“We had never felt safe to travel far from there,” Rynal said as he held Aiden. “Our mates feared for us to travel here, because we had to pass a mountain full of ore. With things as they are, no one even noticed us as we moved past it.”


    “Your mates?” I asked curiously. “They did note with you?”


    “Of course they came,” Holden answered, “still, there used to be much danger from the ving women in the past. Travel was dangerous. Our mates would do anything to protect us, but they could easily be outnumbered…”


    “Halil,” I said softly, “she was your mate?”


    The men all smiled lightly and touched one another. “She is still part of us,” Hodlen said with some reverence. “We felt her go to The Great Harmonious Spirit. Halil’s Sisters would have preferred to give her back to the Paterian fire in our home, but it was not possible. I wish she had lived long enough to have seen her male offspring bonded before she joined The Spirit, as was her fervent desire.”


    I nodded solemnly and told them how she had instructed the ving women on the benefits of freedom before she died.


    “She was always an agent of The Great Spirit,” Spartian said softly and his Brothers agreed.


    Hodlen and his Brothers focused back on the boys and Mycah’s family was happy for the attention. They described the bathing pool and the alien attack. Jonathan told them abouting here from thepound. The little ones wanted to show them their scars and the men all discouraged them. No one wanted to interrupt what the Healers were doing for our boys. The wraps over their wounds stayed in ce.


    “Let the Healers show us when they are ready,” Damien said patting Mycah’s head.


    Holden looked to Damien to tell them exactly what had happened at the pool. I saw Rynal almost puff with pride looking down at his boy as Damien spoke. Our sons had fought with valor.


    “Strong and loyal, like us, Brothers,” he said holding Aiden happily as his Brothers patted his shoulders.


    Damien and his Brothers had picked up the clothing that Mycah’s family had left at the pool. We helped the little ones put on their pants and shoes. Since Jonathan and Aiden couldn’t wear a shirt, yet, we only fully dressed the other three. As we were finishing I heard a happy shoute from across the room.


    Tyle and his family ran to us and looked excitedly at Hodlen and his family. I saw the resemnce in an instant. Tyle was Hodlen’s male offspring. He absolutely had to be.


    By now Hodlen’s family was getting used to hugging and kissing. It wasn’t their way, but they epted the affection from Tyle’s young family. They looked at me as they took the greeting. My influence was hard to deny. It was a testament to my freedom that I felt I could share Earth tradition. I was d I had.


    “We have talked many times on the monitor sinceing here,” Tyle exined to Damien’s family. “They contacted us soon after we were brought here. We didn’t tell you all because…”


    The young man faltered looking at Hodlen and Damien patted the young man’s shoulder in reassurance.


    “very was not something we should have been a part of,” he said simply and the surrounding family agreed.


    The Healers came and unwrapped the wounds on our youngest family members. It amazed me how fast Paterians recovered. Aiden’s cuts were well on their way to being healed and most of Jonathan’s were not even oozing. My boys and their male breeders were all proud of the resulting scars. Our boys were fearless.


    The Healers re-wrapped the worst of it after applying some salve. They allowed us to take the boys from the infirmary, but insisted we keep them calm for the rest of the day cycle.


    “No fighting, no climbing, no jumping, and no running,” Rhane exined inly. “The little ones must rest. If there is any concern bring them back to us without hesitation.”


    “Will water hurt the wounds?” I asked.


    “They can swim tomorrow,” Rhane’s Brother said thoughtfully. “Do not let the wounds get wet tonight.”


    Tyle’s family listened to the instructions as well and piped up to remind the Healers Molly would be staying with them. Tyle’s family stayed near us in the same secludedplex. Our new Healer’s assistant would help watch the boys, also. That seemed to please Rhane. Molly had already proved herself to have a knack for healing. We should trust her judgment.


    It was easier to control Mycah and his Brothers with so much family around. As we walked through the busy halls I was d for the assistance. I imagined that in the distant past it was always like this. The children’s care could be spread between all their breeders. It would have been a superior system.


    “We need to find the others,” Hodlen was saying to Damien. “Our families share male offspring with several other families. All of us should be in the same ce. Now that we are all free men we should be close.”


    “We must contact the others, now that they are all free,” Kee said seriously.


    In the past, at least one of those families would be men that were good at Keeping and training children during the day. Hodlen’s family didn’t want to use unrted Child Keepers if they had an option. Family would be the best to care for the young.


    “Things are going back as they should be,” Rynal said happily. “This is how we always wanted to live. We have dreamed of this a long time.”


    Our conversation was cut short as the boys grabbed our attention.


    “Daddy,” Jonathan suddenly wailed loudly, “I want to swim! We didn’t get to swim enough this morning!”


    We all looked at my upset little boy. The tunnel to the bathing pool wasing up and Jonathan obviously remembered that.


    “There might be aliens,” Mycah said as his eyes lit up with excitement and then I saw the fear. “Do we need to fight the aliens in the water to swim every time?”


    “They might catch us!” Rees intoned sounding rmed.


    Niah’s little teeth grew and I saw him getting upset. The boys were caught between excitement and trepidation. They wanted to swim, but the big aliens were something to worry about.


    Damien’s calm voice settled the boys as the men picked them up.


    “The aliens that got inside are gone now and won’te back,” Damien said. “We barred all the entrances they were using. Men protect those entrances now, also. There are no aliens to fight and none will catch you. Your older family will protect you. In the morning we will swim again.”


    The little ones looked around at the ten powerful men. It eased the distress that they had been feeling. Mycah in particr seemed to rx in Spartian’s strong arms. He wasn’t solely responsible for his small family anymore. My family realized how much better this life would be for our boy. He and his Brothers should grow up protected and loved.


    “My Brothers and I cannot swim,” Tos said as we passed the damp tunnel leading to the bathing hall. “We lived in a dry area. There was very little underground water and none above ground. We have never learned.”


    Evan shrugged and patted the other man’s arm in reassurance. There was no shame in thisck of ability. Certainly this family would have much to teach us. We would share everything with them.This content ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    “We will teach you, cousin,” he said simply.