Page 38 of Red River

His small fingers clutched my hair. "Very well, but I woke up really hungry, so I went looking for milk."

We reached the shore together, and the little boy seemed more and more excited.

"There’s even a sandy beach here!"

"Yeah, sometimes I swim here for a change, especially when I get tired of the pool, and it's hot outside."

"Oh, look! There are ducks on the water! I think one of them has ducklings. That’s a female, right?"

"Yep, among animals, there are only two sexes. You know that."

Lake huffed lightly. "Yeah, I know. Once, people on our planet had two sexes too, but they died out in the epidemic."

"Exactly. That’s when aliens helped us restore the population on Earth—only this time with three sub-genders."

"So, that duck is like their… mom?"

"Yeah, ducks have females who are moms and males who are like fathers."

"And we’re all boys."

"Yep. Special boys, different from those who lived here before. We all have the same organs, but at a certain age, our hormones wake up, and that’s when the changes happen."

"Yeah, I’ve heard about that. My dad explained it to me once. We all start out the same, with tiny uteruses, right?"

"Right. But during puberty the uterus in omegas grows, while in betas and alphas, it remains dormant. Apart from that, we are the same."

Lake watched the ducks swimming nearby. "Aren't they cute little birds? Each one is a different color… How pretty. Maybe I could draw them?"

"Yes, sure you can."

Meanwhile, I turned slightly to the side and tried to look toward the house, feeling like someone was observing us. From a distance, I saw that River was on the patio, watching us intently.

I coughed slightly to get Lake’s attention. "We should probably get back. Your dad might be worried about us being out so early. It's still a little chilly, and you're wearing pajamas."

Lake mumbled something reluctantly, but since he was on my back, he had no influence over my steps. After a moment, we returned to the house. On the patio, I set Lake back on his feet.

River was watching me closely, his eyes fixed on my face. He also had a slight blush.

"Good morning. I hope you slept well?" I asked with a slightly mischievous smile.

"Yeah, pretty well. I see you two are getting to know each other."

Lake went up to him and clung to one of his arms. "Archer carried me to the shore on his back! He’s super strong; I was sitting so high up, and I could see everything! And Archer showed me the ducks at the lake. There’s a mama duck with seven little cute ducklings, and all female ducks have uteruses!" Lake beamed.

"Uhh…" I started, wanting to correct his statement, but River just winked.

"I’m glad you’re enjoying the sights. Ducks are birds, so they don’t have uteruses. But yes, they do have two sexes, unlike us. Anyway, let’s head inside, and I’ll get you something to eat."

"Archer gave me a glass of milk!" Lake announced.

River shot me a look I couldn’t quite decipher.

"That was very kind of him. Did you thank him?"

Lake looked a little embarrassed, glancing down. I ruffled his curly hair.

"He thanked me by being exceptionally cute. That’s good enough for me."

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