"Inventing the Future"

"Chapter 40: Guy Talk"

It was getting close to the time of year when the Shigura were due to return to Veniccio, and even though it was still a couple months away, Pau was already watching the ocean for any sign of them.

Jaming, who was busy working on the blueprints for the new house he and Meredith would be living in, was having second thoughts about going anywhere near Shigura Village.

"They won't want to see me," Jaming told Pau when he asked about it. "It's for the best that I stay away and leave them in peace."

"Uh-huh," Pau tapped one large, rabbit-like foot. "You know what I think?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me."

"I think you're scared."

Jaming pressed too hard with is pencil, causing the point to break. Annoyed, he tossed away the pencil point and turned to face Pau. "It's called being practical. My presence may be perceived as a threat. Why should I continue to antagonize them?" He crossed the room to sharpen his pencil.

"I still have that shell thingy Max and Monica left behind," Pau offered, "You could use that to talk to them. This could be the start of something good!"

Some people just couldn't take a hint! Jaming sat back down again again. "I will consider it. But don't push me, all right?"

"Gotcha," Pau gave him a 'thumbs up' and watched him work some more. "That looks like a house. What's it for?"

"Let's just say I've gotten a little tired of climbing ladders."

Jaming looked at his watch, and decided to break for lunch. He asked Pau if he'd like to share the meal, since he 'kept hanging around and getting underfoot'.

"Got any carrots?" Pau asked eagerly.

"No, but you're welcome to the salad," Jaming replied, taking out a large bowl filled with crisp lettuce and some other things. In response to Pau's skeptical look, he explained why he had such a thing in his refrigerator; he wasn't known for eating a lot of green things. "I only keep it around for Meredith. She's the one who likes this stuff. Lately, though..."

"Yeah, is she sick or something?" Pau asked as he watched Jaming unwrap a slice of cold pizza for himself. "She puked a couple times on the boat. Over the side, I mean. But she doesn't get seasick."

Jaming and Meredith hadn't told anyone about the baby yet, and he didn't want to let the secret out before she was ready for people to know. Since most miscarriages happened in the first trimester, it was still too soon to announce anything. And Jaming, paranoid thing that he was, was afraid of jinxing things.

Instead of acting guilty, Jaming said casually, "It's nothing serious. Don't worry about it."

Pau ate his salad in silence for a while, but before long he began to snicker quietly to himself as if he had thought of the funniest joke in the world.

Jaming looked suspiciously at Pau, swallowed a mouthful of pizza, and demanded, "What? Care to share with the rest of the class?"

Gleefully, Pau wagged his fork at Jaming and piped, "You knocked her up, didn't you?"

Mild annoyance morphed into utter shock, and Jaming's eyes grew huge. "I beg your pardon?"

Pau, enjoying Jaming's discomfort far more than he should have, burst out laughing. "Oh my gosh, you did! Donny owes me a bushel of carrots now!"

"What? Why is that?" Jaming asked, still trying to recover.

Pau stopped laughing, but he still looked highly amused. "Oh, he doesn't think you guys are 'doing it', and I thought you were, so we made a little bet."

Jaming dropped his half-eaten pizza slice onto his plate and pointed a warning finger at Pau. His fingertip was so close to Pau's nose that the little fellow had to go cross-eyed to focus on it. "First of all, whether or not adults are being intimate with each other is none of your business, none of Donny's business, and none of anyone else's business. Second of all, when other people find out about this, they're going to hear it from us first. Is that understood?"

Pau pushed Jaming's finger away and said mildly, "You're serious, aren't you?"

Jaming wondered, not for the first time, if Pau's previous isolation could explain his occasional etiquette slip-ups. "I'm very serious about this. This is a boundary that needs to be respected."

Pau shrugged his shoulders and skewered a piece of lettuce with his fork. "Okay, fine. I guess I don't know as much about human rules as I thought I did."

Jaming sighed, ignoring the prickling warmth of his blushing face as he picked up his pizza again. "I take it that Moon People speak much more openly with each other about...such things?"

"You mean sex?" asked Pau.

"Er...yes, that." Jaming wondered if he was too old-fashioned. Maybe he was, if just hearing someone say that word made him uncomfortable. Or maybe it was the fact that it was an outspoken child who was inquiring so frankly about things he had no business discussing!

"I'm not sure," Pau poked at his salad, a note of regret entering his voice. "There aren't very many of us around anymore. Not that I've seen, anyway. There's one who occasionally passes through. I think his name's 'Rufio', or something like that, but I never talked to him. But from what I remember, a new baby was something to be celebrated, not hidden away. Maybe it's different for humans. Is it?"

Jaming looked down, turning his gnawed pizza crust in his hands. How long had Pau been on his own? "No...Humans celebrate these things also."

"Then what's the deal?"

"It's complicated," Jaming sighed, "But we are happy about it, and we will tell everyone when the time is right."

Pau scratched his head. "You humans are so confusing."

Jaming snorted quietly. "I won't argue with you about that." After finishing his lunch, he saw that Pau was still picking at his salad. "Not to your taste, I suppose?"

"Hm? Oh! No, it's fine. I was just thinking. Hey, Jaming?" Pau looked up at the human, seeming almost afraid to hear the answer to his unspoken question.

"Yes?"

"Do you think..." Pau frowned, and tried again. "I mean, I know I'm still a kid and all, but I'm fourteen, and...Do you think anymore Moon People will settle here? I'd...kind of like to have a girlfriend someday. I like my human friends, but..."

Jaming tried not to smile. The poor kid! "I understand what you're saying. And anything is possible. As you said, you're young yet. There's plenty of time."

Pau finished his salad and put his bowl aside. "You sure I can't tell Donny about the baby?"

Jaming took the bowl and went to wash it and the fork at the sink near the rear of his garage. "If Donny honors the terms of your bet, you'll get your carrots soon enough. But next time you decide to wager on something, could you please leave us out of it?"

"Whatever," Pau said evasively, jogging out the door. "Gotta go!"