Little Cherine Book 02 - BPost026
“I am thinking of asking Jonah to let us adopt a little girl. It might be easier for him to love her that way so that when we have another child of our own it will be more acceptable to him.”
951
“Easier!! Percy, a child you adopt must be loved even more than you would love a child of your own. Such children carry traumas within them. They must be made to feel very special to you. Children see through you if you only pretend.”
“You know I was only referring to the added complication of incest.”
Ordinx left the people he was talking to and taking my arm drew me aside. “I understand that as a species you need to sleep. We are guests in these bodies and would not wish to harm them. It is at time of darkness you sleep?”
“At night, yes. Do not be concerned, my healer is watching your bodies. If we lose a night of sleep now and then it will not harm us. I am more concerned that the two of you may not be able to sleep if you are not used to sleeping.”
“Solomon is able to reduce his energy levels to simulate sleeping, allowing the body to rest. With us it has been a long time since I last slept. I look forward to it.”
I told the healer to allow the two to feel tired and sleepy. Slowly I got rid of everybody, making arrangements for each of them to have time with our visitors. As they were about to leave, Britta put her arms around my neck and with lips close to my ear whispered, “I need to talk with you soon.” I nodded and she gave me a soft quick kiss and left.
I showed our visitors how we retire to sleep. I explained to Solomon the reason for lying down and as he tried it, he said he could feel how the body enjoys it. I left them and went to my girls who were getting into their beds. I never ask how they decide which bed to sleep in, nor was I surprised to see that they do not like sleeping alone, always at least two and sometimes three of them sleeping together. I saw that Laura and Aganthi were in my bed tonight.
We all woke up late so we had a brunch. Rather than quantity, we concentrated on providing a large variety, wanting our guests to sample as many tastes as possible.
Ordinx complained, but he sounded happy, “You are doing me a disservice Robert. When my body died and I went to live in my World, it took a very long time for me to get over my love of food. So many tastes would return to me even decades after my death! I love these fruit you have.”
The girls all pulled faces and I laughed. “Ordinx, what you are eating we call lemons. Their sour taste is used to add flavour to other fruit and meals we eat. It is fairly rare for anyone to eat it as a fruit. I like a slice or two with salt on it.”
“I notice a large amount of the foods you eat are from animals. Do you kill the animals?”
“Some we do. The milk, butter and cheese, the eggs too, they are products from the animals. The bacon and meat we eat, that does require we kill the animals. There is a strong movement today against the slaughter of animals for this purpose. There is a very large number of people all over the world who only eat fruits and vegetables, they will not touch meat.
I do not encourage that among the Cherinians. I do not stop them from being vegetarians, but I find it hypocritical. We evolved as creatures that are omnivores. We eat plants and meat. That is our nature. To deny our own nature I think is wrong. Whenever our scientists have said that nature was wrong, that certain parts of our bodies were superfluous, not needed, years later they discovered that nature had put them there for a reason. I believe it is the same with meat.
With the size of our population there is very little space left to nature where animals can still live. If we were all to become vegetarians, then there would be no reason for those animals to exist - I am talking commercially, so it is likely all those species would be allowed to die out.
If either of you find it unpleasant to eat anything on the table, please tell us. You are our guests and no offence will be taken in your dislike of our foods.”
“I was caught unprepared last night. I was intending to lower my energy levels to enable the body of Henry to sleep. Instead the body seemed to take over. Without expecting it I fell asleep. It is similar to our hibernation though it is populated with hallucinations.”
“We call those dreams.”
952
“That is confusing. You keep on telling us you dream of bringing changes for your people and ours. Do you mean you are hallucinating this while you sleep?”
I had to explain between comments from the girls as they made fun of me.
“We have now slept. I suggest Robert that when it is time to sleep we return to our own lives and allow the owners of these bodies to return. There is no reason for them to be deprived of their bodies just for us to sleep.”
“I differ with you. I think it is important you spend your time here without you returning to the void. When it is necessary so as to change bodies, you should only be there for the shortest time possible. Only that way will you get used to the novelty of the bodies you wear and start to feel what it is like to be humans of this world.”
“I suspect you are planning for us to feel more than we expected.”
“If some of the other Cherinians knew what I want to do, I think they would kick me out. Once you have grown accustomed to being in a healthy body, with the comforts that come from wealth, the easy availability of food and warmth for instance, I wish to torture you. I would like to make you feel what it is like to be starving, dying from hunger and thirst. I would like you to feel what it is like to be homeless, huddling in the snow, freezing.”
The girls were shocked. Only Sam had a thoughtful look. Dommi was almost in tears. This went against her ingrained sense of hospitality.
“You will excuse me please, I need to talk to my wives.” I spoke to my loves, “Girls, I have upset you. Let us start at the beginning. You think of our guests as being friends who are visiting us. They are not only that. They are aliens who have come here to learn what it means to be of our species.
We can show them our art. Throw our great literature at them. Tell them of all the dreams of man, our aspirations. We can show them the mud we are dragging ourselves out of. Even tell them about the suffering, the senseless cruelty. Tell them of our pointless wars.
They will leave without knowing us!
To understand us, they need to feel the instincts that drive us; evolutionary and cultural. The desperate needs that can make us forget to be human beings and turn us into creatures worse than animals. They need to feel, not just know. They have met Lua, our dear Chinese girl. They need to understand why her mother wanted to kill her - and herself for honour. They need to feel the anger that sent me out as a raging beast to kill Richard, the father of Wendy. They need to understand how out of that horrible, terrible suffering of hers grew the music, the gift she has that has made life so much richer for all of us.
If I could, I would make them feel all of the possible sufferings and emotions, but that would be cruel. They could not handle them. So we make them feel at least that which they can bear. Do you understand or are you going to fight me on this?”
Aganthi spoke up, her heart-shaped face pale but defiant. “It is still wrong! If you must teach them, then I will open my mind and heart to them. Let them feel it through me. You may strike me, hurt and starve me. It would not be right to make them feel it in their own bodies.”
They all agreed with her and made the same offer.
Samantha was the most belligerent of them. “Robert, you say they are not here as friends. They are my friends!! You are wrong.”
“Oh Sammy baby, you too? Even my Cherine.” I told our alien guests, “You see that I did not exaggerate when I told you I would be thrown out by the Cherinians. I do not think your hearts have felt the true meaning of what the girls have offered. Both of you, look into Aganthi. Soon as you can, see what kind of life she has lived and then consider that she offers to take your pain. See what pain she has already endured. I am very proud to have her as my wife and soon mother of my child.
Your inability to appreciate what the girls offered is what makes me feel it is necessary to cause you pain and harm. You can only see their generosity in a theoretical sense. You cannot even begin to appreciate what courage and selflessness was just shown, nor what love they must feel for you.”
“I have no objection for myself. I do not approve though of having the bodies we are using suffer because of us.”
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“It has been my decision and for that reason it will be my body that you will use.”
I waited until the girls calmed down, their upset having brought Alki and Marian running over. They rushed to him, pleading with him to stop me. His face became drawn and pinched as he listened to what I proposed doing.
As if life were suddenly too great a load, he sank into a chair. He sat with head bowed for a moment.
“I will not interfere kores mou (my daughters). I do not like this, but I refuse to interfere. Except for one thing. Roberto, I do not allow you to use your own body. You will use mine.”
Before I could answer Wendy let out a wail. Meli and Cherine knelt by Ordinx, taking hold of his hands.
“I beg you do not allow him. He will not listen to us. His body wants to die. If he does it, it will die.”
“Girls, we now have tissue samples that are healthy. Even if my body dies we can grow a new one.” Even Dommi joined their cries of protest.
Solomon and Ordinx stood up. “Friend Robert, we regret we cannot accept. You are taking this too far.”
“Then you will agree to something else?”
“What now?”
“I will take you to feel the agony of others who suffer. You must promise to open your minds and take their pain as your own. To look into their minds and see what has brought them to their condition. It will be far worse for you, for this will be real suffering. Some of the minds will be filled with bitterness and hate. I warn you, the worst, the most difficult minds for you to share from, will be those that are filled with love and courage.”
“We will not cause harm to our bodies?”
“None at all. If you grieve you will feel as if your hearts ache, you will feel pain in your chest or throat. They are the pains in your mind, no harm is being done to the bodies.”
“Then I agree.”
“I do also.”
“That is settled then. Before you see any of this suffering we spoke of, I would like you first to share with us some of the beauty of our world. Solomon, to understand why those who suffer continue to fight to live, you need to see what a material world has to offer. Our bodies have the sense of taste, touch, sight and of hearing. Above those are the senses of our mind. The ability to feel love, loyalty and so on.”
We spent the next few days travelling. Jonathan had his opportunity to show them his art galleries and museums, though he found it difficult to be quite as proud of our achievements as he’d thought he would be. Knowing that the people of Ordinx had been far in advance of us when they abandoned their planetary life was making our history seem trite. I had to pump him up, give him reasons to feel proud of us again.
By using Niko, Alki, Elia and Wing, we were able to extend the number of countries we could jump to and showed them mountains and rivers, plains, cliffs and deserts. We even stayed a couple of days in the beautiful Seychelles Islands, just lying on the beach soaking up the sun and taking walks under the moonlight.
Solomon developed quite a craving for lobsters, crayfish and other crustaceans. Ordinx re-discovered the joys of alcohol (thank goodness for our healers). Having childish female bodies (by now, since they changed bodies every couple of days) I felt was giving them a slant on what they experienced, but did not know what to do about it. They point blank refused to use mine. I suspect the girls talked, for finally Andrea and Angelo also offered.
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Wing collected them and showed them Taiwan and some of the South American countries he has been to. After all that, we took a day off and stayed at home, only going out for a baked Alaska and to a taverna in the evening. The next morning, of my loves, it was Alexis who offered her body.
Socrati collected them and they went walking in Cyprus.
The girls pleaded with me that since we were alone, they wanted to go dancing. We did so and Britta and Andrea joined us there. We were alone as it was normal working hours for nearly everyone else. As we danced, Sparklers came and danced alongside. None of us paid them much attention, there was too much sweetness in our own dancing and I personally needed the exchange kisses of my girls quite desperately.
When Solomon and Ordinx arrived at our home, they were also tired, so did not wonder when we went to bed early.
We were all on fire, our arousal almost a palpable sensation. All my girls though pulled back from me and I found myself left alone with Nicole.
“You said it is time. Daddy I want you to make love to me.”
“I had expected that the two of you would want it to be at the same time.”
“Alexis will have her time.”
It sort of sounded uncommonly selfish of her, but we were all in such a fever that I accepted it at face value. I forced myself into taking control of my body so as to make this a day my little girl remembers forever.
I took my time, massaging and fondling, kissing and licking every inch of her, forcing her to pull back from the release she needed. I savoured the feel of her, the shapes and sizes of my little girl, her body a delight I could scarcely believe in. The scents and tastes of her were a delicious torture to my senses. Cherine was also sending our feelings in a circle to be shared by all and returned to us. She was careful not to let it get out of control as she was aware any extremes could cause me to lose control and hurt my baby.
Once Nicole and I shared our first orgasm, I kept on with my fondling of her and built us both up again to the edge of a second wonderful flowering explosion. I had seen how tiny she kept herself and feared hurting her so I monitored the sensations of her body closely as I entered. I gave her time to also savour the feelings. I must have lain there without moving for about a minute, until I felt she was no longer satisfied with just feeling me in her and as she twitched and moved her hips under me I pushed, fully entering.
Now Cherine let our feelings build up without control from her. We both went into a madness of sensations. As I exploded, my mind on fire from the feeling of her, she also reached her orgasm and she shrieked and her body went wild beneath me. We could not stay within that ecstasy forever and we came back down to being two sweaty bodies clutching at each other with diminishing passion, but a huge overwhelming love.
The door crashed open and a wild and dishevelled Alexis stood there. Solomon cried out, “What are you doing to me?”
Dommi rushed to take hold of the slight body, calming and soothing with little caresses. She brought Solomon/Alexis to our bed and placed him by me. Diana lay down alongside, holding the body of her little girl.
“Robert has just made love to Nicole, the twin sister of the body you are in. As twins they share minds and bodies, so you felt it all. Wasn’t it wonderful?”
*Cherine, you girls planned this!*
*We had to. You are too prudish (σεμνότυφος).*
Prudish eh? I took hold of Solomon, gently caressing and lightly kissing until he turned to look at me. “Robert, are you planning to make love to me also?”
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“I cannot Solomon. My sweet Alexis is still a virgin. The first time of making love is very important, I cannot steal this from her and give it to you.”
“I am relieved. I do not think I am prepared to go through the same feelings again.”
I grinned at him. “Well Solomon, you felt all that Nicole did as if it were your body. Did you feel at any time that I was taking advantage of a child, that I hurt her in any way?”
“I presume that certain of that pain was natural.” He gave a nod to Nicole. “No, it would seem to me that she gloried in the loving too.”
“Since the girls pulled this trick on me and you, I think it is only fair we do the same to Ordinx. Do not pass on to him what happened tonight. In a few days we will give him the body of Nicole.”
“I think you will make him hate you. He already is upset at all the pleasures of the flesh he had forgotten which you have reminded him of. This one will affect all his Worlds! Robert, I have no sex, I am not male or female in your sense. But still, it feels nice being held by you and her mother.”
“Stay with us then. Our loving has not ended and there is no reason why you should not watch us.”
This was the first time a stranger was present during our loving, but instead of becoming inhibited the girls seemed to find it exciting. Cherine kept a heady swirl of love and passion flowing for hours on end. I noticed the girls would ‘accidentally’ pass their fingers across the skin of Alexis or a limb would brush over or across. With what Cherine was doing it did not surprise me to feel her body responding and when I helped it find release Solomon did not pull away or object, just lying there stunned.
Once the girls began to doze off, their sweet bodies still tangled all over me, Solomon softly whispered a question. “Is this the same for all material humans?”
“No. You felt how Cherine takes our emotions and passions and swirls them between us, adding and passing them on? Add to that the fact that each of us can feel the physical sensations the others are feeling. All that is missing for the normal Terran.”
“But then they must feel very little.”
“Not quite true. There is only so much pleasure we can feel before it turns into pain and agony. We feel more, but I can assure you many people can feel almost as much as we can. I think the major difference is that we can feel like this every single time we make love. They only feel this strongly occasionally. There is also one other major difference. All of us are at the prime of our health. That helps us feel and enjoy our lovemaking even further. There are no other Terrans out there, that we are aware of, who enjoy the same health.”
Solomon kept quiet about it, though he gave us many thoughtful glances, and a few days later Nicole gave her body to Ordinx. With the willing assistance of Solomon we sent them away for a few hours and went dancing again.
Ordinx must have been more sensitive, for he kept giving troubled looks at Alexis. His body must have been picking up vibrations from her. I excused us, saying we were tired and needed to lie together to relax. Solomon was quick to go to bed also. Ordinx sat looking through books filled with photos that Jonathan had given him.
I looked at Alexis and gave her a grin.
“You are not playing a trick on us are you? Are you sure you are Alexis and not Nicole trying to steal a second helping?”
“Are you sure it was Nicole the first time?”
“Touché.”
It was amazing how similar her reactions and preferences were to her sister’s. Everything seemed to follow the same pattern, as if it were a replay of the previous lovemaking. When she screamed out and finally settled into that deep glow of satisfaction that came from knowing she is finally a full woman, my wife, we all looked to the door but nothing happened.
956
We waited a few seconds and Dommi opened it and looked into the sitting room. She saw the body of Nicole on the carpet, books thrown aside. Dommi forgot this was not our little girl who lay there sobbing and rushed to her, picked her up in her arms and returned to us. She was laid out beside me and Alexis and Diana held her tightly.
“Ordinx,” (I spoke his name to remind the girls who it is ) “are you alright?”
He turned to stare at me with wounded eyes. “You did that to me on purpose?”
“We shared our loving. The body you are in is the twin sister of Alexis. You shared her lovemaking with me. It was her first time tonight.”
“I felt that. It is, was, the same amongst us. It was not just the experience you shared with me Robert; you awakened memories of loved ones that I have allowed to dim within me.”
“Why not plan to share them with your loved ones again?”
“How!! What are you saying?”
“Until Meli is able to provide you with your own world, why not visit the world where your elders are already living, Meli will always welcome you. Start slowly, take a former loved one, share a few days of being in a body again. If your love is still there for both of you, it will not be long before you are making love again. By the way, Daniel makes a wonderful ale.”
“You are trying to corrupt me, make me like you!”
“That would be too much like hard work. You are safe.”
“Why are they all still touching and holding me this way? It is not good for this body.”
“They see Nicole, someone very special to us. The feelings of love are not bad for the body. Would you prefer to sleep? The girls and I are not finished, I still have others to love. Why not stay, we will not include your body in our loving.”
The voyeur in him or her (he has never mentioned which sex he is, so we just thought of him as a male) made him stay I suspect. (Why should aliens not also be voyeurs if they have sex?)
We followed the same pattern as before, but he was not Solomon. He began to pay the girls back, touch for touch. It was not long before he was a part of our loving. The eye is still the biggest deceiver, if we had a man in bed with us, I think we would have frozen, but seeing our little girl it was far easier to forget who is in her. When I pulled her sweet body to my lips and sucked up her sweet nectar, there was no movement of rejection. He just pulled one of the girls to him and repaid her with the same attentions.
I pulled Dommi over and the girls helped place me within her. She rode on top so that we would not have to dislodge all those beautiful little bodies. When Dommi felt I was about to come she lifted herself and holding my penis upwards sprayed all the girls, including Nicole. He saw the girls reaction and probably decided ‘in for a penny, in for a pound’. I felt the girls all turn their attention to Nicole/Ordinx and as she squirmed from the sensations, I stuck my tongue as deeply as it would go within her and her body spasmed. She threw back her head and gave a strange wailing scream.
We spent a lot of time in after-play, until there was a warm gentle feeling of love permeating the room. Cherine took it and built on and on until she had a golden glow of love swirling between all of us. The door opened and as if drawn in, Solomon entered and the glow encompassed him too. Cherine kept it growing for as long as she could, until Wendy began to sing. Cherine let go, expecting it to explode, but Wendy and her music held it swirling until her song reached its peak and the ring shattered, leaving us all weak and spent. Solomon was on his knees, holding himself up by his hands on the carpet.
“That was the most amazing...”
“What was that energy? I have never felt anything so powerful before.”
“To answer you both - that was the emotion we call love, amplified by Cherine. That is her gift. Wendy took over with her song. You are both witnesses to a new development in the gift Wendy has. This was the first time her song did not shatter the golden energy of love. She actually held it until her song had reached its peak! Wendy, if you get any better at this, I think the beauty will drive us insane.”
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“Ordinx, have you ever experienced anything this powerful before?”
“No I have not Solomon, I would not have believed it is possible.”
“Then you should have been present at one of our experiments. All the Cherinians were part of it and Cherine took all their love and built on that. When Wendy sang, the ring of love exploded and covered the whole area. Savva our police officer kept records of the result. The crime rate fell almost to zero for days.”
“I would like to be present at such an event.”
“I’ll arrange it. It will make Savva very happy.”
Solomon sat on the carpet smiling. “So my friend Ordinx, they played the same trick on you as they did on me! I see you enjoyed it.”
“I thought I’d been attacked by a whole cloud of Sparklers. Did Robert make love to you also?”
“What do you mean? Here, physically? No. You mean he did with you?”
“Let me say that he has convinced me to become a regular visitor at the world of Meli with a few old loves of mine. I think her world will soon be overfilled with people from my Worlds.”
“I trust that you will see to it Ordinx, that the present occupants are not overrun?”
“We will organise it.”
Solomon commented. “If laws are based on morals and ethics, I do not see Robert as a criminal. I sensed nothing but love and joy in the girls, even those who are still infants.”
“I think you forgot the twins are infants. Solomon, our people do not object to adults making love to children based only on the possible damage to their bodies. I agree with most of what they claim, but not with all of it. Physical damage, if the adult is caring should be minimal, if any. What worries them and me, is the possibility of damage to their minds and what might be called the corruption of their morals. My argument is that if both child and adult love each other tenderly and both wish to share such experiences, the laws and disapproval of society are what cause most of the psychological damage to the child. The social workers insist no child is capable of making an informed decision and therefore the child is ipso facto damaged, with no exceptions allowed, so they take the child away from its family and, if they earn a good price, the sell it to another family, for it to be abused mentally and physically.” I was being cynical because of the stories I’ve been hearing on the web about the way child protection services are now being run - and it was not fair to our guests, especially to Solomon. Luckily he did not seem to ‘catch’ what I’d said.
“Your belief extends to non-Cherinian children?”
“Correct.”
Ordinx was thoughtful. “I must admit that sex with a child, however willing the child is, was not accepted by our people as normal. However, we did recognise that some children are sexually precocious and are responsible for initiating the affair. If I recall correctly, that rarely occurred if there was not love on both sides.”
I decided to change the subject. “Talking about love, we have a number of wedding anniversaries to celebrate in two days time. Cherine, Dominique, Wendy and Diana and I - with Alki and Marian also celebrating. I suggest a big night at the bouzoukia with all our friends. Wendy, you want us to go to your singer friend at her club, or to the club where she used to sing.”
“I don’t…Robbie, we can’t go back there, not with Aganthi.”
“Why not? If I were Aganthi I would want to go back. Let them see that she is the big lady now.”
“They will not think that Roberto. They will say they were right, that I work in a brothel and make good money or else I have found myself a wealthy lover who pampers me.” She gave her lovely wide grin. “It will make them jealous.”
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“You mean it will make the men jealous of me? My love, either way, I will not have them thinking that! Your pregnancy is showing, I think we better go to the new club. Aganthi, the girls are known as ten to twelve year olds, except for Dommi. You will have to age yourself, why not be a lovely eighteen year old. Then you can hang on my arm and they will all see how much I love you.”
Cherine cut in. “Robert, your heart is big but your brains…what will they think if they see you with Aganthi like that, the other times they saw you with Dommi.”
“But they will see all three of us together.”
“Not a good idea!”
“Then I have a better one. Socrati told me there is now a good club in Limassol. We will go to Cyprus.”
“Not a good idea!”
“Oh come on Cherine!”
“That is where we will meet that horrible man.”
“Girls, this is becoming a problem. I keep turning up with a whole football team of beautiful girls. Wherever we go we get noticed.”
“I have an idea.”
“So throw it at us Claw.”
“Not if you use that horrid name.”
I told our guests, “Now do you see why it is not really necessary to have the laws about monogamy that we have? How many men would put up with this just for the sake of having a few extra female bodies in their bed.”
“Beautiful ones like us? A lot!!!”
“Come on Claudia.”
“Why don’t we all go to the casino up on the mountain. We all go as grown ups. Then we come home, where caterers have prepared for us all the loveliest foods. We can make enough money at the casino to pay for it all.”
“Ordinx, this serves as fair warning. If your people and ours ever need to sign a trade agreement, Claudia will be representing us. Okay, not a bad idea except for one thing. They will want to see documents, passports or ID’s. Why not get really exotic. We all go to South Africa. We could stay at a luxury hotel there. The next morning we can take a drive through the game park. Let our visitors see a bit of wild life while we still have some.”
“They will want to see passports when we check in.”
“Fine. I’m damned if I’ll let them spoil it for us. Meli, call your father to book us rooms at Lost City Palace. He must also book for us to have a private party with live music. You tell him that this is also our anniversary present to them. I will call Tasso to get the stamp in our passports. The rest of you, start jumping. Get everybody’s passports.”
“Can I get the ones from Taiwan? I want to see Lua.”
Old habits die hard. My heart lurched with fear at the idea of my little girl going all the way there alone. She laughed at me and jumped. Claudia left for Cyprus and I grabbed the phone and called Tasso. He was not amused at the short notice. He would not even have time to get a copy to have forged. I laughed.
“You forget we already have one from our previous trip.” His son jumped over and took my passport.
I arranged with my bank to have the dollars I needed the next morning and I waited for everyone to get back.
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“For you all to get into the casino you must appear to be of age. I think you better change to over twenty and put on whatever rags you’ve got. I’m taking you shopping. We can also get something to eat while at the shops.”
“Robert, how will Ordinx change his age?”
“That brings up another problem. I want everyone there. We can’t have two people missing this.”
Diana gave one of her funny little laughs, the kind she gives when she is trying to hide her amusement. That was a mistake. I looked her in the eyes and she saw I had guessed. I nodded for her to go ahead.
“Make another two male Diana’s. Without a soul, then when they want to leave you can get the protector to …what would they do Robbie?”
“Ordinx, Solomon. You know how Diana was born. If we do the same, but do not put a soul in the bodies, you could use the bodies. I see that as possible. My problem is this. When you leave, would it be wrong of me to ‘un-create’ the bodies?”
“If you feel uncomfortable with the idea then it must be wrong.”
Dommi asked, “What if we create them with souls, except the souls stay asleep in our World until you leave?”
Cherine shot up. “Are they going to be male like Diana said?”
“I suppose so.”
“No!! I don’t agree to this. I do not want them in our circle.”
I found myself being vetoed unanimously. I (maybe a little dishonestly) explained the mania the girls have about not allowing another male to join our circle.
“Then Henry is not of your circle even though you call him brother?”
“He is not!” Cherine stated emphatically.
“I regret I do not understand. You speak so strongly of loving everyone and yet you will not accept another if that person is a male. You would accept another female?”
Passionately Cherine agreed. “Another fifty if we have to. But not one male. It is very difficult for me to explain to you. Even Robert still cannot understand. Whenever another girl is born or joins us, our circle gets bigger, but our love grows. That is because of Robert. He is the opposite of all other men. I’m sorry, that is not fair. He is the opposite of all other men or women. When he loves another person, his love for all of us grows. That makes our love grow also.
If another male joined our circle that would not happen. Oh Robert has a heart big enough, but the circle will not grow. It will start to split into two. If we girls love both males, with which one do we end up with? With either, we lose the other.
Robert, I promised you that one day in the future we will have sons. They will split off from us, but their circles will be almost a part of ours. We cannot do that now.”
“It still does not make sense to me, but we have a problem. The gift of Dommi is that she has the extraordinary instincts of a mother. Mother not of just our children, but of the whole family, even of all the Cherinians. When she speaks out against me I have to listen to her, whatever my opinion. I have learnt at my cost that she is always right.”
Dommi considered the problem before answering. “It would not matter what sex the bodies are. Even as girls we can age them and change them to males for as long as we want them to be males. Robert, you are the one who has to decide, you keep saying there are too many of us.”
“For now, it is so. Dommi I think the answer is staring us in the face. What is your biggest concern, outside of us I mean. Niko. We must see to it that the two girls bond with him.”
Dommi sat silently staring at me as if I had struck her. Tears began to fall. “Oh Roberto, you would give two girls made up of our souls and bodies to Niko?”
960
“Is he not flesh of your flesh, is he not a brother to me also?”
She put her hands to her face and sobbed. “You do not realise that you too will love them, that it will break your heart. Oh my sweet Roberto, what have you done. Whichever way we decide now it will break my heart too.”
I could sense she was right, but I was determined to see my friend happy. “If they agree Dommi, would it break your heart if they were made up of Annabelle, Klo, Agapi and Nafsika? If I am so foolish as to let myself fall in love with them, surely it is my problem?”
“Would they do it?” Her dear face, those lovely eyes were so full of hope I could not speak truly.
“If not all, then at least a couple of them would. Dommi, it is a chicken and egg situation. Do we ask Niko whether he agrees first, or do we ask the girls?”
“We don’t need to ask Niko. If he is so stupid that he does not love them then Pavlo can. If he doesn’t, then Henry can. If none of them do, then we will.”
“That is true Cherine, but we are all forgetting one thing. What about the girls themselves? Look at what happened to me.”
Dommi had recovered. She spoke quietly now, “Either way the girls will be loved. That is what is the most important.”
“Ordinx, we need our little girl back. She and her sister need to be together for this. I do not need to be here to see this, but I think you would want to be. Can you move over to my body for a while?”
“If you are certain, I would wish to see this. Two new lives created in this manner; I fear my people will find it difficult to believe.”
“I am first going to visit the girls who are to be, in a sense, the mothers, to ask for their agreement.”
I paid a courtesy call to Keith first at his work. He had no objection if Annabelle agreed. The darling girl cried at the idea of having two daughters and agreed.
Tasso was already out getting a stamp prepared so I had to ask his wife Stella and the two girls. The girls agreed, excited by the idea, but Stella looked frightened.
“What do you fear Stella?” I asked gently, “Your girls lose nothing, well they lose one cell from their body. The souls will be new souls, like Diana. Your girls will be bonded to them in a way since they will be partly their mothers.”
“I am not saying no Roberto. But Agapi is still a baby, how can we decide for her.”
“Ask her. She is not as other babies.”
I left there with their consent. My last stop was at the clinic. Maria and Kosta listened to me and I got the feeling it was Maria who was going to be negative. She did not even look over at him, they were obviously close enough for her to sense his attitude.
“I will only agree on the condition I will be included. This will then be shared by us as a family.”
“Maria, you are beautiful. Thank you.” The girls were already celebrating. I jumped home.
“That was easy. I never expected them to all agree.”
“You are so blind my love.”
“As always Cherine. You can enlighten me another time. A thought before you girls get working. Get into the mind of Niko, find what is his ideal - as you did with me for Diana. I’m ready now, Ordinx, shall we go?”
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)20th May, 2019
* posted on Steemit: 20th May, 2019
@nikosnitza