“Halil?” he finally asked quietly.


    “Gone for now,” I whispered, “you are here with your Brother.”


    Mentioning Jonathan distracted the boy and he grinned at his new ymate. I sat them on the cushions together and they seemed happy. The rest of the room didn’t exist as far as they were concerned.


    Jonathan seemed weaker and more tired than he had when we got here. He sat with Aiden on the cushion next to me and yed calmly with the toys. My son was usually wild, Aiden’s condition was slowing them both down.


    I sat with the two boys for the remainder of the day. Food was brought for me and I fed the boys whenever they wanted. New little ones arrived throughout the afternoon. My two boys didn’t pay any attention to the other children for the most part. They just sat and attended to one another.


    Tosu approachedte in the afternoon and crouched beside us.


    “They still feed from the breast, so they will stay with you. If their other Brotherse the women may force you to stay in this area with us,” she said stroking Aiden’s head. “Their Brothers may be so young their mothers will not bring them yet. If that is so, we will have another gathering like this one in another lunar cycle.”


    Tosu guided me and we walked back toward the incline. Jonathan walked with me, but Aiden had to be carried by Tosu. He didn’t want to leave the great hall we’d been in, though.


    “Halil?” he continued to question Tosu.


    “Your Brother is here,” Tosu told him softly. “Halil has gone to The Great Harmonious Spirit. She brought you to your Brother.”


    The answer did not satisfy the little boypletely, but it moved his focus to Jonathan.


    “He calls her by her name,” I said absently as we approached the incline.


    Tosuughed lightly. “The answer I wish to give you is ‘Of course he does’, but I understand you humans have titles for your male and female breeders. Nu-reeh was quite surprised when Hannah referred to you as Mama. She thought your name had been changed.”


    “On Earth, it’s what they would have called me,” I said picking up Jonathan.


    I propped Jonathan on my hip. He was usually rambunctious and impulsive. I didn’t want him jumping off the incline. Aiden’s presence calmed him, but I wasn’t sure by how much.


    “You could go back to Earth,” she said quietly and I stopped walking I was so surprised. “It is not impossible. Think about what you want,” she finished turning to face me.


    My mind swam with the possibility of going home. No more monsters and no more forced breedings. I could go back to school and get training as a teacher.


    Jonathan yawned in my arms and stretched,ying his head against my shoulder. “He couldn’t go with me,” I said sadly watching my boy, neither could Hannah or Kennedy.


    My children would be alien monsters on Earth. They didn’t look human and could never pass for it. I thought of the movie, “Starman”, where the government had hunted down and killed the first ambassador from another civilization. My children could not even im diplomatic immunity. They’d be poked and prodded and kept in cages. Their freedom would be much more limited than mine was here.


    Damien and his Brothers obviously couldn’t go either, they would be treated as foreign invaders. If I left, I did so without my family.


    “Think on it, Rachel,” Tosu said softly. “One day you will be given the option.”


    ttering talons announced Dinah hade to help Tosu move me and the two little ones down the incline. Iposed my features and allowed myself to be lifted and moved down.


    Once we were on the ground Jonathan was curious again. He only got toe out here when Evan showed him the moons. He scrambled out of my arms and walked with us, exploring everything.


    The women did not let me walk unescorted to the quarters I shared with my friends and family. Tosu and Dinah walked us all to the cave entrance.


    “We wille for you tomorrow,” Tosu advised me, “after the little ones have fed after moon set move them out into the room with the pool. We wille for you all after that.”


    Tosu handed me Aiden and I carried him into therge outer room. Jonathan gripped my skirt and walked beside us. He babbled amicably to Aiden until he saw the pool.


    “Mama, ‘wim!” he demanded loudly pulling insistently on my outfit.


    My men must have heard him and came out to greet us. They stood still when they saw I carried another little boy.


    “Baby, it’ste and Aiden is tired. Come and have an evening meal. We will swimter,” I coaxed.


    Jonathan threw a tantrum and sat down on the floor. He screamed and his stripes became dark and prominent. The upset seemed to spur the same emotion in his Brother. The little boy I held started to fuss and wiggle, suddenly finding the energy.


    Damien took control when it became apparent what was happening.


    “Enough, young ones,” he said firmly, “we will eat our meal and then you may y in the water.”


    The firm male voice soothed both boys and they looked up at the older man expectantly.


    Evan followed Damien and picked up a disgruntled Jonathan. “Evidently,” he said quietly, “you have much to tell us, Sister.”


    I was so d that Jonathan could eat some solid food. He nursed a bit, but was satisfied easily with mashed up things from our tes and messy sips from his Daddy’s cup. Aiden had obviously never eaten solid food and he nursed me dry.


    My family was enthralled as I told them about the process of finding Brothers and Halil’s death. None of them really remembered finding one another. They had foggy memories of the time before they were together, but their first solid memories were at the Child Keepers.


    “It has always been just us, together,” Bane said patting Kein’s back. “I do not remember a time when you were not with me.”


    “It has always been us,” Christof said looking fondly at his Brothers, “just us, together.”


    “Except the other,” Damien said looking pointedly at Evan, “there is someone else, isn’t there?”


    I looked curiously around the table and Evan was deep in thought.Original from N?velDrama.Org.


    “It makes sense now, though,” he said suddenly, as he fed Jonathan bits of soft bread he had dipped into his cup. “I have always sensed… another. It is someone important, as important as my Brothers. This one is not near, though, and the sensation fades almostpletely sometimes.”


    Aiden rested in my arms and I ced a gentle kiss on his forehead. He was sleepy as I dried a little milk from the edge of his mouth.


    “Your female breeder,” I realized out loud.


    Of course, Evan had tasted her. He’d fed from her daily for many moons.


    “It has been a constant in our lives,” Evan said checking Jonathan’s diaper. “I always have this sense. It is so normal we don’t even notice it anymore.”


    “Your female breeder,” Kein mused stretching out his legs, “do you think she feels you?”