Chapter 3

‘There is no need to rush to see Bonnie,’ Mag said. “We’ll just end up waiting at the hospital. Travis or one of Bonnie’s sisters will text us when Elsa has come.’

Natalia hurried to the bathroom. She sat on the toilette. Tail and Victoria were right there with her.

‘Do you need to be in here?’ she said to Victoria.

‘Making sure you go potty.’

‘Why don’t you go potty?’

Victoria giggled. ‘I don’t have to go.’

Natalia finished, feeling less rushed.

‘Who were all those people in front of the shop?’ she said to Mag when she rejoined her in the living room.

‘That was Rene Booksbox out front. People probably recognized her,’ Mag said.

‘Yeah, Ian’s girl.’

‘Oh,’ Mag said as if she had realized something. ‘Oh. You know about that.’

‘Yeah.’

‘He wanted to talk to you, didn’t he?’

‘He already has. And Uri.’

‘Oh,’ Mag said.

‘Oh, what?’

‘They want to do what Uri did, don’t they? What they did with you.’

Natalia nodded.

‘The women’s group has been watching those two. Most don’t want this done,’ Mag said.

The words were making Natalia already regret her decision.

‘Because she isn’t nice or politics or both?’

‘She’s rather private, so I would guess politics. You don’t watch TV or pay attention to what’s happening with the rich and famous. Most people view her as that rich girl, spoiled by daddy, but she doesn’t flaunt it. Then when Ian came into the picture, she went from zero status to an A-lister at parties because she brings him.’

‘He is gorgeous.’

‘No one wanted him to pick an Undent woman. Viperians who do that tend to remain monogamous, like Uri. There are a lot of women who would like to breed with him.’

‘I don’t like the idea of this, but he seems devoted to her.’

She had visions of trying to deal with a spoiled brat who thought she didn’t have to do what she was told to do. Natalia envisioned a bloody teddy bear because they wouldn’t be able to get Rene to drink sanguine tea or eat raw meat.

‘He likes the attention. I hope he’s not doing this just for the attention. Or the money,’ Mag said.

Natalia grimaced. ‘I hope not, too.’

She glanced around the room. Victoria was sitting at her table, staring out the window.

‘Is the group still by the clothing shop?’

Victoria nodded.

‘You are right, Mag. We should wait until we get notified that Elsa is here. I don’t want to wait in the hospital. Too many bad memories there. I’ll go down and talk with Ian and Rene. Even though I don’t want to.’

‘You’re a celebrity among the Viperians,’ Mag said. ‘Be warned that he might want to weasel in as a friend so he can share some of the limelight.’

‘I can just see this becoming political,’ Natalia said with a shake of her head.

Mag nodded.

‘Are you coming with me?’ Natalia said to Victoria. ‘I’m going down to the shop.’

Victoria jumped up.

‘Clothes?’

‘You can check with Lisa if there is anything new.’

Victoria beat her to the door.

When they stepped out into the heat, the crowd in front of the shop had dissipated. Victoria pulled her along by her hand, showing her excitement. Inside the shop, Natalia found Ian and Rene talking with Lisa. Without being rushed, she had a better look at Rene, who was a bleached blonde with a very short hair style. She wore too much jewelry and was quite heavy. Natalia knew there wouldn’t be a single piece of clothing in her shop that would fit her.

All the racks in the shop were full. Yiggy had stuffed in more racks so that people had to pass between them in single file. They contained either finished clothing that people could purchase straight off the rack or partial pieces that people could purchase and get fitted to them. There was also the custom piece area. Lisa was in control of that area.

“Nattie,” Ian said with a nod of his head in greeting.

Lisa was gushing. Natalia couldn’t tell if it was because of Ian being a gorgeous guy or that she had Rene in the shop. Lisa was more likely to be aware of the high-society people than she was.

“Ian. I see you’ve met Lisa. She a good friend and helps manage the place.”

“Nattie, this is so wonderful,” Rene said. “I wish I knew of this place sooner.”

Natalia had the feeling that few clothes in any shop fit Rene off the racks.

“I had doubts there was a place for this type of shop, but I’m happy to be proven wrong.”

“Clothes?” Victoria said, taking Lisa’s hand.

“This is my daughter, Victoria.”

“Hi,” Victoria said.

Natalia knew Victoria loved showing off her English skills, even if it was with just a single word.

“And this is Matilda, due in two weeks,” Natalia said, patting her belly.

“That’s a lovely name,’ Rene said.

“I heard Bonnie left for the hospital,” Lisa said, looking bright eyed.

“Yes, her daughter, Elsa, is coming. We’ll head over there later.”

“Rene is going to get measured,” Ian said. ‘I know you are busy.’

“Please,” Natalia said, waving Rene and Lisa off.

She got the hint that Ian wanted to talk with her, since he had switched to Viperian.

Lisa and Rene went into the custom fitting area.

‘Thank you,’ Ian said. ‘This is very important to both, Rene and myself.’

‘Don’t make me regret my decision,’ she said.

‘I do truly love Rene. I know something political will arise because of who she is. We’ll try to control it the best we can.’

‘I’m not sure about dinner this Friday. I’ll talk with Uri and let you know.’

Ian nodded. ‘I am in contact with Uri. He’s already spoken with me at length about this. I’m sure he had the same reservations that you have.’

‘Where is your condo here?’

‘We’re over on Mirren Ave. He’s named his buildings with colors and we’re in the Gold building, second floor.’

‘That’s a beautiful building. What do you do for a living?’

‘Plastic surgeon. I was just accepted into a practice.’

Natalia eyed him.

‘And no, I’ve had no work done on me and I don’t intend to do any work on Rene. She’s perfect.’

‘You’ll be answering that question forever.’

Ian smiled and nodded with resignation.

“This is an awesome shop. I’ve never seen a clothing shop with a restaurant in the back,” he said.

Natalia knew he was making conversation, so it didn’t look like they were just standing there and staring at each other.

“And a farm on the roof. When I hired Yiggy, I ended up with an entire community.” Natalia switched into Viperian. ‘What does her father think?’

‘He wants his daughter to be happy. A doctor in the family is welcome.’

There were giggles from Rene. When she smiled or laughed, deep dimples appeared in her cheeks.

‘Uri said there was a requirement that I had to meet,’ Ian said, watching Rene.

Natalia looked at him.

‘He said that I had better be faithful.’

‘And are you?’

Ian nodded. ‘She’s a beautiful woman. She’ll give me beautiful babies.’

‘That didn’t really answer my question.’

‘Since knowing Rene, I’ve been faithful and intend to continue to do so. I understand that her type of marriage means we will trust both of us to be faithful. It is probably a custom that Viperians should adopt.’

Natalia nodded.

Her phone rang. It was Uri.

“Excuse me a moment. It’s Uri,” she said to Ian, who nodded. She answered the phone. “Yes?”

“Where are you at?”

“The shop with Rene and Ian.”

“I’ll meet you at the hospital after work. Connie text me that Bonnie was in labor.”

Connie was one of Bonnie’s sisters.

“Yes, she left to go there a short while ago. Right when I got back from the Council meeting.”

“We’ll talk tonight.”

“See you later,” she said, noting the tone in his voice that told her they would discuss Ian and Rene later.

Rene and Lisa disappeared into one of the private rooms where she knew Lisa would measure Rene. Sometimes clothing needed removing in order to get accurate measurements.

Natalia moved over to sit in a chair in the custom fitting area. Victoria was dancing around with a hat on her head.

“Did Lisa make you a hat?”

Victoria giggled and nodded.

The hat was blue with white lace and a blue feather.

“Tail is going to like that feather so you be careful.”

Tail was staring at the feather with a lashing tail.

“I told her no,” Victoria said.

“That is an amazing animal,” Ian said. “Are you going to share with Matilda?”

Natalia knew he was just making conversation, but Victoria grimaced at him.

“No. That’s my kitty,” she said adamantly.

“She’s very possessive,” Natalia said.

“Is that...” He frowned. ‘Is that Undent behavior?’

“Tia said it’s normal.”

“Oh.”

However, Natalia saw some concern on his face.

Lisa and Rene came out of the private room. Both were happy and giggling.

“We’re all set,” Lisa said.

“We won’t take up any more of your time,” Ian said. “Thank you so much, Nattie.”

“Thank you. So nice to meet you,” Rene said.

Ian took Rene’s hand and led her out.

“Wow,” Lisa said once they had left. “She wants me to put together a wedding dress.”

“They are an interesting couple.”

Victoria came dancing over.

“Do you like your hat?” Lisa said.

Victoria nodded.

“How are things going?” Natalia said.

“Awesome. I can’t believe the orders we’re getting in, and with Rene Booksbox visiting the shop, I can imagine we’ll get more publicity.”

“How’s Tyrone?”

Lisa blushed. “Good.”

Tyrone was the IT Manager at Uri’s bank. After he had brought in his disabled niece, Eshe, into the shop, he and Lisa had hit it off.

“He is pretty much coming over every night for dinner, bringing whatever we’re making. I hardly have to go to the store anymore. He’s a splendid cook.”

Natalia knew he and Lisa seemed happy together.

Matilda shifted and complained.

Natalia groaned. “This girl keeps moving.”

“I’ll let you go, Nattie. I have so much to do.”

Natalia nodded.

Lisa pranced away in excitement.

“Victoria. Round up your Tail. Let’s go.”

Yiggy appeared to place a few items on a rack.

“Yiggy,” Natalia said, making her voice ambiguous whether she was greeting her or getting her attention.

Yiggy had a way of looking at her that always seemed to be a glare, but Natalia had learned it was her natural look and meant nothing.

“Yes, Ms. Nattie?”

“Those baby goats are going to attract the attention of teenagers who like goat meat. Have you thought about adding a goose or two as guard geese?”

Usually, Yiggy met her suggestions with a heavy sigh and excuses why her suggestion wouldn’t work. This time, Yiggy looked thoughtful.

“Guard geese.”

Natalia noted there was no inflection in her voice to let her know if it was a statement or a question.

“Yes, guard geese. I’ve seen them used in a pond to keep people from swimming.”

“I can get geese,” Yiggy said. “Goose for holiday is good.”

“I’m sure it is. Thank you.”

“Baby coming soon,” Yiggy said with a glance at Natalia’s belly.

“Yes, she is.”

Natalia herded Victoria out the door. With a sigh, she headed for their apartment building door, but she wasn’t looking forward to the stairs. To delay her trip up, she checked the mail slot. It was a mixture of junk and bank statements. They paid most of their bills automatically. Anything associated with her savings and loan company went to that building. Anything to do with the rentals went to a box address that wasn’t too far away. The postal service had rented a small room to put up boxes for the businesses to use.

‘Stairs,’ she said, directing Victoria. ‘Then soon we’ll go see Bonnie and Elsa.’

‘Elsa,’ Victoria said, leading the way.

Mag was at the top of the stairs, waiting for them.

‘Off your feet,’ Mag said to her.

‘Gladly.’

She sat on the sofa and put her feet up. Mag handed her a whipped drink of ice cream and sanguine tea. The ice cream brought out the red of the tea, making it almost look pink.

‘Heaven,’ Natalia said after a sip of the drink.

Victoria was eating hers with a spoon.

Natalia was almost napping when both her and Mag’s phones dinged.

‘Elsa is here,’ Mag said, getting to her phone first.

‘I already received a message from Uri that he would meet us at the hospital after work.’

‘It’s almost that time for us to leave. There will be a crowd.’

Natalia heaved herself off the sofa.

‘Victoria. You go potty while I go potty. Have Tail use her litter box.’

Victoria ran, laughing, toward her bathroom.

They all convened at the front door. Natalia waved them to go on down first, so she could take her time. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Grazie was waiting.

‘I received the same message,’ he said. ‘Tia will meet us there, as well. I’ll tag along if that’s okay.’

‘Sure.’

Grazie drove them in his golf cart to Natalia’s car. He squeezed into the back with Victoria.

It was rush hour. Even though Mag skirted around town, traffic was heavy. They headed toward the nearest gate of Viperia and found a lineup of cars.

“What’s going on?” Natalia said.

“Looks like a truck tried to go through this way.”

“This isn’t a truck entrance.”

“No shit. I’ll go to the next entrance.”

Mag pulled out and had to go over the curb to make a u-turn. They reached the next gate. While there wasn’t a lineup of cars, there was a semi wedged across the two lanes of traffic as if he tried to go through, then realized he had to turn around, but almost jack knifed trying to back up.

“What is going on here?” Natalia said.

“This is Bernie’s issue,” Grazie said. “I just tried to call him about the last truck blocking a gate, but I just go to his voicemail.”

“I bet everyone is trying to call him,” Natalia said.

The truck driver, who wasn’t Viperian, was walking around his truck.

Mag rolled down her window.

“Can’t you back that up?” she called out to the man.

“Does it look like I can?” the man yelled back at her in an angry voice.

“I got a pregnant lady here. We need to get to the hospital.”

“Like hell you do.” The man looked pissed and approached the car.

Natalia opened her door and heaved herself out.

“Like hell she does,” she yelled back at him.

The man stared at her, then backed off.

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“Can we help guide you back?” Natalia said.

Grazie got out of the car. “Let me help you.”

The truck driver didn’t seem to expect someone to be helpful.

“Ah, sure.”

Grazie took a walk around the truck.

“Pull forward and straighten out the cab.”

Natalia lowered herself back into the car.

“There are signs that say no trucks.”

“Yeah,” Mag said. “Someone isn’t doing their job. How did he even get the truck through the gates?”

Natalia watched the truck shift. It was taking a long time for the driver to straighten out his cab and back up. Mag backed her car up so he could make the turn.

Natalia’s phone dinged.

“Uri is wondering where we are.”

She sent him a text telling him what was going on.

Finally, the truck cleared the gate area. Grazie waved them to come through.

Mag stopped once she was through the gate to pick him up.

‘What was he thinking?’ Natalia said, switching to Viperian.

They all did that once they were in Viperia.

‘Someone is directing the semi drivers wrong,’ Grazie said.

‘But the gates?’ Mag said.

‘He manually opened the gates. Someone has deactivated the auto gate mechanism, and the locks were off,’ Grazie said.

‘Is this a Moralis issue?’ Natalia said.

‘Moralis doesn’t manage Viperia any more since he’s now A’ppollo’s mayor.’

‘Oh, yeah.’

‘The duty is being shared with Bernie and Ki.’

‘Ki?’ She recognized the name but had forgotten what business he had connections with.

‘He owns a construction company, but his son is running it for him while he manages Viperia,’ Grazie said. ‘I know Uri and Moralis assist once in a while, but I thought they had things under control.’

Mag pulled into the parking lot of the hospital. Natalia could see the limo parked off in the back. Next to it was Uri’s car. She also recognized Tia’s car.

‘Looks like her entire family is here and Travis’,’ Grazie said.

‘I didn’t think they had this big of a family. The lot looks full,’ Natalia said.

Mag headed toward the back to park by the limo.

‘Lots of babies are born around this time,’ Mag said.

‘Why?’ Natalia said.

Grazie laughed, but Mag explained.

‘While they don’t allow breedings at the Sex Festival, a lot of breedings occur afterward. All the boys have been born. It is now time for all the girls.’

Natalia heaved herself out of the car. Grazie helped Victoria.

‘I should have dropped you off at the door,’ Mag said.

‘I need to walk.’

The only available parking spots were at the back of the lot. A few more cars pulled in. Natalia didn’t recognize them or the people who got out.

‘Bonnie relatives? Or someone else.’

‘Someone else,’ Mag said.

They wove through the cars to the entrance and into the hospital. Natalia had never seen it so busy. There were people lined up, waiting to be assisted. Three nurses were working the desk, looking like they were handling people as fast as they could. Natalia could hear someone speak the mother’s name and then the child’s name. The nurse would then direct them to a room number, however, they weren’t being directed to the fourth floor, which was the Nursery floor, but fifth. One nurse looked up at her.

‘We have another one. Wheelchair.’ Her voice was urgent.

Two aides and a nurse appeared. They all came running at them. Natalia thought someone with an emergency had just entered, and she turned to look. But there was no one.