The BabyMakers’ Shared Property Read online

  The BabyMakers’ Shared Property

  Hollie Hutchins

  Contents

  1. Fathers and “Sons”

  2. Waiting for Uma

  3. Old Dog, New Tricks

  4. Secrets and Gatherings

  5. The Gathering

  6. The Brothers Armstrong

  7. Phone Tag

  8. A Casual Dinner

  9. “A Modest Proposal”

  10. Monkey Wrenches

  11. Getting to Know My Dance Partners

  12. Growing Up

  13. Something’s Cooking in the Oven

  14. Schoolgirl Antics

  15. Vandals

  16. Poolside Temptation

  17. The Bun’s Almost Done

  18. New Friends

  19. Here Goes Nothing

  20. The Little Wolf Arrives

  21. Under One Roof

  22. From now and for Eternity

  More By Hollie

  Branded By The Black Wolves

  One Girl Five Hungry Beasts

  Let’s Be Friends!

  Fathers and “Sons”

  Alex stared at the few stubborn strands of hair sticking straight up out of her scalp. The way they clung together and proudly stood reminded her of a single corn stalk, standing tall in the middle of an otherwise empty, inky black field. She licked the tips of her fingers and ran them through her hair. The corn stalk laid flat for a few hopeful seconds, then snapped back up.

  “You’ve got be kidding me!” Alex grabbed the small metal container of dyed hair gel out of the top drawer. She scooped a generous amount of the stuff and plopped it, unceremoniously, onto the crown of her head. She worked the rest of the hairs around the corn stalk so that they too stuck out in odd ways. This way, the unkemptness would at least seem intentional.

  A face appeared in the mirror behind her. “Very punk rock.” Joel gave Alex a thumbs up and a cocky grin. “You almost ready to go?”

  “Yeah, just give me one more minute.”

  Joel shook his head. “You know for a guy, you sure do take your time getting ready. It’s almost as if you are really a woman––“

  “Shh!” Alex motioned for her dad to lower his voice. “What if someone heard you?”

  “Inside the house?” Joel looked around, feigning concern. “Who would hear me inside the house?”

  “I don’t know!” Alex crossed her arms. “Guests?”

  “We never have guests.”

  “The neighbors?”

  “Harold’s hearing has gone to hell,” said Joel. “And Bernadette already knows you’re a.” He lowered his voice dramatically. “Female.”

  Alex narrowed her eyes and thought for a moment. “What about the mailman. He doesn’t know.”

  Joel nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll give you that one.” He reached out and tried to tussle Alex’s hair. She slapped his hand away. “You’re so smart. You got that from me you know.” He walked down the hall.

  “Oh please, not this again.” Alex called after him. “You’re not my biological dad and you know it! It’s not even possible.”

  “What are you trying to say?” Joel’s voice carried throughout the top floor of the Greenford household.

  “Just that you met my mom after I was born.” Alex smirked. “Just because you’re my dad, doesn’t mean you’re my dad dad. Besides, you’re only like ten years older than me.”

  “You’re twenty eight?”

  “Yes,” Alex said as she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Joel had his head in the fridge. “And if you were my real dad you would know that.”

  “Geez, you’re old.”

  “Oh whatever!”

  Joel turned around and tossed Alex an apple. She caught it and took a bite. Juice ran down her soft, effeminate chin. Even when she was dressed in baggy men’s clothing, her womanly figure completely hidden and her hair short, Alex always worried her chin would give her away. She had a girl’s face. There was no way around it. On the bright side, she was beautiful. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t allowed to date. It was too dangerous letting anyone else in on her secret. Between her mother, her five fathers, and the few friends and extended family members, the number of people who knew Alex was a woman was already nearing twenty.

  “So, honestly, which one do you think it is?” Joel asked later, on the car ride to the library. Joel worked for a construction company that had been hired to oversee the expansion of the Swan City Downtown Public Library. Alex had taken a part time job at the library, helping them re-organize and keep track of the books during the construction. The gig didn’t pay great, but the work was easy, and she did not have to interact with anyone.

  The front passenger tire of Joel’s ancient pickup truck smashed into a pothole causing Alex to wince in pain at the car’s expense. “What are you talking about?”

  “William, Peter, or Clark,” said Joel. “Which one do you think is your real father? You already said it can’t be me, and the age thing means Adam is out too.”

  “Who even cares?” Alex pulled her legs up onto the seat and gazed out the window. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

  “Sorry.” Alex could feel Joel sneaking glances her way as he gunned it through a yellow light. “But seriously, are you telling me you never wonder?”

  Alex sighed. “Of course I wonder, but there’s no way to know for sure, so all this wondering is moot.”

  “Don’t they have tests? Like at the hospital?”

  “Oh yeah, that’s a great idea,” said Alex. “Let’s just walk into the hospital and have them start running a bunch of DNA tests. It’s not like those tests ever reveal things like someone’s biological sex.”

  “Okay, fine.” Joel let go of the wheel with one hand and threw it up in submission. “I see your point. I just can’t believe it doesn’t nag at you. If it were me, I would need to know.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t have a dad growing up.”

  “I know,” Alex said. “You’ve told me before.”

  “Didn’t have a mom either. Not really.” He’d also told Alex this before, but never when he was sober. Now wasn’t exactly the time to have this conversation. They were just a few blocks from the library and Alex hadn’t even had her morning coffee yet. But she didn’t want to shut Joel down. As weird as it may be, he was her best friend, and she’d known for a long time that he’d had a deeply troubled past.

  They pulled into the library parking lot, and were met by a sea of fluorescent oranges and yellows as the vest and helmet clad men began to start their work.

  “Maybe you should take the day off,” Alex suggested, as Joel threw the truck into reverse and parked. “God knows you’ve earned it.”

  “C’mon now.” Joel reached behind Alex’s seat and grabbed the two brown bag lunches. “You know we can’t afford that.” He opened one of the bags and sniffed. “Turkey and mayo. That’s all you.” He tossed her the bag.

  “I told you, you don’t have to pack me lunch. They always have food lying around the library.”

  “Ha, you mean the stale donuts and expired cup noodles? No. When your mom and the rest of the dad-band is out of town, it’s my job to look out for you.”

  Years ago, Alex would have never let a comment like that slide. Now that she was nearing thirty, however, she no longer resented the people in her life for wanting to protect her. Like it or not, being a woman made her one of the hottest commodities in the country, which, in turn, made her a target. She’d seen what happened to women who didn’t have people looking out for them in this world, and she didn’t envy them.

  Smiling, Alex took the bag from Joel’s outstretched hand. “Thanks.”

  “Are we stil
l on for pizza and movies tonight?” Joel asked.

  “Of course.”

  “Sweet. Have a good day.”

  Alex opened the door and halfway stepped out of the car. She hesitated. Crawling back in, she awkwardly draped one of her arms around the neck of her dad. He patted her on the back a few times, then lightly pushed her away. “Alright, go on! You’re gonna’ be late.”

  Alex pulled away from the hug without a reply and slipped out of the truck. Closing the door behind her, unconsciously, she changed her posture, shifting the way she carried herself to be as utterly man-ish as possible.

  Watching the construction workers as she walked into the library, she noticed one of them spit right on the concrete.

  Alex scrunched up her nose in disapproval. Why are some men so gross? Dear god, please let there come a day I no longer have to pretend to be one.

  Alex struggled with insomnia for as long as she could remember, and that night, despite having drunk two cups of melatonin infused tea before bedtime, she was wide-awake. It didn’t help that the three slices of jalapeño and black olive pizza she had for dinner were not sitting well in her stomach. She tossed and turned in her twin mattress, which lay directly on the hardwood floor of her attic bedroom, her digestive system groaning with every shift in position.

  Two or three years ago, Alex would have called Hera, her best friend who was also a night owl, and the two young women would have entertained each other until they were both too tired to keep talking. That was before Hera had been taken.

  She wasn’t the first of Alex’s friends to be stolen, but she was the last. After Hera disappeared, Alex was resolved to not make any more female friends. Thinking of Hera made Alex’s heart pound. Closing her eyes, she said a silent prayer for her lost friend.

  Please be safe. Please still be human.

  Out of all the girls in the Secret Sisters Club, which originally was made up of five little girls whose families were all working to keep their gender under wraps, Hera was the most terrified of werewolves. Her older brother had told her many a horrifying, bloody story about the half-breeds, and Hera never gotten over her fear of them.

  The cops who conducted the investigation, if you could even call it that, regarding Hera’s disappearance said the evidence pointed to it being another ‘animal attack’ –– which was code for a werewolf attack. What this evidence was Alex had no idea. The cops had a way of keeping these things within their own private circles.

  She could have been taken by anyone, though. As the female population of Swan City and its neighboring regions continued to dwindle, humans and wolves alike began stealing healthy, virile woman. The Swan City authorities never seemed interested in investigating the cases that might point to a human culprit. They were too focused on their hate-fueled vendetta against the werewolves, and human-on-human crime took a backseat. Alex remembered when the cops questioned her the morning Hera’s parents reported her missing. They hadn’t even bothered writing down her responses. They’d already made their mind up about what happened.

  Alex hoped it was a human who took Hera. She’d never met a werewolf, but she’d seen one, in the woods behind her house once. It had just finished hunting and eating a fawn, and the fur around its mouth was dripping with the thick, sticky blood of an innocent. It stared at seven-year-old Alex, its eyes boring into hers. For a second, she was convinced it was looking through her. She worried that it was seeing her for what she truly was. She felt naked, her body shook violently, but she could not look away. Finally, the beast broke its gaze and stalked back into the woods.

  Alex never told anyone what she’d seen. If her mother had heard the werewolves had been venturing that far out of the territory, she would have made them all move. Again.

  The vision haunted her, though, for years. It was haunting her now. Just as she slipped underneath the veil of unconsciousness, the wolf’s eyes flashed through her mind, and with a jolt, she was sitting up again, wide eyed and breathing hard.

  “Damnit!” She threw her blankets off her body, climbed out of bed, and snuck downstairs to the kitchen. Frustrated tears welled up in her eyes as she poured a generous amount of dark roast coffee grounds into the French press. She figured since she couldn’t sleep, she might as well read a little bit and wait for her mom, who was due to return from her trip early the following morning. Remembering that her mother was on her way home soothed Alex’s anxieties and the crying stopped.

  She sat at the kitchen table and looked out the window above the sink. The forest was pitch black. Alex could barely make out any of the trees. She sipped her coffee and waited, a part of her convinced if she looked long enough, she’d see two yellow eyes staring back at her.

  “I know you’re out there,” she said quietly. “And you don’t scare me.”

  Waiting for Uma

  Alex and Joel both stayed home from work the following day. Uma, Alex’s mother, had not arrived home at the scheduled time of 7:00am and Joel was worried sick. Alex knew her mother could handle herself, but Joel kept harping on the fact that Uma had taken a new route to city hall, one that was quicker, but which went directly along the wall that divided the human half of town from the werewolf half. If they’d smelled her, smelled that she was female, they could have jumped her. Her small rifle held five silver bullets, but to kill a werewolf you had to get the bullet straight through the heart, and Uma was only an okay shot.

  “You should go in to work.” Alex leaned against the kitchen counter, drinking her fourth cup of coffee. “Seriously, there’s no reason for both of us to just sit around here waiting.”

  “I won’t be able to work until I know she’s safe.” Joel paced the tattered, moth-eaten kitchen rug. “Let’s try her phone again.”

  “We’ve called like ten times,” said Alex. “It’s probably dead. She forgot her charger.”

  “Shit!”

  “Here, sit down.” Alex pulled out a chair. “Let me make us some breakfast.”

  “I’m not hungry,” said Joel, taking a seat.

  “Well, I am.” Alex turned a knob on the stove and started to make some eggs.

  “We should call the others,” Joel said after a few minutes of silence.

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” Alex fidgeted with the toaster settings. “You know how William and Adam get with stuff about mom. They’ll insist on going out to look for her––”

  “That’s what we should be doing!”

  “I’m sure she’s fine. She’s only a few hours late. She’s been much later than this in the past.”

  “Yes, but in the past she wasn’t traveling through enemy territory.”

  Alex let out a small laugh. “You make it sound like we’re at war with them.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just––”

  “Besides,” Alex cut him off. “She didn’t go through their territory. Just near it.”

  “It was still a mistake. I wish she would have listened to William and gone the old way.”

  “This way was supposed to be faster...” Alex put a plate in front of Joel and then fixed herself one. “So much for that, I guess.”

  “Let’s at least call Clark and Peter. They won’t freak out.”

  Alex checked her watch. “It’s 9:45. If mom isn’t home by 11:00 we can start making calls.”

  “10:00,” Joel countered.

  “10:30,” said Alex.

  “Deal.”

  “Deal.”

  10:00, 10:30, and 11:00 came and went with no sign of Uma. Clark and Peter arrived at the house around 11:15, quickly followed by Adam and William, whom they had called on their drive over. By a quarter to noon, all the men, save Clark, were sitting in the living room, hashing out the details of their search mission. There was some bickering, a bit of name calling, but eventually they came to an agreement; Adam and Joel would go immediately to the wall and investigate, seeing as they were the strongest and fastest of the four, while Peter and William were going to drive along
the route, in opposite directions, to see if they could find Uma.

  Clark and Alex were told to stay behind and wait, in case Uma made it home before they did. This was fine with them. Ideal in fact. They were the least concerned out of everyone in the group. Clark had been with Uma the longest, and both he and Alex had witnessed, first hand, her ability to safely wriggle out of a sticky situation.

  “Okay.” Adam rubbed his hands together and nodded. “We’ve got a plan. Everyone knows where they’re going. We’ll meet back here in two hours to check in.”

  “Got it,” said Peter.

  William and Joel nodded.

  “Aye, aye, Cap’in.” Alex saluted her second father.

  Clark smiled and pretended to tip his hat to Adam. “See you on the other side, partner.”

  “This isn’t a joke,” said William in his favorite angry-dad voice. “Uma could be in real danger, and you two are acting like you don’t even give a shit!”

  “William, stop.” Peter put a hand on William’s chest. “Humor is their chosen coping mechanism, you know that. This is a tense time and we need to allow everyone to process as they feel comfortable.”

  “Don’t try to therapize me, Pete!” William pushed Peter’s hand away. He sighed. “I just don’t understand how they can be so calm. I’m freaking the hell out.”

  Alex wrapped her arms around father number three. “It’s going to be fine, Willie. If I know mom, which I do, better than you I might add, she probably followed a rabbit into the woods and is hunting it as we speak so that she can make you your favorite stew when she gets home.”

  William chuckled softly. “That does sound like her.”