Jellia hurried in and hurried upstairs. Of all things! Mother had started her contractions at The Oasis, had left Garden Party, came home, stayed alone for hours, and just now called everyone to the birth party. Good grief! Not exactly code and custom.
Except, of course, Mother being Mother, she had gotten around that by not even calling the midwife until late. Because code and custom said you had to let the birth party know once the midwife said you were in labor.
“Hello, Mother,” Jellia said, coming into the bedroom. There were only four kesh here so far! “Do you need me to rub your back?”
“No, Darling, this one is coming easily.”
Just then she bent over and moaned, giving a bit of a lie to the word ‘easy’, but then she was back to walking around. Kesh after kesh came in over the next few minutes until Mother said, “I think I am ready, and moved over into the fresher. These large open freshers certainly made the idea of giving birth easier. Not much mess to clean up.
And, really, a few more screams and it was over.
“Oh, my, Darling. So you finally popped?”
Fenestra looked down at the child at her breast. “Yes. My quickest birth by far.”
“Well, that must have been nice.”
“I tend to zone out, but it was certainly easier than Bobbin.”
“What did you call this one?”
“We call her Trisha… short for Trishanna… apparently a family name in her progenitor’s line.”
“Well, that’s nice. Do you still see him from time to time?”
“He always comes by on Progenitor’s day. And Jellia snips him rather frequently with questions and things. Apparently it is a permitted relationship.”
“And how are things going with her and her date?”
Fenestra shook her head. “I can’t believe how she has adapted. He just has her totally enthralled. His every wish is her command.”
“Surely you are…”
Fenestra shook her head and put her finger up to her lips. “Let us not break code and custom even in a private screeny. And I don’t even think it wold be best. I think she is happier not knowing how the rest of the galaxy lives. Or, some of it, anyway. I have heard some things.”
Laura nodded. “I have too.
—
Contract Marriage
Contract marriage is an adult dystopia examining the issues of marriage. Like 1984 and Brave New World, Contract Marriage treats the relations between the sexes as a fundamental aspect of how a society is formed and, thus, how a society can go wrong.
Unlike those dystopias, Contract Marriage isn’t all horrible all of the time. The characters for the most part have a good time and get along in their society. But the issues of sexuality, of marriage or not, monogamy or not, faithfulness or not, and gender roles… keep coming up and causing tension and conflict and joy and pain.
My desire is that my readers would be thinking along with my characters about these issues and perhaps even arrive at the same place (minus the flying cars).
Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!
Being ‘restacked’ and mentioned in ‘notes’ is very important for lesser-known stacks so… feel free! I’m semi-retired and write as a ministry (and for fun) so you don’t need to feel guilty you aren’t paying for anything, but if you enjoy my writing (even if you dramatically disagree with it), then restack, please! Or mention me in one of your own posts.
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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von