CHAPTER 196: DON’T POKE THE GENMAN

Walter and Curtis were headed to Earl’s place when Mr. Zach flew by them in his speeder, headed to Homer’s house. There had been an incident at the construction site. Homer was already at home with Clayton. From the reports, he had trashed the place, but Clayton was okay.

As Mr. Zach pulled up at the front gate—or what was left of it—he was met by Whalen, one of the workers.

"Mr. Zach, don’t blame Homer. It wasn’t his fault—he’s the real victim, no matter what anyone says or what it looks like."

"Okay, Whalen, tell me exactly what happened before I get in there and come to my own conclusion."

"Mr. Zach, ever since the young man Clayton has come to live with Homer, he has been catching hell at work. We told Joe to knock it off, or one day he’d get something that he really didn’t want, and Homer dished it out today."

"Whalen, why are we talking about Joe? What did Joe have to do with this incident?"

"Ever since that day at the front gate when he got slapped backwards, he has been on the big man’s ass—always making snide comments or remarks. He would sometimes walk up behind him and either pinch or pat him on his butt, all the time making remarks that were nasty. Today, big Homer was bundling some lumber when Joe walked up in front of his face and revealed his vent to him. He made this nasty comment: ’Don’t you wish you had one of these to get into instead of that little child vent? You know, a real Genman vent—this is what you want and need.’ As he went to stick it even closer towards Homer, Joe vented either by accident or on purpose into Homer’s face. It was all over him and it even got into his mouth. Within seconds, the big man went from all smiles to a full-raged rut."

"Joe realized what he did and attempted to run from the big man. He ran into some stacks of lumber that he didn’t realize were a dead end, and the big man caught him. It didn’t play well for him. All we could hear was the growling from Homer and the bloodcurdling squeals of Joe as he was bred in a full-on rut. After about two hours, Homer comes tumbling out and collapsed. Homer’s shirt was torn, pants were gone, and he was exhausted. I wrapped a blanket around him and helped him this far as he was in and out of his mind with lust and consciousness. He did all this damage—he broke away from me, plowed through the gate, tore up the roses, knocked out the post on the front porch, and then proceeded to take out the front door, crashing onto a table, then made it to his room. Clayton was safe—Clayton is still safe. He’s been taking care of Homer, who is now coming down off of the rut and his fever is out of control."

"We’ve got ice packs on him so that it doesn’t go too high and cause any damage. But please, Mr. Zach, don’t blame Homer. This was not of his making—he’s a good man, a gentle and kind man, but also a Genman when provoked, and Joe provoked him. As far as Joe goes, the boys went and picked him up, took him to his house. His vent is busted wide open and bleeding, but there’s no leavings, so it means that he’s carrying."

"Thank you for the information, Whalen. Follow me in and we’ll take a look in on them to make sure that Homer and Clayton are both safe. We may have to move Homer to the tub and really pack ice around him to keep his fever from spiking."

---

As soon as Mr. Zach came into the cabin, Clayton ran to him and started crying on his shoulder and chest. "What’s wrong with him, Mr. Z? What happened to my Homer?"

It was at that moment that Zach realized how much young Clayton had bonded to Homer and what they had become to each other.

"He’ll be just fine, Clayton. I’m going to have someone else show up to place him in the tub and really pack him down to get his fever under control. Just keep doing what you’re doing and he’ll be fine. I need to go check on another party to this mess, but I’ll be back in a little while and Lex or Dr. Wooten will show up to handle things here with you."

"Whalen, stand watch. Don’t let anyone in here. Any gawkers come up, send them away. If they don’t want to leave willingly, throw their ass out—you’re big enough to handle them." Whalen understood what was expected of him and told Mr. Z that he would take care of it.

---

Just as Zach arrived at his speeder, Lex and Clark walked up.

"Lex, you’ll be more help here with Homer. Clark, if you would please come with me, we’ve got one to check out, and believe me, that’s more your territory. You’re going to have to run a simple hormone test to see if it took."

They arrived at Joe’s place. There were a couple of Genmen standing guard on the front door and let them enter. From what Zach saw, there was no doubt about the delicate condition that Joe had gotten himself in—his belly was swelled out from the amount of semen that had been placed in it.

"Joe, tell me what happened and don’t leave nothing out."

"Mr. Zach, I’m sorry. I poked the bear and this time that bear turned on me, and everything that happened is all my fault. I can never make it up to Homer—what I did, how I embarrassed him in front of everyone at the job site. I knew I felt funny this morning, but I didn’t pay any attention, and when I went to flash my vent at him as a joke—in my mind, however nasty it was—I vented all over his face. I had no idea he would go into a rut; he must’ve ingested some of the fluids in his mouth. He ripped me for the first time, and from the looks of it, I’m going to carry. I will do whatever the Council tells me to do, or whatever the victim—who is Homer—decides is fair treatment for me. I will accept my punishment in life. But don’t blame Homer. Please send my condolences to Clayton—him and that innocent child that he carries are the real victims here, in this mess that I’ve created."

"Joe, after Dr. Wooten gets through, you’re to stay here in this house. Not to leave until I come back. Your meals will be brought to you and someone will come to check on you from the medical team to check your progress. Do not even walk outside—you have two standing guard on your door and they will be here until I remove them. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, Mr. Zach. Whatever you decide, I must be made an example out of so that no one else can be stupid like me. Now there’s a child caught up in the middle of this. I just pray that Homer will accept it as his and will care for it instead of sending it away to another ranch."

"Joe, don’t worry about that. Whether he accepts the child or not, it will be raised here on the Z-1 because we are all family here, no matter the circumstances of how we get here." Mr. Z walked out the front door, went to his speeder, and drove off with Dr. Clark Wooten.

---

Walter and Curtis walked up to Earl’s door and Walter knocked. When Earl came to the front door, he was a little surprised to see his older brother standing there with his sponsor.

"Come on inside. It’s not much, but it’s what I’ve got. We’re slowly getting it together, me and the boys, and one day it will be something for us—our first home."

Walter was not his usual smiley self—he sat down and Earl could sense something was wrong with his brother. Curtis was not talkative either.

Earl took a deep breath. "Okay, you two, what happened? Did the twins get too rambunctious? Is there anything between the two of you that I can help out with?"

Big Curtis put his head in his hands and started sobbing. "I don’t know how it happened, but I’m carrying and it belongs to Walter."

Earl, for once in his life, did not have any immediate comment. He just sat there. His pregnant older brother had knocked up his sponsor—he didn’t know whether to congratulate them or laugh at the situation.

"Well, Walter, I can see that you decided to go on with life, after all—your spouse has been dead for over 108 years. Now it might not have happened the way that you would think it would since you are carrying, but it seems that you have found someone to share your life with. Babies come along at the least opportune moment—I’m testament to that—but they have a way to bring us together as a family, your new family in life."

"Curtis, whether you expected to carry or not in your lifetime, you made yourself available to Walter and life found a way to carry on. Embrace life and what it has brought to the two of you. You share something so precious that no one will ever be able to take it away from you. And I can tell that both of you are going to make excellent parents. There will be a few stumbling blocks along the way, but the twins will be over the moon. I’ve been expecting this visit for a while, ever since two somebodies came to their uncle Earl and told me that they found you two in bed one morning, stuck to each other like a couple of rackknars."

Walter’s mouth dropped open. "You mean they’ve known about this for all this time and they never said one word to us?"

"No, because I told them that that was a private moment that they walked in on, and when you and Curtis were ready to talk about it with them, you would talk to them. It wasn’t my place to bring it up, nor anyone else’s—it’s yours and Curtis’s alone to talk about. But whether you know it or not, congratulations on becoming a bonded mated pair."

Curtis looked up. "So you’re not mad about us two getting together?"

"No, Curtis, I’m not. I never was a fan of his first mate because he didn’t always treat my brother fairly and with the respect he deserved. Walter had his children out of duty—he loved them, but he was pushed into that portion of his life by our dad. Now I have a surprise for both of you, but it’s for your ears only."

"Walter, Shannon is alive, but he’s stuck in a pod that malfunctioned. They are slowly bringing him and a few others out of hibernation. And I’ll let you know right now—he is the biological father of all of my children, and I have the DNA tests to prove to anyone that doubts that fact. Mason and Madison were the first ones to find out and they kept the secret even from me for a while. Why do you think I suddenly have a reason to live again? The love of my life will one day be with me once more. I can’t wait to give him a new son and introduce him to his grandsons."

Walter hugged his brother and congratulated him on finding Shannon once again, and was feeling a lot better about the situation between him and Curtis.