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"Life used to be so hard…"

"Our House" - Crosby, Stills and Nash

For starters, Gaelen thought we should build another house.

* * *

One of the most urgent things on Star's and my to-do list these days was Mars. The Martian government had finally decided it was time to give up their ancient home and move on to a planet better suited to human life.

Believe it or not, there are quite a few nice planets out there that just never got around to growing sentient life-forms. Star and I had selected a couple and taken some Martians on a tour. They huffed and picked at every little thing, proud people who hated the idea of such a drastic change, but charmed, nevertheless, by blue skies and growing things that didn't need greenhouses. They'd finally picked the planet I would have chosen, a pretty blue and green ball a little smaller than Earth, a bit larger than Mars, and christened it "New Mars," of course.

New Mars had mountains and valleys and plains, along with real oceans and lots of plants and animals that it wouldn't kill a carbon-based life-form to eat.

It also had biting insects that were happy to try out a new spot for dinner, along with some large carnivores, a few of them uncomfortably reminiscent of small dinosaurs. But… who wants perfection, right? I figured that Martian survival skills and adaptability were up to it.

There were startlingly few Martians left - less than a million. All of us thought that, in the new, friendlier environment, it would be a sufficient number to keep their gene pool from ending up filled with algae. Still, there was talk of soliciting immigration from other races - partly because not all the Martians wanted to move there.

Oh, there was no question of anyone staying on old Mars. Plans were to sweep away any and all traces of life, including all the cultivated oases where some hardy plants might survive on their own for a time. When Terrans arrived on Mars, as they must in the next, if not this century, we wanted them to find a barren world, free of even a hint of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter, little green men, or bug-eyed monsters.

What some of the Martians, a significant number, wanted, was to relocate on Earth.

Looking back, it's kind of funny that they asked for permission to do so from Star. He certainly had no authority over the third planet. Still, since he and I were in close consultation with the Martians on their moving project, they simply seemed to think they should ask him. He told them to do as they wished. Judging by Lecurelan standards, Earth was nearly empty. No one would notice a few thousand more people, even if they were Martians.

Chances are you've seen a Martian. They have visited this planet, especially in the last few years. Their old culture was so stagnant and predictable that coming to Earth was, for them, an adventure trek into the jungle. Mars' gravity is only one-third of Terra's. A Martian on Earth weighed three times what he considered "normal." This means that, just to be able to breathe and walk around without collapsing in exhaustion, Martians had to do some serious physical conditioning. The ones I'd met had developed their stringy, spare muscles into something more like the thicker ones needed by natives of their sister planet. Special medications were available that even increased bone density. The results were people that fell within the normal variation of Earth-folks you wouldn't look twice at if you met them on the street.

In fact, that's where I did meet Jon d'Rayo, as he was headed into the new office of Third Planet Construction Company in Evergreen, Colorado.

I guess what first intrigued me was that unusual name, painted on the window.

Jon invited me in, a tallish guy apparently in his thirties, with short sandy brown hair, blue eyes, and skin the color of a latte with too much milk. By the time he'd offered me a cup of coffee, we both knew who we were talking to. I sensed that he was Martian, and it seemed he recognized me.

I don't know about Jon, but for me it was a relief not to have to dance around who we were and why we wanted what we wanted. And it was a pleasure to find that Martian construction methods were perfect for the house Gaelen had in mind.

Security was to be primary. I'd never really liked the house designed by Vai. It was too much like something from Gone With the Wind, all white with curving staircases and wide glass doors. It didn't fit in with the Colorado weather or landscape, and if it came to a physical fight with Lecurela, that house was not going to add much to our defenses.

Star owned about a hundred acres which backed up to National Forest land on the west. The property just adjacent, to the north, was for sale, another hundred acre parcel. It wouldn't go cheap; builders were drooling for more land to develop. But I had plenty of money from my periodic prospecting efforts, and my expenses had always been minor. I know Star would have gladly let us build on his property, but more land wouldn't hurt. For the family, isolation was a good thing; the fewer close neighbors the better.

Jon seemed to understand what we wanted right away. "Of course! We can build it right into the side of a hill. You can go as deep as you want, and nothing need show except the entry."

I thought about Martian dwellings I'd seen. I wasn't claustrophobic, but I was fond of sunlight and fresh air. I certainly wouldn't want the kids to grow up without it.

"Well, it sounds good from a security standpoint, but what about light and ventilation?"

He grinned and placed a palm on his chest. "Have you forgotten who you're talking to? Martian here. We've had all that whipped for centuries."

Then he showed me diagrams of ventilation ducts and something he called "remote windows," simple-looking little panels that let in light and the view outside and everything but a breeze. "What do you think," he asked. "Should we patent them?"

I knew shit about patents, and gave him the number for Mephic Rosen's law office. (Star's general had taken the last name when he went to law school, and no, with his coloring, which was a lot like Star's, he didn't look Je…. Never mind.)

Jon promised to come out and talk to Gaelen and me the next day, bringing a set of preliminary plans. Once we had moved into the new house, bringing Star and the kids there too, I hoped, it would be a lot more difficult for Lecurela to catch us napping.

* * *

Gaelen was thrilled with Jon and his plans.

Of course, you can't please everybody. Vaira seemed to take the idea as a personal insult.

"What's wrong with this house? God knows you" - she gave me a venomous look - "and Gaelen" - she gave Gaelen a look that was merely unpleasant - "have spent enough time under our roof. Well, build anything you want. But my children and I will not be moving there."

She flounced up off the couch, and Star gave me an apologetic glance before following her down the hall to their room. The kids watched them go in silence, then Racho turned to Gaelen. "It sounds like a really nice house. I'm sure Mom will let us visit."

"Visit?" Lana snorted. "She probably won't want us to even look at it out the window." She rolled her eyes, then bounced up and gave Gaelen a hug. "But don't worry, no matter what Mom, or even Dad says, we'll all be over to see the place."

Her enthusiasm may have come from the mention of the pool we planned to have in the lowest basement. Lana's love of swimming came second only to her love of horses.

The other kids chimed in, and after a while we all went out to the kitchen for hot chocolate.

The kids were growing up, with thoughts and opinions of their own. I wondered if Vai knew that.

* * *

Gaelen and I fought things out with the real estate developers, and we won, purchasing the property next to Star's. We paid plenty for it, but not as much as the guys who wanted to turn it into tract housing might have offered, if pushed. The owners were older, and I think they liked the idea of the land staying in one block, in the hands of one family.

The plans were drawn up by Third Planet, and approved by Gaelen and me, and in less time than it takes to tell it, I was soon to be a co-homeowner. The little place in Evergreen didn't count - it was only a two-bedroom cabin on the side of a hill. No level yard, no place to raise a family - a weekend getaway place, at best.

If someone had told me, only a few months before, that I would be a married man with a home of my own and a wife expecting twins, I would have laughed in their face.

* * *

As Gaelen had predicted, the time came when she was no longer interested in sex. I still found her body beautiful, even with the extra roundness of her belly, and she was good enough to help me out, whenever I asked. But compared to her usual enthusiastic participation, it just wasn't the same. I think she knew that her attitude was making me uncomfortable, as well as turning me off. After a few days she almost pushed me out the door with orders to go and find someone who was interested; she didn't even want to watch.

It was Vlad I turned to most often. I knew that Star would accommodate me, but I didn't want to take a chance on driving an even bigger wedge between him and Vai. I wasn't her favorite person, these days, and if she found out that I'd been with Star… well, it just seemed better not to. Their relationship had seen enough shocks in the last couple of months.

Star had told me privately that he agreed about the house. We seemed to share the concerns I felt about Lecurela's intentions, though I thought he was still taking things much too seriously. "We're doing all we can," I told him. "We've got the wards set up so we'll know if someone unfriendly arrives, and the kids are getting stronger all the time. I'm not sure at what level Gaelen's development will stop, but she's still changing. With all of us on guard, we're in pretty good shape, right? The house will just be extra insurance."

He gave me one of his patented thoughtful/worried looks. "Suria's children are still out there. Why can't we find them? What if Lecurela finds them first?"

"What if the sky falls, Chicken Little? We've got the best defenses we can muster."

I simply refused to allow possibly groundless concerns to interfere with my enjoyment of my new life. Besides, I wanted to see Star smile. He had a new life of his own in front of him, free from Lecurela's remote control. Thanks mostly to Vai, he wasn't enjoying it much, but he always managed to add his own two cents to the worry pile. I doubted that talking to Lecurela every day, just as though nothing had happened, would be easy for me. I was sure I'd start telling them off as soon as I saw one of the hated faces on the view screen. I didn't see how Star could keep going with it. I supposed that if he stopped talking to them, then some crisis might ensue, but… what were they going to do… fire him?

I might not be able to have actual sex with Star, but I'd had a pretty thorough look inside his head and I knew where important things were. In the interests of getting him to lighten up, I'd sneak up on him when no one else was around and, without warning, hit his pleasure center, making him orgasm without any other stimulation.

Of course, he knew me too. But I guess there wasn't as much satisfaction in him making me come, because when he did it I'd just close my eyes and take a deep breath and then give him a sexy smile.

I kept him guessing, being "good" some days, until it got to where his eyes would narrow, just a bit, in mock disapproval, whenever he saw me. Then he'd get distracted, or start lecturing me about something, and I'd hit the magic button. No matter what he said, I think he got to like it, after a while.

* * *

Like I said, I went most often to Vlad for real sex. Zee was willing too, and I always enjoyed being with her, but she was spending a great deal of time at her ranch near Ouray, where Ravin's body was resting, still deep in coma. She said she spent time talking and reading to him every day.

I didn't enjoy thinking about him like that, let alone visiting her there. There had to have been some better way of stopping Ravin.

Sure, I'd had to do something fast to save Gaelen, and I didn't regret that, but it didn't stop me from feeling guilty. What if he died?

Vlad went down to check on Ravin every few days, but without Zee close by he had plenty of spare time for me. I always suspected he was as glad to see me as I was to see him.

So, we had a lot of sex… but we did talk now and then, cuddled up in his bed between sessions. I told him about the new house, and shared my excitement about the twins-to-be, and all sorts of other things, including my worries for Star. After a few times of me chattering on, I noticed that, though he paid close attention and commented in all the right places, he seldom brought up a topic.

"What do you want to talk about?" I asked him.

He shook his head, then spoke in that surprisingly deep voice. "Nothing. I am content to listen."

I watched him closely for a minute, and he turned away. Even without intruding on the sanctity of his thoughts, I could tell that wasn't completely true.

"You let me go on calling you 'CD' for years." I tried bringing up something I'd been curious about. "Why didn't you tell me your real name?"

He turned back and stared at me from a distance of about twelve inches, his green eyes so bright they might have been on fire. "My 'real' name was lost, long ago. Vlad is a convenience, nothing more."

"Then why not just use Phillip, the way Star first introduced you to me?"

He sighed. "Vlad is… somewhat closer to my birth name. More-" He closed his eyes. "-intimate."

I reached out a hand and stroked his cheek. His face hadn't changed much since I'd first met him. Vampire and all, I guessed. It was still thin and pale, with hollow cheeks and that straight patrician nose. With the added detail of the thin mustache he'd been growing, it reminded me of a picture I'd seen somewhere - in a book, maybe. Where…? Then I got it.

"Vlad… were you alive in Romania in the fourteen hundreds?" I was more than half joking.

He hesitated, his expression suddenly grave. Then he spoke quickly, as though he was afraid he wouldn't finish. "Alive…? No. Present…? Yes."

"You're kidding!" I exclaimed. I have to admit, I was a little shocked. I hadn't really expected a confirmation of my idle thought.

Vlad pulled away from me and sat up. "If you like," he said.

I knew how fast he could move, but I was no slouch myself in that department. I rolled to his side of the bed and grabbed his arm before he could retreat into the bathroom. "Hold on," I said. "What I'd really like to hear from you is the truth, not a 'convenience'."

He took a deep breath, his thin chest rising and falling slowly, his eyes on the oriental carpet. "I know what you want to ask me, and yes, I am he."

I gave my head a little shake. "You mean you're really-"

"Yes." His shoulders straightened, with an air of defiance. "I am he who was once the dragon, Prince of Wallachia."

I don't know what he expected then, maybe for me to run screaming or at least to turn away, but I placed a hand on his cheek and turned his face until I could look into his eyes, and there was so much pain there that I only wanted to ease it - I just didn't know how. "I'd like to hear all of it, sometime," I said softly.

He stared into my eyes for a minute or so. I think he almost smiled. "Perhaps you shall," he said. "Sometime." And then he kissed me.

* * *

Believe it or not, with the babies' birth only two weeks away, I lost my sex drive. The connection between Gaelen and I grew stronger every day, and I found I only wanted to lie there with her, first on the couch in front of the fireplace at the cabin, and later in our bed, and talk quietly about what was to come, while stroking her face and hair and the prominent bulge at her waistline. I'd been able to sense the twins from the first; now I knew even more of their rapidly maturing thoughts and feelings. It was fascinating to know that they perceived sound and movement, and light too, when all that was between them and the world was Gaelen's skin.

"Hello, little ones," I thought at them, and sometimes I heard a questioning echo-not formed thoughts, only a vague "what?" feeling.

They were awake more, these days, and Gaelen's belly twitched with interior kicks and punches. And finally, though I hardly dared hope it would come so soon, that first real bit of sentience-one tiny thought voice reached me, "Daddy?" and I turned to Gaelen, feeling my face light up with the wonder of it.

Like clasping hands, she joined my consciousness, and we both heard "Mommy?" My eyes flooded with tears, and I hugged Gaelen tight, heads together, hands pressed gently over the bump that was our children.

"Yes," we thought together, "we're here, darlings, and we love you."

* * *

In spite of the other-worldly nature of us and our children, the day of their birth arrived much like it did for human families. Gaelen woke me up one morning, just before dawn. As I blinked, I heard her calling from the bathroom: "Hey… my water just broke." And the marathon was on.

I have no idea what Vlad was doing at the time, but he had given his permission to be summoned when the birth was imminent, and he was wearing clothes when I snatched him, so all was well. I had Gaelen lying on our bed when he arrived, but he shooed me out into the hall before he would examine her.

"This is the twentieth century," I protested. "Fathers get to be present at births, these days." But he only closed the door.

So I paced for a while. I could hear him talking and Gaelen answering, so everything had to be all right…. Didn't it? It really wasn't that long before he came out and allowed me to sit in a chair next to the bed.

"I want Zee," was the first thing Gaelen said to me.

I did Zee the courtesy of calling her on the phone before I brought her to us. I don't know about Gaelen, but Zee's calm presence, straightening bed clothes and offering Gaelen ice chips, made me feel a lot better. I still didn't know if Zee had ever had children of her own, but she seemed to know what it was all about.

I tried to enter Gaelen's head, share all of it with her, but she wouldn't let me in. That scared me a little, but from outward appearances she didn't seem to be in too much pain - not more than she could handle, anyway.

Vlad must have noticed my concerned look, because he smiled at me. "Gaelen knows how to work with her body," he said. "Pain is increased when one fights the process." He reached down and squeezed my hand, the one that wasn't holding Gaelen's. "And Gaelen is not afraid," he added. "That is always good."

She strained, just then, in one of the first pushes. "That's because I've done this so goddamn many times before," she grunted.

Vlad smiled. I was afraid to; I could feel the pressure she was putting on my hand. Wasn't this about the time the mother-to-be said something like "you'll never touch me again, you bastard"?

The hands on the clock seemed to move very slowly, but it wasn't even noon when Vlad made an important check between Gaelen's legs. "I can see the head," he announced.

"Tell me about it," panted Gaelen.

And less than a minute later, I had a son.

Sylvan was born only two minutes before his sister, Shaolin, but, like brothers everywhere, I was sure he would always remind her that he was the oldest.

Both babies were soon wrapped in blankets, their soft milk-chocolate skin and their mats of curly black hair dried, their little bottoms swathed in tiny diapers. Each perfect face was so much like the other, chubby and round, with button noses and large dark eyes, their rosebud mouths already making sucking motions.

Gaelen lay quietly, her own body clean and comfortable now, with a twin in each arm. I had never seen her face so beautiful, as she looked from one to the other with soft, loving glances. Then she looked at me, seated back on my faithful chair, and smiled. I felt her voice in my head. "Pick one up," she said. "They won't bite you… yet."

She grinned, and I reached out for one of the bundles, oh, so carefully.

Our child, our children… at last.

"Hello, Van," I said to the squirming bundle still in Gaelen's arms. Then, looking down into the other pair of baby-blue eyes, I said, "Hello, Lynny."