CHAPTER 215: PROTECTING WHAT MATTERS

Benjamin walked out the front and spoke to Homer. "Once you go take the baby inside, have him open his shirt to expose his glands, remove the baby’s clothes and put the naked child on his chest. Roman will know what to do and that will help Clayton get used to his child and bring you three together as a family." He paused, choosing his words carefully. "Don’t do anything unless he asks you, but yet refrain from any kind of reproductive pleasures. In other words, if he wants you to screw him, use a condom. His body might desire sex but he doesn’t need another child anytime soon. Give him nine months and when both of you are ready, talk about conceiving a child so that Roman has a little brother, but don’t rush anything."

Homer thanked Benjamin for his words of advice and walked inside carrying Roman.

Benjamin looked at Mr. Zack. "You once told me there was a lot of history here at the Z1 with my father. I’m ready to hear it—I need to hear everything that you know, the good, the bad and the ugly because I have two boys over at the house that are going to transition soon and I need to get all this behind me."

"We can start as early as tomorrow in my office where we won’t be disturbed," Zack said, patting Benjamin on his shoulder. He went to his buggy and waited.

Madison made a call to his brother Mason and asked him to meet them at the house. "We have something that needs to be taken care of and assistance is needed by us to watch the little ones."

"I’ll get hold of Tim and we’ll come over and watch the little ones. Not a problem," Mason replied. The concern in his brother’s voice told him he understood exactly what was going on.

Once they arrived at the house, Mr. Zack got out of the buggy along with Madison and Benjamin and the babies, and they went inside. Benjamin told his brothers Bailey and Bryant to come to the living room so they could all have a talk.

"I know your time is close and with everything going on, I cannot take a chance at letting the two of you transition here at the house with your younger brothers and the two babies," Benjamin started. "I don’t want any harm to befall anyone, so we discussed it and along with Mr. Zack, we’ve arrived at the decision that we’re going to take you to the center and let you transition there. Lex is waiting on us to arrive and both of you will be placed in separate cubicles so you don’t harm each other. Transitions can be gentle and fulfilling or they can be harsh and very destructive—just ask Mr. Zack. Clayton went through it last night and he was exhibiting the same symptoms that you two are today. I love our house and I don’t want to see it destroyed."

"Can we have guests at our transition? Not in there with us but watching after us, maybe someone that’s not family yet?" Bailey spoke up.

This line of questioning from Bailey caught Benjamin totally off guard. He didn’t know that Bailey had someone who was interested in him—in fact, he didn’t know that Bailey was even looking. "Bailey, is there someone special that you want to attend your transition? Is that what you’re trying to say?"

"Oh no sir, not me. It’s for Bryant—very nice-looking young man and the two are quite close. If they got any closer, we’d have to be worried about nine months later."

Bryant turned three shades of white. He was terrified his secret was out, and by none other than his own brother.

"Have you forgotten to say anything to anyone lately? Maybe someone has shown interest in you for the future?" Benjamin looked at his other sibling.

Bryant started crying, and through the tears and the sniffles they heard the name Noland Dwight.

"You mean my little brother-in-law has caught the eye of that 6’5" blond-headed human working on the overhead crew for Mr. Jake? Tell me this isn’t true." Madison started chuckling. "And if you have, just how far have you two gone? Because I know he’s young also."

Bryant started drying his tears with the help of Benjamin consoling him. "We’ve just kissed and we’ve held hands, but during the coming home ceremony we went a little bit further. I let him taste my nectar and then he did things with his tongue to me."

Madison smiled and sat down beside Bryant and Benjamin. "So you let him have some nectar—you’re already producing—and let me guess, he went down on your vent and performed ventilingus."

Bryant shook his head yes through the tears. "And other than placing a finger inside of me and wiggling it around, causing me to spaz out, he didn’t go any further because I wasn’t old enough and he wouldn’t do anything else. He said we had to wait till after I transitioned—he had already gone too far. But believe me, he didn’t pressure me. I offered myself to him because he smelled so damn good."

"I’ll make sure he’s at the center so he can be there with you through the transition because it sounds like you’ve already found your mate," Madison said, hugging his brother-in-law. "Now you do realize that humans and Genmen can conceive at any time unprotected sex is initiated, so it would be my suggestion that you two wait until your three-month cycle before you have unprotected sex and conceive a child."

Bryant was still wiping his tears when he looked into Madison’s caring eyes. "The exact same thing that Nolan said—we need to wait till I was on my cycle at three months past so I could mature out on the inside and carry easier. He’s made it abundantly clear that he’s not going anywhere when this job is finished. He intends to stay on with permission of Mr. Zack here at the Z1 and we’re going to raise a family. He said we’re going to start off with three, then we’re going to take a little break and raise those, and then we will have more."

His voice grew softer. "I’ve had a day vision, and in that day vision I’m standing next to him with his arm on my shoulder. I have a child at my gland nursing, he has one on his hip holding him—the young toddler—and as I looked down, I see another moving within my belly. The next day without me telling him, he told me he had the same dream that night, so I know he’s my future."

"We’ll make sure your Nolan is there as you transition into the beautiful young genman that you shall become," Benjamin said, hugging his younger brother.

Tim and Mason arrived to watch the children while Madison and Benjamin took the twins to the clinic where Lex was waiting on them. It would be a long night for all involved.

Madison spoke with Tim about Nolan in the workers’ quarters and that he should be present during the transition since Bryant and he were going to share futures. "Have a little fun but don’t scare him too bad," he told him.

The whole motley crew arrived at the center so the boys could transition. The only ones they were waiting on were Tim and Nolan.

Tim arrived with Nolan in tow. He had shackles on him and cuffs behind his back, along with a taped gag. The young man was about three shades whiter than he ever should have been, being led into the center. Tim abruptly sat him down on a bench. "Stay put until they come for you."

"Tim Spinelli, what in the hell have you done to that boy? We told you to bring him in but not to be rough," Benjamin was almost in a panic when he saw Nolan in shackles.

"Me be rough? The second pair of cuffs—the first was he broke right out of. He is as strong as any Genman I’ve ever seen. Those are for my protection," Tim explained. "He thought there was something wrong. He was fixing to tear the place down to get here and check on Bryant. It took six of us to get the guy down."

Zack walked up to his son and held his hand out for the keys, which Tim gave to his father. Zach walked over to the young man and spoke gently to him. "I don’t know what all the fuss is about. Bryant is fine—he’s here at the clinic because it’s his transition time, not because he was hurt, not because anyone hurt him or anything else." Zach could see a sudden relief on Nolan’s face. "You promise to be nice, I’ll let you out of the cuffs and the leg shackles. You have a few moments with him but we have to make it fast because he’s transitioning very rapidly, and we don’t want any harm to come to anyone when he starts to transition alone in the pod."

Zack removed everything from Nolan. Nolan began to profusely apologize for his outburst to everyone. "All I heard was that he’d been taken to the clinic and put in a cubicle for his protection. I guess I went off the rails—I thought the worst. All I could think was somebody had harmed him and I had to get to him. I’m sorry Mr. Tim, I’m so sorry that I hit you. I hope your jaw is okay."

"You might have loosened a couple of teeth, but it’s okay. I am definitely going to have a shiner tomorrow," Tim smiled. "But you proved to me how much you care for him and to what lengths you will go to protect your mate."

Lex opened the cubicle and Nolan went directly to Bryant, wrapping his arms around him and smothering his face with kisses. After a few minutes you could slowly see Bryant become uncomfortable as his body started to stretch—the physical portion of the transition had started. Nolan kissed him one more time and left the cubicle for the safety behind the observation glass.

Zack walked up to Nolan and placed his arm around his shoulder. "From personal experience, I’ve been inside of an area when a genman has transitioned years ago and it was intense. It’s lucky that either one of us were able to walk, much less breathe, the next day." He looked at the young man with understanding. "I’m going to tell you—a love like the one that you exhibit for Bryant comes around very rarely. You have my blessing in this relationship with this young genman. The two of you will always have a home here together on the Z1. We may not have a home ready for the two of you yet, but before that first baby is conceived, you will have a home."

Benjamin walked up to Nolan and hugged him, welcoming him to the family. What surprised Nolan even more was that Mr. Ben was there. He welcomed him into his son’s life and wished them the best in life, hoping to see many grandchildren from them. "If you ever need to talk, if you ever need anything—because rough patches do come up in relationships, even the best of them—Zach and I are proof of that. You can always come to your family. The Spinelli family has your back, and if anyone ever means you or Bryant harm, they will meet their doom in the place beyond the back fences."

Zack was at the observation window for young Bailey when Ben walked up. "Don’t worry, he’ll find someone to love him as much as Nolan loves his brother. It may take a little bit longer because he’s headstrong, a lot like I was back then. And look at me—I found you, the love of my life."

Zach and Ben stood side-by-side with their arms around each other’s waist, watching young Bailey slowly evolve into a proud young man.

The moment that Zach and Ben were sharing didn’t go unnoticed by anyone. These two were really meant to be together, but life got in the way.

Everyone settled in for a long night. It was going to be a good day when the sun rose again on the Z1.