August

March 4: Saturday

Caddy leaned back on his elbows on his dad's bed, swinging his legs.
"Is that what you're wearing?"
Phidias looked up from brushing his teeth and looked down at himself.
"Whas wron wif id?"
"Huh?"
Phidias spit and rinsed his mouth.
"What's wrong with it?"
Caddy half shrugged and opened a magazine.
"You should wear a natori. Otherwise he'll think you're too boy."
Phidias wanted to point out that he was, in point of fact, a boy, but he refrained. He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair, too long to be convenient, but still too short to be fashionable, stuck out at awkward angles from his head, but otherwise, he felt he looked okay. He glanced down at the jeans he was wearing.
"I don't really like wearing natoris, Caddy."
In the bedroom, Cadmus rolled his eyes.
"You just say that because you don't know how to wear them. Try it. I'll help you."
Phidias hesitated.
"Caddy, I don't know - "
"Think of it as a cultural experience." Caddy looked up from his magazine. "I mean, when you traveled to the islands, back when you met mom - you guys wore island clothes, didn't you?"
Phidias had to concede that he did remember possessing several lava-lavas during that time, but that was different, that was -
"How's a natori any different? It's what we wear here." Cadmus was looking up at him expectantly. "Just try it. It's a new experience. And anyway, they're just clothes. They cover you; they don't make you."
Caddy went back to his magazine and Phidias hid the beginning of a smile. Cadmus could be a clever devil when he tried.

By ten minutes to eight, Phidias was dressed. Caddy had wrapped him in a dark blue natori with a simple silver pattern around the edges, insisting it would be subtle but alluring enough for a first date.
"Just don't get bred up tonight." Caddy told him, stepping back to survey his handiwork. "I'm too spoiled to be a big brother."
Phidias laughed and thought to himself that Cadmus had about five more months to change his mind. The idea was sobering; in just five months, he would be pregnant. Maybe less. Maybe tonight. Suddenly, the date sounded terribly unappealing. Turning to find a glass of water, Phidias caught a glimpse of himself in the dressing mirror. The man looking back at him was someone he didn't recognize. Shaggy hair, no beard, a tight-fitting shirt, and his legs all wrapped up like a Christmas present in his natori. Cadmus yelped and rushed over to him.
"I almost forgot. You can't wear these."
Caddy snatched the wire-rim glasses from his dad and folded them carefully up.
"Caddy! Give those back!"
his son shook his head and held the pair behind his back.
"No! They'll make you look smart."
Phidias' expression changed from annoyance to alarm.
"Caddy, why would I want to look dumb? I should look smart; I am smart."
Cadmus exhaled in exasperation.
"Yes, but he isn't supposed to know that yet."
Phidias frowned.
"Who?"
"Your date!"
"What, I should let him think I'm stupid, and then surprise him? Jump out of the bushes reading Tennenbaum?"
Cadmus gave his dad a look that clearly indicated that he was neither pleased nor amused by this little comment.
"Dad. It is always better to have your opponent underestimate your ability."
Phidias looked askance at Caddy.
"Have you been reading Sun Tzu?"
"Dad!" Caddy was getting annoyed now. "If he knows you're smart now, then he'll be on his guard all the time, because he knows he can't slip up. If he thinks you're dumb now, you can learn more about him because he'll think you won't notice if he drops his act."
"What if he doesn't have an act?"
Caddy gave his dad a disbelieving look.
"Dad, come on now. They all have an act."
Phidias made an intrigued face.
"Do they now?"
Caddy nodded knowledgeably.
"Yep. It's because they all have an agenda. They want to marry you, and screw you, and knock you up. Not particular about it being in that order, though. So you have to be really careful to only ever be alone with guys who you really really trust and could see yourself married to."
Phidias tried to keep from giving him a skeptical look.
"I don't think it's really that dangerous to - "
"Oh, it is." Caddy assured him. "Adrian said that forty percent of all pregnancies are forced." Caddy appeared to ponder this. "I guess it's OK, though, because most of those moms are happy eventually."
Phidias turned to look at Caddy full on.
"What?"
Cadmus blinked up at him.
"Well, you know - even if it sucks at the time, in the end, they're happy. Because they're fulfilling their natural roles as carriers. And having a family is a good thing to do."
Phidias stared at his son. Cadmus frowned as if this were all very obvious.
"Don't you want to have a family?"
Phidias looked a little injured.
"We are a family, Cadmus. Me and you. That's our family."
Caddy shook his head.
"No, we're a part of a family. We need balance to have a family. Mostly, we need a leader."
"Caddy, I'm our leader."
A doubtful look flashed over Cadmus' face, and he failed at hiding it.
"Dad." he said patiently. "Carriers can't be leaders. What job would that leave for the men to do?"
Phidias was disturbed, but didn't know what to say. He stared at his son's calm face for a minute more, then went back to the mirror.
"Caddy, where did you get this stuff from?"
Caddy flipped back a few pages in the magazine.
"We talked about it in Social Arts on Thursday." he looked up, with interest, at his dad. "Why? What do you talk about in your carrier classes?"
Phidias paused. What did they talk about?
"We learn...laws, and stuff. And culture, too, and the philosophy of gender. Stuff like that."
Caddy nodded seriously.
"Oh. Book stuff."
Phidias frowned.
"You used to like book stuff."
Caddy was quick to assure him.
"No, no, I still do - really, it's just that none of that stuff is very useful, is it? I mean, it doesn't tell you how to be a carrier, exactly. Just what one is. Do you think they think you'll figure the rest out on your own?"
Phidias shrugged. This line of thought was depressing him. The word pregnant loomed in his mind again. Five months. He stared at his reflection, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles out of his natori.
Cadmus, seeing that he had upset his dad, got up from the bed to comfort him. He put one arm around his dad's waist and stood next to him in the mirror. For a minute, Phidias was struck by how similar they looked - strange; he had always thought Cadmus favored Emily. But in the mirror, both wearing near-identical natoris, they seemed so alike. Caddy gave his dad a half-hug/squeeze which pinched Phidias' side a little.
"Dad. You'll figure it out. And you'll be fine. I promise."
Phidias nodded.
"Just don't bring up any of your published anthropology theories on the first date."
Phidias grinned and pretended to furrow his brow in consternation.
"What?! OK, so...second date?"
Caddy laughed.

~:~

Adrian sat at the table and picked over his food. He was hungry, but nothing appealed to him. Sean watched him from across the table. He put down his fork.
"I'm kind of tired. I think I'm gonna - "
"You eat first."
Ren stepped in, trying to quell any potential argument.
"Maybe he can eat later, after - "
"No." Sean shook his head. "He didn't eat lunch, and he wouldn't take a snack. He's only had water. He needs to eat. Eat, Adrian."
Adrian glared at him, but obediently picked his fork up again. General William Mackenzie observed the interaction without comment, but Ren noticed that his husband looked with some concern at their son before turning back to his meal.

June, Sean's carrier stepmother, scooted his chair closer to Adrian. He spoke low and gently to the newly pregnant carrier.
"Come on, Adie. Maybe just try a little bit of each thing? It won't be so bad if you eat it that way." June took the fork from Adrian's hand and scooped up some potatoes. Adrian, seeing that refusal would, at that point, be inexcusably rude, ate them. June tried again with some beets. Adrian took them, but made a face.
"OK." the older carrier soothed. "OK. I know. Just a little more potatoes, OK?"
Some sort of wet knot welled up in Adrian's throat.
"I don't want them. I don't want them, OK, Mrs. Wick?" he felt weird all of a sudden; a mixture of violent and weepy. June backed off.
"OK. OK." June cast around the table. "Do you want to try something sweet instead?"
Adrian shook his head, eyes brimming with tears. Sean noticed this and glanced at his father, who made an it's-okay gesture and then resumed his conversation with William Mackenzie. Adrian scrubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hand.
"No. I want it salty. I just - I don't want the fish." he looked down at his plate. "Or the beets. Or the spinach. The potatoes can stay." the tears began to well up again, and he stared down at his meal in misery, feeling at once resentful for being given food he didn't want, and guilty for acting so ungrateful at a dinner in his honor. But everything tasted weird, and he didn't want any of it, and it smelled weird, too, and -
A fork, bearing a small, cut square of steak edged its way towards Adrian's plate. Immediately, Adrian knew. That was what he'd wanted - steak. The fork quietly deposited its cargo on the edge of his plate and hovered there for a minute before retreating.
Adrian stabbed the meat with his own fork and ate it hungrily. Sean gave a grateful look to General Mackenzie and immediately began cutting his own steak up for Adrian. The piece he proffered was also immediately devoured. After that piece had gone, Adrian looked calmly up at Sean.
"Are you going to eat the rest of that?"
A wave of tension seemed to flow out of the room. June beamed and leaned down to tease Adrian.
"See? Food tastes better off your husband's plate, doesn't it?"
Adrian didn't respond - he was too engrossed in the steak. William Mackenzie spoke up.
"Which brings us to a point. The wedding." he turned to Sean. "I expect you've made some plans for it."
Sean hesitated.
"Not exactly, sir, I - "
"Not exactly!"
"Will." Ren's voice interrupted him. "It's fine. It'll be taken care of. Don't make something of it."
General Mackenzie straightened his shoulders, a sure sign he was irritated.
"It most certainly is not fine, and I think something's already been made of it." he said pointedly, indicating Adrian. Sean colored, looking to his own father for support. Commander Ian Wick, however, had found something particularly interesting in a piece of lint on the floor, and was unavailable for comment on the matter. Sean faced William Mackenzie again.
"I apologize again, General, it was not my place to - "
"Damn right it wasn't your place. You were raised better than that, to prance about recklessly impregnating carriers."
"I was hardly prancing or reckless, sir. I was just - it's just - I mean, it's Adrian. It's not like it was some stranger."
Ren and June both looked up at that. General William Mackenzie leaned forward.
"So he deserves less respect than a stranger? Is that what you mean to tell me?"
Sean's eyes widened.
"No, sir, no, I didn't mean that, I just meant..."
William narrowed his eyes.
"What did you mean, Sean? And be clear."
Sean sighed.
"I just meant that I'm sorry, sir. And we'll sort the wedding out right away."
From the other room, there was a crash, then the sound of four-year-old wailing and nine-year-old scolding. Ren and June both got up, but Ren soothed the taller carrier back down.
"It's OK. It's fine. I'll go see to them."
June looked doubtfully after Ren, but Ren just smiled his disarming smile and shook his black hair over his shoulder.
"I can handle it. It's already under control. I promise."

~:~

Phidias held the strange man's hand and tried hard not to think about anything. He focused on his breathing, barely listening to the story he was being recounted about the last time his date had been at this harbor. He glanced behind him to check for the presence of his chaperone, and when he turned back, the man was in front of him, and then there were lips, warm and dry, pressed onto his, and Phidias was holding his breath. He exhaled his relief when it was over. Guy pulled back from the kiss and cradled Phidias' face in both his hands.
"Was that one your first?" he murmured, drawing one thumb over Phidias' narrow jaw. Phidias didn't answer. Guy smiled. "There's my answer. Come here."
This one was expected, but none more pleasant. It wasn't unpleasant, really, just dull, and different; somewhat strange, even. Phidias broke the kiss and tried to pull away. Guy drew him back by his hand.
"Come, come now." he soothed. "Don't run from me. We're just getting started."
Phidias shook his head and pulled back.
"I, um. Um."
"Um." Guy stole another kiss, this one more demanding than the first two. Phidias put his hands up to the man's chest to slow him down, but suddenly his back was up against the railing of the harbor and a hand was on his hip. Phidias pulled away again.
"OK. Um, can we take a break?"
Guy nodded, but made no move to release Phidias. Instead, he dipped his head to the carrier's neck and gave a gentle nip. Phidias nearly leapt out of his natori. He pushed Guy, hard, and the man stumbled back a step, then turned and was suddenly moving forward, towards Phidias again. Phidias panicked, suddenly feeling trapped, wondering where his chaperone had wandered to, and seeing visions of the words "FIVE MONTHS" dancing in front of his eyes. So he did the only thing he could think to do in the situation - an instinctive reaction when he felt threatened. He punched Guy in the face.

From the ground, clutching one hand over his bleeding nose, Guy glared up at Phidias and swore.
"I wasn't attacking you, you stupid bitch. I fell."

~:~

Guy ended up being really sweet about the whole thing, considering he'd spent the climax of their date in the infirmary. So, in the end, Phidias got off easy - just a written letter of apology and three sessions of specialized anger counseling. Not even a note in his file. So, all in all, it was a pretty nice date, considering.

Phidias stumbled into his quarters after midnight. Caddy was still awake, sitting up in Phidias' bed with a Jules Verne novel. He put it down as his dad entered.
"Hey! How did it....oh."
Phidias' body language was clear, as was the rumpled natori and weird expression. Caddy frowned.
"Dad? What happened?"
Phidias didn't answer immediately, just made his way to the bathroom, rinsed his face, took the pins out that Cadmus had put in his hair, washed his hands and brushed his teeth again. This done, he reentered the bedroom, where Cadmus was anxiously waiting, and sat down on the edge of his bed.
"Dad?" he ventured, in a very small voice. "Do you need to see a doctor?"
Phidias whipped his head around to look at his son, who was studying him with a worried expression. He reached out one hand to soothe him.
"No, Caddy, I'm fine. It didn't go well, but it didn't go that unwell."
Caddy relaxed a little, but still looked worried.
"Well, what happened?"
Phidias exhaled and dropped his head into his hands.
"I mrmmrm im m mrm mmrmr."
Caddy wrinkled his brow.
"What?"
Phidias raised his head.
"I punched him in the face. There. Are you happy?"
Cadmus looked more startled than anything.
"Why on earth did you do that?!"
"It was an accident. I overreacted."
"...to what?!"
"He moved kind of funny."
"...."
"I thought he was attacking - look, it's over. Can we let it go now?"
"Was he mad?"
Caddy's voice was tinged with fear.
"No, he actually was very nice about it. I think his nose was only a little bit broken. He said it would be OK." Phidias reflected for a moment. "Didn't ask me for a second date, though."
Caddy stared at his dad a second longer. Then, he began laughing hysterically. Phidias bristled a little for a moment, then gave in and laughed along with his son.
"Dad." Cadmus said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes, "You keep this up, and maybe I really will be an only child forever."

~:~