Jack's Wage Slavery Pt. 01

"What's wrong? What happened? Is FennLann ok?" Jack blurted.

"FennLann is dead to me," she murmured.

Jack's body jolted. "FennLann is DEAD!?!"

"No, I said he was dead to me. It is not the same thing. Well... not exactly the same," she said with a frown.

"What happened?"

"FennLann's father and his councillors were killed when their transport was struck by lightning as they flew through the mountains. The bodies are recovered. The King is dead."

"Long live the Queen?" he said carefully.

"She will be buried with her husband. If she is lucky she has already taken poison."

Jack shuddered at the implication. "Does this mean FennLann is going to be King? Will he be able to change those ancient laws so you can be together?"

SennLann looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "No. He will be King but he called to tell me he will no longer be coming to Altaria. He is to be wed to the daughter of one of his new councillors within the day. He said our future is... gone. He has shunned me."

"Oh SennLann, I am so sorry!"

"He did have a message for you. If my child is born male you are to kill it. There can be no illegitimate children of the King."

"WHAT?!?! I WILL DO NO SUCH THING!"

"If you do not then Phem Kalos and Altaria will go to war until either the King or the child is dead," she said sadly.

"THAT'S INSANE! FennLann would kill his own son?" Jack exclaimed.

"As King, he must and... would. Huhnnn!" SennLann convulsed.

"What? What's happening?"

"The baby is arriving. Too soon," she grunted.

Jack leapt to his feet and opened the patio door. "DIANA! Call for an ambulance NOW!"

The woman jolted awake and looked at him in panic. "Bring me the comm!" he called out then turned back to SennLann. She was slumped back in the chair with her hands on her belly.

Diana stumbled out onto the patio with the comm in her hand. He snatched it away and called for an ambulance and gave directions. "Diana, make sure the front door isn't locked. Let the paramedics in when they get here." She glanced at the Phem Kalos female as fluids gushed from her. "Diana! Go!" She broke free from her panic and headed back inside.

Jack knelt between the spread legs of SennLann. "What do I do?"

"I don't know. I've never had a baby before!" she growled.

"I guess they never gave you any sex education classes in school." Jack growled.

"Phem Kalos females don't go to school."

"Right."

"HHUUUHHNNNN!" she moaned loudly and not knowing what else to do he placed his hands between her legs. Seconds later he was holding a large, wet, gooey mass.

SennLann was panting but looked relieved to have expelled the mass. Jack noticed it was moving gently. He held it closer to her face when she gestured for him to do so. She licked it then bit the edge of the sac and it tore open gushing its contents over her chest.

Jack caught the two small wet bodies before they slipped off of SennLann's chest with the fluids. He braced each with a hand on SennLann's chest.

She looked down in shock. "Two?!?"

Jack smiled. "Congratulations, you have twin... girls. That's a relief!"

SennLann began licking the faces of the babies and they wiggled weakly in protest.

A team of medics burst out onto the patio but stopped before they stepped in the slick fluids on the floor.

"Hold on tight to them. I'm going to lift you." Jack said to SennLann and she wrapped her arms around the babies. He slipped his arms under her and lifted her onto the medic's gurney.

"I'll meet you at the hospital SennLann! I'll be right there." He called out as the medics rushed her out the door. Diana stood by the door looking lost.

Jack wiped his feet as best he could then started for his bedroom. "Diana! Come with me, please."

He pulled off his clothes and stepped into his shower. The woman stood in the bathroom until he gestured for her to get undressed. He then took her hand and led her into the shower with him. They quickly rinsed off and got clean. They dried off and went into the bedroom to get dressed. He realized he had very few casual clothes. He decided he would have to make a quick trip to Earth to do some shopping. Something to do on his time off he supposed.

"I'm so sorry Jack! I completely froze! I was useless to you," she apologized as they took the lift to the ground floor.

"No need to apologize. I yelled instructions at you while you were sleeping. My fault," he replied.

They pressed a button at the concierge desk in the lobby and walked outside to meet the automated taxi that descended to the driveway. Jack helped Diana in then got in as well.

"Hospital please."

"Is this a medical emergency?" a voice from the taxi asked.

"No, but a friend of mine was just rushed to the hospital and needs me to be there as soon as possible." Jack asked.

"Is this Ambassador Danner?" the voice asked.

"Yes," he answered.

"Setting flight mode as priority one. Please sit back."

No sooner were they seated than the taxi leapt into the air and raced to the hospital. Diana squeezed herself against him as she wasn't too keen on flying and this vehicle was being very aggressive. They landed moments later and he thanked the voice as they got out.

They made their way to the reception area and Jack explained that SennLann was there. He was given directions and they set off to the fourth floor. They met his doctor Jinnae, the hospital's Chief Physician, who was thrilled to see them again and even happier to have a Phem Kalos female as a patient though there wasn't much need for doctoring in SennLann's case. Outside of some lethargy which might have been brought on by exhaustion from the labor she seemed to be in good health.

Jinnae pulled Diana in for some tests as Jack went into the room where SennLann was resting. The female was lying back on the bed and there were two small incubator beds next to her, one for each infant. Jack took a look at them first and noticed they were fussing weakly. The monitors were showing erratic readings. It seemed wrong to see them apart so he opened the incubators and carefully lifted one small form and moved it to the other incubator next to its sister. Once they were in contact both settled and rested comfortably. The monitors in the empty incubator were flat lined but the other one showed a distinct improvement.

A nurse entered the room. "What are you doing?"

"They need to be together. Don't separate them." Jack said pointing to the screen.

"The doctor needs both on a monitoring system. That means one per incubator," the nurse insisted but Jack wouldn't budge. She left to find the Chief Physician.

Jack turned back to the babies and they seemed to be sleeping comfortably. He looked over at SennLann and saw she was watching him through the slits of her eyelids. She wasn't looking so good. He moved to her side.

"You'll take good care of my children, won't you." SennLann said to him with a dull voice.

"What's wrong?" Jack was immediately on edge at her tone.

"Promise me."

"WE will take good care of your children." Jack insisted.

"I have no place in this world. I've been cut loose." SennLann's voice was dropping to a whisper.

Jack realized she was giving up because her mate had abandoned her. He was watching her slip away and it terrified him that she could do this. She was willing herself into death!

He remembered seeing FennLann symbolically biting SennLann and when Jack had asked her about it she just shrugged as said she was his. Now he'd tossed her away. To be King of his people. He probably knew this was going to happen! Suddenly Jack was filled with rage and desperation. He pressed his lips tight against her temple and spoke to her in a deep growl.

"SennLann, have you forgotten who you TRULY belong to? Didn't FennLann lose to me in battle? Didn't he offer you over to me? Have you FORGOTTEN YOU'RE MINE?"

Then Jack did something he'd never done to any living being ever in his life. He stretched his jaws as wide as he could and he clamped down on the female's skull. He felt her body jolt and go absolutely still. Not even the slightest movement. Her heart rate, however, increased rapidly.

Then she began to purr.

He heard a gasp and the squeak of a stifled scream coming from the doorway. He held up his hand to stop them from moving and gently disengaged his teeth from the Phem Kalos. He remembered he had to lick her where his teeth had been so he did that, causing a surge in her purring, then he pulled back. Bright gold eyes locked in his and her purring got much louder.

"WE will take care of OUR babies. IS. THAT. UNDERSTOOD?" he growled deeply at her.

She nodded rapidly and her body was trembling with joy.

"Rest. I have to speak with the doctor and the nurse. I'll find out when I can take you home."

He walked over to the two Altarians standing in the doorway frozen in shock. He gestured for them to move out into the hall and they quickly did. When the door closed he looked at them in exasperation.

"Would you two please stop looking like I'm going to eat you? That's ridiculous!" he complained.

Jinnae got her voice back first. "You... ah... bit the Phem Kalos... on her face!"

"That wasn't a bite. That was a hold. I held her face in my teeth. Trust me, it's a much different thing. Especially for the Phem Kalos. Her mate just abandoned her. She'd given up. I might have lost her. I had to remind her that she belongs to me... wait... that came out wrong."

The doctor's eyes lit up with excitement. "The lethargy! She wasn't exhausted! She'd lost the will to live but you saved her! Fascinating!"

The nurse was still eying him cautiously. "What about the incubators?"

"The twins were distressed by being separated. I don't know why but I know that when I put them back together they relaxed and the distress went away. If you can have two monitors on one incubator that would be best but don't separate them." He turned to Jinnae. "When can I take them home?"

"Tomorrow morning would be best," Jinnae said. "I want to confirm the children have completed their gestation period. The mother indicated they were early."

He nodded to the two then entered SennLann's room again. Bright gold eyes tracked him across the room until he stood beside the bed.

"The doctor is going to release you and the children in the morning. I will pick you up then."

She nodded staring up at him with a slight smile on her lips.

"You seemed surprised to have twins. Are they uncommon?" he asked.

"I have never heard of twins being born to the Phem Kalos. We have single births only." She looked up at him with a nervous expression.

"Well, they're beautiful, like their mother. The doctor is just going to run some scans to make sure they have developed fully since you mentioned they are early." He looked at her. "How early were they?"

"A full day!"

"A day. Just one. On a gestation period of a little over six months." He stared at SennLann with exasperation. "I think they will be fine."

"What are their names?" SennLann sat up and looked at him eagerly. His eyebrows went up.

"Uh, I wasn't expecting to have to come up with names for them," he said hesitantly.

"You have claimed them, so you must name them," she insisted. More uneasiness for Jack.

"The Phem Kalos seem to have very structured names, SennLann du Kess for instance. I don't know how this structure works so picking a name that follows-"

"Do not use Phem Kalos names for the children. They are not from Phem Kalos. They are the first of us to be born on another planet! They deserve something new!"

Jack grinned. "Ok. I will think on it tonight and have something by tomorrow." He dipped his face down and kissed SennLann. She purred as he pulled back. "You get some sleep and I will see you in the morning."

"I must feed the babies before I sleep. Could you bring them to me?" she smiled up at him.

He nodded and lifted one and held it up to his face. It really did have the sweetest face. He set the child down on SennLann's chest and went back for the other. He thought this one's face was slightly more heart shaped than her sister's. He had something to work with in identifying them with new names. He set the child on the other side of SennLann and both babies began feeding.

It took around fifteen minutes for them to get their fill and SennLann was fading so Jack carried the twins back to the incubator and left the three beauties sleeping. He left and found Diana talking with the Chief Physician.

"Ah, Jack! I was just telling Diana that her baby is doing very well. Less than three months to go!" Jinnae said.

"That's wonderful!" Jack said with a wide grin. He walked over and gave Diana a hug and kiss and he felt the woman relax in his arms. He pulled back to give her a questioning look but she just shrugged it off with a smile. He turned back to the doctor. "SennLann told me the children were born a day early."

"A day? That's it?"

"Yup, so..."

"I'll still check but that shouldn't have much of an impact on their development," Jinnae said with a frown.

Jack nodded with a smile. "Can I take this one home now?" he said with his arm around Diana's shoulders. The doctor nodded and smiled in return. She set off to look in on her three new patients.

As Jack walked Diana back down to the lobby he looked her in the eye. "What was that before?"

"What was what?" she replied.

"You were all tense when I hugged you."

She blushed and looked away. "It was nothing."

"No. Talk to me." He stopped in the hall and took her hands in his.

She hesitated then looked down as she spoke. "The doctor told me how you saved SennLann. How you told her she belonged to you."

He shifted from foot to foot in his embarrassment. "It was a Phem Kalos thing. I saw FennLann doing it with her and saw how it seemed to comfort her. She was slipping away. I was terrified she was going to die. I didn't want to lose her.

"Sometimes... sometimes I need to be bitten too." Diana said meekly.

Jack glanced at the nurse who overheard Diana's comment as she passed by and saw the woman was looking at him with wide nervous eyes.

"It's just a figure of speech!" he said to her and the female rushed away leaving behind the scent of her spicy musk.

"Let's go home before I'm accused of being a serial biter!" he moaned.

Chapter 3

Jack managed to go for a good and uneventful run the next morning though he realized his runners were shot from the previous days dunking in the canal.

When he got back Diana joined him in the shower and he took her hard and fast from behind pressing her against the wall. She was particularly energetic that morning. He playfully bit her on the shoulder with a growl afterwards and for the rest of the morning she was walking around with a content, satisfied smile on her face. He could only shake his head at her behavior. He went to the hospital and brought SennLann home with the girls.

Queen Elissa and Karrel visited in the afternoon for an informal naming ceremony. He asked for their patience as he arranged a call to FennLann. Once connected he brought up the video on his display in the living room. Jack had SennLann wait in the bedroom doorway out of the camera's range.

"Hello Jack Danner! Greetings Queen Elissa and Karrel, Diana Haven. To what do I owe this honor?"

Jack spoke first. "First off we'd like to give you our condolences for the loss of your father." FennLann smiled and nodded so he wasn't in too much pain from that.

"Second, I suppose a congratulations is in order. I understand you're now the King of Phem Kalos." A broader smile and a nod from FennLann again. "Also a congratulations on your wedding." FennLann's face broke into a full grin on this one and Jack had to grit his teeth to keep the smile on his face.

"It's been an eventful week for you." Jack said calmly.

"Indeed it has!" FennLann smiled.

"SennLann gave me your message yesterday."

FennLann's smile froze. He carefully adjusted his facial muscles into something resembling a neutral expression. "Was it mal-"

"Female."

Jack saw the relief sweep through the frame of the Phem Kalos ruler. "good... good..." he murmured to himself and looked back at the screen.

"You shed yourself of all responsibility for SennLann yesterday. You... shunned her." Jack said with a carefully controlled voice.

FennLann must have picked up something as his eyes showed wariness. "It is the Phem Kalos way."

"You knew what this would do to her-"

"IT IS THE PHEM KALOS WAY!"

"Did you forget that you lost her in combat to me? Did you forget this?" Jack asked as he lifted the amulet FennLann had awarded him from inside his shirt.

FennLann's mouth worked but he couldn't speak. He gave himself a shake. "But I was with her in your home! You made no objection! Did this not mean you rejected her?"

"NO! I didn't object because you made her happy and what I wanted for SennLann was to be happy! She was no longer yours yet you acted like she was. Again, this made her happy. What you did yesterday voided ANY claim you have on her or her offspring."

He looked offended. "Of course it does. That was its purpose. As I said it is the Phem Kalos way." FennLann was getting control of himself back. "I am sorry for your loss as well."

"Hold that thought." Jack gestured for SennLann to enter the room and to stand next to him, holding the twins.

If FennLann's eyes could have popped completely out of his head in surprise they would have. Not only was SennLann still alive but she was holding... two children. "Two?" he squeaked.

"Twins. My twins. May I present Adina and Zaina Danner, citizens of Altaria." He'd have to confirm that last part with the Queen but it had just come to him and it felt right. SennLann was purring loudly and FennLann must have heard this. He looked shaken.

"There haven't been Phem Kalos twins since the beginnings of our recorded history. This means-" he began.

"Checkmate."

FennLann jolted and looked at Jack, puzzled at first, then it sunk in. Jack had introduced him to the Earth game Chess and he'd become very frustrated at not being able to master it. Quite frankly, he sucked at it and much preferred Arm Wrestling. In this meeting he was King and he was facing a Queen and her Knight. He'd already admitted he'd sacrificed his pawn. There was nothing for him to do.

"Well played Jack." He paused to get control over himself. "Much happiness to you... and your family. Queen Elissa, Karrel, Diana Haven." The line disconnected.

Jack turned to his guests sitting on the couch.

"Next time you'll inform me BEFORE you potentially drag us into a war!" Queen Elissa barked at him.

"Mother, there was no way FennLann would have gone to war. Jack was right when he said Checkmate." Karrel said with admiration in her voice. Unlike FennLann, Karrel took to Chess immediately. She also cleaned Jack's clock each time they played. Truth be told he didn't much care for the game either.

"My apologies Queen Elissa but I needed to ensure he wouldn't pull any stupid moves to get control of the twins. As he confirmed, they are beyond rare and likely highly valued. Considering how poorly the Phem Kalos treat their women I had no idea what that would have meant for them. By formally acknowledging he had no claim to them in front of you I took that threat from the table." Jack said and bowed respectfully to her.

"Adina and Zaina Danner. Why does only one of them have your last name?" Karrel asked.

"No, they both have Danner as a last name. It's just a less awkward way to say it. Less repetition. Adina Danner and Zaina Danner." Jack explained. "Can they get Altarian citizenship?" Jack asked the Queen.

"Unless the children were born within an embassy's walls, within its sovereign territory, Altarian citizenship is automatically granted," she answered. "Where were they born?"