Chapter Two: Tika's Announcement (You know what that is)
"Heh, heh, so the little wifey wants just one more child--again, eh?
Are you two trying to beat the record of the Gran and Granden of the Clan of
Pearl? If you are, you two have thirty more little ones to go!" Superior
Granden Bajal Chloe slapped his oldest son's back companionably. "You two have
a lot of loving to do to pull that one off!"
Mantros groaned at his father's words. His father was always
teasing his favored child about Tika's famous "just one more child" phrase. He
and his father both knew that less approving relatives in the Clan of Chloe
often said that Princess Tika Chloe had more children than sense. Mantros had
recently fought his brother, Aijal, three weeks before they left for planet
Hysle when Ajjal had dared to repeat that statement. Mantros had only ended up
with a black eye and a broken finger, but all of Aijal's ribs had been broken.
Mantros would not allow anyone to insult his wife.
And Tika was an excellent mother to her large brood, and she somehow
managed to give them each individual attention. Mantros could barely keep up
and keep track of his numerous children, but Tika handled it so easily. She was
very organized and calm and protective of her large family. And Tika was also a
wonderful grandmother as well, making sure that each grandchild received her
individual attention.
Mantros and Bajal were watching the stars from a large window on the
spaceship. In seven more months, they would reach planet Hysle, which was a
sister planet to Astoria. The Hyslians and the Astorians were not genetically
compatible as mates, but still the two planets managed to get along well. The
Hyslian people resembled Papillion dogs with large butterfly-wing-like ears,
heavily fringed with fur. The Mantros Chloe family and the Superior Granden
were paying Hysle a rare social visit. This was a special trip, to convince the
Hyslians to ally with the Astorians against Frieza and his minions.
Mantros and Tika had brought along ten of their nineteen children:
the twin girls Ralia and Tracina, Dejal, Bytron, Corpros, Gracina, Leron, Makal
and the twin boys Necron and Fejal. Their youngest boys, Arlon and Lukan, had
been left on Astoria with nurses, but the youngest child, Nieca had been brought
along. The four oldest children: Gorna, Bajal, Cletos, and Raakon had also been
left behind. Marya was a priestess at the Temple of Chloe, and she had been
unable to leave her duties for an extended period of time. Jaypros had also
been left behind.
Tika strolled to the starboard side of the ship where Bajal and
Mantros were, wearing a big smile. Gracina was walking right alongside her,
carrying little Nieca. Makal, Necron, and Fejal were running behind them,
sparring with each other as usual. Eventually the three boys became too loud
and rowdy until Gracina told them to be quiet in her usual schoolteacher-like
voice. The three brothers immediately obeyed because Gracina was a strong
healior, and she could easily cuff them if they got out of line. Actually none
of the younger Mantros Chloe siblings dared to defy her.
Gracina kissed both her father and her grandfather on their rough,
stubbly cheeks. Both men were pleased, but then they both remembered that
neither one of them had bothered to shave that morning. Mantros looked his
daughter over appreciatively, like any father would with an attractive daughter.
Gracina was the most beautiful of his daughters, almost sixteen years old, with
ankle-length, sunshiny blond hair, high cheekbones, and large sky-blue eyes.
She was also an excellent healer and fighter, and Mantros was certain that she
would make any man a good wife in a few years' time. Mantros thought that very
few men were good enough for his favorite daughter, and he normally disapproved
of two-thirds of Gracina's potential suitors.
Except for his nephew, Lektron, who was twelve years older than
Gracina. Lektron had recently (and a bit nervously) admitted to his uncle that
he cared for Gracina, and that he wanted to court her. Gracina had admitted to
having a small crush on Lektron, even though she had at first thought him
boorish and crude like her brother, Bajal, who was Lektron's best friend.
Mantros chuckled at the memory of the usually haughty and brash Lektron being so
nervous. Mantros and his father both fully approved of Lektron as a future
husband for Gracina, and they both knew that Gracina could keep him in line.
The age difference did not matter to Mantros, for he himself was ten
years older than his wife, and Tika had been eighteen when Mantros had made her
his bride. Mantros remembered how relieved both his parents had been when they
found out that he was going to finally settle down and give them an heir for
Astoria's throne. Now they were worried about Prince Bajal, who was twenty-two
and had no intentions of taking a bride anytime soon.
Mantros' own wife took her husband's large hand and placed it on her stomach.
Mantros rubbed her abdomen experimentally, feeling a small swell. He smiled and
sighed wearily. Tika could get pregnant faster than any woman he knew.
"Already?" he pretended to groan, as Bajal chuckled. He ignored his
father's whisper, saying, "Twenty down, and thirty more to go!"
But Tika had heard her father-in-law, and she smiled. "This is
going to be our last child."
"Hah!" Bajal snorted, as Mantros groaned for real this time. They
both knew that Tika had said that phrase eight children ago!
Bajal grinned. "Congrats, congrats, though of course by the time we
get back to Astoria, you'll be begging my boy for another one more child! You
have thirty more to go, my dear, thirty more!"
"Aw, Mam, you're really not going to have another baby, are you?"
Necron moaned. "It was enough to hear Nieca cry all the time when she was a
baby! That was all she knew how to do! And that's all she still knows how to
do! My ears are still ringing from when she had cried as a baby!"
Nieca stuck her tongue out at him, as Necron made a face at her.
Tika admonished both of her children to behave themselves.
"Well, I'm not changing any diapers!" Makal declared.
"You never changed diapers in your life, Makal," Gracina told him
contemptuously. "I can't even get you to bring things for the babies when the
Nurses and I need help!"
Fejal asked, "Is the baby going to be a boy or a girl?"
Tika smiled. "I've been pregnant for only three weeks, Fejal! But
from what the amniocentesis says, I am likely to have a girl."
Necron, Makal, and Fejal all made faces then. "Great," Necron
mumbled, "Just what we need: another whiny baby girl like Nieca!"
Nieca cried, "I am not whiny! I am not a baby!"
"Yes you are!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes you are!" all three boys chorused.
"I am NOT!" Nieca was beginning to get angry.
"Yes you are!" the three boys sang again.
"ENOUGH!" Mantros ordered them. "You three boys will stop picking
on your sister, or all three of you will not be allowed to spar for a week!"
The three boys looked down, shamefacedly. "Yes, Father," they
mumbled.
Mantros continued. "Now everyone of us here will do what we can to
make your mother happy and comfortable. After all, we will soon have another
little one."
"I'm glad Mamma's having another baby!" Nieca announced.
Mantros smiled. "I'm glad you are, but why is that, sweetheart?"
"Because everyone always tells me what to do, and when this baby's
born, I'll have someone to tell what to do!"
Mantros and Tika both sighed.
Tika and Mantros received the final results of Tika's amniocentesis,
which showed that their baby would definitely be a girl. "What will we name
this little one?" Mantros asked his wife. "We've only seven months to decide."
An Astorian woman's gestation period was only seven months.
"How about Gorna?" Tika asked mischievously, and Mantros groaned
aloud.
"Please tell me you are kidding!"
Tika laughed softly. "Well, how about we name her after your
sister, Petrula?"
"No way! That woman snores like a pig, and eats worse than one.
Every time I'd speak our new daughter's name, I'd be reminded of that crude
sister of mine. Next suggestion?"
"Well, how about Shalila?"
"We were going to name Gorna after my mother, remember?
Unfortunately, that idiot brother of mine, Aijal, named his first daughter,
Shalila! That's what I get for not settling down sooner!"
"If you had settled down sooner, you and I would not be married."
Mantros kissed his wife's neck and grinned. "True, very true. But
seriously, Tika, one Shalila per generation is enough. Besides everyone would
be getting them confused with each other. Let a few of our children name their
daughters Shalila."
"What about Aliquina? Wasn't that one of your mother's best friends
long time ago?"
"Aliquina? The Sastorian healer?" Mantros inquired of the
half-Saiyan, half-Astorian woman that his mother had befriended before Aliquina
had died. "It is a lovely name, but it would bring back painful memories for
many of our Clan members. Every time someone spoke our daughter's name, they
would be reminded of Aliquina's ill-fated romance with that Saiyan barbarian,
Arcan!"
"The same Arcan who had Aliquina as his slave and told her he loved
her, but then abandoned her?"
"Exactly. You know that story is always told to Astorian girls to
discourage them from marrying or associating with Saiyan men. I pity the woman,
but Aliquina was a fool to commit suicide over a mere Saiyan." Aliquina had not
been alive for over sixty years; in fact they had lived during the time that the
Astorians had rebelled against their Saiyan captors and took back their planet
from them. However, everyone still talked about Arcan and Aliquina, as if the
star-crossed couple's romance had been recent. All Astorian parents told that
story to their daughters to impress onto their minds just how unreliable and
untrustworthy Saiyan men were.
"She did love him though. And he had loved her for a time."
"Maybe, but I would blast any Saiyan male who looked twice at any of
our daughters. And I would throttle any daughter of mine who even thought of
mating with a Saiyan. Thankfully, our daughters have better sense. I hope our
new one does too."
"I'm sure that she will." Tika wisely decided not to go into one of
her speeches about not all good Saiyans being dead ones. She sincerely hoped
that one day the Astorians and the Saiyans would resolve their issues and make
peace with each other. Mantros, however, despised the entire Saiyan race,
except for the few Sastorians that lived on Astoria. The Saiyan/Astorian
conflict was a heated subject between he and his wife.
He intertwined his arm with his wife's, and both of them went into
the main control room where they would await a message from Mantros' mother,
Superior Gran Shalila herself.
Shalila was right on time, communicating through satellite video and
audio from her private computer room in the Palace of Chloe on the moon of
Chloe. Her familiar face appeared on the large, wide screen above the control
panels.
"Good evening," she told them pleasantly. "Mantros, your father
says that you two have some news for me, but that old fool would not tell me
what it was! He said that it was up to you two to tell me. What is it?"
Tika told her briefly and happily about her impending birth. The
normally composed, yet temperamental Superior Gran squealed like a schoolgirl.
"Wonderful!" she cried. "So my son gave in, after all!" Mantros
nearly keeled over.
"Mamma!" he shouted. "You knew of my wife's intentions?"
"Of course I did! And if we had told you, you probably would have
found some excuse to keep Tika at home. Well, is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl," Mantros answered, mildly annoyed that Tika had told of her
intentions to his mother first. His mother probably had told Tika how to
convince him too. Mantros was surprised that she had not given Tika tips on how
to please her son more in bed.
"Tika..." he began reprovingly. Tika blushed.
Shalila interrupted him quickly. "And what is her name to be?"
"We-we don't know, Mamma-lan," Tika stammered. (Mamma-lan was the
Astorian word for mother-in-law.) "We can't decide."
Then Tika had a thought.
"Mantros, what do you think?" she asked him. "Why don't we give
your mother the honor of naming our little one? She has done so much for us."
Shalila mildly protested, "I'm honored, but that choice should be
your decision to make."
"I don't see why not," Mantros said, agreeing with Tika. "Just as
long as it's not Gorna, Petrula, or Aliquina," he said with a small grin at his
wife.
Shalila sighed. "So much for Petrula. Are you certain of this?"
"Yes, Mamma! Any name, but those three that I mentioned."
Shalila fiddled with a still-red curl of her hair, as she tapped her
temple in deep thought. Finally, she said, "I think that um.... Tayla...after
my own dear mother? I believe that would be a lovely name! There has not been
a Tayla in the Clan of Chloe family since then!"
Mantros and Tika both agreed happily, glad to have the minor issue
resolved. "Tayla it is," Mantros declared.
"Princess Tayla Tika Shalila Tayla Rosynthia Chloe...I love it!"
Tika cried happily. "Thank you, Mamma-lan!"
"No sweat," Shalila told her, using a favorite Planet Earth
expression. "I wanted to name one of my own three daughters Tayla, but that
stubborn husband of mine wore me down. He insisted on naming the twin girls
Felinda and Jesynthia after his aunts. And then he talked me into naming our
last daughter Petrula before I recovered from the effects of the anesthesia. If
I had been fully awake at the time, I would have forced him to let me name her
Tayla, but that old fool that I love took full advantage of my condition.
Actually, that dear oaf of mine took full advantage of me every time I wasn't
fully awake...that's how almost all of my children were conceived." Shalila
grinned and said, continuing, "Mantros' father usually mounts me before I have a
chance to wake up-"
Tika flushed uncomfortably, and Mantros groaned aloud. "Aw, Mamma,
please do not talk about coupling with Father! Ugh!"
Shalila laughed. Mantros had sounded just like a teenage boy.
"This comes from a man whose wife is pregnant almost every other year or so! As
often as you impregnate her, Mantros, you shouldn't be so shocked! How do you
think you were created?" Shalila grew wistful after a moment. "I would have
loved to have more children myself, but that battle on planet Dijon caused me to
become infertile. Well, I can't really complain, although most Astorian
families have ten children or more. After all I have four sons and three
daughters, and I have my three heirs in line for the throne of Astoria: you,
Gorna, and now little Rojal. Rojal's become plump, by the way. You two will
hardly recognize him when you return! And Lelina has finally been
toilet-trained!"
Tika smiled tenderly at the thought of her grandchildren. Mantros
was amused at the thought of his new daughter being younger than some of her
nieces and nephews.
Shalila interrupted their thoughts. "Put that big lug of mine on
the communicator. I want to make sure he is staying out of trouble!"
"Yes, Mamma," Mantros chuckled. But Mantros and Tika's children
came running in the main control room at that moment, and all of them demanded
to speak to their "Nama" first.
"Nama, Nieca wet her pants!" (Necron)
"Nama, tell Necron and Makal to stop picking on me!" (Nieca)
"Nieca wets her pants like a baby!" (Makal)
"Shut up, Makal!" (Nieca)
"Make me!" (Makal)
"Nama, hi, love you...listen is Lektron there?" (Gracina)
"Nama, what presents are we getting when we get home?" (Fejal)
"Fejal, you shouldn't be asking that!" (Tika)
"But, Mamma..." (Fejal)
"No buts, Fejal. You heard your mother! That was rude of you!"
(Mantros)
"Hey Nama, how are you? Is my husband, Andros there? How is my
little Jaca?" (Ralia)
"Jaca is walking now, Ralia-" (Shalila)
"Nama, how does this dress look on me?"(Tracina)
"What do you care, Tracina? You can't mate with any of the Hyslian
men?" (Corpros)
"So what, Corpros? I still want to look good!" (Tracina, who was
still single and the vainest of the Mantros Chloe daughters next to Gorna. She
was also a clotheshorse.)
"You are the vainest female that I know!" (Corpros, who was the
vainest of Mantros' sons)
"I am not! And look who's talking...you carry a mirror and comb
when you go into battle!" (Tracina)
"Ah, the truth comes out! Kami, you really are as vain as an Earth
peacock, Corpros!" (Dejal)
"Guess what, Nama? Mamma's going to have another baby, and it's
going to be a girl! Finally I'll have someone to boss around!" (Nieca)
"Nama already knows about the baby, dummy!" (Makal)
"I am not a dummy! You are!" (Nieca)
"You are dummier!"
"You are the dummiest!"
"Children, that is enough squabbling!" (Mantros)
Shalila laughed. "Maybe Nieca could be a warrior after all. She
certainly has the spirit for it, if she can tell her brothers off like that!"
"Nama, please, please talk my mamma and pappa into letting me be a
warrior!" (Nieca)
"We'll have to talk about that some other time, Nieca..."
"Nieca couldn't be a warrior!" Makal crowed. "She's a weakling!"
"At least I'm not scared of spiders like you are!"
"I am not scared of spiders!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not!"
"ENOUGH!" Mantros roared. "Children, Nama specifically asked to
speak to Granpappa. Nieca, would you summon him, please?"
"Yes, Pappa." Nieca ran off to do her father's bidding.
"Nama, is Lektron there?" Gracina asked again.
"I'm afraid not, sweetheart. He's off training with Bajal."
"Nama, how does this dress look on me?"
"It looks lovely, Tracina. Red is your color."
"Nama, is Jaca around? I just want to say hello to my little
baby..."
"Jaca is napping, Ralia, but I'll send someone to bring her here."
"Thanks, Nama."
"Nama, we love you. Will you tell Lektron that I love him?"
"And tell Andros that I love him..."
"And tell Rako, Stuko, and Sedron that I love them..." Tracina, who
was also man-crazy, said.
"My, so many suitors, Tracina. You really should pick one soon..."
"I know that I should, Nama, but I love all three of them!"
Mantros shook his head at this. He hoped that Tracina would pick
one of those three fools to be her husband soon. He liked none of them for her,
but it was his daughter's choice. He just hoped that she would pick one before
his unborn daughter, Tayla, was old enough to have suitors herself.
"Girls, your grandfather is on his way to speak to Nama, so will you
and the rest of my brood give her a chance to speak to him?" Mantros asked.
"Yes, Father!" all three girls chimed.
"Heh, heh, so the little wifey wants just one more child--again, eh?
Are you two trying to beat the record of the Gran and Granden of the Clan of
Pearl? If you are, you two have thirty more little ones to go!" Superior
Granden Bajal Chloe slapped his oldest son's back companionably. "You two have
a lot of loving to do to pull that one off!"
Mantros groaned at his father's words. His father was always
teasing his favored child about Tika's famous "just one more child" phrase. He
and his father both knew that less approving relatives in the Clan of Chloe
often said that Princess Tika Chloe had more children than sense. Mantros had
recently fought his brother, Aijal, three weeks before they left for planet
Hysle when Ajjal had dared to repeat that statement. Mantros had only ended up
with a black eye and a broken finger, but all of Aijal's ribs had been broken.
Mantros would not allow anyone to insult his wife.
And Tika was an excellent mother to her large brood, and she somehow
managed to give them each individual attention. Mantros could barely keep up
and keep track of his numerous children, but Tika handled it so easily. She was
very organized and calm and protective of her large family. And Tika was also a
wonderful grandmother as well, making sure that each grandchild received her
individual attention.
Mantros and Bajal were watching the stars from a large window on the
spaceship. In seven more months, they would reach planet Hysle, which was a
sister planet to Astoria. The Hyslians and the Astorians were not genetically
compatible as mates, but still the two planets managed to get along well. The
Hyslian people resembled Papillion dogs with large butterfly-wing-like ears,
heavily fringed with fur. The Mantros Chloe family and the Superior Granden
were paying Hysle a rare social visit. This was a special trip, to convince the
Hyslians to ally with the Astorians against Frieza and his minions.
Mantros and Tika had brought along ten of their nineteen children:
the twin girls Ralia and Tracina, Dejal, Bytron, Corpros, Gracina, Leron, Makal
and the twin boys Necron and Fejal. Their youngest boys, Arlon and Lukan, had
been left on Astoria with nurses, but the youngest child, Nieca had been brought
along. The four oldest children: Gorna, Bajal, Cletos, and Raakon had also been
left behind. Marya was a priestess at the Temple of Chloe, and she had been
unable to leave her duties for an extended period of time. Jaypros had also
been left behind.
Tika strolled to the starboard side of the ship where Bajal and
Mantros were, wearing a big smile. Gracina was walking right alongside her,
carrying little Nieca. Makal, Necron, and Fejal were running behind them,
sparring with each other as usual. Eventually the three boys became too loud
and rowdy until Gracina told them to be quiet in her usual schoolteacher-like
voice. The three brothers immediately obeyed because Gracina was a strong
healior, and she could easily cuff them if they got out of line. Actually none
of the younger Mantros Chloe siblings dared to defy her.
Gracina kissed both her father and her grandfather on their rough,
stubbly cheeks. Both men were pleased, but then they both remembered that
neither one of them had bothered to shave that morning. Mantros looked his
daughter over appreciatively, like any father would with an attractive daughter.
Gracina was the most beautiful of his daughters, almost sixteen years old, with
ankle-length, sunshiny blond hair, high cheekbones, and large sky-blue eyes.
She was also an excellent healer and fighter, and Mantros was certain that she
would make any man a good wife in a few years' time. Mantros thought that very
few men were good enough for his favorite daughter, and he normally disapproved
of two-thirds of Gracina's potential suitors.
Except for his nephew, Lektron, who was twelve years older than
Gracina. Lektron had recently (and a bit nervously) admitted to his uncle that
he cared for Gracina, and that he wanted to court her. Gracina had admitted to
having a small crush on Lektron, even though she had at first thought him
boorish and crude like her brother, Bajal, who was Lektron's best friend.
Mantros chuckled at the memory of the usually haughty and brash Lektron being so
nervous. Mantros and his father both fully approved of Lektron as a future
husband for Gracina, and they both knew that Gracina could keep him in line.
The age difference did not matter to Mantros, for he himself was ten
years older than his wife, and Tika had been eighteen when Mantros had made her
his bride. Mantros remembered how relieved both his parents had been when they
found out that he was going to finally settle down and give them an heir for
Astoria's throne. Now they were worried about Prince Bajal, who was twenty-two
and had no intentions of taking a bride anytime soon.
Mantros' own wife took her husband's large hand and placed it on her stomach.
Mantros rubbed her abdomen experimentally, feeling a small swell. He smiled and
sighed wearily. Tika could get pregnant faster than any woman he knew.
"Already?" he pretended to groan, as Bajal chuckled. He ignored his
father's whisper, saying, "Twenty down, and thirty more to go!"
But Tika had heard her father-in-law, and she smiled. "This is
going to be our last child."
"Hah!" Bajal snorted, as Mantros groaned for real this time. They
both knew that Tika had said that phrase eight children ago!
Bajal grinned. "Congrats, congrats, though of course by the time we
get back to Astoria, you'll be begging my boy for another one more child! You
have thirty more to go, my dear, thirty more!"
"Aw, Mam, you're really not going to have another baby, are you?"
Necron moaned. "It was enough to hear Nieca cry all the time when she was a
baby! That was all she knew how to do! And that's all she still knows how to
do! My ears are still ringing from when she had cried as a baby!"
Nieca stuck her tongue out at him, as Necron made a face at her.
Tika admonished both of her children to behave themselves.
"Well, I'm not changing any diapers!" Makal declared.
"You never changed diapers in your life, Makal," Gracina told him
contemptuously. "I can't even get you to bring things for the babies when the
Nurses and I need help!"
Fejal asked, "Is the baby going to be a boy or a girl?"
Tika smiled. "I've been pregnant for only three weeks, Fejal! But
from what the amniocentesis says, I am likely to have a girl."
Necron, Makal, and Fejal all made faces then. "Great," Necron
mumbled, "Just what we need: another whiny baby girl like Nieca!"
Nieca cried, "I am not whiny! I am not a baby!"
"Yes you are!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes you are!" all three boys chorused.
"I am NOT!" Nieca was beginning to get angry.
"Yes you are!" the three boys sang again.
"ENOUGH!" Mantros ordered them. "You three boys will stop picking
on your sister, or all three of you will not be allowed to spar for a week!"
The three boys looked down, shamefacedly. "Yes, Father," they
mumbled.
Mantros continued. "Now everyone of us here will do what we can to
make your mother happy and comfortable. After all, we will soon have another
little one."
"I'm glad Mamma's having another baby!" Nieca announced.
Mantros smiled. "I'm glad you are, but why is that, sweetheart?"
"Because everyone always tells me what to do, and when this baby's
born, I'll have someone to tell what to do!"
Mantros and Tika both sighed.
Tika and Mantros received the final results of Tika's amniocentesis,
which showed that their baby would definitely be a girl. "What will we name
this little one?" Mantros asked his wife. "We've only seven months to decide."
An Astorian woman's gestation period was only seven months.
"How about Gorna?" Tika asked mischievously, and Mantros groaned
aloud.
"Please tell me you are kidding!"
Tika laughed softly. "Well, how about we name her after your
sister, Petrula?"
"No way! That woman snores like a pig, and eats worse than one.
Every time I'd speak our new daughter's name, I'd be reminded of that crude
sister of mine. Next suggestion?"
"Well, how about Shalila?"
"We were going to name Gorna after my mother, remember?
Unfortunately, that idiot brother of mine, Aijal, named his first daughter,
Shalila! That's what I get for not settling down sooner!"
"If you had settled down sooner, you and I would not be married."
Mantros kissed his wife's neck and grinned. "True, very true. But
seriously, Tika, one Shalila per generation is enough. Besides everyone would
be getting them confused with each other. Let a few of our children name their
daughters Shalila."
"What about Aliquina? Wasn't that one of your mother's best friends
long time ago?"
"Aliquina? The Sastorian healer?" Mantros inquired of the
half-Saiyan, half-Astorian woman that his mother had befriended before Aliquina
had died. "It is a lovely name, but it would bring back painful memories for
many of our Clan members. Every time someone spoke our daughter's name, they
would be reminded of Aliquina's ill-fated romance with that Saiyan barbarian,
Arcan!"
"The same Arcan who had Aliquina as his slave and told her he loved
her, but then abandoned her?"
"Exactly. You know that story is always told to Astorian girls to
discourage them from marrying or associating with Saiyan men. I pity the woman,
but Aliquina was a fool to commit suicide over a mere Saiyan." Aliquina had not
been alive for over sixty years; in fact they had lived during the time that the
Astorians had rebelled against their Saiyan captors and took back their planet
from them. However, everyone still talked about Arcan and Aliquina, as if the
star-crossed couple's romance had been recent. All Astorian parents told that
story to their daughters to impress onto their minds just how unreliable and
untrustworthy Saiyan men were.
"She did love him though. And he had loved her for a time."
"Maybe, but I would blast any Saiyan male who looked twice at any of
our daughters. And I would throttle any daughter of mine who even thought of
mating with a Saiyan. Thankfully, our daughters have better sense. I hope our
new one does too."
"I'm sure that she will." Tika wisely decided not to go into one of
her speeches about not all good Saiyans being dead ones. She sincerely hoped
that one day the Astorians and the Saiyans would resolve their issues and make
peace with each other. Mantros, however, despised the entire Saiyan race,
except for the few Sastorians that lived on Astoria. The Saiyan/Astorian
conflict was a heated subject between he and his wife.
He intertwined his arm with his wife's, and both of them went into
the main control room where they would await a message from Mantros' mother,
Superior Gran Shalila herself.
Shalila was right on time, communicating through satellite video and
audio from her private computer room in the Palace of Chloe on the moon of
Chloe. Her familiar face appeared on the large, wide screen above the control
panels.
"Good evening," she told them pleasantly. "Mantros, your father
says that you two have some news for me, but that old fool would not tell me
what it was! He said that it was up to you two to tell me. What is it?"
Tika told her briefly and happily about her impending birth. The
normally composed, yet temperamental Superior Gran squealed like a schoolgirl.
"Wonderful!" she cried. "So my son gave in, after all!" Mantros
nearly keeled over.
"Mamma!" he shouted. "You knew of my wife's intentions?"
"Of course I did! And if we had told you, you probably would have
found some excuse to keep Tika at home. Well, is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl," Mantros answered, mildly annoyed that Tika had told of her
intentions to his mother first. His mother probably had told Tika how to
convince him too. Mantros was surprised that she had not given Tika tips on how
to please her son more in bed.
"Tika..." he began reprovingly. Tika blushed.
Shalila interrupted him quickly. "And what is her name to be?"
"We-we don't know, Mamma-lan," Tika stammered. (Mamma-lan was the
Astorian word for mother-in-law.) "We can't decide."
Then Tika had a thought.
"Mantros, what do you think?" she asked him. "Why don't we give
your mother the honor of naming our little one? She has done so much for us."
Shalila mildly protested, "I'm honored, but that choice should be
your decision to make."
"I don't see why not," Mantros said, agreeing with Tika. "Just as
long as it's not Gorna, Petrula, or Aliquina," he said with a small grin at his
wife.
Shalila sighed. "So much for Petrula. Are you certain of this?"
"Yes, Mamma! Any name, but those three that I mentioned."
Shalila fiddled with a still-red curl of her hair, as she tapped her
temple in deep thought. Finally, she said, "I think that um.... Tayla...after
my own dear mother? I believe that would be a lovely name! There has not been
a Tayla in the Clan of Chloe family since then!"
Mantros and Tika both agreed happily, glad to have the minor issue
resolved. "Tayla it is," Mantros declared.
"Princess Tayla Tika Shalila Tayla Rosynthia Chloe...I love it!"
Tika cried happily. "Thank you, Mamma-lan!"
"No sweat," Shalila told her, using a favorite Planet Earth
expression. "I wanted to name one of my own three daughters Tayla, but that
stubborn husband of mine wore me down. He insisted on naming the twin girls
Felinda and Jesynthia after his aunts. And then he talked me into naming our
last daughter Petrula before I recovered from the effects of the anesthesia. If
I had been fully awake at the time, I would have forced him to let me name her
Tayla, but that old fool that I love took full advantage of my condition.
Actually, that dear oaf of mine took full advantage of me every time I wasn't
fully awake...that's how almost all of my children were conceived." Shalila
grinned and said, continuing, "Mantros' father usually mounts me before I have a
chance to wake up-"
Tika flushed uncomfortably, and Mantros groaned aloud. "Aw, Mamma,
please do not talk about coupling with Father! Ugh!"
Shalila laughed. Mantros had sounded just like a teenage boy.
"This comes from a man whose wife is pregnant almost every other year or so! As
often as you impregnate her, Mantros, you shouldn't be so shocked! How do you
think you were created?" Shalila grew wistful after a moment. "I would have
loved to have more children myself, but that battle on planet Dijon caused me to
become infertile. Well, I can't really complain, although most Astorian
families have ten children or more. After all I have four sons and three
daughters, and I have my three heirs in line for the throne of Astoria: you,
Gorna, and now little Rojal. Rojal's become plump, by the way. You two will
hardly recognize him when you return! And Lelina has finally been
toilet-trained!"
Tika smiled tenderly at the thought of her grandchildren. Mantros
was amused at the thought of his new daughter being younger than some of her
nieces and nephews.
Shalila interrupted their thoughts. "Put that big lug of mine on
the communicator. I want to make sure he is staying out of trouble!"
"Yes, Mamma," Mantros chuckled. But Mantros and Tika's children
came running in the main control room at that moment, and all of them demanded
to speak to their "Nama" first.
"Nama, Nieca wet her pants!" (Necron)
"Nama, tell Necron and Makal to stop picking on me!" (Nieca)
"Nieca wets her pants like a baby!" (Makal)
"Shut up, Makal!" (Nieca)
"Make me!" (Makal)
"Nama, hi, love you...listen is Lektron there?" (Gracina)
"Nama, what presents are we getting when we get home?" (Fejal)
"Fejal, you shouldn't be asking that!" (Tika)
"But, Mamma..." (Fejal)
"No buts, Fejal. You heard your mother! That was rude of you!"
(Mantros)
"Hey Nama, how are you? Is my husband, Andros there? How is my
little Jaca?" (Ralia)
"Jaca is walking now, Ralia-" (Shalila)
"Nama, how does this dress look on me?"(Tracina)
"What do you care, Tracina? You can't mate with any of the Hyslian
men?" (Corpros)
"So what, Corpros? I still want to look good!" (Tracina, who was
still single and the vainest of the Mantros Chloe daughters next to Gorna. She
was also a clotheshorse.)
"You are the vainest female that I know!" (Corpros, who was the
vainest of Mantros' sons)
"I am not! And look who's talking...you carry a mirror and comb
when you go into battle!" (Tracina)
"Ah, the truth comes out! Kami, you really are as vain as an Earth
peacock, Corpros!" (Dejal)
"Guess what, Nama? Mamma's going to have another baby, and it's
going to be a girl! Finally I'll have someone to boss around!" (Nieca)
"Nama already knows about the baby, dummy!" (Makal)
"I am not a dummy! You are!" (Nieca)
"You are dummier!"
"You are the dummiest!"
"Children, that is enough squabbling!" (Mantros)
Shalila laughed. "Maybe Nieca could be a warrior after all. She
certainly has the spirit for it, if she can tell her brothers off like that!"
"Nama, please, please talk my mamma and pappa into letting me be a
warrior!" (Nieca)
"We'll have to talk about that some other time, Nieca..."
"Nieca couldn't be a warrior!" Makal crowed. "She's a weakling!"
"At least I'm not scared of spiders like you are!"
"I am not scared of spiders!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not!"
"ENOUGH!" Mantros roared. "Children, Nama specifically asked to
speak to Granpappa. Nieca, would you summon him, please?"
"Yes, Pappa." Nieca ran off to do her father's bidding.
"Nama, is Lektron there?" Gracina asked again.
"I'm afraid not, sweetheart. He's off training with Bajal."
"Nama, how does this dress look on me?"
"It looks lovely, Tracina. Red is your color."
"Nama, is Jaca around? I just want to say hello to my little
baby..."
"Jaca is napping, Ralia, but I'll send someone to bring her here."
"Thanks, Nama."
"Nama, we love you. Will you tell Lektron that I love him?"
"And tell Andros that I love him..."
"And tell Rako, Stuko, and Sedron that I love them..." Tracina, who
was also man-crazy, said.
"My, so many suitors, Tracina. You really should pick one soon..."
"I know that I should, Nama, but I love all three of them!"
Mantros shook his head at this. He hoped that Tracina would pick
one of those three fools to be her husband soon. He liked none of them for her,
but it was his daughter's choice. He just hoped that she would pick one before
his unborn daughter, Tayla, was old enough to have suitors herself.
"Girls, your grandfather is on his way to speak to Nama, so will you
and the rest of my brood give her a chance to speak to him?" Mantros asked.
"Yes, Father!" all three girls chimed.
