Talosian Chronicles 1: Olympus (17 page)

Beth caressed the woman’s head. “Sweetie, you don’t know it yet, but I’m forbidden to intentionally lie to you. If I did lie, I would not only loose the right to practice medicine, but I would also face criminal charges.”

“Still, I guess after the whole shock of finding out about her... like I said, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Beth smiled at the young woman. “I think you might be waiting for a while.”

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“S
o why didn’t you jump in and take over?” Ian asked Janet.

“That would have been a bad idea. The poor woman was having enough trouble with her lover being in that condition. But the main reason is that she wouldn’t have listened to me. She was focused on Debbie, yes, but she was also focused on you and the girls. I’m a stranger to her. Besides, you actually did a really good job with her,” Janet replied.

Jenny snorted. “Uh huh, you were just sluffing off!” She said teasingly.

“Listen here, little girl! If I was ‘sluffing off’ like you say, I’d have stayed with my mates and just let you all deal with this! Respect your elders!” Janet teased back.

“Elders? You're not that damn old! Besides, you work for me!” Jenny countered.

“Girls! Do I have to separate you?” Ian said in a mock-stern voice. “Behave or I might have to spank you both!”

“Hey! Can I get in on this argument?” Cindy asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

Ian gave a well-used sigh of resignation as all the women grinned and got more outrageous in the argument. “Me and my big mouth!”

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A
week and a half later, Debbie and Barb bought out their lease, and packed up their furniture. A call to their battalion commander got them permission to out-process early. Within a month of Barb first meeting Ian and his ladies, the two women were free to face their new lives together without fear of persecution.

Middletown, New York

Saint Catherine’s School for Girls

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G
rowing up, Brittany had been an only child. Her intelligence seemed to repel other girls at her school so she never really made any friends. Her parents had sent her to an all-girl boarding school for the rich when she had been nine. The fact that, even at nine years old, she was already in the sixth grade only made matters worse. With no boys or even men around (even the teaching staff had been female) Brittney was left with little experience interacting with the male gender.

Sure, Brittany had spent holidays with her parents and visiting relatives, but even her cousins seemed to avoid her. Truth be told, Brittany was more comfortable talking with the adults anyway; kids her age had no idea what was going on around them. However, the adults were unsure how to talk to an over-intelligent youngster. So she had muddled through each holiday, patiently waiting until she could get back to her studies.

Eight days after her sixteenth birthday, Brittney’s tiny world shattered when she had been called to the headmistress’ office. One of her least annoying 'aunts' was sitting in a chair waiting for her when she arrived. It was obvious the woman had been crying, and Brittney was informed that her parents had been killed in a car accident the day before. Her aunt was there to take her home.

The headmistress, who was very fond of—and very proud of—her star pupil, told her to go ahead. Brittney had earned enough credits to graduate last semester, but begged permission to be allowed to stay and finish the school year. So with her aunt and the headmistress to help, she packed up her few belongings and left the only place she had really ever called home.

Once in the car, her Aunt Valerie began talking to her; “Sweetheart, I know this is a terrible time for you, but I think there are a few things you need to know. First off, I’m not really your aunt. I met your mother in college and we were roommates.” She hesitated a bit before continuing, “We were also lovers.”

Fresh tears began to slowly fall from her eyes again, so she pulled over. “I loved your mother with all my heart, but since your grandparents would have disowned her if they had found out she was a lesbian, she was forced to date men.

“That’s how I got to know your father. Sandy met this really nice man in our senior year; I’d already met him since we were both pre-law. She fell in love with him, which scared her more than a little, because she still loved me too. Your father, Bill, knew about us, because your mother didn’t feel right about hiding such an important part of herself from him.

“Well, what ended up happening was when Bill and Sandy got married, later that evening in the hotel honeymoon suite, we all pledged our vows to each other. You were conceived that night, by all three of us.” She stopped speaking then, because her sobs were becoming too strong for her to continue.

Brittney had tears running down her cheeks too. Feelings of awe, love, betrayal and loss were mixing up her mind to the point where she couldn’t think. But her instinct made her unbuckle her seatbelt and hug the woman sitting next to her.

“Why didn’t any of you tell me this before?” Brittney asked, attempting to distract herself.

“We didn’t know how you’d react. We didn’t want to bias you either way toward alternative lifestyles. Besides, you were so young back then we didn’t know if you would even understand. When it finally dawned on us how incredibly intelligent you were, we made the decision to send you to this school. We kept finding excuses not to tell you about us. We maintained the illusion of separate lives because of our careers, but I lived with them as much as I could. Most of my clothes are in their closet at your... our house.”

“Would you like me to drive?” Brittney asked. “I’d like to get home. I have a lot of things to think about.”

The woman she had known as ‘Aunt Valerie’ only nodded her head and got out of the car to trade places with Brittney. The rest of the ride home was quiet, but Brittney’s mind was racing.

“I know this is going to sound kinda stupid, but... can I call you Mom now?” Brittney finally asked. If nothing else, the title would distract her from the relationship Valerie had just told her about.

“Sweetheart, you can call me whatever you want. Does this mean things are ‘okay’ between us? You don’t hold it against me, or Bill and Sandy, for not telling you sooner?”

“Mom, for as long as I can remember, I’ve had an abnormal life. The fact that even my parents weren’t normal actually doesn’t surprise me. I do resent the fact that I wasn’t told, but the very fact that you were trying to protect me from that knowledge... well, that’s about the most normal thing I’ve ever felt and I appreciate the attempt.”

Valerie smiled at her daughter. “It’s going to take some getting used to; being called ‘Mom’ finally. I think I like it.”

Brittney smiled sadly back at her; “Well, I might slip, and call you by name every now and then too, so don’t think anything is wrong, okay?”

Valerie nodded, her usual happy personality smothered once again by grief.

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B
rittney found herself having to make the funeral arrangements for her parents. Valerie was almost totally lost in her grief. Brittney could understand the feeling, but curiously she wasn’t as stricken as Valerie was. She decided that perhaps, since she hadn’t really known her parents that well, she was able to remain apart from most of the feelings of grief.

She did love her parents; they’d provided well for her, but all that time apart from them served to distance her from the bulk of the feelings of loss. She was sad, and she would miss them - especially now that she knew more about them, but her sorrow at their loss remained manageable.

After the funeral and the reception, Brittney had driven a very distraught Valerie back to their home. She helped the older woman into the house, up to the woman’s now lonely bedroom, and lay her on the king sized bed the woman had shared with her life-mates.

She removed her mother’s shoes, slipped her own off, and climbed on the bed to hold the woman. Though it was mostly foreign to her, she had read somewhere that love and time would heal all wounds. All Brittney could do now was hold the woman and hope she would recover.

Once Valerie had cried herself to sleep, Brittney smiled. Yes, she would recover. During the day she’d learned that Valerie hadn’t slept since the accident. Carefully getting out of bed, Brittney gently undressed her new mother.

Though Valerie was smaller in the breast than Brittney, she judged her to be about the same size, so the girl slipped to her own room to get an extra nightie. While there, she changed into her own bedclothes.

Much to her consternation, Valerie had gotten under the blankets already, but the folded down blanket on one side was a clear invitation.

“I normally sleep like this, sweetheart,” Valerie said. “If that doesn’t bother you too much, could you hold me tonight?”

“You really did grow up didn’t you, dear?” Valerie said. “It seems like only yesterday you were this slightly pudgy, flat-chested little girl. Now you’re a beautiful young woman. You look so much like Sandy, but you must’ve gotten those breasts from your father’s side.”

Brittney smiled as she slowly climbed into the bed. “It doesn’t really matter, but from your comments, I assume Sandy carried me? Why didn’t you have more children?”

Valerie smiled; “Sandy couldn’t have children. I carried and gave birth to you. I honestly can’t answer you about any more children. We never used birth control; I just never got pregnant again. We made love, in some form or another, almost every night that we were together.”

They were lying on their sides now, facing each other; close, but not touching. Brittney gave her a sad smile. “You know, most people think that an all-girl’s school is nothing but a lesbian sex-fest. I guess it was now that I look back at it, but not for me. I’ve never had a real friend, not to mention a lover. I am a virgin in all ways; I’ve never even kissed someone in a sexual way. No one wanted me. For the longest time, I thought that even my parents didn’t want me.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth. When you were to graduate, your father was going to take you out and buy you the car of your choice, while Sandy and I bought tickets to someplace nice like the Grand Caymans or St. Croix; we were going to take you on a trip too. That was when we were going to explain everything to you.”

Brittney gently leaned forward and kissed the woman on the cheek “Thank you.”

Valerie had told her more than once that Brittney had saved her life that night. If it hadn’t been for the girl being there, Valerie would have followed her mates into death.

Valerie decided to retire from the firm that she and Bill had worked at and the two women took a much needed, extended vacation to Atlantis, in the Bahamas. Before they left they had decided to sell the house and move someplace warm. Valerie signed a lease on a nice house in Phoenix, and while the women went off on vacation, their possessions were moved into it.

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T
alos, New Mexico

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“T
his place is starting to come together, Ian,” Elias said, looking around. It had been two months since that afternoon Ian and Janet recruited Elias. The ship’s repairs were almost to the point of being safe for humans to be aboard again, and the construction crews were working like mad to get their houses built.

When Elias’ company started working out here, Oly brought down a few construction drones and built a huge underground base, complete with a full wing of fighters as well as underground defenses. Currently the underground base was complete, while the town barely resembled what it would eventually become.

Ian and his family were living in an RV, as were the Laskars. Barb and Debbie Reynolds had actually lived on one of the shuttles until the temporary quarters were made available in the base. The construction crews were living in trailer houses purchased as temporary housing. But finally, the new community was starting to feel like a small town.

“Yes, it is. Has anyone noticed that people seem to be ‘disappearing’ when new people show up?” Ian asked.

“Well, there have been a couple of questions asked, but nothing serious, at least not yet.” Elias seemed a bit uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“Elias, just spit it out. What’s eating you?” Ian asked taking a drink of his iced tea.

“Well, I know it’s none of my business or anyone else’s, but... What’s the real relationship between you and the four women you live with?” Elias asked, worried he’d offended his young friend.

“I can’t believe it’s taken two months for anyone to notice.” Ian chuckled. “I'm in love with Jenny, Cindy and Beth, and we have a group relationship. Talena is a really good friend.”

Elias looked confused. “Aren't you worried Say? Everyone seems to frown on the whole group relationship thing.”

“Well, it mostly works because we try to hide it from those who won’t understand. You remember that in Talosian culture, there are no restrictions on who you can love?” When Elias nodded, Ian continued. “That means there are literally no restrictions. Multiple Partner and same sex unions are common and were actually the norm.

“Under Talosian law, I’m married to Beth, and Cindy as well as Jenny, and they are married to each other. We sort of adopted Talena so she had a family in our time, but that little girl is more mature than most adults I’ve ever met,” Ian explained.

“Yes, she is pretty mature. But isn't there a lot of jealousy between them? How do you handle issues like that?” Elias asked.

“There hasn't been any jealousy issues. We talk about everything, and it helps that the girls are as involved with each other as well as with me,” Ian said. “I'm the only male, true, but in reality, I am only one of four lovers.”

Elias took a deep breath and seemed to come to a decision. “Ian, what I’m about to tell you has to stay between us for now, okay?”

“Sure Elias,” Ian said.

Elias took another deep breath, then began. “When I was seventeen, I fell in love for the first time. It wasn’t with Laura, like we’ve told everyone. It was with her best friend; Andrea. Andrea is really my second cousin on my father's side, and was pretty much thought of as the family treasure.