Page 109 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
“When is Momma T coming back?”Pinga picked up her AI learning tablet.
“Not until late.Lusa still needs more practice with the guns before we can take her trading.”Sesi glanced at her daughter.“Are you bored?”
“Her arms are too skinny.That’s why.”Pinga pouted.
“That’s rude.”Callie said.“Your Momma T has skinny arms too and look at how well she shoots.”
“That’s ‘cause she’s bigger.”
“Well, Lusa will also get bigger.And then she’ll remember what you said about her.Just wait.”Callie turned back to the stew
“If you’re bored, go help Grandma,” Sesi suggested
Pinga slid from the table reluctantly.Callie and Sesi shared a kiss when they thought she had gone away.
“Ew!”Pinga called.
“No-one asked you to stay!”Sesi waved her hand.Pinga turned and left.
Sesi sidled up behind Callie and wrapped her arms around her waist.
“Gross, you’re covered in fox.”Callie protested, but Sesi could tell she was smiling.
Sesi nuzzled into the back of Callie’s neck and she melted into the embrace.
“You’re lucky we can’t get pregnant this way or we’d have way more than six,” Callie leaned back into Sesi.
“Inhale.Good.Line up your target.Breathe out.See how the sight moves when you exhale?”Lusa nodded.
Talia brushed the black mop of hair away from her eyes.“Try again.Keep pressure on the trigger and squeeze gently when you’re out of breath.”
Lusa fired.The shot went wide, but it was closer than before.Talia kissed the top of her head.“Good job.You’re doing better and that’s what’s important.”
“When can I go trading?”she whined.
“Don’t look too far ahead or you’ll never get there,” Talia warned.“If you do that, and you don’t succeed, you’ll think you’re a failure.You’re not.”Talia took Lusa’s rifle and put the safety on, setting it aside.“If you focus on getting better, you’ll succeed and it will motivate you tokeepgetting better.”
Talia unsheathed a knife and threw it.It hit the target, dead centre.Lusa’s eyes widened.“How long did it take you to learn that?”
“Years,” she said.“And the person who taught me told me the same thing.”She wrapped her arms around Lusa, hugging tight.She’d grown far taller than Pinga and felt awkward and uncoordinated.Talia noticed that she hunched a lot, trying to make herself smaller.
“You’re beautiful.”Talia kissed the top of her head.“And I’m proud of you, and so are your other moms and your sisters.”
“Pinga’s a dick sometimes.”
Talia laughed.“You’re not supposed to say that.”
“Well, she’s not supposed to be a dick.”
“I promise you that she will grow out of it.Just like you’re growing into your body.It takes time.”Talia took her hand and led her back toward the MobilePods.“Also, don’t let your other moms hear you say that.”She winked.Lusa grinned.
As they rounded the corner of the trail, Lusa spotted someone running toward them.“Auntie Sparx!”she yelled and she took off.Talia followed at a much more leisurely pace.
Lusa jumped and Sparx caught her.
“Speaking of dicks,” Talia said once they had all caught up to one another.
“What?”Sparx said.
