Page 9 of Redondo (Mates of the Mylos #7)

CHAPTER 9

REDONDO

A bell jingled as the door opened, and I realized that this was most likely the true reason why the patrons had all turned as we entered. Seeing it was Yllip, I waved to get his attention and he sauntered on over.

“We ordered you beverages,” Papa told him. “Ondo was certain that you’d want the same as we are having.”

“Thank you,” he said, settling in across from me and taking a cautious sip of the tart juice. “Not bad,” he pronounced.

“I’ve got your coffee,” our waitress said, pouring him a cup.

“It’s very bitter,” Father warned him.

“Oh, that’s what the sugar is there for, if you want it sweeter. I’d start with just two sugars though unless you like things super sweet. And those little pots? They’re creamer to add to it. Helps mellow the coffee out. I should have told you earlier,” she apologized as another song came on. “Oh! I like this one too! Gotta love Buddy Holly!” she informed us. Yllip looked at her in amusement as she swayed in place as she spoke. “I’ll let you boys look over the menu now that your friend is here. Be back in a few to get your orders!”

She hurried off to refill the mugs of other patrons.

“Well, she’s bubbly,” Yllip laughed, holding his hand out for one of the laminated picture menus.

We all decided that as it was called the Waffle House and not the Scrambled Egg Place or Hamburger Shack or some such thing, that waffles were probably our best bet. When in doubt, stick to their specialty.

“Made up your minds?” she asked, coming back, this time with a paper notepad and a writing instrument in her hand.

“We have,” Father replied. “We all want the waffle platter in the photo.”

“Okay. Do you want your waffles plain or with chocolate chips?”

“Which is the best?”

“Oh,” she said, pursing her lips. “Now, that depends. If you really like chocolate, the ones with chips in. I like those on occasion, but I gotta admit, I really like the regular ones best, with lots of syrup.”

Father looked around the table. Seeing us all nod, he replied, “The regular, then, with the syrup.”

“White or wheat toast?”

We all looked down at the picture.

“How about I just get you exactly what’s in the picture?” she offered.

“Yes,” Father replied and we all heaved a sigh of relief.

“Alrighty. Be ready in about fifteen minutes.”

“Why is the box on the table playing music?” Yllip asked.

“We were curious about what it was and tried it. We found out afterward that the buttons correspond to song names and singers printed by them.”

He glanced around. “If everyone played theirs, it would get quite loud with all the different songs.”

“Yes, that does make it seem a bit odd they’d put them on every table then, doesn’t it?” Papa said.

“How is your family? We’ve not seen them since your father took that job on Orinico Station.”

“They’re good. He’s starting to talk about retirement, but my mother is adamant that she’s far too young to be old enough to be a retiree.”

We all laughed at that. Yllip then began telling us about his older sister’s oldest son gaining admission to a Fleet preparatory school.

“She says it’s all my fault because he wants to attend one of the official academies and become commissioned,” he informed us. “She’s trying to talk him into becoming a civilian pilot instead, for a cruise line. Father says it’s because she has her eye on getting a huge discount.”

We laughed and talked some more, reminiscing about childhood antics. In seemingly no time at all our food was brought to us.

“Now, the white stuff in the bowls is called grits. They can be kinda bland, but I’ve got some Tabasco sauce if you’d like to add a bit of fire to it. The spicy goes real good with the sweet of the syrupy pancakes,” she informed us and so, I decided to follow her expert advice. I wasn’t very impressed by the result, but it did take the edge off the sweet. So did the orange juice, which suddenly tasted very, very sour.

Papa picked up a small packet off the small plate holding toasted triangles bread. “Grape jelly. Look, it’s purple.”

“So why is not called purple jelly?” Father asked. “If the juice is orange so is orange juice, surely the jelly should be purple jelly because it is purple.”

We all nodded as this made perfect sense.

“I like this coffee,” Yllip said. “It’s horrible without the cream and sugar, though.”

“I bet there will be plenty of coffee where we’re going,” Father said before taking a long, slow sip.

“We?”

“Papa and Father are taking their retirement and joining me as part of my household,” I explained.

He grinned. “Really?”

“Really,” Papa confirmed. “They are giving us shared quarters in the family area.”

“I wish I could live with you,” Yllip said. “Maybe I’ll get matched and they’ll find quarters near yours so we can hang out together as always without my having to traipse across the ship,” he frowned. “That’s if we’re quartered on the same vessel within the Fleet.”

Father grunted. “It’s a buddy assignment, so you will be. As for the other, we and your parents have always half expected you two to declare yourselves a family unit.”

“You mean like a Dragonii Clutch?” I asked, surprised.

“Or a Sanguinii clan,” Papa said.

“A Dragonii Clutch! That would be something!” Yllip replied, looking at me hopefully.

With everyone’s gaze now upon me, looking at me expectantly for some sort of answer, I found myself at a loss.

“I’m Mylos,” I began.

“A Dragonii Mylos,” Papa reminded me. “And there are Sanguinii Mylos within the Fleet. Clan Drani is in charge of weapons training. “

Papa was a fan of Oshar and Korah of Clan Drani, having followed them in the tournaments they participated in and nearly always won, so I was not surprised to discover he knew this.

“Actually,” Father said, “Papa is being a bit disingenuous as am I,” he sighed, looking at Papa. “It’s time.”

He nodded and Yllip and I looked at them both wearing near identical expressions of perplexion.

“Explain what?”

“The moment Papa found you, huddled behind those crates, exhausted, hungry, and dehydrated, he felt a deep connection to you. You were out of your mind with terror, swiping at him with your tiny claws despite your wounds and everything else,” he chuckled. “I had to help catch you as you tried to run and despite being fevered from the dehydration and infection setting into your wounds, you were fast. But I caught you and when you looked into my eyes and suddenly threw those small arms around my neck as the promises of safety that we were making to you registered, I knew you were meant to be ours. We already knew there were no other survivors as the bio scan only alerted us to you, local wildlife, and a handful of domesticated animals”

Papa nodded. “The Council was happy to agree to us adopting you, but first, your survival had to be reported to the Dragonii authorities. You were in Sickbay aboard the ship we served on, crying without ceasing unless your father or I were there holding your hand. The medics had to sedate you to get you to sleep peacefully, due to the nightmares that plagued you. The Dragonii keep no genetic database of their citizenry so there was no one to easily match you to. Nor did anyone who came forward as a possibility prove to be a match. Several Dragonii wished to claim you for their clutch, but our ambassador pleaded with theirs to come meet you in person. He agreed, on the condition that only the Fleet Commander and our captain knew of his impending arrival and that he was allowed to bring a vid crew.”

“I remember that,” I said slowly. “They came and you were sitting on the bed with me, reading me a story.”

“That’s right. You were clutching my hair tightly in your fist, needing to hold onto me. It pulled a bit, but I knew it wasn’t intentional and I didn’t mind.”

“You were wearing one of my vests,” Father reminisced, “and every so often, you’d bend your head to sniff it, seeking my scent as additional comfort.”

“He took one look and realized we’d already imprinted as family and that we were your security. The footage prompted outcries for us to get to keep you, in order to not traumatize you any further. What really clinched it, though, was when the ambassador asked you if you knew who your Clutch was.”

“I can’t remember,” I replied. “I can only sort of see their faces and almost recall their voices, but I never knew my parent’s actual names, nor do I remember any Clan arms being on display. None other than the one that stood for the colony as a whole.”

“That’s because the colony eschewed those trappings, apparently,” Papa replied.

“So, you were allowed to adopt me because I told the entire universe that I couldn’t remember who my Clutch was?”

“No,” Father answered me soberly. “It was because you told them we were.”

Papa placed his hand on mine. “We were required to register as a Dargonii Clutch so as to not sever you completely from your people. We always knew that one day, it could become more than a technical formality.”

“We,” I gestured between the three of us, “are an official Dragonii Clutch?”

“Wow!” Yllip exclaimed. “So you are all Dragonii Mylos!”

The implications of what that meant in relation to what my best friend had said earlier struck me. “And a Clutch can add members by declaration of fealty.”

“I accept,” Yllip said. “I’m not joking. We’ve always claimed each other as brothers in all but blood.”

“If you’re serious, talk it over with your family first. If you still wish for it to be so, I’ll file the paperwork.”

Yllip and I looked at each other stunned.

“I’d like that,” I admitted.

“I’m going to have to treat my parents to a really, really nice lunch.”

Our waitress reappeared. “Lunch? I can really recommend the fried pork chops. Pair it with cheesy grits and two fried eggs and toast, and it should be enough even for one of you Mylos as long as you also have some pie.”

“Maybe for the evening meal,” he sighed. ”We can all meet here for that and you can help reassure them that I’m not renouncing them as my family, I’m just also joining yours.”

“Done,” Father said. Looking at the waitress he said, “Could we reserve the big corner booth?”

“Yeah, go on then,” she replied. “What time?”

Happiness suffused me. This morning’s nightmare seemed distant now, only the faintest ghost of a memory that held no power over me. I was going to the Bride Fleet, one stationed at a world where I probably did not have a mate, but that was okay. My family was with me and best of all, Yllip was going to become my Clutch brother. I was already surrounded by love of a sort. It would be enough.