by Rena Marks
He retrieved a large pot from the cabinet, listened to Titi babble angrily when he swiveled the faucet away to fill his pot, and then swung it back to her to calm her. He placed the pot on the old-fashioned stove to heat.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, and strode out the front door. He wasn’t too worried about the female escaping. He sensed she wouldn’t leave Titi unattended.
He made his way into the deserted ship and headed toward the stasis unit. They were low on Lintec. He grabbed two from stasis, putting one in a cage to awaken, and putting the other in a replicator. He’d have to remember to come back in the morning when it finished to place the two back in stasis. And reprimand his men to not allow the stock to run low. There was no wildlife on the planet. If they couldn’t replicate meat, they would lose it forever.
Unless they sucked up their pride and asked for another ship to bring supplies, whatever they could spare. No, they’d never do that. They were already the laughingstock of the fleet.
He entered the code for a slow replication, which would be the best process for high quality food. These women deserved the best.
He remembered what the female had said about the claws snapping at them. Quickly he grabbed some string and twined it around the creature’s claws. When it awoke, it would not pinch his female while she slaughtered it. And boiled it. He grimaced. It sounded like it would be a horrible meal. But with those strange teeth, how else would she tear into the meat? She’d be forced to eat mashed protein bars, like Titi.
He grabbed the cage and headed home, waving at Kamau. The male stood on his small porch, looking confused as pots and pans banged inside his home. Then, as if he was ashamed of his leader finding him at his wit’s end, he turned and headed back inside.
Tristan chuckled under his breath. Not all of his cocky men were doing so well. They would do well to pay attention to how he’d gotten things under control in his own household.
Chapter Five
Lara had no idea what happened to the sexy strange alien. He was here one minute, and gone the next. She had no idea of anything, really. They spoke an odd language that she didn’t understand, but his child? What a doll.
They finished washing her hands, and as she dried one of them, Titi sucked the liquid off the fingers of her other, and then offered it to her to dry. Lara laughed at the baby’s antics, and swung her onto her hip while she looked around. Two higher chairs sat at the small work station in the center of the kitchen, and a small table sat in the corner, with lower height chairs. Lara grabbed one from the station and dragged it over to the kitchen table. It was the perfect height for Titi to sit with them, a sort of makeshift highchair.
“That will keep you in line, cutie,” she said, touching the tip of her upturned nose. “Now, to find you a nice safe area to play while I make some dinner. Because, I don’t know about you, but I’m starved. And I wouldn’t mind eating before tall, dark and handsome returns. I don’t know what he’s about, but he’s brooding and bizarre. Plus, I need to find my girls.”
The baby gurgled.
“Where do you come from, precious? He called you Titi, right?”
“Titi!” The toddler pounded on the table.
“I think all the kids are a bit of a different race, aren’t you?” She took in the baby’s elfin, pointed ears. The purple skin. The dark eyes. The glorious, almost unnatural, lashes that framed her eyes.
Lara quickly peeled the vegetables, and set the oven to on. A small flame burned in the center.
“So cool,” she told Titi. “It’s like a barbecue grill. One day, I’ll find some wood. You’ll love the smoky flavor on your food. What do you suppose he’s going to do with the pot of boiling water?”
And then she heard his footsteps coming up the porch.
* * * * *
When he pushed open the door, he could hear the smooth babbling of the females. Titi and Lara.
His women were getting along famously. He felt a relieved weight lift from his chest. He knew his chubby little offspring could do it. She’d charm the teacher, and when his redhead was ensnared, he may as well move in with his own charm.
Life was good.
He grinned at them. “Hello, little one,” he greeted, kissing the top of Titi’s fuzzy hair. The wispy hairs tickled his nose. “I brought the Lintec,” he said, taking the creatures to the stove. He plopped them into the pot.
The shrieks of the sea creatures were horrifying. Good, that meant the meat would be rich and sweet. Only the best for his family.
He turned to see equally shocked faces of both Titi and Lara. “What?” he said.
“Did you just put those creatures into boiling water?” Lara said, going over to the pot to sneak a peek. She looked slightly green.
“Are you feeling well, my mate?” he asked her. “Let me take care of dinner.” Tenderly, he led her back to the table, where she could sit with Titi. He opened the oven, noticing the vegetables she flamed over an open fire. He removed them, and brought them to the table, setting the smoking niblets far from Titi’s reach. Then he turned off the stove and brought the steaming Lintecs to the table.
“I’m trying to think of this as lobster,” Lara said. “But it’s not even the same color. It’s really kinda gross.”
He wasn’t sure what that color was, but he took his knife and pierced the creature, cutting it into chunks.
“Well, that’s weird. It looks like…steak. Red meat. I was expecting a white fish.”
He forked a steaming piece and brought it to her lips. “Try this, mate. You will love it. I swear.”
“Oh, boy,” she said, before biting the piece. He watched her eyes grow round. “That’s good!”
He stared into her eyes, and she stared back. He wanted to do nothing else but make her happy. Her small pink tongue darted out, wetting her lips.
He groaned. What would it feel like to have her licking him?
Titi banged her fist on the table.
“Da!”
He groaned again, but this time it had an entirely different meaning. “You are a mood-killer,” he told her, and cut a piece into a tiny portion she could gnaw on.
He dropped it into her mouth, and she mimicked Lara, licking her lips and moaning. He looked toward Lara to see if she’d grow offended. She glanced back, and giggled.
“She’s so silly.”
“We will be a good family,” he said. He just knew it.
They’d finished eating, but couldn’t even get to the second Lintec. The vegetables Lara had flamed were quite filling, and since she didn’t know he was processing the Lintec, she’d cooked far too many.
She was wiping Titi’s hands and mouth when he called her over to peer out the window.
“Who’s that?” she asked, as they watched the curtain dance over the window.
“It is your friend. The loud one,” he said. “Shall we take them some dinner? I doubt if they have gotten the food processed.”
“I hope she’s okay. It sounds like it might be Anita.”
Something shattered inside, making them all wince.
“I’ll wrap up the rest of the food,” Lara said. “Doesn’t sound like she’s cooked.”
They walked across the way to Kamau’s residence. From the front porch, he could hear banging and shrieking. Without bothering to knock, because Kamau wouldn’t hear anyway, he pushed open the door.
“Oh my gawd, Lara, are you okay?” The female with hair the color of mud still screeched, running toward his female, and holding onto her in a way that would make him jealous if she had been male.
Kamau looked distressed and relieved, at the same time.
Near his side, little Tomlak stood, eyes wide with all the commotion. He was the largest and most intelligent of all the offspring, and the first one awakened aboard the vessel they’d discovered. He was quite a help with the others.
“Tomlak, are you well? Frightened?” Tristan growled, one eye on the wild female.
“A little,” he responded, his
words decipherable even though he had a bit of a strange accent. “I don’t know why she’s so mad.” His eyes filled with tears and Kamau hauled him up as if he was as small as Titi, hugging him to his chest.
“It is all right, Tomlak,” Kamau murmured, his large hand caressing the small one’s back.
It no longer surprised him as to how touchy feely his strong warriors had become.
Titi began to wail, upset for her friend. He picked her up, but she raised her arms to Tomlak.
Kamau didn’t hesitate. He took Titi into his other arm where she could cuddle and cry with Tomlak, too. Tristan couldn’t help it. He stared accusingly at the mud-haired woman.
She looked guilty.
“Anita, I think you’ve scared him,” his mate said to her friend.
“I—I didn’t realize,” she said.
Tristan snorted and both women looked at him.
“I think that one’s pissed,” Anita said.
“He’s not bad. Just protective. I think he’s worried about the kids.”
“I don’t blame him,” Anita said, her voice smaller than before. “I should have paid more attention. I was just so frustrated. I don’t know what the hell they want.”
“I think they need help with their babies. And look at this place. They just need help.”
“Help? He tied me to the stove in there.”
“You were obviously out of control, female,” Tristan snarled, while the little ones still sobbed.
With a quick glance at him, Lara continued. “He was probably trying to ask you to help him with dinner. I don’t think they’ve figured out how to mind their kids on their own. Tristan doesn’t have a playpen, or a high chair. I had to move a barstool to the kitchen table to use. He looked impressed. Well, as much as he can when he’s not scowling.”
“They kidnapped us. Kept us prisoners. Tried to kill us with those pinching monsters.”
“Oh, that.” Lara went to the front door, where Tristan had placed the covered plate of food he’d brought over. “I figured that out. That monster was supposed to be our dinner. I’m not sure they knew we take our—ick—meat cooked.” She shuddered. “He checked my teeth. I had no idea what he was doing, but then he brought the creature in. It’s like a beef-lobster, I think.” She uncovered the meal she’d brought for the family.
“Oh, shit,” Anita said. “I feel like such a heel.”
“I wonder how the others are doing?” Lara said.
“I don’t’ know. If the harsh one brought you here, maybe he’ll take us to see the rest?”
Just then, they all heard Kamau’s stomach growl. Titi giggled, which made Tomlak snicker, too. Titi babbled in her strange language and poked Kamau in the belly.
Tristan sighed. “Females do not reach out and poke warriors anywhere below the chest. Titi, we have discussed this.”
His tiny kid bellowed at him.
Lara snickered. “I believe she’s mimicking you. You’ll have to watch all those growls and shouts you do. Come, let’s get you all fed.” She took the plate of food to their small kitchen table, and her friend Anita looked ashamed as she began to pick up pots and pans she’d thrown around the small space.
“All the houses look the same,” Lara said, looking around at the layout.
Was that odd for their species? It had made sense when they built these. They certainly were built faster that way and since they had been crammed onto the ship, time was of the essence.
Tristan went over to the small table and righted the four chairs around it, then grabbed the two higher stools at the counter, bringing them over for the offspring.
“We shall have to get used to calling them kids,” he said.
“That one called him my sun,” Kamau said.
“Sun? Like the stars in the day-sky?”
Kamau shrugged. “I suppose.”
“Sun,” Tristan said to Titi. “You do not need to eat. You shall simply visit with Tomlak while he does.”
Lara giggled. “They learned an English word. Almost. Tristan,” she said, pointing at Titi. “She’s your daughter. Not your son. Boys are sons. Girls are daughters.”
Titi banged her fist on the table, demanding a small green vegetable from Tomlak’s plate. He handed it to her.
Tristan sighed. “She never stops being hungry. It is embarrassing.”
“She’s cute,” Anita said. “So chubby. I wonder why all the children are the same shade of purple? But the men are various shades of gray? Except for yours. And none of the kids have horns.”
“I don’t know,” Lara said. “They almost look like completely different species, with those downward pointing fairy ears. And the way the ears jut out. They’re a little bit lower, too. They’re actually quite pretty compared to our tiny, flat ears. Maybe we’ll find out when we learn the language. I’d like to talk to the others so we can compare notes on what they’ve learned.”
“We can learn a lot from them without them knowing we understand,” Kamau said to him. “It was a brilliant idea.”
“Father Kamau,” Tomlak whispered. His long, fluttery eyelashes swept over his cheekbones like wings as he peeked at the females. “I’m done. Can me and Titi go play in my room?”
Father Kamau. Tristan felt a bit of envy. Kamau had taught his kid how to address him. He wished he could someday hear a term like that from Titi’s limited vocabulary.
“Yes, you may,” Kamau said, his cheekbones slightly flushed a darker gray than his silver skin. He refused to look Tristan’s way. Tristan scooted Titi from her chair, and lowered her to the floor, taking a cloth from the table and wiping her small hands. Not that it would do much good. She would rewet them from her mouth liquids. But it was what Lara would do, and he wanted to make a good impression.
Then Tomlak scooted from the table. “Come, Titi.”
She tried to run after him, but knocked into walls clumsily.
“I think we’ll have to teach them basic manners,” Anita said. “Like how to take their plates to the sink.”
“We’re definitely starting from scratch here. I think it’s easier because Titi is so young. Though she takes more time to watch over.”
“I feel terrible that I didn’t even think about how Tomlak felt watching my meltdown,” Anita said. “I was so selfish.”
“You were scared,” Lara said. “It’s been a rough week.”
Kamau spoke softly under his breath. “Lintec tastes different like this.”
“It has been boiled in water and salted. My female says we should have butter. I am not sure what that is. We will have to figure that out tomorrow.”
“How do you think the others fare?” Kamau asked.
Tristan shrugged. “It is hit or miss, depending upon the female. I think mine adapts rather well.”
“Her eyes follow you frequently. I believe she already knows she is your mate.”
“I picked her for her coloring,” Tristan bragged. “Her red hair will look complimentary spread over my chest.”
“Yes. I picked mine because she was the last one left. I do not think she is receptive to me.”
“It is not your fault that your skin is so light,” Tristan said, avoiding telling him it was ugly. “She will grow to like it. After all, she has hair the color of mud. You overlook that.”
Still Kamau sighed. “Mine grew angry when I tied her to the stove. She didn’t understand when I told her to make dinner. I was about to give up and just go to the replicator for a meal, but I didn’t want her to run away. So I tied her.”
“I would have done the same. But I knew mine would not leave Titi alone while I was picking up the Lintec. Yours does not seem to be as caring.”
Kamau defended her. “She does care. She feels bad now that she realizes she scared Tomlak.”
“Are they fighting?” Anita whispered to Lara, her eyes wide. “It looks like they’re going to bang horns, like fighting bulls.”
“I think they’re just not aware enough to use their inside voices. There wasn
’t a single female here. They’ve probably lost all their manners.”
“We are mannerless?” Kamau looked at him, stricken. “I had no idea.”
“Nor did I. So we should be whispering indoors?”
“I think so. We should tell the others.”
Tristan nodded. “During tomorrow’s meeting. We also must share not to tie them, and that they boil their meat. Oh, and not to check their teeth. Mine did this.” He held up his swollen finger. “You would be able to see the bruising if my skin was not so dark.”
Kamau was aghast. “All because you were looking at her teeth? They are vicious. Should they be around our young?”
“She is completely different around Titi. Her nurturing side comes out. You will see with your own female.”
Screaming howled from the small hallway, as Titi came from the second bedroom, bawling her eyes out. Tomlak was on her heels. In one hand she held a small humanoid toy, in the other, the detached head.
“She put it on a spaceship, but it fell off and crashed onto the floor. The head came off,” he hurriedly explained to Kamau, speaking loudly over the din.
“Oh, look,” Anita said. “She has a baby-doll.”
Tristan cuddled his small daught-er onto his lap, listening carefully when she babbled nonsensically and waved the doll.
Lara jumped to her feet. “Oh, sweet, let me see that.” She took the two pieces from Titi, while she curled her chubby legs up and sobbed onto his chest, wetting the front of him. He was barely aware of his female going to the kitchen counter with the other female and rummaging through drawers.
When they returned, Lara held out the doll to Titi. Suddenly, her tears magically dried up and she reached for it. The head was re-attached and the neck tied up with a strip of cloth. Titi squirmed off his lap, grabbing Tomlak’s hand and toddling back to his bedroom.
“Disaster averted,” Lara said, and she and Anita sat to calmly begin talking again.
“See what I mean?” Tristan asked. “She is very nurturing toward Titi. It is almost as if she is aware of her lower intelligence.” He knew his voice was sad.
Kamau reached out and placed his hand over his. “None of us think any less of your daughter. She is one of ours. She is not defective, she is simply special. She has special needs, like to be coddled. And who knows? Someday she may stop leaking everywhere. Until then, we will just keep wiping her up.”
