Chapter 35

Ashley

I reached for Axon five more times throughout the night, needing more, needing him, desperate for him to fill me, desperate to hear his moans join mine. And each time he matched my fervor and joined with me until we both found our release.

When we woke next, it was late in the day. We were a tangle of limbs and blankets, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Our luminescence had been perfect.

Axon yawned and stretched as soon as I moved.

"Mmm, someone brought us breakfast." My mate commented as he sniffed the air.

"Really? That was nice of them."

Axon got up and pushed aside the curtain that covered our cave entrance. He came back holding a basket and set it before me.

"Let's see," he began, "we've got two bowls of oatmeal with syrup and dried fruit." He handed me a bowl and spoon and kept one for himself. "and two cups of water."

He gently grabbed a cup from the basket and handed that to me as well.

I was so parched from our activities that I greedily gulped down nearly all the liquid at once.

We ate our breakfast and bathed in the bathing pool, and by the time we were done with that, lunch was being served.

We joined Axon's parents at the table they were sitting at and both Drondia and Karo were nothing but smiles when we sat down.

"Good afternoon," Karo began. "Did you two have a good night?"

"Karo!" Drondia looked aghast. "You can't just ask them about how luminescence went!"

"Why? Your sire asked me about our first luminescence."

"He did?" Drondia's eyes grew wide as she took in this old but surprising bit of information for the first time.

"Oh yes, he was very interested to know if he'd be having a grandchild soon."

"I can't..." Drondia shook her head in embarrassment. "What did you say?"

"I told him he could expect to have a grandchild very soon."

"You didn't!"

"What? We had been very active, and you know as well as I, the first luminescence between a couple almost always brings about a sietling, and I was right. We had Axon five months later."

Karo shrugged as if the concept of speaking with his father-in-law about making grandchildren wasn't a big deal at all.

Axon and I did our best not to giggle at this charming exchange. His parents really were an amazing couple, but I knew that already. All of the elders here who joined their children in exile were good people. I felt really lucky to be here. Our community was small but I cherished everyone in it.

"Tell us, what happened between Beatrice and Rhaz last night?" Axon asked his sire, looking every bit of the gossip that I knew he was.

Most of the guys here were not well versed in the ways of information sharing in the form of gossip, while others, like Axon, Lumod, and Drovo acted as if they were raised on it.

"Rhaz left abruptly after he started to glow," Karo filled us in. "Beatrice spent the night in one of the unoccupied private caves."

"I feel so bad for her," I admitted. "I couldn't imagine being rejected so swiftly after glowing for someone."

"I have a feeling Rhaz is going to regret that decision very much," Karo nodded.

"Yay!" Julie shouted and everyone turned in her direction. "The baby!"

Tarak had entered the main cavern holding his new baby girl swaddled in one of the knitted blankets Karo had made for the new parents.

A small cooing sound came from the little one and my heart nearly melted.

"We call her Tabby," Tarak announced. "For she is of Tarak and Gab-bae."

The new father wore a broad smile on his face as he looked down at his daughter.

"Oh my god," I gasped aloud. "That's the cutest name I've ever heard."

"Right?" Taylor agreed.

Tarak slowly walked past each table and let us take in the sight of the newest member of our dekes.

"How's Gab-bae doing?" I asked.

"She is well," Tarak smiled, "and resting as she should be."

"Let us know..." Julie furrowed her brow and then corrected her statement. "You know what no, I'll be by your cave later today to collect any of your dirty laundry. I'm not going to ask you to tell me, I'm just going to take the initiative and do it."

"Oh, okay." Tarak looked a bit surprised by Julie's boldness.

"I'll bring your dinner to you," Talia volunteered.

"I'll make sure you have plenty of firewood," Orsu suggested.

"I'll be by later and tidy up your cave," Taylor added.

Soon everyone was volunteering to do one task or another to help the new parents. It was...wonderful. I loved it here so fucking much .

"What would you want to name our seitling?" Axon asked as soon as Tarak went back to his shared cave with Gabby.

"I don't know. I hadn't thought about names yet," I confessed.

"I was thinking, maybe Ash for a girl, and Leon for a boy." Axon admitted, and I was a little taken aback that he already had our baby names picked out.

"I like those names." I kissed him on the cheek and the tips of his ears turned dark blue.

"I'm glad. I hope we get to use one soon."

Axon's expression turned from happy to a far away look as he took in the sight of everyone around us.

"What is it?"

"We need to tell them about what we discovered."

A pit formed in my stomach. This would not be welcome news. No one would be happy to find out they'd been lied to for generations.

"What did you discover?" Drondia asked, having overheard Axon's statement.

"Come," Axon stood up from the table, and helped me up as well. "I will tell you, but not here, not where others can hear us."

We walked with Axon's parents to their cave where we told them of the ship and the priestess's lies.

"But why? Why not just tell us the truth?" Drondia bit out, sounding as frustrated as we'd felt .

"The priestess's believed if we knew the truth that we'd fall into the same trap as before. That technology would corrupt us all over again," Axon explained.

His parents looked heartbroken and betrayed.

"We will keep this information to ourselves for now," Karo decided.

"We will not burden our Savrix with this so soon after the birth of his sietling."

"How long should we wait?" I asked.

"Let's give him two weeks, and then we'll break the news," Drondia suggested, and we all agreed.

"Two weeks," Axon confirmed with a nod of his head.

We rejoined the dekes in the common area where everyone had busied themselves with tasks to help Tarak and Gabby. Laundry was being washed, new cloth diapers were being cut, a basin of water was being refilled, and snacks were being placed into a large bowl.

I stood by my mate's side and felt proud to be here. So much has happened in these five months. New friendships were formed, romances have bloomed, cultures have been shared, and I discovered a lot about myself as well. I am ace, and I like that. It's me. I have a mate who worships the ground I walk on and soon we might have a baby of our own. Ash or Leon. They might be growing within me at this very moment. Couples often get pregnant during their first luminescence after all.

The End