A God's Touch

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

08/18/98:

Some times waking up in the morning could be something akin
to torturer, other times it's a pleasant type of bliss. This
morning it was some where in between. The room was only
slightly lit from the sunlight bleeding in around the closed
curtains on the windows.

Oria was laying next to me, her fur brushing up against the
skin of my back. She had her tail wrapping around my leg as
she continued to sleep. She was making the cute little
mewing sound as she breathed out. It made me smile as I
listed to it, I'm sure if I ever told anyone one about it
she would strangle me.

I could understand why she was tired, we had spent most of
the day before together, in different places, doing the same
thing most everywhere.

Oh well, that was only a small part of the last few days
that have been interesting. To began with we had my sudden
shift into a Fox, it lasted two full days, finally just
going away about lunch time on the thirteenth.

It was quite fun as well. I got to do things that I never
could during my original change. First came a surprise from
Oria, a full grooming. I think I nearly melted, it is almost
it's own kind of bliss. To be groomed by an expert, every
piece of fur on your body being brushed and adjusted. My fur
was almost shining until I lost it.

Ken had also taken the opportunity to prod me for a few
hours, trying to find what had happened to cause the shift.
In the end he said the only explanation that he could give
was ridicules. He took some blood and other samples for
further study, trying to understand what he saw.

I personally think that he his out of his league with this.
True, his training is as an xenomage, but he's not an
expert. I trust him though, he'll know that if he can't do
it on his own he'll get help. He did the same thing when I
was first Cursed, for all the good that it did.

In the end though, the change went away just as fast and as
quickly as it came. One second I had fallen onto my tail,
then next I didn't have one. I was glad I didn't do what
Oria suggest and had gotten some new, smaller, clothing or
else I thing I would have hurt myself.

The funny part was that I had quickly gotten used to walking
on my toes. To the point that when I went back to human I
stumbled around for a few minutes.

The day after that I decided we should go to Oria's world
early. She was eager to get the final things done to make
Rose the Lady, so I just thought we should go. To save my
self the boredom I became Rhea a few days early.

She liked being at the house, it was the place of her birth.
Some times she would curl up in the front entryway and sleep
for hours in the sunlight. She even had a few guys who were
interested in bedding her. Oriana rightly refused and Rhea
didn't want to do it anyway. She preferred her mates to walk
on all fours.

After I turned back Oria pined me down in a corner. She was
going to keep her threat to make sure I don't leave our bed
for the next few days. In that regard she had let herself go
into heat, trusting Rose to work out the details.

So, most of the day had been spent playing around with the
occasional stop to work something out with Rose. Evenly we
had both crashed in Oria's bedroom, but I expected things to
begin again as soon as she woke up.

Moving under the covers I stretched myself out, feeling a
couple of joints in my back pop. I smiled a bit as I wiggled
my toes, it was then I heard someone clear there throat.

Reaching for my glasses I sat up in bed, as I finally got
the world into focus I easily found our visitor.

She, it was very obvious of that, was sitting in a chair in
the corner of the room. She was dressed in the same type of
toga that the Oria's priest's wore. At first I though she
was one, then I noticed the main, and important different.

She had wings, a pair of huge feathered wings pulled over
her shoulders like a cloak. She smiled when she saw the
recognition in my eyes, flexing her wings gently.

It was Thryn, Oriana's god.

"Good morning," she said, crossing one of her legs over the
other. "Sleep well?"

I nodded. "Very well actually."

"That's good," She responded. "If you mind, you would please
wake up Oriana. I would like to talk to you both."

I smiled, and with a nod I turned to look at her, still
asleep under the covers. Unsheathing the tips of my claws I
gently pinched her ear. She whimpered softly in her sleep,
batting at my hand.

"Come on Oria," I side, adding a little more pressure. "Time
to wake up."

She shifted slightly in the bed. "Why?" She asked with a
slight whimper. She was just barely awake.

I bent my head down close to her ear. "Thryn is wanting to
talk to us," I whispered.

There was a second as her mind processed that, then suddenly
her eyes flashed opened. She looked at me and quickly sat up
in bed. It took her a moment to remember to pull up sheet
the to preserver her modesty.

"Sir," she said with a slight stutter. "What do I owe the
pleaser of your visit."

Thryn smiled. "Actually, I came to give you a gift."

She looked slightly startled. "A gift? Why?"

"I've been watching you for years, once Fox came into your
life I could see how your souls were laid so close to each
other." She looked to me. "Your curse actively was a boone.
What originally I had intended to take a complex ceremony
was taken care of by someone else's attack."

Oria frowned a bit, her ears twitching.

Thryn continued, "I just had to wait for the right event at
the right time. I all I had to push a bit, and the rest took
care of it self. Frankly the chances were so low I didn't
expect for it to happen for years, but once it came I had to
take it."

I shook my head. "I don't understand."

"I do," Oria whispered.

Thryn nodded. "I'll be around for a few hours, you can call
on me if you wish to talk to me. I'll be right there." Then
suddenly she was gone.

I turned to look at Oria, she looked pail even through her
fur. "What is it?" I asked.

She slid out of the bed, walking slowly to the bathroom.
"Why don't you go down stairs and get some breakfast, I'll
be there shortly."

"Sure, but what's happened?" I asked, slipping out of the
bed as well.

She gave me a week frown, her ears were drooping. "I'm out
of heat." She said as she entered the bathroom and closed
the door.

I thought about that as I got dressed, trying to parse what
it was that she meant by that. How did she mean 'out of
heat'? Did her heat just come to a stop? If so I could only
think of one way that could happened....

Oh hell.

Walking down stairs into the kitchen I'm sure I looked as
much in shock as Oria did. Sitting down at the big table in
he center of the room I sipped on the local equivalent to
coffee that had been waiting on the counter.

Eventually Rose came into the room. "What's wrong?" she
asked after only looking at me for a second.

I smiled weakly. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is only
one way that Oria could fall out of her heat early?"

She nodded. "Yes, she may get them at some what random times
but they are the normal length. Why are you asking?"

I didn't answer her question, I just looked down at the cup
in my hands.

After a few seconds Rose gave a quick gasp. "Your not saying
she's pregnant?"

"I think so..." I answered.

She shook her head in disbelief. "How is that possible... I
mean just look at you two."

"I know," I answered, pushing the empty cup away, "believe
it or not I think Thryn did it."

She frowned, "Oria's god? Can he do something like that?"

I shrugged. "She was waiting for us when I woke up... said
it was the right things at the right time. It only needed a
little push to help it alone."

She shook her head slowly. "This is unbelievable."

"Believe it," Oria said as she walked into the room, she was
just dressed in her robe, nothing more. "I just took a test.
It confirms it, I'm pregnant."

She said it with no emotion, with a detachment that made me
worry. She was still in shock about this. Hell *I* was still
in shock about this.

Oria sat down at the table, taking my empty cup, looking at
it for a few seconds then set it back down on the table.

Rose saw this, took the cup and went to refill it. She came
back with two more, passing them out to all of us. "Are you
sure this wasn't an accident?" she asked, looking down into
hers.

Oria nodded. "Thryn was right there, he told us that he had
done it. He called it a gift."

"Why?" Rose asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said, looking at the air above
the table. "Would you care to explain?"

"My reasons are hard to explain," Thryn said, pulling out a
chair and sitting down, folding her wings over the back as
she did so. Rose was absolutely stunned, Oria just blinked a
bit. I don't think anything could have phased her right now.

"Could you please?" Oria asked, "If it's not to much
trouble."

She nodded. "Very well. I've always seen how close your and
Fox's souls were, and you made it clear how much you loved
him. I thought it a matter of time until he returned that
love. It was that in mind that I came to the decision to try
and find a way to let the pair of you have children."

"Could you define 'close'?" I asked.

She smiled, flicking her wing tips. "Sense you won't take me
on faith I'll be technical. It amounts to that your DNA is
close in makeup to Oria's species as a whole. Two strands
and almost the same set of base pairs."

I nodded, that made sense, though was surprising. Two
species don't usual get that close in the genetics
department.

"Originally I had planed a four day ceremony to preform on
Fox that would have push him even closer to Oriana. It would
have taken all ten of the priests and probably had a full
chapter of The Book devoted to it. Your curse had the luck
to achieve the same effect I was hoping for, and in fact it
was even better then I could have done."

"So what was the right event at the right time," Oria asked.

"That's a little more complicated. Even with the changes it
would take my hand to have you truly mate. Though that
wasn't enough. I had to wait for the right combination
between the pair of you that was close enough to actually
create a child," she paused, looking at Oria. "I'm mistaken,
there are twins, both male and female."

Oria gasped slightly, finally showing some emotion.

Rose shook her head, seeming to finally come out of her
shock. "Why?" She asked, finding her voice. "What made you
decided they should have children?"

She smiled in return. "That is a long story that would take
far to long to tell. So let that I felt it was best
suffice."

"Because 'you say so' don't seem to be a good reason." Rose
countered.

She nodded. "True, and it's far more complicated then that.
The reasons I have are good, but to explain then I would
have to explain the background that created them to begin
with." She sighed, "believe me, it's at least a days worth
of story telling, maybe two if I go into detail."

Oria nodded. "I understand... I think I should thank you for
this."

"What?" Rose said, "Why in the world would you thank him for
this?"

She smiled, "Because it's the right thing to do... it is a
gift, and a blessing. Because I know what problems I will
face and I think I can handle most of them, with help." She
paused for a few seconds, then turned to Thryn. "So I thank
you for this. I know how much pain will follow but to be a
mother," she smiled a bit wider. "Something I never thought
I would be."

Thryn returned the smile. "You'll find there is more joy and
pain the you will ever expect, but the joy will always out
weigh the pain."

"Yes," Oria said, sipping at her coffee. "Now, if you'll
excuse us we have some things to work on."

She nodded, standing up. "I'll leave you to work on them
then," and vanished just as suddenly as she had arrived.

There was silence around the table for almost a minute
before Rose spoke up. "Oriana, what kind of family do you
think you'll have with just you and Fox?"

I frowned, this sounded like it was going to be nasty.

"I know," Oria answered, "it's not the best but we will make
a go at it."

Oh, that wasn't the response I had expecting. "Um, not to
sound dumb, but why would we not be a good family?"

Oria looked at me for a few seconds before finally seeming
to understand. "You don't know about our families do you?"

I shook my head. "No, sounds like there is considered to be
problems to have unwed parents."

She shook her head. "That's not it at all. Being unmarried
isn't a taboo, the problem is there will only be one
mother."

I raised an eyebrow, that didn't make sense at all.

She understood this and smiled. "Fox, we still follow the
pride family structure. One father and two or more mothers."

"Oh?" I asked dumbly.

She nodded. "Yes, our family have three. Rose and I have
different mothers, that's why we look so different. The
problem is it's not considered healthy to raise children
with just one mother."

"Ah, I see... but I think your forget Naomi."

Oria shook her head, then stopped. "What about Naomi?"

"She's going to be a mother as well," I answered, "More
likely sooner then you. They will be raised together as all
being brother and sisters." Why did that sound familiar?

She thought about this for a few seconds, nodding slowly. "I
never thought about it like that."

"Still," Rose said, "there are more things to address as who
you can adopt as a second mother."

"She's my daughter," I commented.

Rose looked a bit shocked, looking at Oria and mouthing 'Did
you know about this?'

"Fox," Oria said, "I think Rose and I would best deal with
this alone. Maybe you could go for a walk or something, at
least for a bit?"

I nodded, standing up. "All right, I'll be back later then."
I didn't like leaving like this, but Rose and Oria
understood her culture far better then I ever would. Frankly
I didn't think I could do more then get in the way for right
now.

Stopping in a hallway I shook my head. I was going to be a
father, not just an adopted father, but with my own kids.
Crossbreeds too, my life just got a lot interesting.

"Thanks you," I said, looking up at the ceiling.

"Your welcome," Thryn whispered into my ear.

-----

This story is (c) 1998 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints
limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This
story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission
of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.