Page 62 of Abducting Sarah

“Greetings. Would you like to take one of these? They are very warm, and I seem to be sweating just by holding them.”

She giggled and began to stand, but Camp Deo was on her feet first, arms out. “Oh, may I?”

“Sure.” I was surprised the android wanted to hold one. When she held the baby, there was such a strange look on her metallic face that I was almost worried. “Camp Deo, are you in need of repairs?”

“No, I’m fine,” she said softly, her eyes on the baby. “I don’t see babies often, Deacon. But I enjoy them.” She sat on the sofa with Sarah once more.

I joined them on the other side of Sarah, and she took turns smiling longingly at both of the children and watching them. “You want him?” I asked her, indicating the baby in my arms.

“Okay,” she said, as she took my brother, then laughed as the bundle settled into her arms. “Heavier than he looks.”

Camp Deo said, “Ladrians have a considerably higher muscle mass ratio than humans. This includes the newborns.”

“Believe me, I’ve noticed,” Sarah said with a smile. She looked so natural with my brother—like she was made to be around babies.

“I’ve spoken to my father about us,” I said in a quiet voice. “And Jac.”

Her eyes went wide and a pink flush stole across her cheeks. “You told him about the three of us?” she squeaked.

“Yes, he—”

“I can’t believe you did that! I thought what we—” She stopped herself and looked to Camp Deo, before returning her gaze to mine and lowering her voice. “That is private.”

“Why would it be private?”

Her lashes fluttered rapidly in embarrassment. “Because it’s…it’s kinky.”

Smiling, I reached out and stroked a finger along her soft cheek. “For us, it is not. It is the old way.”

Confusion chased across her expression. “Huh?”

I explained, “Unions, in their original form, were meant to increase the population in ways that did not disrupt society. Often, they contained whole groups of Ladrians—this is how many of the classed families began, my own included. To have more than one partner is to be, as my father put it, old-fashioned.”

She rapidly blinked, seemingly unsure of what to say, at first. “We’reold-fashioned, by including Jac into our union?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

“Which brings me to my next question,” I said, shifting my gaze to the little one cuddled in so naturally in her arms. “When do you want to have babies?”

She laughed. “I have no idea. I know you said there are other humans on Orhon, so would we have to go back to Earth to get sperm, or would we make some kind of a deal with a human here? I’m not sure how all that would work.”

I frowned at her. “Why would we use human sperm?”

“Because…we’re two different species, Deacon. Different species can’t make babies together.” She looked at me as though I was the confused one.

“You…” I tried to sort out how to tell her the truth. “You do not know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“Give my brother to Camp Deo. We need to talk.”

“Those are four words no woman likes to hear, Deacon.”

I acknowledged her statement with a nod. “That may be truth, but we do need to speak about this, and I may be saying many more words you do not want to hear soon, so give my brother to her.”

Sarah looked at me warily, then passed the baby to the android.

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