“Just because I don’t have any kids means I would be bad with them!?”
“No. It’s just . . . unexpected,” Angelica conceded.
“Out of the kitchen, you all. I have lunch to make.”
They filed out, except for Cassandra.
“What? Something else?” he asked.
She gave him a sly grin, then left.
“What was that for!?”
Did that mean he was a ‘target’ for her now?
* * *
There was a knock at the front door.
Alisa went down the stairs to the landing, and answered it. “Yes?”
She saw a woman at the door. “Oh my. Hello, dear. Is Kenaeth here? I don’t want to intrude if he has company.”
Ken overhead them. “Misses Ling? Come on in.”
She and Alisa walked up the stairs and he offered her a section of the sofa.
“You haven’t been by in about a week. I was getting worried.”
“As you can see, I have guests. The young lady you just met is Alisa Maestral. She’s from the planet Kodominé.”
“Oh, you’re one of the visitors from out there that I heard about.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Alisa replied.
“And there are more?” Misses Ling said, looking around.
“I’ll see where the rest of them are,” Ken offered.
When they were all in the living room, Misses Ling could only smile. “My, my. Kenaeth, you’ve done pretty well for yourself.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I thought harems were outdated.”
“Misses Ling! Please!”
She laughed.
“So, Misses Ling,” Angelica asked.
“Yes, dear?”
Angelica glanced among the other girls. “Tell us some things about Ken.”
Ken went white. “Y-You wouldn’t . . . !”
Misses Ling shot him a sideways glance. “Kenaeth, go make tea.”
His shoulders slumped in defeat. “Yes, ma’am.” He walked into the kitchen.
“Whoa,” Natalia remarked. “You’re certainly a persuasive person. What’s your secret?”
“A proper upbringing, and acting ladylike.”
“So, what are you going to tell us about Ken?” Cassandra asked.
“I’ll try not to say anything embarrassing. I take care of Kenaeth, and he takes care of me. I live alone, just like he does. My husband, God rest his gentle soul, passed away around the same time that Kenaeth’s parents were in that tragic car accident. His parents and my family were on a minimum of sociable terms, but Kenaeth was different. He was the one that came by to mow the lawn and do some gardening outside. Also, who do you think taught him how to cook?”
“It is good food,” Cassandra remarked.
“Why, thank you.”
Ken brought back in a tea set on a platter for everyone, and went back into the kitchen.
“Honestly, he was a little lost after his parents passed on, and his sister left. I knew he was self-reliant, but with nothing to work toward, he was wandering aimlessly. I wish fate would have been a little more kind to him, but it seems it has a way of working itself out.”
Misses Ling picked up her teacup, and noticed that it wasn’t tea.
“Kenaeth, what happened to the tea?”
“I don’t have any left. I’m not a tea drinker, so I didn’t stock up. I’m sorry it’s just coffee.”
“You drink coffee far too much. It’s no wonder you’re high-strung.”
“I’m not high-strung.”
“High-strung,” Natalia said.
“Yes,” Alisa agreed.
“No doubts here,” Cassandra concurred.
“I agree,” Angelica nodded.
“High-strung like a highly strung string!” Katrina chirped.
“Knock it off, all five of you,” Ken moaned. He looked at Katrina, “aren’t you supposed to be outside with Stacey?”
“She went in to have lunch, so I’ll go back out when she’s done.”
Ken went back into the kitchen to sulk.
“I hope you ladies will be a positive influence on him,” Misses Ling said.
“I heard that!” Ken said from the kitchen.
She giggled.
“It’s supposed to be the other way around!” Ken continued.
She ignored him and went on. “Since you ladies will probably be around him more than I will, take good care of him, all right? He’s rough around the edges, but he’s got a good heart.”
“Please stop embarrassing me . . .” Ken said, peeking out of the kitchen.
“Okay, Kenaeth. I still need my lawn mowed.”
“I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow. And, ladies? Come and see me any time you have any questions. I may not be your mother, but I’ve been around a long time, and know secrets that only women know.” She turned and smiled at Ken.
Ken rolled his eyes.
“I guess I should be going now.” She stood up. “Thank you for the coffee, Kenaeth.”
“Any . . . time . . .”
“I’ll show myself out.” She went down the stairs. They could hear the door open, then close behind her.
Ken’s tenants looked at him, and collectively gave an “Awww . . .”
“W-What?”
“She acts like she’s your mother,” Angelica said. “That’s sweet.”
“What do you expect? We’ve been helping each other out for the last few years. She’s been a big help. She even cuts my hair when I need it.”
“So, she is your mother.”
“I guess, in a unique way, she is.”
* * *
There was yet another knock at the back door.
Ken was making more coffee. He was amazed at the number of visitors he was getting that same day. Normally, he might get two guests a week. He opened the door.
“Hey, Ken!” a black gentleman said. He had his hair cut short, and dressed in jeans and a green button-up shirt.
“Stan? Haven’t seen you in a while. Where the heck have you been?”
“I was overseas doing some contract work.”
“Come on in. Coffee?”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Ken served him a cup, and they stood in the kitchen, drinking.
“What was your contract work about?”
“It was a construction project on some buildings in eastern Europe.”
“I heard that area is really doing well after finding a cache of . . . what was that material? Yvonite?”
Shortly after the otherworlders appeared, Yvonite—a new class of metal—was found in various corners of the planet, but the largest cache was in eastern Europe. It was an incredibly strong material, five times as strong as titanium but just as light, and had energy conductive and heat retaining properties. Ken had heard rumors it was a common metal found on many planets across the universe, and was used in the construction of spaceships.
“Yep. I was paid a pretty penny.”
Stan saw something that looked like a fashion doll with wings fly into the kitchen, pick up a tangerine from a bowl on the counter near Ken, then fly out.
Stan went silent. He didn’t believe he saw what he just saw. “Ken, did you see that?”
“See? See what?” Ken glanced around.
“Oh, um . . . nothing. Anyway, the women there are downright gorgeous. I had to resist the urge to settle down right then and there.”
He saw the ‘doll’ fly in and pick up a strawberry. Then she flew out.
Stan stopped again, and rubbed his eyes.
“Something wrong?”
“I . . . I don’t . . . know . . .”
“Maybe you’re still jet lagged?”
“Could be. I keep seeing—”
The doll flew into the kitchen and grabbed another tangerine.
“—THAT!” he
screamed, pointing to the doll.
“What?” Ken turned.
“What!? What!? Did I do something wrong!?” Katrina, the doll, said panicking, just as she dropped the tangerine on the counter.
“What . . . what is that!?” Stan shouted, still pointing.
“This is Katrina.”
“Katrina!? Then I’m not imaging seeing a small girl fly in here, pick up fruit, then fly out!?”
“Well, she does love fruit.”
“That’s not the point!”
“Oh, that’s right. You’ve been out of the country. I’m part of an exchange program, and otherworlders are staying at my house.”
“Aliens are living here?”
“Yeah.”
“Hello!” Katrina waved.
“Is she real?”
“Of course I’m real!” She picked up her tangerine and flew into the living room.
“Is she the only one?”
“No. There are four more.”
“You’ve . . . been busy. When did this happen!?”
“While you were overseas.”
“Naturally. But to have five of those fruit-loving butterfly girls must be . . . a handful?”
Ken shook his head. “She’s the only one of that size. The other four are . . . well, two are at college, one is due to wake up in a little while, and the other is out.”
They heard someone coming up the stairs. They looked out of the kitchen, and there was Angelica – in sleepwear that left little to the imagination.
Boing.
Ken face-palmed. “Angelica, we have a guest. Couldn’t you wear something a little less . . . I don’t know . . . scandalous?”
“Sorry, but my body temperature goes up when I’m sleeping.”
Boing.
“Is that a Falldinian trait?”
“Yes.”
Stan was just standing there with his mouth open, and a stupid expression on his face.
“Sh-She’s an angel!”
“No,” Ken shook his head.
“But the wings . . . and the hair!”
“What does having hair like hers have to do with being an angel? Besides, angels are genderless, aren’t they?”
“Okay then, how do you know this person is female?”
Silence.
“I’d rather not talk about it.”
Stan’s eyes went wide. “You . . . dog.”
More sounds from downstairs. Alisa and Cassandra came up the stairs.
“Huh? Why are you two home so early?”
Cassandra grimaced. “A sewer line broke right next to the campus. The smell was everywhere. They sent just about everyone home.” Cassandra noticed the man in the kitchen with Ken. “Friend of yours?”
“A high school friend of mine.”
Stan nodded. “Stan Banks. I live down the street and around the corner.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said.
“Like . . . wise.” Stan then chuckled to himself, and glanced at Ken. “It’s like you’ve got a harem going on here.”
“That joke was already done today.”
And the questions came one after another. The tenants mainly wanted to know what Ken was like in high school.
“A normal student, if moody. Sometimes a little too serious. People stayed away from him during his last year of high school.”
“Why was that?” Katrina asked.
“Near the end of our junior year, he was in a classroom before class. Some students were—”
Ken grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar, and in a very clear, very precise voice, ordered: “Knock it off. Right now.”
“Easy there. See what I mean? Moody.”
Ken let him go.
“Anyway, an ‘event’ happened, and people kept their distance. He helped me out, so I stuck with him.”
“Enough.”
“Like I said,” Stan said, nodding his head to his tenants. He took a drink of coffee and went on. “How did you get wrapped up in this, Ken?”
“Someone knocked on my door a while ago. I filled out some paperwork and then they showed up.”
“That’s it?”
“I’m abbreviating the process. I’m sure there was a lot going on behind the scenes.”
“How does your sister figure in to all of this?”
Ken’s eyes narrowed. “She doesn’t.”
“Come again?”
“She doesn’t live here anymore. Even if she did come back, there’s no room for her here.”
“And where did she go?”
“I don’t know. I gave her money for her share of the house, and she went on a vacation through Europe.”
“She’s still there?”
“For all I know.”
Stan shrugged. “Anyway, Ken, it’s certainly changed around here. I’ll have to start coming around more often. But truthfully, are you really going to be all right with all this estrogen?”
“Unfortunately, I think I’m growing ovaries as we speak.”
Ken was beaned with a throw pillow.
* * *
A few hours later, there was a knock on the back door. Ken was making dinner, heard the knock, and opened the door.
Stacey and Katrina were there, looking rather bushed.
“Hi, Kenny!”
“Come in, you two. How’d the search go?”
“No praying mantises or foxes. But we found three four-leaf clovers!”
She showed them to Ken.
“Wow. You must be the luckiest girl alive. Say, wait here a moment.” Ken went to a drawer behind him and started going through papers. “I thought I saw them here a few days ago. Oh, here they are.” He pulled out a handful of plastic cards.
“What are those?”
“Lamination cards. This way, you can turn them into bookmarks.”
Ken peeled back one-half of one of the cards, and Stacey handed him a clover. He put it on one side of the card, and sealed it back up. “It’s not as good as a real lamination machine, but it’ll work.”
“That’s neat! Make these two!”
Ken repeated the process two more times, and Stacey had three clover cards.
She handed one to Katrina. “Here, Katrina!”
“Are you sure? They’re yours. I didn’t find one.”
“You’re my friend, Katrina, so I want you to have one.”
“Th-Thank you . . .”
“And one for you, Kenny.”
“Why, thank you, Stacey. I’ll put it right here on the refrigerator.” He used a magnet to stick it to the front door of the refrigerator.
“Well, I gotta get home for dinner. Mom will get mad if I’m late.”
“Then get home.”
“Bye, Kenny.” She gave him a hug. “Bye, Katrina! We’ll play again sometime soon.”
“O-Okay.”
Stacey left.
“Isn’t it nice you made a friend?”
“She was really nice.”
“So what’s with the long face?”
“I’m just . . . a little confused.”
“About what?”
“I thought you became lucky after finding a four-leaf clover, not before finding it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I made a friend today. That’s lucky, right?”
Ken smiled and nodded. “That it is. You’ve been out all day. Go get yourself a bath before dinner.
“Okay.”
“Put your card with your other stuff on the cabinet. Don’t get it wet.”
She flew out of the kitchen with the card in her hands.
Ken smiled to himself. One of his tenants had made a good little friend.
He noticed Cassandra peeking around the corner, wearing the same sly grin she had on earlier.
“Could you stop that? It’s creeping me out.”
She frowned. “Spoilsport.”
* * *
It w
as early morning, and Ken opened up the coffee can and found nothing inside.
He sighed. He used to remember when a can of coffee would last him quite a while. The guests helped him go through it quickly, which he hadn’t counted on.
“Sheesh,” he muttered. “Time to get more. I thought I bought more than enough. Oh, well.”
“You know, talking to yourself is a sure sign of mental collapse,” a male voice said.
Silver was standing at the entrance of the kitchen.
Ken stood up. “No, it’s when you start answering yourself, you have problems. Speaking of which, when did you get here?”
“Long enough to see you talking to yourself. I was trying to come up with some other reaction, but couldn’t.”
Ken ignored Silver’s explanation. “I have to pick up a couple of items at the grocery store anyway, so it’s just as well.”
“Hmmm,” Silver murmured.
“What? Do you need something, too?”
“Take Cassandra with you.”
The request took him by surprise. Cassandra? Why would he need to take her?
“Any particular reason?” Ken asked, putting the coffee can in the sink to wash out and reuse later.
“I wish I could tell you.”
“Nice way to avoid the particulars.”
* * *
“So, why am I going with you again?” Cassandra asked from the passenger’s seat.
Ken shrugged. “I’d like to know that, too. Silver said it was a good idea.”
She started grinding her teeth when she heard his name.
“Are you still mad about that birthmark thing?”
“If he makes any more smart comments like that again, I’ll poke him full of holes.”
“Oh, get over it. Angelica had no problem with hers.”
“That’s because she has no sense of modesty!”
“Calm down, Cassandra,” Katrina said from Ken’s head.
Cassandra sulked.
“Anyway, Cassandra, have you been to the supermarket here before?”
“No.”
“Well, since we’ll be starting yours and Angelica’s driving lessons next week, one of you two can start doing these supermarket runs.”
They pulled into the parking lot, and grabbed a lonely cart that was sitting in an adjacent space.
Inside, Ken knew where he was going, and just told Cassandra to wander around. He and Katrina would find her later.
Ken and Katrina picked out coffee, and found some canned goods that were on sale.
They found everything they needed, except for Cassandra.
“Where is she?” Katrina wondered.
“There’s only one place I can think of.”
* * *
Cassandra stared at it. It was a massive collection.
What could be possibly greater than it? It was a treasure trove, without a doubt. Cassandra, in her youth, dreamed of being a treasure hunter, exploring old ruins and discovering valuables thought lost to her planet. But nothing she ever dreamed about compared to what she had just discovered. Round, packaged valuables, worth their weight in gold—