Chapter 14

The phone rang. Sunny turned quickly thinking maybe Snow was calling from the office and he might be able to get off early after all. She grabbed her purse and fished around as the ringing repeated. Finally, she had it and recognized the picture of Pet on the screen.

"Hi, Pet, how are you…" Sunny answered in her usual pleasant upbeat tone.

"Hi Sunny, I'm fine…" Pet respond automatically.

"So, what are you up to on this beautiful Saturday morning?" Sunny continued, being pleasantly surprised by Pet's call. Thinking with Snow probably gone for the day maybe they could get together, maybe a little shopping, some girl time.

"Ah, I need to tell you something…" Pet voice was now apprehensive.

Sunny picked up on the change immediately. "Is there something wrong?"

"Well…" there was a short pause, then Pet blurted out the whole story of her and Gen and going to see Sings to explain.

Sunny hesitated, remembering her conversation with Sings at the diner. She would not lie, but she didn't think she should offer the personal information that Sings had told her. Besides, the girl might not return, the whole thing could come to nothing. So, she responded in a typically soul fashion. "I'm happy for you and Gen. It's always wonderful when you find the right partner. I'm sure Sings is happy for the two of you."

"I hope so …, actually other than the initial surprise, he seemed ok with it, but I don't know … he just seemed, I don't know different, nervous … I was just thinking that maybe you could check with him to be sure he's ok. You guys are best friends and maybe he could use someone to talk to… I don't … I…" Pet's worried words trailed off

"Certainly, I'll do that…" Sunny respond, "Maybe I'll make up my special Mac and Cheese and surprise him for lunch."

"That would be great! I'm sure he'd appreciate it." Pet replied with relief in her voice. "He loves your Mac and Cheese!"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sam was stunned for a second. He looked down into the steel blue eyes that returned his look warily. The first thought he had was it was going to be another difficult conversation. He feared she was going to be shocked by the reality. In the few seconds of hesitation his mind flashed over the short amount of time he had spent with Sarah. The entire experience had been more wildly disturbing and but also more wildly exciting, than all his other lives on all the other worlds combined. He was very apprehensive. He knew it was a subject that needed to be discussed, something to be explained. Actually, it should be easier, a simple explanation of his species. But, still he sucked in a nervous breath and started.

Sarah watched Sam's eyes for the few seconds after she asked the question. She still felt an odd embarrassed apprehension. It was almost like asking someone to explain sex. A brief memory of an early teen experience crossed her mind. She remembered the sharing of random tidbits of general half truths between giggly girl friends. However, this time it was totally difference. Not because it was a guy and they were adults already into some kind of a relationship. No, it was the idea it was a total unknown to her. She hadn't a clue as to what he would say, would describe. She subconsciously chewed at her lower lip nervously.

"Well, the process is much simpler that human reproduction. We ar" Sam stopped suddenly, thinking what does she know about Souls? She probably has never seen us outside a host body. "Ah, Sarah, I don't know what you know about us, ah, physically…" he paused and looked at her carefully.

"I've never seen a … ah, Soul, ah your species, ah, outside?" Sarah stated anxiously. "But, you must be small? To fit inside…"

"Yes, we are about three inches long, about an inch wide, and about a quarter of an inch thick." Sam explained. "We have a thousand, ah; connections or maybe they'd look like antennae to you.

"Do you have a head? A body?"

"No, not in the way you think of it. We need a host body to feel, to sense, to interact with the external environment of whatever host world we live on. Without a host, we can't live, we can't survive." Sam continued to look into a pair of steel blue eyes that got bigger and bigger as he continued.

"Ok, so ah, if you're inside a host, ah, how do you get together to, you know, whatever you do to, ah, have babies?" Sarah was confused. How could it be simpler if they're inside another thing? Being?

Sam could see this was just getting her confused and decided to cut to the chase. "Do you understand the principal of asexual reproduction?"

Sarah's jaw dropped. Quickly, high school biology class was front and center in her memories. She was glad she had paid attention, somewhat. Asexual reproduction was for single celled things like amebas? She thought… Huh? "Ah, yeah, a single celled animal that reproduces by just splitting into two … so how does that work for you?" She asked tentatively.

"Close, we really don't have a cell structure like creatures on this planet, but we reproduce by splitting into more individuals." Sam explained carefully.

"So, how many can you spit into?"

Well, I'm not a mother, so I can't reproduce. A mother can split into about a million new individuals."

Sarah was stunned by this bit of information. "Sooo, Pet or ah, Sunny could become a million more of you?" She asked stunned by the thought.

"Ah, no, they aren't mothers either…"

"But they're female?"

"Well, no, we are all the same, well, from a Soul reproduction viewpoint. Only about one in ten thousand of us can be a mother, have the potential to reproduce. It doesn't matter which sex our host body is, we can function just as well in either gender. I could be in Sunny's host or Pet's and either of them could be in mine and we would adapt equally well." Sam suddenly shut his mouth as he saw a look of horror appear on Sarah's face. He had to explain quickly. "Sarah, please, try to understand, I'm in a male human body. I have adapted to this male body. I have in many ways become a male human. I don't have female human experiences. I'm different in that way from Pet and Sunny. Please understand… When I told you I had feeling for you, emotional, physical feeling for you, I was describing the feelings of this male human body for you and your female human body. The partnering feelings were both my body and me. As Souls we partner for lifelong companionship, there is no reproduction aspect to the need or feeling. " Sam clung desperately to Sarah's hands. Hoping she was hearing his explanation, his plea for her understanding, he stared into her shocked eyes.

Again, Sarah had an urge to run. A wild irrational urge to get away from the whole crazy, crazy, whatever he was… She hesitated. Her logical mind fought through the emotional mishmash of fear, uncertainty, and moralistic philosophical concern to arrive at one overriding epiphany. Through all their talk, their grueling wrangle over their perceptions of each other, the intelligence in front of her cared about her, for her and now was pleading for her understanding. She looked into his eyes and saw the same creature that had saved her life, more than once. He had held her with great tenderness when she needed it. She considered all that he had said. Now a difference notion bubbled to the surface of her mind to be weighted. Her eyes suddenly dropped from his face and moved down. Over the t-shirt with the red hog mascot that covered strong masculine chest muscles her fingers remembered. Over the words, Arkansas Razorbacks, which covered the very male six-pack of stomach muscles her fingers had explored. Lower still to an area that her body was interested in; more interested than she really wanted to acknowledge at this moment. She quickly brought her eyes back up to his and her mind back to the matter at hand while trying to ignore a very warm physical reaction to her few seconds of indulgence.

Sam watched Sarah intently, waiting for a reaction; hoping for her at least to remain calm. Maybe ask some questions that he could answer to clarify… anything but blank silence. As he saw her eyes look down slowly, he was concerned. He was afraid she was turning off. Not seeing. He didn't know what he should say … do. Suddenly his host memories offered a totally difference explanation of her peculiar slow survey of him. He was shocked and surprised by the thought. For a second he considered the possibility, the hope. Again, he finally dismissed it as … well maybe not inappropriate human thought, but, at this moment, more likely wishfully naïve human male thought. "Ahh, are you, ah, do you have questions? Can I explain anything … more?" an almost desperate tone was evident in his question.

Sarah looked into the pleading look in his eyes, the anxious tone to his fumbling question. She deliberated her next move as she judged and weighted all he had said in the last hours, all he had said and done in the days she had known him. In the few seconds of deep contemplation, her feelings, her physical and emotional needs for him, the human male body and the Soul intelligence inside, out weighted all the details they had talked about. In her mind the scale of judgment tilted one way. The corners of her lips curled slowly up as she moved toward him.

Sam sat quietly waiting, staring into her eyes. He swore he could almost see her brain working to digest and analyze the information she'd been overwhelmed with. Huh, a confusion of hope and fear suddenly overcame him as she moved toward him. She climbed back on to his lap facing him in the same position as before as a soft smile grew on her face. The joy that engulfed him was overpowering. He could only hope she had made a decision that all the unsettling details they had talked about could be worked on, overcome. Her feelings for him were strong enough. She didn't run, she didn't move away. She was back in his arms. He held her tight, stroking her back again. He felt her fingers on his neck, slow soft tentative strokes on his…

She had her arms around his neck as she settled on to his lap, into his arms. In an instant, she knew what would tell him of her decision, more than words could ever say. She tentatively, but purposely moved her fingers to his insertion scar. She had avoided it before, now she softly moved her fingers gently over it, around it, feeling the very slight differences in the feel of it. She leaned into him, her head moved beside his head, then continued around toward the back of his neck, as close as she needed for her lips to reach. She kissed … her hero.