One month after Mira ascended to the throne, Dorian was still in Yarrin. As he had promised, he remained with his wife until his daughter gave birth.
He had only briefly left the planet once to return to his harem at The Collector's tower after they all gave birth, which allowed him to reimpregnate them. There had been eleven babies in total. Nine were birthed by the beautiful girls in the harem, while the remaining two had been from Talia. The Collector was very pleased to have twin granddaughters to replace his treacherous daughter.
Callie had also given birth. She had spent the final days of her pregnancy in the new living quarters that she had been allowed to use in Yarrin. Since Esi only agreed to allow her to remain in the city if she gave birth to a boy, Dorian had been relieved when Callie provided him a son. They named him Quinn, and he had his father's eyes and his mother's fiery red hair.
Mira had been the last to give birth. Like all of Yarrin's citizens, it had been a girl. Dorian had inspected his incestuous daughter/granddaughter, and was estadic to discover that she had zero birth defects. She was a perfectly healthy baby, sharing her mother's exotic brown skin and silky black hair. They named her Lela, and Dorian wondered if his unique DNA prevented defects, though he was very reluctant to test his theory.
Since it was tradition in Yarrin to exile children created by incest, Dorian kept his promise to find her a home. After saying their goodbyes, Dorian had boarded The Chimera and left the planet behind. He had some ideas of where to bring her, but the best option seemed to be Emily. That was where he was headed, as his ship pushed its way through space.
"Master, is this really the best idea that you can come up with for this?" His AI, Hex, said as he put her cylindrical core into a patched up backpack, her voice becoming slightly muffled.
"It will have to do for now. Until I get the parts to install you into the ship, I have to keep you with me." He responded as he swung the bag onto his back. They had reached the system where Dutera, the planet Emily lived on, was located.
"Maybe you should get me a robot body. I'd be a lot more useful to you than when I'm stuffed in a bag!" Hex said as Dorian walked to the cockpit.
"Don't sell yourself short, you're plenty useful to me like this." He replied with a chuckle, gliding the ship down through the planet's atmosphere.
The landing was much smoother than the first time he had visited the planet. His piloting skill was improving quickly, especially while controlling a ship that was on the verge of falling apart.
He picked up Lela from the makeshift crib and exited the ship, remembering the last time he had set foot on Dutera. He walked through the crowded streets of the massive city, retracing his steps until he eventually found Emily's apartment inside one of the monolithic buildings.
He stood at the door, holding Lela in one arm as he knocked on the door with the other. The door slid open, revealing a beautiful girl with chin length brown hair. She looked to be fifteen or sixteen, with naturally attractive looks.
"Um...is Emily home? I'm pretty sure this is her apartment." Dorian asked, giving the girl a strange look. She looked very familiar, and Dorian had a pretty good idea of who she was.
"Maybe, but who're you? And what's with the baby?" The girl asked.
"My name's Dorian." He relied.
Surprise spread across her pretty face at the mention of his name. "Dad..?"
His suspicions were confirmed. The girl standing in front of him was his daughter. Much like Mira, the girl had reached maturity far quicker than normal children.
She rushed forward, assaulting him with a hug that made him stumble backwards as he held onto Lela. "I'm so glad that you're finally back!"
He shifted back to holding the baby in one arm as he hugged the girl with the other. "I'm glad too, you've grown so much.." he said as the girl pulled him into the apartment. Dorian remembered that Emily had given birth to twins, and he became curious. "Where's your brother?"
Before she could reply, a voice called from inside the apartment. "Nora? Who's at the door?"
"It's dad! He's come to see you!" The girl called back.
A woman left one of the apartment's rooms and made her way towards them. Dorian quickly recognized the familiar form of Emily, with her short brown hair and childbearing hips. However, she was cradling two babies in her arms. "Dorian...it's been awhile. I see you've met your daughter."
"I'm glad to see that she shares her mother's beauty." Dorian replied as he stepped closer to Emily. His eyes focused on the infants that she held in her arms. "Did you...'reward' another mercenary the same way you rewarded me?"
"Dorian!" Emily yelled, her eyes gesturing to Nora.
"I'm only joking! Kind of." He said.
Emily's face went red. "Actually, these are your grandsons. Apparently your son, Kiran, inherited your labido because he knocked up a classmate as soon as he hit puberty. I signed him up for a military program where he'll train to fight for the empire, and hopefully learn some responsibility. So, unfortunately you won't be able to meet him right now, although now I have to raise his sons. Meet Calum and Caleb."
Dorian looked down at his grandsons in pride, despite feeling disappointment that his son was away. He had hoped to talk to him. "More twins?"
"Of course, twins run in my family." Emily replied. "Now, I'd ask you why you're here but I assume it has something to do with the baby that you're holding."
"Well, you're right. It's a long story, but I need to find someone to take care of her. She's my daughter, but she had to be exiled." He quickly explained, though conveniently leaving out the fact that the mother was also his daughter.
"Hmm, so you came to me? Well, as much as I'd like to take care of even more 'Dorian desendents', I already have my hands full. Literally." Emily said, slightly raising the twin boys to emphasize her point."
Nora wiggled her finger in front of Lela, making her giggle. "Come on mom, she's my half sister! There has to be something we can do."
Emily considered her words, though she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't afford to raise anymore kids right now. Although...my sister might be able to help you. She's always talked about wanting kids but she hasn't found the time to start a family yet."
"I understand. If you trust her, then she's worth meeting at least."
***
Dorian remained with Emily and Nora for several hours, talking with them and catching up on their lives.
Before he left the apartment, Emily explained that her sister, Vanessa, is the captain of a large cargo ship. After a quick message that explained the situation, Venessa replied with her current location.
Dorian had said goodbye to Emily, his daughter, and his infant grandsons before leaving, promising to visit again.
Now, after several hours of traveling through space, he neared the space station that was currently loading cargo into the hulking vessel that was docked with it.
Instead of landing The Chimera inside of the station, he was given permission to dock with the massive ship directly.
He exited The Chimera, once again bringing Lela and taking the backpack that held Hex.
The inside of the massive ship was slightly colder than his own, and dirtier too. He was greeted by a woman that looked very similar to Emily, with the only large difference being that her chin length hair was dyed black and purple. "Vanessa?"
"Yep that's me, welcome aboard The Nightfall!" The woman said, putting her hands on her hips proudly.
Memories of working aboard The Nimbus filled his mind. It seemed that cargo ships had a tendency to be given names that were far more interesting than they deserved. "Wow, I guess twins really do run in your family. You look so much like Emily." He replied.
"It's true. Speaking of my sister, she explained the situation. Is this Lela?" She said as she leaned over the baby in his arms.
Dorian nodded. "Her existence puts her mother's rule in danger. If you take her, I'd be very grateful. Although, I'd need to make sure that you'd be a good caretaker. She's my daughter, I'm sure you understand."
Vanessa put her hand gently on Lela's cheek. "I understand. I've always wanted children, but being a captain is very time consuming. I'm still not sure..." she said, seemingly lost in thought. She looked up from the baby to talk to Dorian directly. "We're about to embark on a job to deliver cargo from this station. You should come with us. You'd be able to see if I'd make a good mother and I'll have time to consider your offer."
"That...would actually work perfectly." He replied. "I'm at your service, captain."
***
Vanessa gave him a short tour of The Nightfall before undocking from the station and beginning their journey.
"And finally, this is my first mate, Zahara." Venessa said as they reached the bridge, finishing the tour.
"So you're Dorian? I didn't expect you to be attractive." Zahara said with a playful grin. She was shorter than the captain, but had a slim build with C cup breasts. Her hair was short, shaved on the sides and dyed green. In addition to the bodysuit that all crew members wore, she had a tight choker around her neck.
Dorian laughed. "Thanks, I think."
"Is everything in order?" Vanessa asked, looking out into the darkness of space.
"Yes captain, everything is going fine. We'll arrive in three days." The first mate responded.
***
Since The Chimera was still attached to the cargo ship, Dorian continued to use his private quarters, which is where Vanessa spent a few hours of the first day talking to him.
"Is that why Nora and Kiran grew up so quickly?" She asked him after he had explained that his father was from another dimension.
"Yes, though there are many things about my DNA that I still don't understand. Plus it's not like I can just ask my father since I've never met him."
"I know what you mean. Emily and I didn't know our father either, so we were raised by our mom. You've seen the civilized part of Dutera, but that hasn't always been there. That's a rough planet to grow up on, and I was ready to go anywhere else when I was finally old enough."
"Why did Emily stay there then?" He asked.
