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Family Tails

A Story of a Mixed Family in the Genetic Age

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Names of actual businesses, their products, etc, are the property of their respective owners.

Story and characters © 2013 Ronald J. Lebeck

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Chapter 36

In late January 2027, Amaguq finally won over a wild female wolf he had been interested in, and they accepted each other as mate. It took some time, and help from Aurora, for Amaguq's mate to approach Ron and Lupina, and longer still to convince her to allow anyone to stick her with a needle. Once the telepathic ability began to manifest itself, she was finally able to begin communicating with Amaguq with words. Later that summer, she gave birth to two little ones - a wolf/human hybrid male that was given the name of Ikiaq--meaning "red spruce", and a female wolf cub who was given the name of Miksa--meaning "between", both of whom had the telepathic ability.

In late May 2028, Sierra, Cormac, Chrys Ann, and Violet graduated from high school, and Rob and Helga's first two children, Arthur and Sigrid, finished grade school. Cormac found himself spending more and more time with Kapik's younger sister, Iluq, which Sierra noticed.

"So Mackie, what's with you and Iluq lately?" Sierra asked her twin brother mentally one night just after they had gone to bed.

"What do you mean?" he asked in return.

"Well, you two seem to be getting rather cozy."

"So I like her company, big deal. I can relate better with Iluq that with humans," Cormac sent to his sister.

"Uh, huh...what about Annie? I thought you were going out with her?"

"I did...once..."

"...And?"

"We met some of her friends, and I was the only normal person in the group."

"Hmm, you mean the only normally dressed_person, right?_"

"That, and they kept acting whatever part they thought there were. I'm just not into that stuff."

"I guess they do get a bit carried away with it..."

"If it was going to a costume party, it would be different, but she gets too caught up in it for my likes. Annie's nice and all, when she's by herself, but she seems more interested in that fantasy stuff," Cormac explained, and Sierra felt his concern.

Switching subjects a little, Sierra asked, "What about the other girls in college?"

"They're either partying, or too prissy, or whatever. What about you, what happened with that one guy...Tommy?" Cormac asked, turning things around to his twin.

"Nah, I gave up on him. He had some sort of hang up over me being a G.E.L.F. I think it had to do with when I tried to give him a kiss one night," Sierra shared the memory of the event with her twin.

"Ooo, I see what you mean. I don't know why humans think weird stuff about us. If you weren't my sister, and weren't such a brat, I'd kiss you."

"Cormac!"

She whacked him with her pillow, and then leaned over her brother from his left side.

"What was that for?"

"For callin' me a brat, tail-for-brains!"

Cormac stuck his tongue out at her with a grin.

"Careful sticking that tongue out, bro...," Sierra said with a wicked grin, putting her finger on his tongue, "...someone's gonna make you use it one of these days."

"Like momma or Aunt Rosie always tell dad when he does it?"

"Somethin' like that."

Sierra was still leaning over her brother, supporting her upper body with her arms, her hands on the mattress on either side of his shoulders. Even though the room was dark, there was still enough light from the nightlight in the bathroom for Cormac to see his sister's body.

"Um...sis...uh..."

"What?"

"Would you mind not doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Geez, Sierra! If you weren't..."

"Yes...?"

"You're worse than Vi!" Cormac sent emphatically, and then he rolled over on his right side, pulling the pillow over his head.

Sierra snickered a little, "Aw, what's the matter, Mackie? Can't take a little teasing?"

"Not_that _kind of teasing...from my own sister_!_"

"Oh, I'm just pullin' your tail, you oughta know that, bone head! I'm not gonna jump my own brother...even if he is a...a..."

Cormac pulled the pillow off and turned his head to look a Sierra's face--she was still leaning over him suggestively.

"A what?"

"Ooo...alright! My brother's a hunk! Ok? Geez!"

"Say_what???_"

"Yeah...don't tell me you haven't noticed girls looking at you! C'mon, Mackie, you got the bod girls want, and you're a decent guy, too...hey, if you weren't my brother, I'd...I'd...mmm...oh geez...I...I..."

Cormac rolled onto his back again and gently pulled Sierra towards him, and they lay there for several minutes, just holding each other.

"I've seen lots of guys checkin' you out, too, you know. I've had guys tell me how lucky I am to have a hot babe for a sister...well, they say that about Chrysie, Vi, and even Aurora, too, but...I wonder if other people ever think about...you know."

"Have you?"

"I shouldn't, but...yeah."

*Sigh* "Me, too. Mackie?"

"Yeah?"

"Does it make us pervs just to wonder about it? I mean, I don't think any of us would actually get to messin' around and do_something about it, but..._"

"I don't know...probably not. Like dad says, 'thinking is one thing, doing is another,' so...I guess there's no harm in thinking, as long as nobody does anything," Cormac explained.

"Mackie?"

"Yeah?"

"Besides dad and Fionn, you're the only other guy I trust enough...you understand me..."

"That's because we're twins, sis..."

"Der! Ya think?" Sierra lightly smacked Cormac on the forehead with the palm of her hand, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Careful sticking that tongue out, sis...somebody might make you use it someday..."

"Think so, eh?"

"I know so."

"Uh hmm...make me!"

*Rustle, rustle*

"Mackie...what are you doing_? Oh no, don't you dare! No! Noooooo! Ssstoooop!_"

*Door opens, light turns on*

"Alright, what's the thumpin' in here?" Rosie demanded to know, poking her head into the room.

"He's tickling the fur behind my footpad!" Sierra laughed.

Rosie saw Cormac holding Sierra's left foot in one hand, and the fingers of his other hand touching her fur by the large pad.

Shaking her head, Rosie said, "Well, keep it down, okay? You were sounding like the people livin' in the apartment above mine back where I was livin' in Georgia--bangin' away all night."

Rosie shut the light off and closed the door, going back to bed.

After a short period of silence, Sierra sent, "Aunt Rosie thought we were..."

"Sometimes I think Aunt Rosie's got a one track mind," Cormac snickered.

"Must be where Vi gets it..."

"Probably."

"Mackie...so you and Iluq, huh?"

"I don't know...maybe. She's a wolf, I'm a wolf..."

"But she's part human..."

"Yeah, so am I...and you, too, for that matter."

"But she walks on all fours..."

"If I had four legs instead of two, I probably would be, too."

"Kinda hard to take her out on a date..."

"Depends on the date."

"Going out to eat, catching a movie, going to the mall, Chena Hot Springs..."

"Fast food, drive-in or here at home,...okay, guess you got me on the other two."

"You're kinda limited on what you two can do," Sierra added.

"Amaguq's limited on what he can do with his son, Ikiaq, just like Kapik is with Aurora and Fionn, but they seem to do okay anyway."

"Little Ikiaq is going to have it tough in school--his dad can't go meet with his teachers, and his mom's a wild wolf--no way she could, or would."

"Yeah, have fun explaining that on a form...," Cormac said.

"I'm sure the government wonks would go nuts."

*Yawn*

"Yeah, guess we'd better get some sleep," Cormac agreed.

He got situated on his side of the bed, lying on his right side, facing away from his sister. Sierra lay on her left side, with her back against her brother.

"G'night, Mackie."

"'Night, sis."

They soon dozed off, though sometime later, Cormac rolled over in his sleep, putting his arm over Sierra, and they slept snuggled together for the rest of the night.

"Mrrr? Daddy, can we watch the old cartoons?"

Rob felt himself being prodded by small hands on his chest. He had been awake for several minutes and was enjoying having the luxury of a little early morning quiet time with his wife/mate. However, since it was a Saturday morning, and school was out for the summer, their three little ones were already up and going.

"Why is it always on Saturdays...?" Rob sent with a mental sigh to Helga.

"Lupina told me once it was the same with theirs," Helga replied, burying her face into Rob's neck.

"Daddy, can we? *Purr-r-r-r-r!*"

"Oh, alright, Sigrid...just keep the volume down, okay?" Rob relented, giving his ten year-old daughter a hug.

"Yea! Thank you, Daddy!" she said excitedly, and then gave her father a gentle head-butt before hurrying off to the living room.

Rob watched Sigrid head out of the bedroom, and slowly shook his head as she left--she had forgotten to close the bedroom door on her way out. Rob rolled onto his back and shifted his eyes over to see Helga propped up on her elbow, looking at him.

"For a leader of warriors, you are a softie when it comes to our kittens," she said with a little grin.

"It's the purr...gets me every time," Rob said sheepishly grinning.

Helga leaned in and nuzzled her husband/mate's neck.

"Is that so? *Purr-r-r-r-r-r*"

"Mmm...keep that up and we might have to..."

"Yes..."

"The door's still open...," Rob reminded her.

"They can't see us from the couch...," Helga sent back, slowly and seductively working her way on top.

She leaned forward, purring softly, barely touching his nose with her own. Rob felt the air moving in and out of Helga's nose against his face while she continued to purr, and the soft, short fur of her lips brushing against his. Even though they were just a few days away from their fifteenth wedding anniversary, and had three children together, Rob still felt the same excitement as when they mated for the very first time. Their age difference--he at seventy-five, and she at thirty-four--had diminished neither their love for one another, nor their passion. Like all of the twenty-four original Sea Wolves, Rob aged slowly, still looking and acting twenty years younger than his actual age. If he had been a normal human, Rob never would have been able to keep up with his wife/mate, forty-one years his junior--let alone three children ages ten and nine. After fifteen years together, their passion was still quite strong, and their love for one another stronger yet. Most humans could not understand the strength of the bond formed between Rob and Helga--or those of his former men, such as Ron, Dave, and Jeff, and their G.E.L.F. mates for that matter. Although partially by design, genetically, it went deeper than that -- those G.E.L.F. and human couples with "Kapik's Gift" are able to form far stronger relationships due to a level of intimacy never before possible. It's an interesting experience to be locked in a highly passionate kiss and still be able to communicate with words--it's a whole different thing to also share desires, feelings, thought forms, and your deepest, innermost self with someone who is similarly sharing just as deeply in return. Beyond G.E.L.F. and human, beyond cat and man, beyond female and male, beyond even that of conscious entities--two souls came together outside of place and time. Two bright stars in an endless void, drawing closer and closer, reaching out one towards the other, warmth and light...until finally...

Second star: "I'm here, Lysi."

First star: "I have always been yours, Aerda..."

Second star: "...Just as I have always been yours, Lysi."

First star: "Forever joined..."

*GASP!*

*AHH!*

Helga and Rob both suddenly popped their eyes wide open, staring at each other in surprise.

"Rob...what was that_?_" Helga asked silently.

"I...I'm not sure...," he sent back.

"It was more than...just..."

"Yeah, more than that...way more..."

"Rob...I_feel _you in me..."

"Um, that's because..."

"No, silly...more than that. I don't know how to explain..."

Rob though about it for a few moments, searching his own feelings.

"You're right...I can't explain it either. I wonder if anyone else has had something like this happen."

"I know who we can ask..."

"...After we get a shower and breakfast."

"Of course, my love." *Purr-r-r-r-r*

Rob sat at the kitchen table with his youngest son Elric on his knee. Aurora and Fionn had come over to play, and were in the living room with Arthur and Sigrid. Helga had made the children's breakfast first--tuna with shredded cheese and sour cream, one of their favorites--and was cooking sausage and eggs for her and Rob. While he watched from the kitchen table, Rob suddenly had a feeling of having done this before. Although Rob doesn't have Ron's abilitiy to remember things in exacting detail, he was able to recall in his mind when he had seen this same situation before. It was similar to the dream he had the night after arriving home from their trip to Texas back in 2012--the trip where he had met Helga.

"Not quite the same, but...'close enough for government work', as we used to say," Rob mused to himself happily.

Ron was up a little early, so he decided to let Rosie sleep in a little, and fix breakfast for everyone himself. While breaking open three dozen eggs into a large mixing bowl, Ron sensed Kapik's approach.

"Good morning, sweetie...sleep good last night?" he sent to her with a bit of amusement.

Kapik walked part way into the kitchen before stopping to stretch a moment.

"Kapik sleep good, like new bed, big and soft."

Ron and Cormac had built a new bed for Kapik, using a twin-size mattress; they made a low wood frame for it so that she could sleep a little up off the floor without having to jump up on it. Kapik was pleased with her new bed, and wasted no time in trying it out. Rosie made some bolster pillows to go around three sides of the bed, with a little help from Chrysie and Vi, who added the stuffing. Lupina and Sierra put on the finishing touches, personalizing it for Kapik.

"I'm glad that you like it, sweetie, at least it's big enough for you to stretch out on it," Ron sent.

Kapik jumped up, putting her front feet on the edge of the counter, so that she could not only stand next to Ron, but also see what he was doing.

"Maybe you try bed, too," Kapik sent, looking up at Ron and wagging her tail.

Ron knew what she was hinting at, so he gave her a hug and asked, "Feeling a little frisky, dear?"

Kapik lowered her ears some and replied, "Want to be with you, too."

She did have a point--they had not spent much time together in recent months, which was something that needed to be attended to.

"I know, sweetie...we do need to spend more time together."

Kapik wagged her tail and then formed her lips as if she was going to say "woo", but then held it with her eyes almost closed and ears held back--her way of wanting a kiss. Smiling, Ron bent down and gave Kapik a smooch and a nuzzle.

"What you make to eat?"

"Oh, going to make scrambled eggs with cheese and sausage," Ron replied.

"You make enough?"

"I hope so...three dozen eggs, one and a half kilos of sausage, plus a bag of shredded cheese. That should be enough to feed ten of us."

Kapik looked around while she had her front paws on the edge of the kitchen counter. Since her body was that of a four-footed wolf instead of a wolf G.E.L.F., she couldn't stand on her hind legs for too long, though sometimes she would try walking a little on them as long as somebody held her up. She mostly did it out of curiosity, just to see what it was like to walk like the "tall furries". Eying the coffee pot, Kapik leaned her head towards it and sniffed.

"Can I have some?"

"Need a little 'go-juice' this morning, sweetie?" Ron asked with a chuckle.

Kapik sighed a little and then sent, "I watch brother's cubs today."

"Ah, aye, they're a handful, those two are. Hard to believe they're ten months old already," Ron sent, giving his beard a thoughtful tug. "I don't see your coffee 'mug' up here...do you remember where you left it at?"

"I go find," Kapik replied, putting her front feet back down on the floor, and trotted off to look for it.

Kapik's coffee "mug" is something of a household oddity--it is made of two layers of thermoplastic sandwiching a foam core, and about the size of a "soup cup", only it has both a traditional handle and a bail handle. The bottom is weighted so that it won't tip over easily. When she found where she had left it--by the couch, Kapik came back into the kitchen carrying her "mug" by the bail handle in her mouth. She gave it to Ron who ruffled the fur between Kapik's ears before taking it. He cleaned it out and dried it, before adding the coffee, cream, and sugar.

"Here you go, sweetie. Be careful now, it's hot," Ron said aloud as he handed Kapik her "mug".

"Thank you, I will."

Gently taking the bail handle in her mouth, Kapik carefully walked over by the big windows and set her "mug" down on the floor, and then lay down on the floor next to it.

Ron was just cracking open the last egg when he paused briefly, and then continued dumping the egg's contents into the mixing bowl.

"'Morning, Rozer," he sent cheerfully to his mare before she even made it around the corner. Rosie sleepily entered the kitchen and made her way over to Ron, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, and nuzzling against his back.

"Morfmmm...," Rosie mumbled.

Ron smiled and shook his head a little.

"Ready for some coffee, Rozer?" he sent.

"Yeah...caffeine...mmm..."

"Well, go pull up a chair at the table, and I'll bring you a cup," Ron suggested softly, giving Rosie's hand a kiss.

Rosie murmured, "'Kay," and slid her arms from around her mate, giving his backside a gentle squeeze. On her way over to the table, Rosie saw Kapik take a few laps from her "mug".

"Hey, you give ol' Kapik some coffee?" Rosie sent, not quite sure if she saw what she thought she saw.

"Yep, sure did, why?"

"Just wonderin'. When did she start drinking coffee?"

"That's how she got her name--'Kapik' means 'coffee' in Inupiatun. Back when I first got to know her, I was sitting in Atka and Sesi's den one day with them, drinking some coffee that I'd brought along in a thermos. I had set my cup down to get a sandwich out of my pack, and little Kapik came over and started drinking it. Ever since then, I've had to keep an eye on my coffee cup around her, and so I ended up choosing that name for her," he explained.

"Oh," Rosie said, "I guess it fits."

Rosie continued to sit and sip her coffee, watching Ron as he cooked breakfast, and thinking about how her life has been since their paths joined. When Lupina first told her about meeting him back in 2012, Rosie had longed to meet Ron--she never knew why, though it wasn't due to any jealousy on her part. Rosie and Lupina had never felt any jealousy between each other for any reason, for all their lives. She just knew that wherever Lupina went, she would be there beside her best friend, and together they would meet whatever fate the universe handed them. As it was, it seemed as if the mate of their dreams simply stepped right into their lives, and they've been happy ever since. Even with Kapik now being a part of the family, as Ron's third mate, Rosie didn't mind sharing him with her for he loved all three of his mates and the six children that they had together with all that he had to give. Finishing her first cup of coffee, Rosie got up to get a refill.

"Ron?"

"Yeah, Rozer?"

"Can we try for a boy next season?"

"You feel up to chasing another little skunker around the house, luv?" Ron grinned.

"Yeah. Chrysie and Vi are grown up, and...I wanna have a boy by you, you know, while..."

"...While I still can, eh?"

"Yeah. Lu and Kapik both have a boy...I want one, too."

"Okay, I suppose we can try, if you really want to," Ron agreed.

Rosie smiled and held her arms up to hug her mate, and then she gave him a passionate kiss.

"I don't know what I would have done without ya, big guy. Geez, I love you so much!"

"I love you, too, my sweet Rosie...so, so much."

Later that day, Rob and Helga were over visiting with Ron, Lupina, Rosie, Miki, and Willie. Cormac had taken the others, along with Holly, into town to see a movie and do some shopping. Kapik was off watching her brother Amaguq's two young ones, while he hunted with his mate, Sakari, along with Iluq, and Mumik. Eventually the conversation got around to the experience that Rob and Helga had early that morning.

"Have you ever experienced anything like that before?" Rob asked.

"Yep, we sure have, not long after we started seeing what we could do with the mind thingy," Rosie replied, fondly remembering the night they did.

"Sounds like you've discovered your true names, my friends. Take care with using them, for they're powerful things. We all know ours now, even the kid's," Ron said.

"'True' names?" Helga asked, blinking her eyes slowly.

"According to the beliefs of my people, every living thing has a secret, 'true' name," Miki said.

"Some cultures call it a soul name," Ron added.

"Right," Miki agreed. "Willie and I both know ours, too. From what you've described, the two of you are now joined in a way most people can't understand, though maybe in time, more will."

"So why do we need to be careful with these names?" Helga asked.

"If someone knows the true name of something, they can have power over it. Keep them to yourselves, or if you must, share them only with those who you trust absolutely," Miki replied.

"Most people go through their life never being consciously aware that they have anything other than the name given to them by others, such as by their parents, largely because they haven't developed the skill--or desire--to look that deep within themselves. They live only in the realm of surface thoughts, and maybe, sometimes, the subconscious might peek through. We all have a higher self, though, which connects our conscious self with the universe itself. In that way, we're all connected. Certain ones of these 'higher consciousness's" group together, and remain together--that's why when we meet someone who seems like we've known them forever, we probably have," Ron explained.

"So you're saying that Helga and I have known each other since before we were even born? I thought our initial attraction had to do with that experiment we were part of years ago?" Rob asked with a bit of skepticism.

"The genetic enhancements we received ended up making us _physically_attracted to, and compatible with, all female G.E.L.F.s, but...beyond that, yes, you likely have known each other since before you were born. Look at Lu and Rosie--they've been like sisters since day one, but Lu's a wolf and Rosie's a skunk--there's no other way to explain it. We've all been together before, and we'll always be together," Ron replied, taking a hold of Lupina and Rosie's hand in each of his.

"Yeah, always together," Lupina said, taking a hold of Miki's hand.

"Always together," Miki repeated, taking Willie's hand into hers.

"Always together," Rosie repeated, reaching out and taking Rob's hand.

"Always together," Willie added, taking Helga's hand.

"Always together," Rob and Helga said in unison as they held each other's hand, completing the circle. Their minds joined, connecting the seven of them, drawing closer and closer...

"Cormac, stop somewhere, anywhere!"

"What's up sis, gotta pee or something?" he smirked.

Sierra smacked her brother on the arm, "No, bonehead! Just stop, okay?"

"I feel it, too, Sierra...," Aurora said quietly. "Pull into that lot, Mackie...hurry!"

"Okay, okay, just a sec...," Cormac agreed, and pulled off into a restaurant's parking lot and found a space. "So what's the big...deal...wha...?"

He began to feel it, too, as did Fionn, Chrys Ann, Violet, Arthur, Sigrid, Elric, and even Holly.

"What's happening?" Holly whispered.

"Everybody, c'mon, join hands!" Sierra insisted. When they did, she reached out with her mind, "Always together..."

"Always together," the others repeated, linking together.

"Amaguq! Iluq! Mumik! Ikiaq! Miska! Sakari! Magnus!" Kapik called out emphatically. "You feel others?"

"We do!" they all replied.

"Join Kapik, join others!"

Kapik felt their minds touch and join with hers. "We always together."

"Always together..."