The Ballad of Decker Crane Ch. 13 - END

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It was finally done and the houses were built, the women fussing and getting cloth to make curtains so he couldn't see through the windows properly, Decker always shoving them back. They could finally get some fucking peace around here. Things settled back into how they should be, and when spring came around again, Bane became a father.

Decker saw them first, calling all the others. They rode out in a big group, the girls on various horses in front of adults. Bryn came to him and he lifted her up. She was getting heavier. The land around Briken Ranch was just beginning to recover, the air and soil getting cleaned and terraformers running all the time.

They all gathered at the idium panel, eleven of them, minus Grace and Tag, who were still on their honeymoon. Tag was finally getting some Pedigean pussy and Decker was pleased for him. The female briken was there. She ignored them, Persya humming not far.

It wasn't one baby briken the mother had. It was a shitload of baby brikens. There must be thirty of the fuckers, little baby Banes. He was going to need more land. Decker turned his head, seeing Bane silhouetted on the horizon. They were both of them in the exact same situation, more to protect than they'd ever thought to have.

Decker had already gone and visited the big briken. Bane looked healthy and pleased and was still working on the idium panel, which kept repairing itself. Decker kept an eye on it. They greeted each other like they did. Bane screamed, his tail held high, rushing down the slope toward him and reaching the panel, crashing into it with his horns, his great legs working. The panel shuddered and yielded, the briken's small red eyes maniacal.

"You big fucker," Decker said to him, sitting down, waiting for a lull. When it came, he spoke, giving the briken news. "I got married. I couldn't avoid it. A bunch of us did. The women didn't have last names on account of being Pedigean whores and orphans--not to mention witches who seduced us with their sirens' ways--so she's Persya Crane, my wife. And then there's Bryn Crane."

The great beast's sides were heaving, slobbered and frothed. Decker watched as his teeth clacked on the idium panel, his greenish gums rubbing by Decker's head, the animal trying to bite through, his nose scrunching. Decker made a face, the briken looking silly.

"Then there are Dawine Cree and Chione Hollis and Grace Everet," Decker went on, shaking his head. "Adya Guart. I'm going to need more land."

Bane's scaly tongue dragged across the panel and the briken grunted, a series of them. He roared, ending in a crackling threat, beating his head against the barrier.

Decker waited for another lull. "I sure hope our first child is a boy," he said. "I told Persya, but I suppose a girl would be all right." His mind skittered away from it a little, but it was coming for him eventually. A man could only hold out so long before he was overtaken by events.

Bane tried something new, getting his shoulder in there and pushing, his back legs digging deep furrows. Decker turned and watched with interest. He swore the idium panel shuddered a little. Yes, he thought it might have shifted.

They had a nice talk.

To Decker's everlasting astonishment, the baby brikens were adorable, tiny and all wobbly and their heads toppling, too big for their scrawny little necks. One of them made a weak noise, high, like a toy, and bumped its nose into the panel, sitting down.

Decker pulled back sharply as Bryn, who he was carrying at that moment, squealed right in his ear, one of those high-pitched piercing screams.

"Can I keep one?" she shrieked. "I'll take care of it. Please, Decker? Please?"

"Don't do that, girl," he complained. "You'll deafen me."

"Please, Decker, please, please? Look at them. They're so cute."

"No."

"They are awfully sweet," Persya said, her head tilting.

"Not a fucking chance," Decker said, alarmed. "Nobody sing right now, either."

END