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The X'eylakh Chronicles
X'eylakh
V'nudoth Collective Territory
Zeta Quadrant
*************************************************************
The V'nudoth Collective was a small group of planetary governments comprised of four star systems.
Everyone was welcome in Collective territory, no matter what race you were.
Every single intergalactic Empire and Federation respected their neutrality and considered Collective territory as one of the galaxy's true neutral zones.
K'aisinh and his sons lived on X'eylakh, an extremely hot, Vulcan-like planet in the V'nudoth Collective.
It was just the 3 of them, ever since his wife and daughters died 5 years earlier in a robbery when their youngest was 2 years old.
Their oldest, K'Sahr, was now 15, and their youngest son, T'Planh, was 13.
K'aisinh answered the door one day after work. He saw two human girls about 4 and 8 years of age. The oldest girl was wearing an infant sling with an infant of about 4 months of age inside. She was carrying a diaper bag as well.
Each girl also carried a backpack. The infant was crying. They were sunburned and obviously very dehydrated.
“Hello, Sir. I'm Haley. These are my sisters Kaytey and Becky. We were in a very bad crash. We and our mom are the only ones who lived. Our mom's hurt and can't walk. She sent us to find help. Can you help us please?”, Haley asked, on the verge of tears.
“Of course! Come on in girls and get cooled off!”, he said, ushering them inside.
K'aisinh immediately picked Becky out of the sling to soothe her. He gave them each a cherry flavored electrolyte drink and potato chips, telling them the salt in the chips would help them, as would the drink.
He had his oldest son give Becky a bottle of electrolyte drink, and had his youngest son make the older girls lunchmeat sandwiches while he got more information from the girls.
“Which direction is the crash site in, sweetheart?”, he asked Haley. She told him.
“What's your mom's name?”
“Momma.”, Kaytey, the four-year-old, replied.
“No silly goose. That's what we call her. Momma's friends call her Olivia...or Liv.”, Haley said, giggling. Her sister giggled as well.
“Ok. You girls stay here with my boys in conditioned air and drink plenty of fluids. I'll go find your momma and bring her back here. I promise you'll be perfectly safe with my boys.”, K'aisinh said, smiling to reassure them.
After gathering a few supplies, he got into the pod and flew in the direction of the crash. Eventually, about 15 minutes later, he found the crash site.
The shuttle had crashed into several very large, ancient trees and had broken apart.
As he flew nearer to the craft, circling around it, he saw their mother.
K'aisinh landed about 15 feet from the shuttle, making sure the pod door was facing it. He exited the pod and ran over to the crash.
Leaning against a tree was the girls' mother, clutching her purse and a bag. Next to her were four backpacks.
She was injured, sunburned and was suffering from heat exhaustion. She was in pretty bad shape.
”Olivia?“, K'aisinh asked.
”Yes, I'm Olivia....Liv for short.“, she said.
“I'm K'aisinh M'ashkah. Nice to meet you. Your girls are safe in my home with my sons. I'm here to help you.“, he told her.
He quickly opened a bottle of cold grape flavored electrolyte drink and handed it to her. He put a cool, damp washcloth on her forehead as well.
”Drink as much as you can. Permit me to pour some cool water over your face. The water and damp washcloth will help speed up the cooling process.
“At this moment, your very life depends on you drinking this and cooling down as quickly as possible. We X'eylakhs are used to this heat. You humans are not.”, K'aisinh said, smiling tenderly as he poured a bottle of cool water over her sunburned face.
”Thank you, K'aisinh.“, Liv replied very weakly as he did a quick assessment of her injuries.
”It's not a problem. I'm just glad you sent your daughters for help. I'm going to take you into my pod and get you cooled off.
“You're sunburned, dehydrated and injured. You won't make it through the night. You won't even make it another hour or two if I don't get you out of this intense heat and into conditioned air to get your body cooled down immediately!“, K'aisinh said.
“Thank you so much.”, she replied.
“We've got plenty of room at our house. I promise you Liv, you and your girls are safe with my sons and me. By now they're probably playing video games in the Gathering Room.”, he told her, putting her arm around his neck and picking her up in his arms.
She was very weak. The drink and damp washcloth had helped, but she needed to get in conditioned air immediately.
“Hold on tight to my neck. Let me get you out of this heat.”, K'aisinh said as he gently carried her into the pod.
After K'aisinh set her down in the front passenger seat, he handed her another grape flavored electrolyte drink, then closed the pod door.
“You're so kind! There were fires three weeks ago on Simto, our home planet. We were on a freighter being evacuated to Jorash when we were told the freighter got a call to come here to pick up some people.
”For some odd reason, the Commander decided to drop several of us off here instead of taking us on to Jorash. We were put on the shuttle and flew here.
”We crashed about 4, maybe 5 days ago. I couldn't walk due to my ankle. I tried to keep my girls cool and comfortable, but wasn't able to.
“We couldn't stay in the wreckage due to live power lines hanging down inside. I got our belongings out of the wreckage and we camped out under the tree.
“I gave what water and food we had to my girls. I nursed Becky since I'd been nursing her all along anyway. I stripped my top and bra off to keep comfortable. I did the same with the girls. I had sunscreen, so I put it on them.
”No-one else was alive, so I didn't mind stripping. I thought it'd cool off at night, but it didn't seem to.
“My mini and small-screen got trashed in the crash when my purse flew out of my hand and smashed into a tree, so I couldn't call for help. I haven't seen anyone, not even evac shuttles, come looking for us.
“A few nights ago it rained, and the girls sang and danced in it. They had so much fun! It did my heart good to see that!
“Finally I sent my girls to find some help. I had to get them to safety. I prayed they'd get somewhere safe where there was conditioned air. My prayers were most definitely answered! Thank you!
”I'm so grateful to you for taking them in and rescuing me as well! I really can't thank you enough!”, Liv replied with as much strength as she could muster, gratitude in her eyes.
“No problem at all. You keep drinking, Liv.”, he said. He'd been holding her hands as she talked. Physical touch seemed to calm her down. The tears flowed as she poured her heart out.
“I figured I was going to die, but I had to get my girls to safety if possible, no matter what the outcome would be for me. I had to get my girls to safety!”, she said, crying. He put his arms around her to comfort her.
After collecting the backpacks, her purse and the bag she'd been clutching, K'aisinh sat in the pilot's seat, put the pod in gear, then flew towards home.
K'aisinh sent an audio stream to his sons. He told them to tell her daughters she was safe and they were on the way home.
He then contacted local authorities to let them know about the crash, that a mother and three children were the only survivors, and that they were all safe with him.
About fifteen minutes later they arrived at his home, a lodge-style cabin. There was a large yard in front, a large vegetable garden in the back, as well as an in-ground pool and a parking pad for the pod.
K'aisinh parked the pod and carried her into the cabin. Her daughters ran over to her.
The cabin was very spacious and comfortable, but DEFINITELY lacked a woman's touch.
He gently put her down on the couch, gave her a glass of iced tea, and introduced her to his sons.
She cuddled Becky and immediately began nursing her discreetly. Haley and Kaytey snuggled up to her as she hugged them. She listened as they told her about their trek to get help.
He and his sons took a discreet look at her. She was wearing a pink tank top, matching athletic shorts, and hot pink flipflops. Her girls were all wearing similar clothes.
Liv wasn't a classic beauty. She was just an average-looking human woman.
She was petite, just 5 ft tall, buxom, and had reddish blonde hair. She was wearing pink hoop earrings plus other smaller earrings most of the way up her ears.
While Liv and the girls chatted and snuggled, K'aisinh and his sons went up to the attic. They came back downstairs a few minutes later with enough clothes, stroller, musical swing, bouncer, playpen, kid's blankets, a high chair, and toys to fill an entire nursery. He also brought down an infant transport pod seat.
“These bags are full of my late wife's and daughters' clothes and other items. Her nightgowns and pajamas are in our dresser upstairs. She was about your size, and my daughters were about your girls' sizes.
”You're all more than welcome to wear the clothes, nightgowns, and pajamas until we can get you more clothes, and even longer if you'd like. You can use all of it. You all just relax and get some rest.”, he said.
“Thank you so much, K'aisinh!”, Liv replied.
“Thank you.”, Haley and Kaytey said.
“You're very welcome!
“I made this cradle when T'Pley was pregnant with B'ajorh. Every one of our kids slept in it. Your daughter's more than welcome to sleep in it as well. This is everything we had for the girls.
”I was keeping them for when the boys have children, but I think it'd be best to use everything now.
“T'Pley's parents bought us the crib. Her dad and I filled two swear jars putting it together. I swore I'd never take it apart, and I haven't.”, K'aisinh said, laughing uproariously.
Everyone then sat on the couch and recliners and relaxed. Liv and her girls were finally truly cooling down.
K'aisinh checked Liv's injuries. He wrapped both her wrist and ankle in elastic bandages, then cleaned up her cuts bandaging those up as well. She thanked him profusely.
After asking her about pain meds used by humans and looking up correct dosages, he told the replicator,
“One bottle 30 count Vicdo 3cc's, one bottle Children's Tyle 30 count, 2cc's, one bottle Infant's Tyle 6 mlcc.”
Ten seconds later, the medications all appeared in the appliance. K'aisinh gave her a dose right away, then gave the girls each a dose as well since they all had cuts and bruises.
Using a scanner, he scanned her wrist and ankle. The wrist wasn't broken, although her ankle had a possible hairline fracture. Once the swelling went down they'd know for sure.
K'aisinh also checked her for signs of concussion. Despite a few bumps on her head, thankfully Liv was concussion-free. He checked her daughters as well.
Other than cuts and bruises, which his sons had bandaged up for them, they were relatively unscathed.
“Liv, I know this is sudden, especially since you barely know us, but you and your girls are more than welcome to stay with us while you recuperate if you'd like. You'll be safe, cool and will have plenty of food no matter what.
”It's going to take awhile for that ankle to heal, so you all might as well be safe, cool, and comfortable.”, he said.
“You're so kind, K'aisinh. We'd truly appreciate it! I didn't expect such a gracious offer, but I'll gladly accept, especially for my girls' sakes! Thank you so much! I'll gladly help in any way I can around here.”, Liv replied.
“Can you please cook for us?”, he and his boys asked, almost in unison, smiling broadly.
“It would be an honor to cook for you, human gentlemen!”, Liv said, smiling broadly as well.
“Thank you.”, K'aisinh replied.
After Becky had finished nursing, Liv burped her. K'aisinh placed her in the cradle and covered her up. Liv then joined them at the table for dinner, holding onto his arm as she hobbled to the table.
After dinner, K'aisinh gave her a tour of the house, having her hold onto his arm. When going upstairs, he carried her so she wouldn't have to put any weight on her ankle.
His sons showed the girls their room. It had been their sisters' room. They brought up the girls' belongings as well as the clothes and toys that had been their sisters'. The crib and changing table would be brought up later.
Liv hadn't really looked around the house to know where everything was.
He showed her their freezer and told her another freezer was in the basement. She took stock of what was in their kitchen freezer. K'aisinh told her what was in the basement freezer as well.
Liv asked him to bring a few things upstairs to prepare for the next several days' meals. He also showed her the replicator.
“I hope you don't think I'm trying to take over. If I'm doing that, I apologize.”, Liv said.
Taking her hands in his, K'aisinh replied, smiling,
“Liv, if you weren't taking over with food preparation as you are, I'd be abit concerned.
”Your being here, your willingness to help out the way you've offered, has taken such a huge load off my mind! I can't put into words how grateful I am for your help!
”I can't thank you enough! I know my boys will be grateful not to have to eat my cooking anymore. Hell, I'LL be grateful not to have to eat my cooking anymore! That's why we order out or I bring dinner home regularly.
“Just don't do too much at one time. Remember, you were seriously injured in the shuttle crash, and are still recuperating. You and your girls need to rest. Take it easy on that ankle.
”The boys have school and I work the next few days.
”We're off over the weekend. We're planning on going shopping Saturday. You're all welcome to join us if you feel up to it. We'll take the pod, and will grab lunch there as well.
“We also need to get you and your girls whatever things you all need.”, K'aisinh told her.
“We'd like to go. Unfortunately, I have no money for anything. The banks were shut down and accounts were frozen due to the fires.
”We'll wear the clothes you shared with us until I get a job and can pay for clothes and things for my girls and myself.”, Liv said.
“Don't worry about a thing. It'll be my treat, my way of thanking you for helping out here.”, K'aisinh said.
Liv thanked him profusely, tears of gratitude in her eyes.
He helped her set up her stream links. She chose “DesignsByLiv” as a business link username, and “Liv.Plus.Three.Beauties” for her personal link username.
K'aisinh gave her a spare small-screen and mini since both of hers had been damaged irreparably in the crash. He then synced them for her. She thanked him profusely.
“You're welcome to sleep in T'Pley's and...I mean, my room, especially while your ankle's healing. I'll sleep on the couch.“, he said after the kids had all gone to bed.
”Jonathan, I've already imposed on you enough. I'll sleep on the couch.“, she replied.
He could see she was every bit as stubborn as he was, so he proposed some compromises.
”We can take turns sleeping in there, switching every 2 or 3 days, or we can share the bed. I promise to be a perfect gentleman.
“Do you promise to be a perfect lady, Liv?“, he asked, smiling slyly, giving just a slight hint at his sense of humor.
”I assure you, your honor and virtue are completely safe with me!“, Liv replied, smiling slyly in return.
It was refreshingly apparent to him that this human woman had a similar snarky sense of humor.
”K'aisinh, you've been so kind to us. I can never repay you for your kindness. You've quite literally saved our lives today!“, Liv replied.
”I'm just glad you sent your girls to find help!
“You've more than repaid me, Liv. You have taken a huge weight off of me by taking over the cooking and running of the household.
”I'm extremely grateful to you! Just be sure to take it easy and rest that wrist and ankle, especially that ankle.“, he said, smiling.
They then got ready for bed. K'aisinh was shirtless and clad only in sleep pants. Liv put on a pair of soft pink pajamas after taking a dose of Vicdo.
”Thank you so much for rescuing us, taking care of our injuries, and for accepting us even though we're human.“, she said, smiling.
”You're very welcome.“, he replied.
They climbed into bed, said goodnight, and were asleep within a matter of minutes.
That night, Becky only woke once. Liv got up, changed her diaper, brought her into the Gathering Room, sat in the rocking chair and discreetly nursed her.
K'aisinh woke up once during the night to use the bathroom. He checked on the kids, then checked on Liv and Becky.
”It's nice to see that rocker being used again.“, he said, bringing a kitchen chair over to sit by her.
”It's very comfortable. Thank you so much for letting me use it.“, she replied.
”You're very welcome.
”If I'm not being too intrusive, could I ask what happened to your husband? Did he die in the fires?“, K'aisinh asked.
”I don't have a husband. And I don't like talking about their father. I'm sorry if I sound rude. I don't mean to.“, Liv replied.
”No need to explain any further. You didn't sound rude at all, Liv.“, K'aisinh said, smiling reassuringly.
”Thank you.“, she replied.
He then tenderly took her hands in his.
”Liv, I don't know what happened between you and their father, although I have my suspicions. I want you to know that you and your girls are safe here. What happened there will most definitely NOT happen here!“, said K'aisinh, sensing Liv's relationship with the girls' father was a violent one.
”Thank you so much, K'aisinh. You've been so kind to my girls and me. I can't ever repay you for your kindness.“, she said, smiling.
”You already have, Liv. You've taken a huge weight off me by taking over the cooking and running the household. I'm so extremely grateful to you!“, he replied, smiling at her.
After Becky had finished nursing and was burped, Liv rocked her to sleep. She put her in the crib, then got back in bed.
The next morning, Liv woke up first. She took a good look at K'aisinh laying next to her. He was laying on his left side, snoring loudly. His snoring had actually woken her up!
He was a tall (6'4"), tanned, muscular man. Though bald, K'aisinh had 3-4 days' worth of stubble, a chestful of hair, circular markings, pointed ears, and purple eyes that were very similar to a dark cherry in color.
After getting up out of bed and using the bathroom, Liv slowly and very carefully walked down the stairs.
After taking her medicine, she started making breakfast.
She fried diced potatoes, seasoned pork sausage, and eggs. She mixed it all together, adding shredded cheese to the mixture. She cooked while sitting down in order to rest her ankle. She also put on a pot of coffee.
The aroma of breakfast cooking woke everyone up. They all thoroughly enjoyed their meal.
K'aisinh drank four cups of coffee with breakfast, then filled two extra-large insulated to-go cups with coffee to take with him!
After breakfast she took out a package of ground beef to thaw in the sink for dinner.
The boys left for school on the school transport pod. K'aisinh left for work at 8:30.
He'd found a cane his wife had used and adjusted it to Liv's height for her. With her wrist injury, a cane was much easier to use than crutches.
Liv and the girls relaxed and sorted through the bags of clothes. She put on a pair of purple athletic shorts, a matching tank top, and bear claw houseslippers. Her girls giggled at the houseslippers.
“Of all types of houseslippers to wear on a super-hot planet...bear claws!”, Liv exclaimed, laughing uproariously.
She went into her purse and brought out a purple hair tie, putting her hair into a casual ponytail. She did the same for her girls.
The girls chose yellow princess tops and purple shorts, and their yellow sandals.
The boys were home by 3:45. K'aisinh was home by 5:30, and brought donuts and carbonated drinks for the kids, plus extra-large iced coffees for himself and Liv as a treat.
”Dinner's in the crockpot, and should be done by now. Enjoy.“, Liv said, smiling.
K'aisinh brought the crockpot and the rest of the dinner to the table while she and the kids sat down.
She'd made sweet-and-spicy slow cooker chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, and cold cabbage salad. For dessert, she'd made a no-bake brownie cheesecake. The girls had helped.
The guys loved everything! They had never had anything like the chicken dish she'd cooked. They especially loved the brownie cheesecake. They'd never had one before.
”How can you not be wired by all the coffee you've had today?“, she asked K'aisinh as he filled a fifth cup after finishing his iced coffee.
”I guess I'm just used to it. When I was seven my dad introduced me to coffee. My mom says it's been all downhill since then!“, he replied, laughing uproariously then taking another big sip of coffee.
After breakfast that Saturday, Liv got herself and the girls dressed, she packed up the diaper bag, then was ready to go. She took out a large package of ground beef to thaw in the sink for dinner.
K'aisinh told the boys to bring the stroller with them. Everyone climbed into the pod. Liv put Becky in the pod infant seat. K'Sahr sat up front with him. The girls and T'Planh sat next to her.
Moments later they were on their way. Fifteen minutes later, they were in the town they'd been traveling to. Her ankle and wrist were still quite sore, but very slowly starting to feel better. The girls were feeling much better as well.
When they arrived at the megamart, K'aisinh told her to walk slowly and to hold on to a shopping cart or to him.
They bought fresh herbs, spices, cheese, baking ingredients, various meats, snacks, tea, coffee, feminine items, hair accessories, plus toiletries and clothes for Liv and the girls.
K'aisinh told her to pick out anything she needed or wanted. Liv picked out bottles of bright purple nail polish and firecracker red nail polish for herself and her girls.
She also chose new toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, plus deodorant and body wash.
Finding a bottle of coffee-scented body wash, she jokingly said,
”Look! They bottled your scent, K'aisinh!“
He smelled it, laughed out loud, and put it in the cart. The running joke from his boys was that his men's cologne was in fact coffee since he drank so much of it.
After heading over to the electronics department, K'aisinh bought himself and his boys video games and ear buds.
Next they went to the men's and boys' departments. They bought tshirts, pants, socks, and underwear.
They then went to the store's grocery department. K'aisinh told Liv to get whatever she needed to make meals.
She bought several different types of meats plus cheese, eggs, milk, baking supplies, seasonings, boxed foods, pasta, rice, sauces, soup broths, fresh fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, powdered drink mixes, margarine, sour cream, cream cheese, and much more.
The three M'ashkah men looked on in surprise, and glee, at what she as buying. Try as he may, K'aisinh was not much of a cook.
”I can cook well enough that my boys and I don't starve, but that's it.“, he'd told her.
Looking at her purchases, they all knew they were in for some VERY good meals!
After paying the bill and having a nice lunch of cheese meat rounds and deep fried potato wedges, they were on their way home.
They stopped along the way for iced coffees and carbonated drinks.
K'aisinh helped Liv and Becky into the house, then he and the kids brought all the purchases in.
After everything had been put away, Liv changed Becky's diaper then started dinner. K'aisinh insisted on helping her, telling her that she needed to rest her ankle and wrist.
They decided an easy dinner of sloppies and sloppy cheesy pasta would be good. He'd never heard of sloppy cheesy pasta. Everyone enjoyed the meal. Liv gave Becky some of her meal as well.
Over the next three months, Liv cooked dinner almost every night. The girls loved helping her. Becky was now 7 months old with four teeth. While still nursing, she loved all the new foods she was being introduced to.
K'aisinh had surprised Liv with his late wife's cookbooks, jewelry, jewelry box, and tin full of hair accessories.
She'd found a boutique company to join as a customer rep, and applied for V'nudoth Collective and X'eylakh planetary citizenship for herself and her girls.
Liv and K'aisinh had a very good relationship; a deep friendship. They talked about everything, from the mundane to the serious, as well as to plain silliness, resulting in hysterical laughter.
He loved her girls and she loved his boys. They'd formed a nice, very happy family.
They'd also developed deep romantic feelings for each other. They'd tried being just platonic friends, but finally admitted to each other about their feelings.
Three months to the day after they met, they went before the Adjudicator and were married in a V'nudoth ceremony. K'aisinh also legally adopted her girls.
She and her girls were now legally Olivia, Haley, Kaytey, and Becky M'ashkah.
V'nudoth Collective Territory
Zeta Quadrant
*************************************************************
The V'nudoth Collective was a small group of planetary governments comprised of four star systems.
Everyone was welcome in Collective territory, no matter what race you were.
Every single intergalactic Empire and Federation respected their neutrality and considered Collective territory as one of the galaxy's true neutral zones.
K'aisinh and his sons lived on X'eylakh, an extremely hot, Vulcan-like planet in the V'nudoth Collective.
It was just the 3 of them, ever since his wife and daughters died 5 years earlier in a robbery when their youngest was 2 years old.
Their oldest, K'Sahr, was now 15, and their youngest son, T'Planh, was 13.
K'aisinh answered the door one day after work. He saw two human girls about 4 and 8 years of age. The oldest girl was wearing an infant sling with an infant of about 4 months of age inside. She was carrying a diaper bag as well.
Each girl also carried a backpack. The infant was crying. They were sunburned and obviously very dehydrated.
“Hello, Sir. I'm Haley. These are my sisters Kaytey and Becky. We were in a very bad crash. We and our mom are the only ones who lived. Our mom's hurt and can't walk. She sent us to find help. Can you help us please?”, Haley asked, on the verge of tears.
“Of course! Come on in girls and get cooled off!”, he said, ushering them inside.
K'aisinh immediately picked Becky out of the sling to soothe her. He gave them each a cherry flavored electrolyte drink and potato chips, telling them the salt in the chips would help them, as would the drink.
He had his oldest son give Becky a bottle of electrolyte drink, and had his youngest son make the older girls lunchmeat sandwiches while he got more information from the girls.
“Which direction is the crash site in, sweetheart?”, he asked Haley. She told him.
“What's your mom's name?”
“Momma.”, Kaytey, the four-year-old, replied.
“No silly goose. That's what we call her. Momma's friends call her Olivia...or Liv.”, Haley said, giggling. Her sister giggled as well.
“Ok. You girls stay here with my boys in conditioned air and drink plenty of fluids. I'll go find your momma and bring her back here. I promise you'll be perfectly safe with my boys.”, K'aisinh said, smiling to reassure them.
After gathering a few supplies, he got into the pod and flew in the direction of the crash. Eventually, about 15 minutes later, he found the crash site.
The shuttle had crashed into several very large, ancient trees and had broken apart.
As he flew nearer to the craft, circling around it, he saw their mother.
K'aisinh landed about 15 feet from the shuttle, making sure the pod door was facing it. He exited the pod and ran over to the crash.
Leaning against a tree was the girls' mother, clutching her purse and a bag. Next to her were four backpacks.
She was injured, sunburned and was suffering from heat exhaustion. She was in pretty bad shape.
”Olivia?“, K'aisinh asked.
”Yes, I'm Olivia....Liv for short.“, she said.
“I'm K'aisinh M'ashkah. Nice to meet you. Your girls are safe in my home with my sons. I'm here to help you.“, he told her.
He quickly opened a bottle of cold grape flavored electrolyte drink and handed it to her. He put a cool, damp washcloth on her forehead as well.
”Drink as much as you can. Permit me to pour some cool water over your face. The water and damp washcloth will help speed up the cooling process.
“At this moment, your very life depends on you drinking this and cooling down as quickly as possible. We X'eylakhs are used to this heat. You humans are not.”, K'aisinh said, smiling tenderly as he poured a bottle of cool water over her sunburned face.
”Thank you, K'aisinh.“, Liv replied very weakly as he did a quick assessment of her injuries.
”It's not a problem. I'm just glad you sent your daughters for help. I'm going to take you into my pod and get you cooled off.
“You're sunburned, dehydrated and injured. You won't make it through the night. You won't even make it another hour or two if I don't get you out of this intense heat and into conditioned air to get your body cooled down immediately!“, K'aisinh said.
“Thank you so much.”, she replied.
“We've got plenty of room at our house. I promise you Liv, you and your girls are safe with my sons and me. By now they're probably playing video games in the Gathering Room.”, he told her, putting her arm around his neck and picking her up in his arms.
She was very weak. The drink and damp washcloth had helped, but she needed to get in conditioned air immediately.
“Hold on tight to my neck. Let me get you out of this heat.”, K'aisinh said as he gently carried her into the pod.
After K'aisinh set her down in the front passenger seat, he handed her another grape flavored electrolyte drink, then closed the pod door.
“You're so kind! There were fires three weeks ago on Simto, our home planet. We were on a freighter being evacuated to Jorash when we were told the freighter got a call to come here to pick up some people.
”For some odd reason, the Commander decided to drop several of us off here instead of taking us on to Jorash. We were put on the shuttle and flew here.
”We crashed about 4, maybe 5 days ago. I couldn't walk due to my ankle. I tried to keep my girls cool and comfortable, but wasn't able to.
“We couldn't stay in the wreckage due to live power lines hanging down inside. I got our belongings out of the wreckage and we camped out under the tree.
“I gave what water and food we had to my girls. I nursed Becky since I'd been nursing her all along anyway. I stripped my top and bra off to keep comfortable. I did the same with the girls. I had sunscreen, so I put it on them.
”No-one else was alive, so I didn't mind stripping. I thought it'd cool off at night, but it didn't seem to.
“My mini and small-screen got trashed in the crash when my purse flew out of my hand and smashed into a tree, so I couldn't call for help. I haven't seen anyone, not even evac shuttles, come looking for us.
“A few nights ago it rained, and the girls sang and danced in it. They had so much fun! It did my heart good to see that!
“Finally I sent my girls to find some help. I had to get them to safety. I prayed they'd get somewhere safe where there was conditioned air. My prayers were most definitely answered! Thank you!
”I'm so grateful to you for taking them in and rescuing me as well! I really can't thank you enough!”, Liv replied with as much strength as she could muster, gratitude in her eyes.
“No problem at all. You keep drinking, Liv.”, he said. He'd been holding her hands as she talked. Physical touch seemed to calm her down. The tears flowed as she poured her heart out.
“I figured I was going to die, but I had to get my girls to safety if possible, no matter what the outcome would be for me. I had to get my girls to safety!”, she said, crying. He put his arms around her to comfort her.
After collecting the backpacks, her purse and the bag she'd been clutching, K'aisinh sat in the pilot's seat, put the pod in gear, then flew towards home.
K'aisinh sent an audio stream to his sons. He told them to tell her daughters she was safe and they were on the way home.
He then contacted local authorities to let them know about the crash, that a mother and three children were the only survivors, and that they were all safe with him.
About fifteen minutes later they arrived at his home, a lodge-style cabin. There was a large yard in front, a large vegetable garden in the back, as well as an in-ground pool and a parking pad for the pod.
K'aisinh parked the pod and carried her into the cabin. Her daughters ran over to her.
The cabin was very spacious and comfortable, but DEFINITELY lacked a woman's touch.
He gently put her down on the couch, gave her a glass of iced tea, and introduced her to his sons.
She cuddled Becky and immediately began nursing her discreetly. Haley and Kaytey snuggled up to her as she hugged them. She listened as they told her about their trek to get help.
He and his sons took a discreet look at her. She was wearing a pink tank top, matching athletic shorts, and hot pink flipflops. Her girls were all wearing similar clothes.
Liv wasn't a classic beauty. She was just an average-looking human woman.
She was petite, just 5 ft tall, buxom, and had reddish blonde hair. She was wearing pink hoop earrings plus other smaller earrings most of the way up her ears.
While Liv and the girls chatted and snuggled, K'aisinh and his sons went up to the attic. They came back downstairs a few minutes later with enough clothes, stroller, musical swing, bouncer, playpen, kid's blankets, a high chair, and toys to fill an entire nursery. He also brought down an infant transport pod seat.
“These bags are full of my late wife's and daughters' clothes and other items. Her nightgowns and pajamas are in our dresser upstairs. She was about your size, and my daughters were about your girls' sizes.
”You're all more than welcome to wear the clothes, nightgowns, and pajamas until we can get you more clothes, and even longer if you'd like. You can use all of it. You all just relax and get some rest.”, he said.
“Thank you so much, K'aisinh!”, Liv replied.
“Thank you.”, Haley and Kaytey said.
“You're very welcome!
“I made this cradle when T'Pley was pregnant with B'ajorh. Every one of our kids slept in it. Your daughter's more than welcome to sleep in it as well. This is everything we had for the girls.
”I was keeping them for when the boys have children, but I think it'd be best to use everything now.
“T'Pley's parents bought us the crib. Her dad and I filled two swear jars putting it together. I swore I'd never take it apart, and I haven't.”, K'aisinh said, laughing uproariously.
Everyone then sat on the couch and recliners and relaxed. Liv and her girls were finally truly cooling down.
K'aisinh checked Liv's injuries. He wrapped both her wrist and ankle in elastic bandages, then cleaned up her cuts bandaging those up as well. She thanked him profusely.
After asking her about pain meds used by humans and looking up correct dosages, he told the replicator,
“One bottle 30 count Vicdo 3cc's, one bottle Children's Tyle 30 count, 2cc's, one bottle Infant's Tyle 6 mlcc.”
Ten seconds later, the medications all appeared in the appliance. K'aisinh gave her a dose right away, then gave the girls each a dose as well since they all had cuts and bruises.
Using a scanner, he scanned her wrist and ankle. The wrist wasn't broken, although her ankle had a possible hairline fracture. Once the swelling went down they'd know for sure.
K'aisinh also checked her for signs of concussion. Despite a few bumps on her head, thankfully Liv was concussion-free. He checked her daughters as well.
Other than cuts and bruises, which his sons had bandaged up for them, they were relatively unscathed.
“Liv, I know this is sudden, especially since you barely know us, but you and your girls are more than welcome to stay with us while you recuperate if you'd like. You'll be safe, cool and will have plenty of food no matter what.
”It's going to take awhile for that ankle to heal, so you all might as well be safe, cool, and comfortable.”, he said.
“You're so kind, K'aisinh. We'd truly appreciate it! I didn't expect such a gracious offer, but I'll gladly accept, especially for my girls' sakes! Thank you so much! I'll gladly help in any way I can around here.”, Liv replied.
“Can you please cook for us?”, he and his boys asked, almost in unison, smiling broadly.
“It would be an honor to cook for you, human gentlemen!”, Liv said, smiling broadly as well.
“Thank you.”, K'aisinh replied.
After Becky had finished nursing, Liv burped her. K'aisinh placed her in the cradle and covered her up. Liv then joined them at the table for dinner, holding onto his arm as she hobbled to the table.
After dinner, K'aisinh gave her a tour of the house, having her hold onto his arm. When going upstairs, he carried her so she wouldn't have to put any weight on her ankle.
His sons showed the girls their room. It had been their sisters' room. They brought up the girls' belongings as well as the clothes and toys that had been their sisters'. The crib and changing table would be brought up later.
Liv hadn't really looked around the house to know where everything was.
He showed her their freezer and told her another freezer was in the basement. She took stock of what was in their kitchen freezer. K'aisinh told her what was in the basement freezer as well.
Liv asked him to bring a few things upstairs to prepare for the next several days' meals. He also showed her the replicator.
“I hope you don't think I'm trying to take over. If I'm doing that, I apologize.”, Liv said.
Taking her hands in his, K'aisinh replied, smiling,
“Liv, if you weren't taking over with food preparation as you are, I'd be abit concerned.
”Your being here, your willingness to help out the way you've offered, has taken such a huge load off my mind! I can't put into words how grateful I am for your help!
”I can't thank you enough! I know my boys will be grateful not to have to eat my cooking anymore. Hell, I'LL be grateful not to have to eat my cooking anymore! That's why we order out or I bring dinner home regularly.
“Just don't do too much at one time. Remember, you were seriously injured in the shuttle crash, and are still recuperating. You and your girls need to rest. Take it easy on that ankle.
”The boys have school and I work the next few days.
”We're off over the weekend. We're planning on going shopping Saturday. You're all welcome to join us if you feel up to it. We'll take the pod, and will grab lunch there as well.
“We also need to get you and your girls whatever things you all need.”, K'aisinh told her.
“We'd like to go. Unfortunately, I have no money for anything. The banks were shut down and accounts were frozen due to the fires.
”We'll wear the clothes you shared with us until I get a job and can pay for clothes and things for my girls and myself.”, Liv said.
“Don't worry about a thing. It'll be my treat, my way of thanking you for helping out here.”, K'aisinh said.
Liv thanked him profusely, tears of gratitude in her eyes.
He helped her set up her stream links. She chose “DesignsByLiv” as a business link username, and “Liv.Plus.Three.Beauties” for her personal link username.
K'aisinh gave her a spare small-screen and mini since both of hers had been damaged irreparably in the crash. He then synced them for her. She thanked him profusely.
“You're welcome to sleep in T'Pley's and...I mean, my room, especially while your ankle's healing. I'll sleep on the couch.“, he said after the kids had all gone to bed.
”Jonathan, I've already imposed on you enough. I'll sleep on the couch.“, she replied.
He could see she was every bit as stubborn as he was, so he proposed some compromises.
”We can take turns sleeping in there, switching every 2 or 3 days, or we can share the bed. I promise to be a perfect gentleman.
“Do you promise to be a perfect lady, Liv?“, he asked, smiling slyly, giving just a slight hint at his sense of humor.
”I assure you, your honor and virtue are completely safe with me!“, Liv replied, smiling slyly in return.
It was refreshingly apparent to him that this human woman had a similar snarky sense of humor.
”K'aisinh, you've been so kind to us. I can never repay you for your kindness. You've quite literally saved our lives today!“, Liv replied.
”I'm just glad you sent your girls to find help!
“You've more than repaid me, Liv. You have taken a huge weight off of me by taking over the cooking and running of the household.
”I'm extremely grateful to you! Just be sure to take it easy and rest that wrist and ankle, especially that ankle.“, he said, smiling.
They then got ready for bed. K'aisinh was shirtless and clad only in sleep pants. Liv put on a pair of soft pink pajamas after taking a dose of Vicdo.
”Thank you so much for rescuing us, taking care of our injuries, and for accepting us even though we're human.“, she said, smiling.
”You're very welcome.“, he replied.
They climbed into bed, said goodnight, and were asleep within a matter of minutes.
That night, Becky only woke once. Liv got up, changed her diaper, brought her into the Gathering Room, sat in the rocking chair and discreetly nursed her.
K'aisinh woke up once during the night to use the bathroom. He checked on the kids, then checked on Liv and Becky.
”It's nice to see that rocker being used again.“, he said, bringing a kitchen chair over to sit by her.
”It's very comfortable. Thank you so much for letting me use it.“, she replied.
”You're very welcome.
”If I'm not being too intrusive, could I ask what happened to your husband? Did he die in the fires?“, K'aisinh asked.
”I don't have a husband. And I don't like talking about their father. I'm sorry if I sound rude. I don't mean to.“, Liv replied.
”No need to explain any further. You didn't sound rude at all, Liv.“, K'aisinh said, smiling reassuringly.
”Thank you.“, she replied.
He then tenderly took her hands in his.
”Liv, I don't know what happened between you and their father, although I have my suspicions. I want you to know that you and your girls are safe here. What happened there will most definitely NOT happen here!“, said K'aisinh, sensing Liv's relationship with the girls' father was a violent one.
”Thank you so much, K'aisinh. You've been so kind to my girls and me. I can't ever repay you for your kindness.“, she said, smiling.
”You already have, Liv. You've taken a huge weight off me by taking over the cooking and running the household. I'm so extremely grateful to you!“, he replied, smiling at her.
After Becky had finished nursing and was burped, Liv rocked her to sleep. She put her in the crib, then got back in bed.
The next morning, Liv woke up first. She took a good look at K'aisinh laying next to her. He was laying on his left side, snoring loudly. His snoring had actually woken her up!
He was a tall (6'4"), tanned, muscular man. Though bald, K'aisinh had 3-4 days' worth of stubble, a chestful of hair, circular markings, pointed ears, and purple eyes that were very similar to a dark cherry in color.
After getting up out of bed and using the bathroom, Liv slowly and very carefully walked down the stairs.
After taking her medicine, she started making breakfast.
She fried diced potatoes, seasoned pork sausage, and eggs. She mixed it all together, adding shredded cheese to the mixture. She cooked while sitting down in order to rest her ankle. She also put on a pot of coffee.
The aroma of breakfast cooking woke everyone up. They all thoroughly enjoyed their meal.
K'aisinh drank four cups of coffee with breakfast, then filled two extra-large insulated to-go cups with coffee to take with him!
After breakfast she took out a package of ground beef to thaw in the sink for dinner.
The boys left for school on the school transport pod. K'aisinh left for work at 8:30.
He'd found a cane his wife had used and adjusted it to Liv's height for her. With her wrist injury, a cane was much easier to use than crutches.
Liv and the girls relaxed and sorted through the bags of clothes. She put on a pair of purple athletic shorts, a matching tank top, and bear claw houseslippers. Her girls giggled at the houseslippers.
“Of all types of houseslippers to wear on a super-hot planet...bear claws!”, Liv exclaimed, laughing uproariously.
She went into her purse and brought out a purple hair tie, putting her hair into a casual ponytail. She did the same for her girls.
The girls chose yellow princess tops and purple shorts, and their yellow sandals.
The boys were home by 3:45. K'aisinh was home by 5:30, and brought donuts and carbonated drinks for the kids, plus extra-large iced coffees for himself and Liv as a treat.
”Dinner's in the crockpot, and should be done by now. Enjoy.“, Liv said, smiling.
K'aisinh brought the crockpot and the rest of the dinner to the table while she and the kids sat down.
She'd made sweet-and-spicy slow cooker chicken breasts, mashed potatoes, and cold cabbage salad. For dessert, she'd made a no-bake brownie cheesecake. The girls had helped.
The guys loved everything! They had never had anything like the chicken dish she'd cooked. They especially loved the brownie cheesecake. They'd never had one before.
”How can you not be wired by all the coffee you've had today?“, she asked K'aisinh as he filled a fifth cup after finishing his iced coffee.
”I guess I'm just used to it. When I was seven my dad introduced me to coffee. My mom says it's been all downhill since then!“, he replied, laughing uproariously then taking another big sip of coffee.
After breakfast that Saturday, Liv got herself and the girls dressed, she packed up the diaper bag, then was ready to go. She took out a large package of ground beef to thaw in the sink for dinner.
K'aisinh told the boys to bring the stroller with them. Everyone climbed into the pod. Liv put Becky in the pod infant seat. K'Sahr sat up front with him. The girls and T'Planh sat next to her.
Moments later they were on their way. Fifteen minutes later, they were in the town they'd been traveling to. Her ankle and wrist were still quite sore, but very slowly starting to feel better. The girls were feeling much better as well.
When they arrived at the megamart, K'aisinh told her to walk slowly and to hold on to a shopping cart or to him.
They bought fresh herbs, spices, cheese, baking ingredients, various meats, snacks, tea, coffee, feminine items, hair accessories, plus toiletries and clothes for Liv and the girls.
K'aisinh told her to pick out anything she needed or wanted. Liv picked out bottles of bright purple nail polish and firecracker red nail polish for herself and her girls.
She also chose new toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, plus deodorant and body wash.
Finding a bottle of coffee-scented body wash, she jokingly said,
”Look! They bottled your scent, K'aisinh!“
He smelled it, laughed out loud, and put it in the cart. The running joke from his boys was that his men's cologne was in fact coffee since he drank so much of it.
After heading over to the electronics department, K'aisinh bought himself and his boys video games and ear buds.
Next they went to the men's and boys' departments. They bought tshirts, pants, socks, and underwear.
They then went to the store's grocery department. K'aisinh told Liv to get whatever she needed to make meals.
She bought several different types of meats plus cheese, eggs, milk, baking supplies, seasonings, boxed foods, pasta, rice, sauces, soup broths, fresh fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, powdered drink mixes, margarine, sour cream, cream cheese, and much more.
The three M'ashkah men looked on in surprise, and glee, at what she as buying. Try as he may, K'aisinh was not much of a cook.
”I can cook well enough that my boys and I don't starve, but that's it.“, he'd told her.
Looking at her purchases, they all knew they were in for some VERY good meals!
After paying the bill and having a nice lunch of cheese meat rounds and deep fried potato wedges, they were on their way home.
They stopped along the way for iced coffees and carbonated drinks.
K'aisinh helped Liv and Becky into the house, then he and the kids brought all the purchases in.
After everything had been put away, Liv changed Becky's diaper then started dinner. K'aisinh insisted on helping her, telling her that she needed to rest her ankle and wrist.
They decided an easy dinner of sloppies and sloppy cheesy pasta would be good. He'd never heard of sloppy cheesy pasta. Everyone enjoyed the meal. Liv gave Becky some of her meal as well.
Over the next three months, Liv cooked dinner almost every night. The girls loved helping her. Becky was now 7 months old with four teeth. While still nursing, she loved all the new foods she was being introduced to.
K'aisinh had surprised Liv with his late wife's cookbooks, jewelry, jewelry box, and tin full of hair accessories.
She'd found a boutique company to join as a customer rep, and applied for V'nudoth Collective and X'eylakh planetary citizenship for herself and her girls.
Liv and K'aisinh had a very good relationship; a deep friendship. They talked about everything, from the mundane to the serious, as well as to plain silliness, resulting in hysterical laughter.
He loved her girls and she loved his boys. They'd formed a nice, very happy family.
They'd also developed deep romantic feelings for each other. They'd tried being just platonic friends, but finally admitted to each other about their feelings.
Three months to the day after they met, they went before the Adjudicator and were married in a V'nudoth ceremony. K'aisinh also legally adopted her girls.
She and her girls were now legally Olivia, Haley, Kaytey, and Becky M'ashkah.
