carolyn pet my head and held out a hand to help me up as I extricated myself from the cushion. "If you see Deyha, can you send her our way?"
"Uh… sure."
Back in the barn I found the four adults and three kids right where I'd left them. Rose had managed to fascinate all three of the children with an admittedly impressive block tower while Xander, Mikah, and Crystal chatted and sipped at cups of tea.
"There's more tea in the kettle if you want." Xander nodded toward the kitchen but I just shrugged and settled into the couch next to her.
"Thanks." I yawned and leaned forward to rest my elbows on my knees.
I was surprised when Xander started idly rubbing my back. My mind raced through implications and reactions I could express, but between the public space and the general harmless nature of the touch I quickly pushed the thoughts from my mind. It had been years since I'd felt comfortable with casual touch with platonic friends, but I was just as certain that the learned discomfort was something I wanted to train away anyhow.
I sat up enough to catch Xander’s eye. “Did you learn anything cool while I was away?”
“Short answer? Yes.”
I rolled my eyes. This is apparently what my reputation for an abysmal attention span earned me, though I felt certain I’d been getting better about that.
“What about a slightly longer answer?” Any frustration about having to ask was forgotten as she scratched lightly with her fingernails.
“Cambions are cool, and not nearly as scary as I was led to believe.”
“Oh, yeah I guess I was supposed to have some pre-conceived notion equating the demonic with evil. Whoops.” I chuckled and Xander patted my back, ending the little back scratching session far too early for my liking.
“For all I know you’re a demon too.” She tweaked one of my horns, “between those, the tail, and your penchant for debauchery—“
Mikah hid a giggle behind her hand but I directed my weary indignation entirely to Xander. “You wouldn’t be the first to think so, though I think it’s more common to accuse the weird kids of being fae.”
“You are a bit of a changeling.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I waved her off and leaned forward to accept the colorful block that one of the children was holding out to me.
“It’s a remote!” She announced, as she handed an identical wooden piece to Xander.
“Can you imagine…” I mused as I turned it over in my hands. “If the only way to control the TV was one of these? Oh- and thank you, by the way. What does this control?” I addressed the question to the kid again and they squinted as though deep in thought.
If I were them I’d be brainstorming something other than a TV to be remote controlled, just to be contrary.
“Yours controls blue!” She pointed at my appropriately blue block, and then at Xander’s “and yours controls orange.”
“Mine’s better.” I waved it at Xander.
“Gods.” Rose groaned. “Every last one of you is a child, save Crystal. Possibly.”
“Possibly.” Crystal echoed. “Though I have been known to dabble in the occasional children's toy.—thanks kiddo” she broke off as she accepted her own block, though hers seemed to be unpainted. “What does this one control?”
“That one… controls all the other remotes!”
“One block,” Crystal’s voice took on a somber tone, “to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them.”
Rose only rubbed her eyes, as though all of this had exhausted her terribly. “Nerds and children, all of you.”
“Kitty!” The twin that had been handing out remotes, either Andy or Azrael I think, pointed over my shoulder.
I caught her hand gently. “Your dad says it’s not polite to point.”
I had a feeling who she was pointing at though and soon I could hear Deyha’s soft padded footsteps as she approached our little gathering.
“I guess being called a kitty is better than screams of terror.”
I leaned back so that she could bend down to give me a kiss, much to the exaggerated disgust of the kids. I had to wonder where they learned that particular reaction.
“Hey babe, this is Crystal, Mikah and their kids. Mazer’s family.”
“Kitty!” The other two children had taken up the call, though at least now there wasn’t any pointing.
“Whelp.” Deyha sat on the arm of the couch next to me. “There goes my first impression. Did they call you a ‘moo-moo’ when they saw you earlier?”
“Moo-moo!” The chorus of small voices renewed, now aimed at me.
“Thanks for that.” I feigned aggravation.
“We can explain that they shouldn’t call you that if you’d like.” Mikah offered.
“Eh.” I shrugged “honestly one of the better nicknames I’ve been given. I’ll let it stick for now.”
“Same.” Deyha rested her hand on my shoulder and I leaned into her.
The little bit of touch from Xander had certainly put me in a cuddling mood, and at least with Deyha I knew I could safely indulge without sending any mixed signals.
“So, what do you all think of our little farm?” Deyha shifted to free her shirt from where one of my horns had snagged it before resting her hand on my shoulder again. “We haven’t really started adapting to have space for children yet, but we’d welcome any suggestions you have.”
“Well I see you have breast pumps sorted.” Mikah chuckled “other than that, I think most of it is pretty obvious stuff. Changing tables are handy but outlet covers and choking hazards are the only things that stand out, and neither is too much of a problem with supervision.”
“Huh.” Deyha got out her phone and tapped out what I assumed was a quick note. “Maybe not obvious enough. I’d forgotten about outlet covers.”
“If I understand your plans correctly, I’d say you have nearly a year to figure it all out.” Mikah shot a knowing smirk at me that I wasn’t entirely sure I understood the full meaning of.
“True, but no sense putting it off.” Deyha squeezed my shoulder. “We want to be ready to grow the community and accessibility goes a long way to help that along."
I looked up at Deyha. I knew she was in on Carolyn's whole ploy to entice Mazer and his family to stay, but now I had to wonder what part she might have had in turning this into a family visit.
At the moment she was not being subtle.
"Oh, by the way-" I nudged Deyha "- Carolyn said to send you her way when I found you. She's in the lab."
"Trying to get rid of me already, I see how it is."
I rolled my eyes at her obvious sarcasm. "I can escort you if that would make you feel better."
"No, no. I know the way." She stood and kissed the top of my head before wandering off the same way she'd come. Her tail swished lazily as she navigated through the mess of tables and chairs cluttering the lobby.
"Hate to see her leave, love to watch her go, huh?" Xander nudged me and I waved her off.
"Xanderrr." I grumbled and scooted away from her gentle ribbing.
Rose was facepalming but thankfully none of the children seemed to think anything of note had been said. I watched as one of the older twins focused intently on fairly portioning out the remaining wooden blocks into three piles for herself and her siblings. Sadly, the youngest did not understand the reasoning and was just as rapidly disorganizing them again into their own growing heap.
"Should name them after a dragon the way they hoard all the blocks." I leaned forward to pay my own little block as tribute and the offering was accepted eagerly.
"Dangerous proposition." Xander also offered her block. "I'm not sure you should encourage greed."
"You both say that," Mikah eased herself down from her chair and sat amongst her children. "Yet you encourage that greed all the same." She grabbed a stray block and handed it to her youngest, but when they reached out she didn't let go. "Do you like receiving presents?"
The toddler nodded eagerly.
"How would you feel if I took the blocks away?"
"No!" the child abandoned their mom's block and hoarded their own blocks closer.
"Your sisters were playing with those blocks, and taking them all is making them sad."
I tried to keep from laughing as the two sisters made shows of very sad and hurt expressions.
"I bet…" Mikah placed her block in the hoard at last. "That it would make them very happy if you shared your blocks."
The baby seemed to struggle with this concept.
One of the sisters scooted closer and pointed at a block. "Can I have that one? Please?"
It took several seconds for the request to be properly acknowledged but eventually the exchange was made; one block for a hug and thanks.
The other sister made the same trade and soon the hoard was shrinking as a game was made of gifting and sorting the blocks for everyone’s preferred colors.
“Kinda cheesy.” I chatted with Mikah as play resumed.
She shrugged. “If it works, it works. The sooner they all start learning and practicing empathy and care, the better.”
“Mazer kinda implied that’s not going to come naturally to them.”
Mikah shrugged again. “Our step-daughter's family has also been helping out, socializing and supporting… Besides, they aren’t all quite equally magical. Andy and our youngest are both cambions but Azrael was supposed to be one-hundred percent human.”
“Is she not? And how? Aren’t they twins?”
“They are, but Azrael was conceived through magic, a clone of Andy in the first trimester but with Crystal’s genes instead of Mazer’s. It’s all pretty unheard of but it’s beginning to seem like Azrael has about as much magic stuff going on as our youngest, who is genetically all three of ours.”
“Do you think that’s what caused them to be intersex?”
“Mazer doesn’t think so, and I’m inclined to believe him.”
“Still, it’s pretty extraordinary.”
“I figure it’s not all that different from the story of how you got here.”
“Uh… what?” I struggled to draw comparisons between our situations.
“Andy was conceived from a contract with Mazer. A simple exchange of gender affirming care at the cost of my first born. Is that not essentially what you have with Dr. Davis?” Mikah made a meaningful glance at my neck where my little bell hung.
“I— uh…” my face warmed. “Gene modding was in the job description. Fertility stuff is a new development.”
“Uh-huh” Mikah’s tone was drowning in mirth and doubt. “Show me a trans-fem without a breeding kink and I’ll give away my stuffed shark plushie.”
“That’s— you realize that says just as much about you as it does me, right?” I lowered my voice as my flustered reaction caught the attention of the rest of the group. “I never said anything about kinks.”
Mikah smirked, looking unbearably smug as she cast her gaze lazily from my hooves to my horns. “My mistake.” She continued to grin in a way that stated very clearly that no mistake had been made. “All I’m saying is make sure you’re extra certain about how many kids you want to have before you bite off more than you can chew.”
I rubbed my face and groaned. “I’ll take it under advisement.”
“I’m a little surprised that pregnancy wasn’t one of the first steps. Isn’t it standard practice to impregnate the dairy cows fairly regularly?”
“Shhhhh” I could hear Xander suppressing giggles at Mikah’s teasing and worst of all I felt a new sort of warmth as the humiliation mixed with a Pavlovian arousal that Carolyn had no doubt trained into me.
I could explain how Carolyn designed my biology to lactate without pregnancy, but the fact was I really wished I had been knocked up as soon as I came to the farm.
I’d had so many dreams of being tied up and creampied, and I’d done nothing at all to keep from associating lactation with sex.
“You’re evil.” I muttered under my breath as I stood up and smoothed my romper. My tail flicked side to side, broadcasting my agitation as I fidgeted.
“I’m going to go do an extraction.” I announced to nobody in particular as I headed for my stall. I knew I’d left a harness pre-configured so I didn’t waste any time shutting myself inside.