The Awakening
Chapter 1: Family Matters
Summer was just coming to an end. Election season was just around the bed with the upcoming congressional and senatorial elections. The Taelons had never been around for an election period for both houses, so they were interested in the news involving the candidates. There had been little activity on the Mothership or the Washington Embassy. The priests were still biding their time, which was beginning to frustrate the Atlantic National Alliance. They had agents working on the Mothership and in most embassies in Europe and North and South America, but everyone had trouble getting to the Moonbase, which apparently the priests had chosen for their stronghold. The human news was slow, but the Taelon news was unsettling. Many of the Taelons had undergone the cleansing. The priests had apparently slowed their activity due to Da'an's interference. They were now focusing on Taelons across the universe, allegedly in fear that the illness running rampant in the Commonality was spreading to Taelons away from Earth.
Malley and Liam had become good friends, and Liam had been picking around Malley's interests to see where his loyalties with the Taelons lay. He was considering offering Malley a position with the ANA. T'than and Zo'or were working very closely together now, an unsettling alliance that the ANA had not seen coming. If they were going to get to the depths of this alliance, they needed someone closer to the two than Liam. Sandoval was out of the question, so Malley was the perfect candidate. But the deeper Liam got into Malley's psyche, the more he realized the recruitment of Malley was highly unlikely. Malley had a genuine soldier's loyalty. It was one of the things Liam liked about him. He reminded Liam of his mother.
With such limited access to the Synod and the priests, it was difficult to determine the strategies of both sides, but it was apparent that a small coalition of Taelon minds had formed within the Synod and in other Taelon castes that was fiercely loyal to Zo'or or T'than—no one what quite sure whom they specifically served. Many of these Taelons were allies of T'than who came from outside the Milky Way galaxy. More and more of the Taelons would arrive day by day, and they were slowly replacing key members of the Synod. Five had already been replaced. Xia'tan and Ba'hor, the oldest members of the Synod, were among them. The deposed former members of the Synod retired and relocated to territory neutral to the Taelon-Jaridian War. A battle of wills was definitely ensuing.
The battle was filtering down to the companion protectors as well. Humans had been choosing sides as early as the day of the priests' arrival, but as rumors circulated of Taelon resistance, humans began choosing sides. One of the newest resistors was Lydia Deladier. She was an agent of the FBI who had served in the same intelligence sector as Sandoval did in the SI War, and she was much like him. She was quiet and calculating around the Taelons, but around humans she had a wicked and venomous tongue. The rumor was that she and Sandoval were becoming close friends. Both of them vehemently denied the rumors. Deladier had just been placed as the lieutenant of Zo'or's personal volunteer squad. Still, it was difficult to determine whom Deladier actually served. She seemed more interested in T'than than Zo'or, something Sandoval found disturbing.
There was not much useful information coming from the Taelons or the humans working for the ANA. With so little to work on, it was difficult to find a good avenue for attack. This worried many of the leaders working for the ANA. They did not like waiting for the priests and the Synod to make their move, and they especially hated not knowing the strategies of both sides. The ANA could only pursue one strategy: get more information, fortify the ANA headquarters, and prepare for the enemy to strike.
With that as the agenda, Auger was put in charge of creating a security system for the building. Hubble had decided to put Auger's talents to good use. The only reason he accepted was for the enormous paycheck Hubble had offered for the successful creation and maintenance of a superior security system and communications system.
Auger had finished installing a security system for the ANA building, but now he was working on a superior communications program that would enable ANA agents and resistance members to communicate without the possibility of trace or penetration.
When his shift was done, he decided to check in on Da'an, Link, and Ariel. Auger was becoming a frequent visitor to Link's place because he loved seeing Ariel. She made him feel closer to Lili. Liam and Auger were on their way now with a stuffed tiger and a Rubick's cube as presents. There was no occasion, but they decided that Ariel could use some more toys. Most of the child's entertainment came from Da'an using her powers to make things out of water or clay to impress the child. They decided Da'an was probably getting tired of the routine.
They both walked up to the loft and rang the bell. Liam was the only visitor that ever rang the bell. That was how Da'an and Link always knew it was Liam.
Da'an opened the door wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans.
"You got the gun in your pocket, don't you?" Auger asked her. It was one of the many routines Link had taught Da'an.
She just ignored Auger and let the two in. "Tay'jay and Ta'lay are here too."
"Really? Why?" Liam asked.
"Nothing important. We were just talking," Da'an said, which meant it was something important that Da'an was not at liberty to disclose to anyone else.
Tay'jay was currently chasing the scampering little infant while Ta'lay brought tea for the group. The moment he saw Liam and Auger, he walked back to the kitchen to find more glasses.
"You got any coffee?" Auger asked Ta'lay as Da'an showed them to the couch.
"In this house, we drink by the healing powers of leaves and roots, not beans," Link said.
Auger chuckled. "All right then. I'll have tea with extra sugar."
"She's walking all over the place," Liam mentioned as Tay'jay continued chasing Ariel.
"Once she learned how to use those damn legs, she hasn't stopped," Link said. "We've been chasing her all over the loft. Thank God we don't have a two-story."
"I got ya!" Tay'jay exclaimed grabbing the girl and tickling her. Ariel squealed in delight. She was wearing a pair of overalls with a pink t-shirt underneath.
"She's getting big," Auger said.
"Oh, we know, trust me," Da'an said.
"Has she started talking yet?" Liam asked.
"Nope," Da'an and Link said simultaneously.
"Would either of you like some honey to go with your tea?" Ta'lay asked Liam and Auger.
"No thanks," they both said.
"So what brings you two here?" Tay'jay asked carrying Ariel on his shoulders.
"Just visiting," Liam said showing them the toys they had brought with them. "We come bearing gifts."
"Thank you," Da'an said taking them.
Tay'jay put Ariel down to let her play with them. She immediately went for the Rubick's cube trying to figure it out.
"I told you, Liam," Auger said. "Alien-human hybrids always go for the puzzles. You were the same way."
"I'd think he'd remember," Da'an said. "It was not that long ago."
"Shut up, Da'an," Liam said giving her a playful sneer. "So what were you guys talking about?"
"Nothing important," Ta'lay and Tay'jay said quickly.
"Uh, what they said," Link agreed pointing to them.
"Are you sure?" Auger asked in a suspecting tone.
"Your tea is done!" Ta'lay announced quickly brining it to them in a tray.
"We were talking about the upcoming elections," Da'an said to them.
Tay'jay got to work helping Ariel with the Rubick's cube.
"Yeah," Link improvised. "Pretty big year. Both houses are campaigning."
"I know," Liam said. "Many of them started showing commercials early in the month. It's been driving me nuts. Thank God my residence is in DC. I don't have to vote."
"Uh…you know it's not just the congressional and senatorial elections going on," Link not. "There's the district attorney, the judges, and a half-dozen city reps. on the ballot too."
"But most of the local elections are before November," Da'an said. "They had the school board elections just last month."
"He's still gotta vote for something," Link said. "I know I'm gonna."
"Touché," Liam said.
"What about in Britain, Ta'lay?" Auger asked. "What are Parliamentary elections like?"
"How the devil should I know?" Ta'lay asked back. "I am a Taelon, I am a lu'yoi, I do not have citizenship, and therefore I never had to vote. What reason would I have to pay attention to politics?"
"An inquiring mind?" Tay'jay asked.
"Regrettably you do not fall under that category," Ta'lay said.
"What are you talking about? I'm extremely curious," Tay'jay objected humorously. "For example, I've often wondered what gender you might be if you were an Espelon. Because if you're a girl, then maybe you and I should get together after this little play date and just 'dive in' like Link and Da'an did."
"Hey, don't get us involved in your sexual escapades," Link said.
"And what if I were a male?" Ta'lay asked.
"Well, that would explain my sudden unspoken attraction to androgynous energy beings, and, upon landing the right one, I'd just lie back and accept my sexuality," Tay'jay said actually lying back on the couch to prove his point.
"You are a swine," Ta'lay scoffed.
"I'd prefer to be called a pig. There's just no substitute for that harsh 'puh' sound that comes out of an angry woman slandering a womanizer," Tay'jay said. "Or a male slandering a homosexual moonlighter with wonderful charisma. Only time will tell."
Ta'lay was seconds away from slapping Tay'jay, but suddenly, Ariel started to whine. She dropped the Rubick's cube and whimpered in pain. Da'an rushed to her aid, but a brilliant blue light that enveloped the child stopped her. The group watched in awe and fear as the light grew brighter and brighter. Then, as quickly as it appeared, it died out. The brilliance of the light had torn through Ariel's clothes leaving her completely nude. She now appeared as the equivalent of a five-year-old girl.
The group was too stunned to say anything.
"Uh, Mazel Tov! It's a girl!" Link cried when nothing else came to him.
The stunned group now turned, giving him looks of confusion and sarcasm.
"Mommy!" Ariel cried running to Da'an in delight.
"Uh, wow," Da'an said, trying to figure out what to say.
"I'll get a blanket," Tay'jay said.
"Well, if I had known you were going to grow this tall this soon, I would have bought you the proper clothing," Da'an said to Ariel. "Congratulations on your first growth spurt Ariel."
"Thank you, Mommy," Ariel said happily.
Tay'jay immediately returned with a long blue blanket and covered Ariel.
"Well, this is an unexpected development," Ta'lay said.
"I thought Jaridian children grew gradually like humans," Liam said. "They just did it faster because of their metabolisms."
"They are supposed to, and she had been doing that," Ta'lay said, "but Taelons grow in sudden, instantaneous spurts like Kimera. I wonder if she will continue to grow like a Taelon from now on. I had always thought, however, that her human and Jaridian DNA would counter this."
"She appears to be growing at the same rate as a Taelon too," Da'an said. "I believe I had my first spurt around this time."
"Yeah, I remember I did too," Tay'jay said.
"Which means that she will probably have three more spurts," Ta'lay said. "An adolescent one at around three, a young adult one at around ten, and the final adult spurt at sixteen."
"Wait," Link exclaimed, "she's gonna be a teenager when she's ten! Oh, God!"
"Link, we will worry about that when we get to it," Da'an said. "Right now, we need to celebrate. Taelons only experience four spurts in their lives and each would call for a family celebration."
"And clothing," Tay'jay added. "Girl's gotta have clothing."
"Well, I'm not the best at clothes shopping," Liam said uneasily.
"I am," Auger chimed in.
"You are not buying my child clothes, Auger," Da'an snapped taking a serious look at his bright yellow and red shirt with the matching trousers.
"Ingrate," Auger scoffed. "Some people just have no appreciation for the Afro-centric look."
"You can dress that look up with fancy words all you want. It still screams…gay," Tay'jay said, with a big whisper upon the word 'gay' to make for a fun contrast.
"Cool it Romeo and…Romeo. I'll buy the clothes," Link said. "Don't worry. For now, she can wear that green Sunday dress Street got her. It was too big anyway."
"Well, I will go get her dressed," Da'an said. "We can go clothes shopping right afterwards. And then we can go for…what…ice cream?"
"Yeah!" Ariel exclaimed, nodding eagerly.
"Well, you all can go, but I believe I must sit this one out," Ta'lay said. "It would look a tad unscrupulous to see a Taelon walking with a group of humans to an ice cream shop. I think I will return to my office."
"I'll take her," Tay'jay said, "…or him. The fates are still deciding. The anticipation is killing me."
"That would not be the suspense, Tay'jay," Ta'lay said. "That would be the pain of my foot kicking you to a bloody pulp the moment we leave this loft."
"Ah ha! Espelons are made of energy. There'll be no blood from this pulp."
"Ah ha! Thank you for giving me the perfect avenue for psychological torture," Ta'lay said.
"Aww! Now, he gonna play hard to get."
"Knock yourselves out," Link said to them. "Let's get ready."
"When did you get to be such an ass?" Da'an asked Tay'jay as she was changing.
"When did you suddenly start reducing yourself to the utilization of curse words?" Tay'jay asked back. "If I recall, you're a mom, now."
"I only curse around you and people I do not like. Never around Ariel. Children are so impressionable," Da'an said. "But back to the subject at hand. You know Ta'lay will never want you if you keep teasing him like this, regardless of whether or not you choose to classify him with a gender. It didn't work with me and Ar'ron and it will not work with you and Ta'lay."
"In Ar'ron's defense, he lacked the subtle charm needed to hook in the fish."
"So now you are using fishing analogies?"
"Oh, definitely. Wooing mates is just like fishing. You give 'em some slack to let 'em know you're interested. Then, the moment they fall for the bait, you reel 'em in. Oh, they'll fight, especially the tough ones. That's a given, but if you put in enough of yourself, and pull 'em outta the water with all your might, they just have to lie back and accept it."
Da'an was flabbergasted. "My brother is a sexual predator."
"No, I'm a womanizer. You've obviously got the two mixed up, like most women."
"Okay, big shot. Two can play at this game. Perhaps you can help me solve a dilemma that has been in the back of my mind for quite some time."
"What would that be?" Tay'jay asked, standing haughtily to match his sister's pose.
"I want you to look directly at my breasts and tell me which one is bigger," Da'an said with her hands folded directly under them to give them an extra push up.
"Huh?" Tay'jay asked, trying to make sure he had not heard what he thought he had just heard.
"You heard me, big man. You're so comfortable around women after all—so…masculine. A womanizer like you would just jump at this big an opportunity," Da'an taunted. "After all, is the fondling of breasts not one of the primary goals of all womanizers? Or would that be the occasional slapping of the butt? I can never tell."
"Uh…look normally I'd be all over you, right now…but…you're my sister," Tay'jay said. "I mean, I'm staring at your breasts right now and thinking of all the Bible verses that frown upon this kinda thing."
"Oh I see. When the women are playing hard to get, you can't help but chase after them like a common dog. But when one is comfortable enough with her sexuality to respond to your lustful advances, you're suddenly so intimidated that you hide behind the pages of a religion you don't even believe in."
"Are you two almost ready?" Link asked opening the door.
"Um, does the word 'privacy' mean anything to you?" Tay'jay asked blushing a deep blue.
"Uh, excuse you, but this is my house last time I checked," Link shot back. "What's going on here?"
"Apparently this stunning specimen of masculinity and bigotry is not man enough to stand up to me and my chest. You know, I find it fascinating dear brother that you chauvinists claim that women are nothing but sex dolls and playmates, yet when one actually embraces that role, confirming your narrow-minded beliefs, you suddenly run like a frightened little…girl."
"H-Hey. I was just joking with you and Ta'lay. You know I'm not really like that," Tay'jay said timidly. "Ask any one of my female crew members. They'll tell you. I can't stop whatever comes outta my mouth."
Link was completely confused and a little worried about where this was going. "What disturbing episode of Melrose Place did I just walk into?"
"Get out while you can, Link. It's a trick," Tay'jay said quickly.
"Shut up, man-whore," Da'an snapped haughtily. "Perhaps a more disciplined and respectful man should earn the right to participate with me. Link would you like to help me with a small conundrum involving my chest?"
"Is this some kind of hypothetical question, or do I need to bring my wallet?" Link asked, not liking at all the web Da'an had just spun.
"Well, don't be a pussy like our failed woman poacher here," Da'an said suggestively. "Step over here and tell me which of my breasts is bigger."
"Uh…whoa, whoa—wait," Link said putting his hands up instinctively. "You-You want me…to feel around on your boobs…to find out which one's bigger?"
"Sure baby. Is that a problem?"
"Don't mind if I do!" Link said in excitement.
"Uh, I did not see any of this. I was never here," Tay'jay said walking out of the bedroom as fast as he could, yet he could not help feeling a small portion of his pride had been shot down. "A dime a dozen for males right now is just two much."
Link got close to Da'an and stood staring directly at her chest.
"Well…what's wrong?" Da'an asked.
"Well…the shirt's gotta add an extra millimeter or so. I thought we were going for accuracy," Link said stilling staring at her chest.
"What is a millimeter going to do to accuracy?" Da'an asked in confusion.
"Well, I don't know. I might not get a good enough grip," Link said casually.
"Oh for the love of—" Da'an unbuttoned the white blouse she had put on and revealed a white bra of the same color.
"Uh…do we need the bra?" Link dared to ask.
"Perhaps you did not understand the ultimate purpose of this exercise, which has walked out of the room with his tail between his legs."
"Then why are you still letting me touch your boobs?"
"I could think of at least five reasons—three of which need not be addressed—but ultimately this has been in back of my mind ever since I received this body. Now, I believe that it is left one, but if I stare at the mirror long enough, the right one appears to be bigger. I do not trust my eyes."
"Well, that sounds like a very reasonable and…surprisingly plausible and scientific explanation," Link said still shocked at the overall audacity Da'an had to even drag him into this. "Okay, now let's do this thing." He nervously lay one hand on Da'an's breast as if he was about to touch a mine. When nothing happened, he relaxed his grip and began squeezing the breast doing everything in his power to maintain a professional look.
Da'an smirked at his efforts. No matter what he did, she could tell he was enjoying this immensely. She was starting to wonder if this had been a good idea.
Link then began to examine the right breast with the same hand the same way. After "careful" examination he concluded, "Okay…I-I think the left one's bigger. You see I can wrap my whole hand around the right one, whereas I am unable to with the left one." He demonstrated for her. "Uh…but I just wanna be sure." He squeezed both of her breasts again. "Okay…just wanna be sure." He did it again… "One more time," …and again… "I'm not so sure. Let me confirm one more time" …and again.
"Okay, now you're just being greedy!" Da'an snapped in irritation.
"The left one! The left one. Uh…the left one's bigger Da'an," Link said quickly.
"Thank you very much," Da'an said very professionally as if the situation was nothing more than a dinner meeting with a business partner.
"Hey, Da'an. Are you guys ready y—" Liam's mouth dropped open when he walked in on the two and saw Link's hand wrapped around Da'an's left breast. Both of them were just as surprised as well.
Link searched his mind for a logical explanation during the awkward silence. When he found none, he decided to wing it. "Uh…and…that is how you give yourself a breast exam, honey," he said trying to act naturally.
"Um…of course—of course," Da'an said, too overwhelmed with nervousness to disagree.
"Be-Because you know, you don't have to just be a human to get cancer," Link said.
Liam's mouth dropped even lower and his eyes got even wider.
"Well, obviously. I mean, I am a woman…with-with breasts," Da'an stuttered.
"You know, I can come back," Liam said turning around and walking out of the doorway trying to forget everything he had just seen.
"I told you not to go in there!" Tay'jay's voice cried from outside.
"Uh…so…did that solve your problems?" Link asked Da'an once he was gone.
"I believe so. Um, Link, dearest?"
"Yeah?" Link asked in a short, nervous sigh.
"Your hand is still squeezing my breast…and it is starting to hurt."
"Oh! Oh. Sorry about that. I didn't even realize it was there," Link said removing his hand and then making a vain effort to laugh about it (even though they both secretly did find it funny).
"With my hypothesis proven, I suppose I need to provide a more valid explanation for why this phenomenon fascinated me enough to let you do that. You see, I have done much research on the human anatomy, and not one book I read told me that the proportions of the female breasts were not symmetrical," Da'an said in an intrigued tone, while re-buttoning her blouse. "I especially did not expect that to be the case with an Espelon either. Seeing as we are made of energy, you'd think there'd be an equal distribution of that within each breast."
"Well, you know…the same principle might be the same for the rest of your body," Link said. His voice sounded cooler and more suave with each passing second that he spoke. "Maybe we should conduct a more…thorough exam some time…like late at night…when the kid's asleep."
Da'an gave him a sarcastic grin. "You enjoyed every moment of that, didn't you?"
"No…No…of course not," Link said nervously. "I mean…I didn't not not enjoy it, I—Yeah, babe. I was lovin' every minute of it," he finally had to admit.
"Experiments are meant to intrigue the mind, Rembrandt, not stimulate it."
"Well…I don't know what to tell you," Link said. "Apparently I subconsciously missed that note. I believe that is called a Freudian slip, aptly named after history's favorite psychiatrist."
"More like popular culture's favorite psychiatrist," Da'an corrected.
"Well enough of these awkward human-alien moments," Link said. "Let's buy some clothes." He opened the door to show her out, and followed her to the group that was waiting anxiously to figure out what had gone on that was juicy enough to leave Tay'jay and Liam in total shock.
When nothing was said for at least a minute, Auger ended the awkward moment and led the group out the door.
"You are wrong to do that to two fine, strapping men, in every sense of the word," Tay'jay whispered sharply to Da'an.
"Yeah…but it was funny," Da'an snickered.
After they parted ways, Link drove Liam, Auger, Da'an, and Ariel to a local outlet mall. The moment Auger got out of the car, he felt like he was going to faint.
"My…God," he exclaimed in fear. "The Gap, American…Eagle….Banana Republic! This is a nightmare!"
"Well under normal circumstances, I'd be an elitist like you and buy only the weirdest and most expensive attire, but who would pay for it. You?" Link asked wittily.
"You could at least get the girl some clothes with good taste," Auger said.
"See why I didn't want him buying clothes for Ariel?" Da'an asked Link.
"Yes, I do," Link said completely ignoring Auger's panic attack. He bent to Ariel's level and placed his hands on her bare shoulders. "So little sprout, pick whichever store you wanna go in first."
"There are so many of them," Ariel said in awe. "Which one should I choose?"
"Just pick one," Liam said. "Just point and say 'there.' It doesn't have to make sense."
"Okay," Ariel said. She closed her eyes and pointed to the Tommy Hilfiger outlet. "There!"
"Good choice," Link said. "Let's go."
Link and Liam spent about two hours watching Ariel and Da'an walk in and out of the fitting room with several different outfits in from several different stores. When it was all said and done, Ariel had about three bags of clothing and two bags of shoes from five different stores.
"Are you sure we are not being too excessive?" Da'an asked Link as they walked to the ice cream parlor.
"Hey, Liam volunteered to pay for the bag of shoes he's carrying. I didn't force him," Link said pointing back to Liam, who was walking with a bag of shoes in one hand and Ariel's hand in the other. "And Auger wanted to pay for all the Ralph Lauren stuff. I don't get why he likes Ralph Lauren but not Hilfiger."
"Ralph Lauren is a designer of extremes. On one side, you have the classy and formal look, and on the other side, you have the outrageous and flamboyant look," Da'an said. She turned back to observe Auger's clothing again. "One guess on which side Auger favors."
"Implying that Auger is either the worst closet case that I have ever seen, or the most secure man with his sexuality that I have ever met to walk around in the junk he wears," Link said. "But sexuality aside, you gotta admit, the man knows his colors. He picked some of the weirdest shirts and skirts from that store and still managed to have her coming out looking good. Who woulda thought that kid looked good in yellow and lime green?"
Da'an shrugged. "Well, if you are all right with all of this I will not complain."
"Hey, it's not like she's never gonna use all of this. She'll be that same size for about two or three more years, right?" Link said.
"True. I guess growing in sudden spurts does have its advantages," Da'an said. "Yet the Taelon side of me feels a little guilty about all of this. Do you know how many axioms I have broken today by just being a part of this shopping spree?"
"Why? It's not your fault your former species is a bunch of cheapskates," Link said.
Da'an gasped, trying to prevent herself from laughing. "They are not cheapskates! How can they be cheapskates if they don't use money?"
"Let me think. Your former species used to live entirely off of Mother Nature and not material things—which translates into garage sale junk. Then, instead of using currency, the closest they every came to was bartering by 'giving away' faulty technology in exchange for favors condoned by the leaders of the receivers—translation: con-artistry. Finally, in the rest of the universe where other species still use currency like us, they bum off the resources of other species by manipulating them into believing they're some benevolent helpless people just looking for a home—translation: freeloading. The Taelons are cheapskates."
"I cannot believe you!" Da'an cried hitting him with her bag. "You are a terrible man."
"Hey. I'm right. All the Taelons are is freeloading cheapskates and con artists. And then they have the audacity to discount us as a bunch of liars and cheats. Well, look at them. They give us technology that appears to help us better our lives. Then, they use it to steal our memories, alter our bodies, and sacrifice human lives in the name of war against another species we barely know anything about."
"Is there a point to all this Taelon-bashing?"
"The point is that you shouldn't feel so ethically attached to a bunch of gold-digging hypocrites. They may not be digging for cash or jewelry, but they're digging for something that is of immense value to them: knowledge and the minds to fuel them. Why do you think the Commonality's so powerful? It's fueled by minds. Minds are the Taelons' gold, and they steal it from other people to suit their own initiatives."
"So in that sense, am I a gold-digger?"
"No. You use knowledge as a means to do good, not evil. You use it as a tool of service not power. Besides, if that other cheapskate Urick actually paid you like he's paying Liam and Renee and didn't bum off that whole 'Taelons don't use money' BS, you'd be able to and willing to pitch in for all of this."
"That's right. I would."
"And you shouldn't have any qualms about doing it either," Link said opening the door to the ice cream parlor for her and the others.
"I don't," Da'an said. "Well…not anymore, I don't."
"Good. That's settled," Link said closing the door.
"Man, only Link could turn something purely moral into that," Liam whispered to Auger. Both started paying attention to the conversation the moment Link mention the words "Taelons" and cheapskates" in the same sentence.
"I don't know about that," Auger said. "You're pretty good at doing it too."
"All right, Ariel," Da'an said taking her up to the different ice creams. "Now you get to choose which flavor you want."
Ariel scanned the thirty-five different flavors. "I don't know. I can't remember what the names of the ice creams I like are."
"Excuse me," Link said to the teenager behind the counter. "Give her the chocolate chip cookie dough sample."
"Yes, sir," the man said. He scooped out a tiny spoonful of the ice cream and was sure to capture some of the cookie dough with it too. Then, he let Ariel try it.
She loved it. Then, Link asked him to do the same with the banana flavor and the strawberry flavor. She liked all of them. Therefore, Link ordered a banana split with all one scoop of all three flavors. After paying the man, the three returned to Liam and Auger with two spoons and several napkins.
"Hey, where's our ice cream?" Auger asked.
"I'm sorry, did you two also have growth spurts without me knowing it?" Link retorted. "You're grown men, dammit. Buy your own."
Auger grumbled and ordered his own. Liam just chuckled and followed.
Ariel tried to hand her spoon to Da'an. "Don't you want some, mommy?"
"This is your day, Ariel. I want you to enjoy it," Da'an said nervously looking at the crowd.
"Okay!" Ariel said happily and dug into the treat.
"Wow. Look at how quick she was to get that 'no' outta you. Just ready to dive in guiltlessly, huh?" Link teased. "You know, gluttony is a sin."
"Leave her alone," Da'an said playfully. "At least she asked. Most children would not ask."
An older woman with her granddaughter about Ariel's size passed the three.
"Well aren't you three just the sweetest little family," she complimented. "And how old is the little girl?"
"Um…five," Da'an lied. "She just turned five."
"Well, happy birthday, young lady," the grandmother said to Ariel.
"Thank you," Ariel said nervously, but she didn't let that distract her from finishing off the banana split.
"Well, she is just a darling little girl, and with parents who are just as beautiful," she said.
"Thank you kindly, ma'am," Link said imitating a cowboy.
"I never meant to pry, it's just that I saw you two walking in and I said to myself, 'This is a couple that's going to last forever.' Your marriage is going to work," the grandmother said. "I can tell just by looking at you."
"Grandma, come on!" the little girl whined.
"Oh all right dear," the grandmother said. "Enjoy your special day, all of you."
"Yeah, see you later," Link said as they walked away.
"Aw, you three look so cute together," Liam said in a puppy dog voice.
"Oh be quiet," Da'an said rolling her eyes.
"Don't be ashamed," Auger teased, grabbing Link's cheek and squeezing it.
"What the heck are you doing!" Link cried fighting off the computer nerd.
"Come on, you two are it for each other," Liam said, sitting at the table.
"Have you given her a ring yet, Link?" Auger asked.
"Yeah," Liam said. He got close to Da'an and whispered, "You know, Da'an, I've always wanted to see you in a wedding dress."
"That is NOT going to happen, bub!" Da'an cried.
"Come on Link," Auger taunted. "The sooner you marry her, the sooner I can get your bachelor party ready."
"Mommy, why are Mr. Liam and Mr. Auger acting stupid?" Ariel asked Da'an.
"That is a very good question, honey," Da'an said.
Auger's global rang before he could retort, not that he found the opinion of a one-year-old hybrid offensive in any way. "Yello?"
"Hey, Auger," Street said through the global. "Where are you?"
"Food court at the outlet mall with little Ariel. I tell ya, Street, the girl's growing like a weed," Auger said winking. "Oh, by the way, Link proposed to Da'an in front of a fundamentalist Christian grandmother and her grandchild today."
"Really?" Street asked excitedly.
"NO!" Da'an, Link, and Ariel yelled together.
"Wait, why did Ariel yell it too?" Liam whispered to himself.
"Well, I hate to cut the engagement party short," Street said, "but we need you back here. One of the sensors in the Andes Mountains is going haywire, and Hubble wants you to look at it—seeing as it's your new global monitoring system and all."
"Good thing he asked you to call me," Auger said. "I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."
"See ya there."
"What's going on?" Da'an asked.
"Aw, mud butt's asking for me," Auger said. "Sounds like one of the monitoring satellites in the Andes blew a fuse and he wants me to fix it."
Da'an snickered. Liam and Link didn't get it.
"Are you all right getting there from here?" Link asked him.
"Don't worry about me. If I can find my way around Venice, I can definitely work my way around greater DC."
"Well good luck," Liam said. "Call us if you need anything."
"Oh and call me if you're looking for an engagement ring, Link," Auger teased.
"You die now!" Link cried leaping up from his seat, but Da'an restrained him.
"Geez, I never know you could get so tense over a wedding ring," Liam teased.
Da'an and Link buried their heads on the table.
"You know what?" Link asked Liam, trying with all his might to keep himself from cursing in front of Ariel. "I…hate you."
