Gorg smiled, and cupped Ebbie’s cheek with the palm of his hand. “We shall obtain cows later on. We shall get whatever our child needs, even if we need fly to the far ends of the Universe to get it.”
Ebbie looked relieved and nodded. “Of course we will. I’m being panicky for no reason. Must be the hormones.”
“Indeed. Now, you pack, and I’ll go wave down my egg brother.”
“Will he be here so soon?”
“Oh, I’m sure Mama is making him use the teleporter rather than mere space travel. He’s probably already here, looking over my crashed ship. I’ll be back in a few moments.”
Chapter 12
That they were brothers was immediately apparent. There was a strong family resemblance. Hivery looked very much like Gorg, with the normal slight differences in appearance all brothers seemed to have. Hivery’s hair was a bit darker than Gorg’s, and he was taller and heavier than Gorg. Also, Hivery’s features didn’t quite meet the “golden ratio” measure of beauty that Gorg’s did — his nose was a bit too large, and his eyes were too wide-spaced — but he was a good-looking guy just the same, with lovely iridescent tentacles very similar to those his brother sported.
Gorg immediately made introductions. Ebbie could tell he was nervous, no matter that he’d assured Ebbie that Hivery would be accepting. “Ebenezer, this is my egg brother, Hivery. Hivery, this is my life mate, Ebenezer. We call him Ebbie for short.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Hivery,” Ebbie said. He held out an outstretched hand.
“Am I supposed to give you something?” Hivery asked, a frown creasing his forehead as he stared at Ebbie’s outstretched hand.
“No. It is an Earth custom to shake hands to show friendship. We are showing one another that our knife hands are empty,” Ebbie tried to explain.
“Ah. I understand. Practical, I suppose, when one does not have tentacles.” Hivery gripped Ebbie’s hand and gave it several hard, exaggerated pumps.
“Good. Now that we’re all acquainted, we have only these couple of trunks to add to the weight of the ship, Hivery. We’d like to leave as soon as possible,” Gorg said.
Hivery held up a hand. “Mama said your life mate is with child. I am unfamiliar with Earth’s birth process. I do not wish to mess the inside of my ship up with birth fluids while en route to Jizm.”
Gorg shook his head. “You have nothing to worry about. Earth has the same trimester pregnancy term that Jizm has. He was knotted during the beginning of Renewal. It is not yet the beginning of the Little Death season. He has plenty of time before he delivers during the Birth season. We will safely be on Jizm before that happens.”
Hivery didn’t look completely convinced, but he nodded. “Very well. We should leave as soon as possible. As you know, pregnant people should not use the transporter for safety reasons. We’ll have to fly home. There was another meteor storm nearing the Milky Way near the Heliocentric Solar System. I do not wish my craft to suffer the same fate your hunk of space junk did.”
Gorg seemed to take offense at that. “My ship was cherry. It was an antique, a fine piece of machinery that ran like clockwork until that meteor storm hit it.”
“It was a dilapidated piece of space garbage, and I’m surprised it made it this far from Jizm.” Hivery lifted his nose in the air.
“Ha! It was miles better than the hunk of nickel-based superalloy that rolled off the automated assembly line that you fly! My craft was hand made, piece by piece and bolt by bolt!”
Brothers, it seemed, were the same everywhere, especially when it came to their toys.
Ebbie stepped between them, holding his hands protectively over his belly. “Boys! Can we measure penises later? I’d like to get off this planet and on the way to my new home before Birth season, if you please.”
Hivery huffed. “My penis is superior. Everyone knows this.”
Gorg scoffed. “Your mate is telling you false tales, Hivery. Your penis is subpar. I have seen you in the hydro cleansing units.”
“Please, knock it off, the both of you!” Ebbie ordered. He picked up a suitcase and shoved it into Gorg’s tentacles, which wrapped around the piece of Samsonite. “Here. Take this, and let’s get going.”
“Knock what off what?” Hivery whispered to Gorg in a voice still loud enough for Ebbie to hear.
“I believe my life mate wishes us to cease bickering.”
“Then why didn’t he just say that?” Hivery picked up the other suitcase and led Gorg and Ebbie toward the gangplank into his vehicle.
“Earthlings rarely say exactly what they mean. I have learned this since my arrival. They are a quite verbose species.”
“Are you saying I talk a lot?” Ebbie asked, a bit vexed at the description.
“Not if it makes you feel badly, little love,” Gorg said. His overly patronizing tone only served to make Ebbie angrier.
