Page 115 of The Seducer
I looked down at my pajama pants, t-shirt, and the boots I’d tugged on without putting on socks first.
“Your hair looks like you just rolled out of bed,” Khan added and poured himself some coffee from the breakfast bar.
“That’s because Ididjust roll out of bed,” I confirmed.
Khan handed Pearl a cup of tea and turned to scold me. “Hey, what’s with the grumpy tone? Just because you had a shitty morning, you shouldn’t blame me.”
“Oh, I’m blaming you all right,” I said and pushed away the plate with breakfast that Athena had made for me. “I’m blaming you for keeping it a secret that we’re donating sperm to the Motherlands.”
Khan’s back stiffened before he came to sit down across from me. “Who told you that?”
Pearl followed and sat next to her husband with a troubled expression on her pretty face.
“I ran a paternity test on Tristan, and guess what?” I exclaimed.
Khan leaned back and crossed his arms, but he didn’t answer.
“Tristan is my son.”
Pearl and Khan looked at each other and she stirred a spoon in her tea that made clanging sounds.
It provoked me that Khan didn’t respond to the news. “Did you hear me? Tristan is my biological son.”
Scratching his ear, Khan looked at me and smiled a little. “Congratulations, Finn.”
“Congratulations? Are you fucking kidding me?” My hands formed into fists. “You’ve been keeping this secret from all of us for years and then you act like it’s nothing big when I confront you. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Finn.” Pearl angled her head and spoke in a placating manner. “Would you have told your countrymen if you’d been in Khan’s position?”
“Of course I would. They have the right to know they might be fathers.”
“Even if they could never know for sure or have rights to the children they have fathered?” Pearl asked. “Oh, you’d better make sure I get rights to Tristan,” I said and leaned in. “He’smyson!”
“He’s a Motlander and his mother is the only one with a legal claim on him,” Pearl said matter-of-factly.
“But that will change now that I’m his father,” I said. “Right?”
Pearl shook her head. “It’s not that easy, and I doubt his mother would allow it.”
“Allow it?” I banged my fist down on the table, which made the cutlery lift and make noise. “Every Nman should have rights to the children he fathers,” I half shouted. “How dare you use us as donors with no rights to our own offspring?”
Pearl softened her voice. “Finn, we didn’t like it any more than you did. I promise you that the Council only suggested the deal to the Northlands because it had become a question of survival for the human race. Only one percent of our males are capable of making children, and for some reason you Nmen have much stronger sperm.”
“Why do you think that is?” Athena asked Pearl.
“That’s a good question, and to be honest we can only speculate,” Pearl said. “The Northlands suffered less pollution than most other places on the earth, and we think that’s a major component. But in general, the Nmen have higher levels of testosterone and other male hormones and that may be a contributing factor too.”
“Why wouldn’t we help?” Khan asked me, still with his arms crossed. “Would you have said no?”
I narrowed my eyes. “My son is fifteen years old and I’ve missed out on his entire childhood. His first steps, his first words. I didn’t get a chance to teach him anything.”
“Look, I understand your frustration but don’t forget that the only reason we’re able to sustain our numbers in the Northlands is because the Motlanders supply us with young boys. We’ve always given them our sperm because it’s always been a demand from our side that our boys were fathered by Nmen. That’s how we made sure our boys were born tall and strong. And honestly, I don’t understand why you’re all so puzzled about the sperm count.” His gaze took in the women too. “It’s natural selection at its most fundamental. For four hundred years we’ve selected men based on physical traits, and a high sperm count. All the while you Motlanders have kept breeding on anyone who could father a child.”
“All children are miracles,” Pearl replied.
Khan arched an eyebrow. “Sure, but without us, you would be running out of miracles pretty soon, wouldn’t you?
“I knew that our boys are fathered by Nmen,” I said, “but we were always told that the donors were chosen among the best warriors. I know for a fact that I never qualified to be a warrior, so you might as well tell me about your sneaky robots, because I already know.”
