How To Ride A Tikbalang Ch 16

A/N: This is the last chapter of How to Ride a Tikbalang. Thank you very much for reading it. Extra special thanks go to those who vote for it and favorite it. It has been quite the ride.

I've added a glossary to the end of this chapter, so you can use that to check any terms I used throughout the entire story from Chapter 1 that may be unfamiliar to you.

--S&S

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jinx's early pregnancy cravings had taken a typically strange turn. She'd gone from wanting to eat square

makopa

fruit at two in the morning—and only square

makopa

, which absolutely do not exist (Cocoy had to ask Bulan to persuade the goddess Indianale to conjure some up)— to hating anything with garlic and chili, which drove Kidlat up the wall because that put severe limitations to what he

could

cook. Skyworld forbid Jinx should even smell the faintest whiff of those two herbs near her.

The morning sickness that lasted all day had also stopped. Jinx took a page from her foster-family's book by stepping over her sleeping fiancés to achieve this end. There was something just truly satisfying about seeing the guys who knocked her up doing the retching and heaving for a change, and their strange cravings were so funny.

Jinx was pleasantly surprised that the old lore about transferring morning sickness from woman to man was actually effective. Revenge was a dish she served with a smile and laughing eyes the moment Kidlat and Cocoy woke up retching just like she did, minus the drops of lava.

"You should see your face," the diwata said, laying a suppressing hand over her laughing mouth as she watched a very horrified Cocoy eating a ham and strawberry jam sandwich stuffed with dill pickles and onions. "That sandwich isn't so bad."

"Says the woman who doesn't have this

kadiri

craving to eat them." Cocoy sent her a glare as he scarfed the sandwich down. "You could have just been a rational being and told me being pregnant upsets you, you know. Jesus, the things I do for love. The things the people I love do to me... in my sleep, no less.

Susmaryosep

."

Jinx gave Cocoy and adoring look and left her kitchen to tend to one very morning-sick tikbalang, whose hacking and groaning filtered out of the en suite bathroom in her bedroom. "Eat up, love. You're going to need it as soon as Kidlat's feeling better."

Cocoy was of two minds as he watched her heart-shaped ass sway from side to side as she walked away.

Damn that fine woman and her ass

. His mouth was dry from the sight of it framed by the soft fabric of those loose white linen lounging pants that hid nothing.

He'd have loved to strangle her for joking about the disgusting turn his taste buds had taken, but he was too in lust and in love with her to even try. So he shrugged off his pique, pouted, and checked his phone for the day's schedule. Okay... and to look at the photos of his sleeping goddess and tikbalang prince covered with just a sheet that missed the most interesting parts of their anatomy.

All the better to remind myself why they should live while I go through this disgusting phase of life. Where the fuck is the damn honeymoon period when you need it?

"I swear to all the Old Gods, woman, you're trying to kill me," Kidlat's words were clipped and raspy as Jinx knelt next to him on the bathroom floor. "Why the fuck did you have to do the

hakbang

thing?"

"Such a big baby. You're unkillable, love." She rubbed a hand between Kidlat's shoulderblades tenderly, handing him a medicine cupful of hexetidine mouthwash. "Would you rather have

me

upchucking lava here there and everywhere, and belching hot ash? I'm sure that would be fun. If the rest of the world wouldn't catch fire."

The tremor of laughter running under her words rubbed Kidlat the wrong way as her hands rubbed him the right way—from his back to the tight curve of his butt and around and over his thighs as he knelt on the cold bathroom tile. His irritation melted away to a mere tinge because he was feeling all the same intense desire for her that he'd felt when he had first caught her on the Pepe's Pole dance floor.

Maddening goddess. But what goddess isn't?

This was precisely why he was so enchanted with her, after all.

"

Lintik

. Anything is better than needing to do this every hour on the hour," Kidlat's grousing was just as adorable to Jinx as Cocoy's horror over his food cravings was. And Kidlat's new penchant for tapioca and fermented fish paste drizzled with chocolate syrup and black vinegar was just downright hilarious.

It did Jinx's heart good to watch her two powerful men letting loose their inner toddlers.

Flaws make their perfection even better

, she thought with a grin as she held out a hand to Kidlat, who took it with gratitude.

At least they're not so gung-ho with the machismo now.

The diwata led Kidlat back to her kitchen, where he sat with Cocoy, silently bonding in commiseration with the bayot as Jinx strode to the ref to fetch a pitcher of water to top their drinking glasses up with. Kidlat prepared his own breakfast: Crispy anchovies and orange marmalade on top of a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream—which he ate with as much grace as Cocoy had eaten his sandwich.

"Ew. I can't understand how my tastebuds like this vile thing, but they do. Ew."

"Hear, hear," Cocoy's commiseration was verbal now. "I was thinking just that earlier."

"Never think I don't love you, diwata," Kidlat growled between spoonfuls of his strange concoction. "If I knew loving a female would do this to me..."

"Yeah, I'd have passed, too," Cocoy's dimples made their first appearance for the day as he exchanged a look of utter solidarity with Kidlat and grinned at their diwata. "But this won't last... or at least I hope it won't. Two more months. Besides, all of Jinx's new sexy hormones are worth it."

"Two more months," Jinx nodded. "But I was told by Dr. Luna that hyperemesis gravidarum may last longer in cases of multiples—you know, twins or more." Her words stirred panic in Kidlat and Cocoy, and it showed, but her bright smile and the adoration shining from her clear brown eyes made her two men smile, too, and force calm over the dismay and panic. At least they wouldn't have to do any baby-pushing.

That

was the scariest part of pregnancy, after all—and all they'd need to do is be there and let her crush their carpal bones while she did all the work.

Both males focused intently on Jinx's breasts, instead. Those magnificent orbs were already growing with the pregnancy, and they responded very well indeed to the open lust and admiration on the men's faces under the thin black cotton of her tank top. Hard nipples were good nipples. Their suffering would have some reward, and soon.

Cocoy laid a soothing hand on Kidlat's thigh and squeezed it firmly, a touch that was reciprocated and arousing, despite the strange fare they'd both been eating.

Not that I want to kiss Kidlat until after he brushes his teeth. Ugh. Because dilis, marmalade and uber-sweet ice cream are such a bad combination, and he'd probably hate the combined flavors of what I just ate, too.

The thigh-rubbing, though, was soothing, arousing, and reassuring, and the two males had gotten into the old married couple habit of brushing their teeth together—with the added bonus of fantasizing about blowjobs while at it (those toothbushes sawing in and out and rubbing against teeth were suggestive, really!). Jinx saw their morning wood rising all over again under the table and caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Mmmmm. Bayot on tikblalang for dessert was definitely an appealing prospect.

Otherworldly libidos being what they are, the three lovers had absolutely no problem keeping the fires of desire burning, no matter how strange their diet choices were becoming—or how they'd needed to brush their teeth more often. So they washed up the dishes and then proceeded to the bathroom to brush, gargle, then wash each other up in a slow, hot shower that totally involved plenty of thorough, soapy rubbing, carnal kissing and every form of sex up against the shower stall walls, commode and bathroom counters they could think of, including a manwich consisting of an upside-down diwata sucking tikbalang cock while slung over Cocoy's shoulders, a very filthy bayot with

very

talented and mobile fingers tweaking nipples, cock and

puki

, plenty of dirty talking, and a tikbalang who could eat pussy while jacking bayot dick without missing a beat.

That collective cleansing ritual ended with them on Jinx's California king-sized bed, doing plenty of acrobatic probing of each other until they needed showers all over again. Separately, this time.

The gynecologist they'd consulted (who still thought Jinx was human) recommended that her diet be supplemented with more minerals—a piece of advice the diwata in human's clothing took to heart. She'd wound up shopping for loose gems in Binondo, Manila's Chinatown, where one could buy these things easily. Ulap also gifted his daughter-in-law-to-be with many loose gemstones from his domain, gems he'd gathered himself from

Mundong Kakaiba

, which is what the

Taga-Lupa

(quite unimaginatively) called the supernatural realm.

She popped a couple of clear chunks of what looked like ice into her glass, sipping her water daintily before popping one chunk into her mouth and crushing it with her teeth. She'd never been one to chew ice before, especially since her childhood dentist had told her horror stories about the repairs he'd had to do on the teeth of people who'd developed that habit. Not that she was chewing on the frozen water variety of ice.

The diwata discovered that she could literally chomp on things humans couldn't, like gemstones—take the diamonds in her water, for example. This crunching on actual hard minerals still made Cocoy wince, a week after she'd begun doing this regularly.

They now had bowls of gemstones—diamonds, sapphires, rubies, citrines, amethysts, cat's eyes, several varieties of jade and turquoises, mostly—sitting like bright decorations in bowls scattered through all of the trio's homes. Bulan had the stuff on hand for when they visited to discuss wedding preparations, too, since Jinx ate them the way other people would scoop up and eat handfuls of peanuts.

Old Gods forbid the diwata be denied her snacks, after all. Pregnant women were formidable. Pregnant diwatas a hundred times more so.

Jinx scooped up a couple of bowlfuls of gems into a small drawstring pouch and packed it, along with clothes for the three of them, into bags the men would bring into the hallway after lunch.

They were going to set off on yet another drive, this time to the town of Botolan at the foot of Mt. Pinatubo, where they'd stay at a mountainside resort called Manganigatgat, after the Zambali word for "intrepid," for a day before trekking up the stratovolcano. They'd drive all-terrain vehicles to Crater Lake, where they could finally do the first part of the "married, with children" thing.

Kidlat thanked his grandparents that they'd seen fit to hear his prayers, and grant them. The little ones in utero were a bonus he'd never even dreamt of having, and that bonus was something he was very grateful to have, too. Life was good, morning sickness and unorthodox food choices notwithstanding, he decided.

***

Up by Crater Lake, the morning light was slowly but surely stealing away the coolness of night. The sky was lightening and the stern fields of lahar and boulders ejected by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 were festooned with silk-draped cocktail tables laden with bowls of sparking gemstones arranged around beautiful arrangements of stargazer lilies, fragrant sampaguita blooms, red and yellow hibiscus and sprays of baby's breath.

Rafts bearing seafood delicacies floated on the glassine lake, and, just past the lake's eastern shore stood a dark cave festooned with the Otherworldly version of fairy lights:

Santelmos

that bobbed and dove in colorful, soft patterns of illumination right at the cave mouth that set off the bioluminescent lichens' glow.

Wicker couches and divans plush with memory foam cushions covered in red, black and gold Ifugao-woven cloth were arranged here and there for the guests who wanted to luxuriate in the sun, or under parasols crafted of Yakan dream weavers' cloths. Large, intricately patterned

banig

mats from the Samar town of Basey's famed mat-makers served as area-rugs. Hardwood trunks carved and inlaid with polished mosaics of water buffalo horn by the skillful artisans of Paete, Laguna were put to use as coffee tables.

A long buffet laden to groaning with clay pots and large trenchers of wedding feast fare of native stews, grilled seafood and meats, bowls of dipping sauces, piping hot rice, soups and desserts made from heirloom glutinous rice, corn and fresh tropical fruit stood at the ready. A bandstand stood between the buffet and a well-stocked bar holding rich

tapuey

, ass-kicking

lambanog

, sweet basi and a liquor store's dream of other alcoholic beverages was already being prepared by Maria Makiling as the Nuno band led by Bagtas and his

Bahaghari

band set up.

Cheerful

duwende

in colorful

barong

Tagalog helped Adora, Sinukuan, Banahaw and several of their diwata sisters put finishing touches on the décor of living vines, potted santan flower bushes and polished marble walking stones marking the pathways to a central dais where the wedding would be solemnized.

Stern

duwende

in black and silver

barongs

patrolled the perimeter of the reception area that was marked by copses of young ipil and narra trees, and stands of bamboo that swayed in the last warm breezes of summer's end.

The sky was a dusky blend of oranges, reds pinks, purples, blues and grays when Jinx, Cocoy and Kidlat roared into the wedding venue on their ATVs, flushed and happy.

Agaw-dilim

, the dawn, was beginning in earnest. The Batumbakal boys ushered Kidlat and Cocoy to a small cavern behind the buffet to prepare the grooms, while Bulan and Amihan whisked Jinx off to the cavern beside it to doll the bride up.

Tala and Buhawi were chatting with Ulap and Bulan. They'd be sitting on a couch near the dais, like the respectable married couple they projected to the world by day, watching Kidlat say yes to his happy ever after. Tala was heavily pregnant and it was a bitch to stand up for more than a few minutes. So she sat in Buhawi's lap, idly messing with his hair and occasionally laying devastating kisses on her man while knowing full well he wouldn't be able to lay her down and screw her in front of his parents, at a wedding, no less.

Buhawi's eyes promised sweet retribution to Tala, but he indulged her, anyway. He was besotted enough to to this, and canny enough to know just how hot their post-wedding sex would get, so, yeah, he was willing to wait. He could hold out an hour or two for, ahem, reparations all night and all of the next morning.

By the time the sun had broken through the darkness, Kidlat and Cocoy were dressed in their wedding finery beside a

barong

-clad Ulap and Bulan in a

tapis

of gold and silver cloth, her generous breasts covered in several layers of beads and round, tinkling silver bells, feathered and beaded headdress on.

Kidlat looked every inch the regal prince in the barong gifted to him by the diwatas, his black slacks pressed smartly into a sharp and ramrod straight crease all the way to his shiny black patent leather shoes.

Cocoy bore his bayot's gold and silver garb, so similar to Bulan's, with masculine grace and ease—no small thing for a man who'd hated the idea of feminine garb just over a month before. His nipple piercings shone amid the riot of beads covering, but not hiding, his chest muscles. He wore his

tapis

slung low enough around his hips to show hints of that delicious Apollo's belt and the cut abdominals he was so vain about. It was all Kidlat could do not to look and spoil the line of his pants with an erection. So he kept his eyes on the bayot's chiseled face and eyes, his dark gaze holding the promise of plenty of creative sex once the formalities were over. Cocoy's eyes flashed banked fire in answer to Kidlat's hot looks.

Amihan, who looked very fetching in a gown of silvery clouds, stood slightly behind her father, and the two remaining Batumbakal boys in their

barongs

(the natural born one and the informally adopted one). Each stood proudly beside Cocoy and Kidlat.

Bulan beckoned to Sinukuan, who stepped aside and moved beside Jinx. When her grooms looked down the sapphire aisle to their diwata, they were awestruck. Her long blue-black hair rippled down her back as she walked, a dress made of real lava caressing her skin, revealing a long line of her eminently lickable left leg all the way to the hip, showcasing her gold stiletto heel-shod feet to perfection.

The dress of molten cloth and its shifting patterns clung to every curve of her breasts, showing off her shoulders and dipping almost to her navel. The glowing gold and red whorls shifted with each breath beneath the light café au lait of Jinx's skin, skimmed her slim hips, and limned the graceful lines of her arms in elemental fire. The wedding dress was backless, baring the lissome line of Jinx's spine and her flawless skin as the wedding gown lit a path of colorful but harmless fire behind the diwata bride walking to her men.

Sinukuan wore a dress of night blooming jasmine woven into Spanish moss vines that fell in sensuous tassels like a flapper-era dress. Both diwatas had beautiful and fragrant flowering vines arranged in their hair.

Finally, as the sun shone directly over the wedding party on the dais, Bulan held out her hands to welcome Jinx, and nod to Sinukuan.

***

"Do you bring me my son's bride, diwata, of your free will and with love?"

"Yes, First Priestess, I do. It is my most heartfelt wish that Janina, diwata of this volcanic mountain, be given her heart's fondest desire: A life of love with her chosen." Sinukuan spoke firmly, even if her voice sang with happy tears in the multiple layers of sound that were the only obvious indication of the strength of emotion behind those words.

Sinukuan withdrew to stand just outside the dais with the other diwata who had assembled for the rites. Amihan moved to stand beside the bride, smiling her welcome to the diwata who would soon be her sister-in-law and sketching a small bow. Bulan clapped her hands, making a thunderous noise that called all the representatives of the many races of the Other World to stand before the bride and her grooms.

Bulan clapped her hands again, raising her arms to the heavens.

"The Skyfather and Earthmother witness this joining of three immortals for eternity." Bulan addressed the gathering with her palms held up and out, her fingers fluttering to gesture to all the beings gathered, and at the three who would be so joined.

The suns' rays grew stronger as a soft drizzle began to fall and the siokoy popped their heads up above the Crater Lake surface. Bagtas began turning a long rain stick, the signal for the band to begin playing soft but dramatic instrumental music with jaw harps,

angklung

and nose flutes.

"Witness the matrimony of the Chief Pathfinder, Kidlat Daluyong Batumbakal, to the diwata Janina, and to the bayot Cornelio Colina delos Reyes. May the Great Parents continue to bless them with love and happiness," Bulan intoned. "We are gathered here to also bless them with our love and strength, with our faith in their goodness. We are here to witness their devotion to one another, a continuation of the love given by the SkyFather Bathala and EarthMother Poon to each other and to us."