We all sat quietly for a moment as the girls conversed internally.


    “Well,” Dara said still deep in contemtion, “it is a good sign for the men. They trusted Mama to take care of her own body. She said she wanted them and they assumed the fertility was up to her. How often have we told them they had to leave her body to her to care for?”This is from N?velDrama.Org.


    “If we’re talking about breeding it’s up to ALL of them,” Kennedy said staring down at me darkly. “It does take two of them.”


    A thought prodded me from outside. Christof was curious what had our offspring looking so serious. I thought about lying to him and hiding my mistake, but that would be frowned upon by the family. Secrets were not tolerated in the family.


    Instead of hiding it, I told Christof I was not using anything for birth control and I did not know if I was fertile.


    I saw the stunned looks from across the room. The men had been trying to be respectful of my rights. They had been told I could control my own body. Damien’s Brothers did not ask if I was fertile, because that was my business.


    There was mixed feeling in my family. Damien thought I was not learning to take care of myself well enough. Perhaps Hannah or Kennedy could do something to intensify my education. Freedom and responsibility went hand in hand, he believed. My body was mine to protect and monitor.


    Bane and Christof understood the mistake. We had just been too long without one another. Yes, we had all done something foolish, but if it resulted in more family, that was not necessarily a bad thing.


    “Hey, Earth to Mama!” Kennedy snapped waving her hand in front of my face.


    Dara’s eyes narrowed and Eve cocked her head at me. Damn, these intelligent girls, they’d figure it all out if I kept acting strange.


    “Interesting,” was all Dara said, as they all rose from the table.


    “We are due to patrol today and we have responsibilities to help at a camp not far from hereter today,” Kennedy said. “My sisters and I will help determine your… cycle. Don’t do anything foolish until then.”


    “Perhaps you could train some with Rue and his Brothers today,” Eve added. “They have developed shields on the transports. If the men had to defend themselves from attacking women the shields raise and enclose the transport. You and Rose should learn to use them. Your skin is softer than anyone else’s.”


    A hug and a kiss and the girls went to bid Christof and the family goodbye.


    Life changed slowly over the next many day cycles for Damien and his Brothers. More and more men approached them. They were invited to more functions. The camp began to truly ept them for the first time.


    We quickly learned the way campmates interacted was different from the way men had in thepound. Men in the camp relied on other families. Physically weak men would not feel ashamed to ask a stronger family to help them do something. Men like Damien and his Brothers were encouraged to ask questions when they didn’t understand. Theirck of knowledge did not have to be hidden. Everything was shared.


    This trust the other men encouraged them to take part in was a little confusing to my husbands. In thepound you always kept your family’s secrets close. While friendships were encouraged, you couldn’t depend on other men. A family had to watch out for itself and be very cautious. Things in the camp were the pr opposite.


    For instance, Damien had panicked when a man from another family noted Christof’s mark in the bathing pool one evening. My men had feared that the Earth heritage would make Christof and the family a target. It did not. The other men merely introduced my family to other men with Earth ancestors.


    It wasmon knowledge Christof’s skin might be weaker, but that wasn’t looked down on and no one wanted to test the theory. Our campmates wanted to know about each of my men individually. Men in the camp knew there were things my husbands would have hidden in thepound. Damien and his Brothers found the entire thing amazing.


    Once the other men got over thebel they’d put on Damien, Basin, and Stayne the dream of freedom became a reality. This way of living was far better than anything they’d experienced before. The free men encouraged them to form strong rtionships outside the family and that felt so right to my men. They had not realized how isted they’d been.


    Our bond grew stronger as the days went on, too. I could connect to them and they to me during the day. It wasn’t like before, though. The bond now was something I could control. When the men’s collective thoughts were too loud or too distracting, I could literally turn it off. I had the freedom of my own mind and the collective of the family when I needed it. I was not lost or controlled in this bonding.


    At night, my family and I were physically inseparable, but we tried to do things that were “safe”. Mund’s family and their friends continued to look the other way when Rose and I visited every night. It was wonderful.


    Even Armant and his Brothers capitted to the change in the camp. Rose and I were certainly different from before, perhaps the men we imed were changed were different, too. Our co-workers decided they would take a meal with the ex-vers. It was the appropriate thing to do.


    Armant and his Brothers found they liked our men. Both our families were tough and genuine. They had grown and learned sinceing here. When asked Damien and Basin freely admitted they had made mistakes. Our friends found them different from what they expected.


    Stayne and his Brothers had been a question in my mind. I noted they never said anything publicly about liking or not liking very anymore. However, when Fuji appeared, which was often, they deferred to her wishes. They appeared to appreciate her changes. Damien thought they might finally be understanding the importance of freedom.


    It had helped when Stayne’s female breeder visited the camp. She was a fierce looking female, but her eyes were sad. Watching the little boys grow up in the free camps near their breeders was far superior. She freely admitted very had stifled Stayne and his Brothers. The woman apologized for her mistake.


    Everything was looking better and brighter until the inevitable happened. I woke one morning about a moon cycleter feeling… off. Rose and I made our usual early morning dash to our rooms. We got there and I felt worse and worse until I vomited.


    Rose wasn’t sick, so it wasn’t something contagious and I felt better once I was done. After I rinsed my mouth I sat in front of our small fire and stared into it. The subtle connection to my men was still there, pulsing just beneath my own thoughts. It was stronger now, though, less like an option to participate and more like apulsion.


    “Well,” Rose said hesitantly cing a hand on my still t belly, “the camp is epting them better. Perhaps it is time to…”


    We sat and stared at one another. Neither of us was sure what we should do. There was very little we could say that would make a difference to the Administrators. Their minds were made up.


    “We have a few moons before I even start to show,” I said firmly. “The men will have to continue to try and we will have to continue to try. Between us, I’m sure we can affect a change.”


    Rose nodded, but I saw the uncertainty in her features. We’d all changed, but it had not impacted the Administrators yet. Hassar and her Sister were the lead females. They watched Rose and I. They liked it when we interacted with any member of the camp except our families. We couldn’t seem to make them understand.


    Rose and I were well connected in the camp, especially since saving Abram’s family. Our request for the root was honored quickly. No one even asked why we wanted it, they just helped us acquire some. I took it steadily in my diet and the nausea stayed unnoticed by everyone who mattered.