Hey all. Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. (I feel like I've said that phrase before.) But truthfully I am sorry for all the delays. Thank you all so much for your patience, and an extra big thank you too all the people who emailed me with offers of proofreading.
Speaking of proofreaders I would like to thank John Blackhawk for this work on this chapter. Anyone who volunteers to deal with my terrible grammar and spelling is a brave soul indeed. =D
Anyway, enjoy chapter six!
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I must have done something seriously fucking bad in a past life to deserve the situation I'm dealing with right now. Or perhaps not even in a past life, maybe the universe took one look at how perfect Rose is and said: 'well screw that guy'. Punching the wall angrily I hurry to my sisters room, not completely sure what help she's going to be, but I honestly don't know who else I can turn to.
It's one thing to hide a lower Vil without an ident chip. Well in fact it's a massive, unprecedented, terrifying thing to hide Rose, but it's conceivably doable. Hiding a baby? No, wait, multiple babies from the government? That's next to impossible. And that's not even taking into account that I'm no where near ready to be a father, and Rose, who I force myself to remember I've known less than four days is not ready to be a Mother. For stars sake, she can't even dress herself without help.
I don't so much knock as hammer on my sister's door. There's a yelp of alarm and a few moments later i'm met with a thoroughly pissed off looking Jezebel standing wrapped in her bedclothes. It's a little early for her to have been asleep isn't it?
"What." She says in a tone that could strip paint.
"I need to talk to you."
"I'm kind of in the middle of something." She says, moving to shut the door.
"Rose hasn't got an ident chip." I say desperately, placing my hand on the handle before she can close me out.
"Tell me something I don't know." She glowers.
"We slept together."
She gives me a look somewhere between pity and disgust, crossing her arms across her chest.
"Jezebel what does an ident chip do for a women that it doesn't do for a man?" I ask, looking around in case one of my parents or their slaves are on the prowl.
My sister's eyes grow wide as she suddenly catches on. "Did you..."
I nod.
"Shit." She says in an awed voice.
"Yeah, I need your help." I say softly.
Despite outward appearances, I'm far closer to my sister than I am my parents. She used to baby-sit for me when they were both working. I don't agree with her stance on the lower Vil of course, but I don't think she mistreats Zack either. In fact I think she relies on him far more than she will ever admit.
"You better come in," She steps away from the door and I follow her into the explosion of pinkness that is her bedroom. "Sorry Zacky, we have a visitor."
It takes me a moment to locate her lower Vil, but when I do I instantly regret it. He's tied spread eagle to her bed, completely naked and sporting one hell of an erection. I'm not gay, but dear stars. How can my sister even walk after that? Suddenly her being wrapped in the sheets from her bed makes sense.
"Jez are you naked under that?" I ask; alarmed.
"Well, we were in the middle of something." She blushes. "Untie Zacky while I find something to wear." It isn't a request.
"What!" I say, the panic causing my voice to squeak. But she's already disappeared into her dressing room and closed the door.
"Good evening Master Dan." Zack says politely from the bed, apparently as comfortable with being naked as Rose is.
"Hey." I mumble, struggling with the knots at his ankles and trying desperately to keep my eyes focused on the task at hand.
"I apologize if I'm making you uncomfortable Master."
"You're not," I mumble as I finally manage to free his legs. I think I've bypassed normal levels of craziness and ventured into, as yet, uncharted realms of insanity. In this strange new realm untying my sisters naked slave while I'm contemplating impregnating Rose is all perfectly normal. I wonder when they inevitably lock me up in a nice padded cell if Rose will be able to visit? She could bring grapes and a get well soon card.
I manage to free Zack completely around the same time his mistress, now dressed in bright yellow PJ's, emerges from her dressing room. At once he hops off the bed, kneeling in front of my sister with his head bowed.
"Good boy Zacky." She coos, patting his hair like a dog. "Go find something to wear, I'll help you with this later." She gently rubs his hardness with the side of her bare foot.
"Yes Mistress, Thank you Mistress." And like that he's gone.
"So?" I say, a little impatiently.
"So... what?"
"Rose, the baby! What are we going to do?"
"Well, the normal procedure is to wait about nine months. At which point your little fuck buddy will push out of her most sensitive hole something not at all dissimilar to a watermelon and we'll all go to prison." She says with a humorless laugh.
"That's not helpful." I reply angrily.
"Well what the fuck do you expect me to do Dan?" She says in exasperation, sitting down heavily on the bed.
"Think, just think." I beg.
The problem isn't just that Rose could be expecting and calling a doctor would reveal her existence and shortly thereafter her lack of ident chip. It's that breeding Lower Vil without a permit is illegal, very illegal, in a category of crimes that threaten the peace treaty between us and the Vil. That's possibly why Rose and her sisters were not chipped, because they were bread accidentally and they pushed the company over its permitted number of new slaves.
The most obvious solution is to terminate the pregnancy, but that idea itself is riddled with problems. Firstly I don't know if humans and Lower Vil are similar enough for the procedure to work, nor do I know where I might find a doctor willing to do it. Or how I might convince said doctor to stay quiet. And most importantly I don't know how to get Rose to give her informed consent, she's not used to making decisions, and one this big? She's going to be looking to me to make the choice for her, and I can't do that. I would rather go to jail for the rest of my life than force Rose to lose her child purely because she thinks it will make me happy.
"I might have something, but it would mean letting someone else in on the secret." Jez says, frowning up at me.
"Can we trust them?" I ask.
"No. But I think I have enough leverage." She sighs, "You're a serious fuck up little brother you know that?"
"I'm fully aware." I reply, sitting down beside her on the mattress. Had the situation been less catastrophic I might have made a joke about her needing to tie a guy up to get some action. As it is I groan and continue. "We'll have to risk it, who is this guy?"
"He's a sort of doctor." She says, not meeting my eye.
"Like an oncologist?"
"More like a vet." She pauses, "In fact he's exactly like a vet, but on the upside the patient isn't human now is she?"
"She's not a dog..." I grumble, before remembering something. "Wait, didn't you used to go out with a vet?"
"Yeah."
She grimaces, "He's actually been trying to get me back for quite awhile."
"Well that's going to be awkward." I comment.
"No shit. You owe me for this." She snaps, grabbing her folded tablet from her bedside table and finding a contact on the scrolling display.
I tune out their conversation as I wait for a solid bit of good news I can hold onto; some tiny sliver of hope that my life might not be totally ruined. Not to mention Rose's life, and my parents and all the Lower Vil who has had the great misfortune to find them selves attached to my family.
"Right, eight tomorrow? That's perfect darling, my parents will be out by then. Thanks, so much, okay bye-bye now." Jezebel makes some kissing noises into the tablet come phone before hanging up.
"Thanks." I say quietly.
"Don't thank me yet. Now will you kindly fuck off, I
was
in the middle of something."
I give my sister a one armed hug before fleeing the room. I'm almost tempted to find Emily and ask if she knows anything else about Lower Vil and children, but I stop myself. I like my father's slave a great deal, but at the end of the day she is exactly that. My father's slave, she will repeat anything I say to her Master without even thinking about it. She's a pet first and my friend second.
Rose is dozing peacefully on the sofa when I get back to my room. Her hands positioned almost reverently on her stomach. Looking at how her deep red hair flows around her shoulders I can't help but feel a disappearing sort of hatred for the world we live in. Rose is the victim, yet it's likely she will be the one punished. She never chose not to have an ident chip, but it's on her head the hammer will fall hardest. It's the same with the possibility of this pregnancy. Regardless of if she consented or not I should have been the one to make sure she was safe, even though I could never have imagined she wouldn't be.
"Come on sweetie, time for bed." I say softly, kneeling down to smile at her sleepy green eyes.
She nods slowly, letting out a yawn before instinctively clapping her hands to her mouth. Shaking my head I help her off the sofa and lead her to the bathroom. Leaving her to deal with whatever she needs to deal with I head over to the shopping bags, remembering what Zack said about her finding it hard to dress herself. I'll have to talk to her about that, but not tonight.
I find a pair of sleep shorts and a shirt for her to wear, happy to see the bright smile on her face as she emerges from the bathroom and realizes she doesn't have to make any challenging choices tonight. I've noticed that she's getting better at showing her emotions. Don't get me wrong she still hides the vast majority of what she's feeling. But sometimes, like just now, I get a glimpse of her true self and it's wonderful.
"Thank you Master." She says softly, pulling the dress over her head in one motion.
I know I shouldn't, but I can't look away from her beautiful form as she slips into her night clothes.
"Do you mind if I sleep with you tonight?" I ask, patting the bed beside me.
