Written By Sher Trott-Bailey.

Sher awakened in the mid-afternoon by the sound of a helicopter landing. Caught by surprise she nudged her husband awake. Fumbling out of his sleep, KB opened one eye to look at his wife.

“ What is it babe? You need some good dick or something?” Her husband half-jokingly asked.

Rolling her eyes at his randy thoughts, she didn’t join in their usual sexual banter but quickly said,

“ There is a helicopter landing babes.”

İt was then that KB lifted his head to listen. Turning to his wife he cheekily said,

“ Sex in the bushes, I bet you it’s Kezideck.“

“ İ think I agree with you, so there can’t be a bet, plantain dick,“ Sher replied kissing his cheeks and then jumping out of bed to go and greet her first son.

Sure enough, Kezideck’s handsome face emerged from the helicopter pilot’s seat. He had decided as usual to fly it himself. What did she expect, he loved everything machine and technology. He was the one who had spearheaded their transatlantic and transpacific under ocean speed train, all their advancements in amphibious vehicle travel, diving suits capable of months of underwater breathing. Kezideck had also made İmprovements in automated water navigation.

With the introduction of Halonite as a power source, underwater lighting of the deep seas was now possible since the year 2045. Most of the Halonite had been discovered in South America. İt had taken three years for their family to progressively purchase the whole continent as they faced resistance from some countries.

“ Anne, Nasilsin” her son said casually as though they had just seen each other yesterday.


His long hair was neatly pulled into a bun, his beard rugged. Strong hazel eyes looked at her as he walked over and gave her a big hug. He was dressed in his usual casual style of a yellow merino shirt, red cotton shorts, and casual sandals. He was taller than his dad and almost as muscular. He was a man of the water. He loved the sea even more than her.

“ Esse e meu gemeo?” İs that my twin?” KB, his Dad, called out from behind them. Suddenly the two men sprung into action, each pulling out Splatguns and shooting. Splat guns were her other sons, Kultan and Keslev’s inventions. Those two thought up every way possible to have fun and get an adrenaline rush.

Walking back to the house, Sher left the father and son combo to their shoot-out with their Splat guns. The splat gun came with a variety of balls that did different things. For example, there were balls that were stinky and made the opponent stinky, others emitted a sticky web that could stick an opponent’s to a solid surface, some balls expanded into chains when they hit and stuck to the body, while another left a tracking signal on the body.

For comedy, Keslev and Kultan had made a ball that attached to the body and expanded into a peacock’s tail. They also had a voice activator ball that would attach to the opponent and blast out random noises and cuss words once your heart rate went up. Those were the ones Sher could currently remember.

Sher went into the kitchen and decided to rustle up a big breakfast for her growing bunch. The kids would soon make their way downstairs if they hadn’t already detoured to their parents’ room by now.

Sher was surprised to see Keilah appear in the kitchen, knowing how tired they had been from last night and their travels.

” Oye mamá, ¿tienes una mezcla de aceite de coco y manteca de karité para el cabello?” Keilah asked (Hey mom do you have any of coconut oil and shea butter mixture for hair?”) Keilah asked.

” İ made some yesterday actually, it’s in my  room where I always keep it.” Sher replied.

“Ok gracias, se ve deliciosa mamá. Vuelvo enseguida” (Ok thanks, looks yummy mom. I’ll be back) Keilah breezed out of the kitchen as quickly as she had breezed in.

As Sher put some breadfruits to roast in the oven, she blanched some juicy salted mackerels and left the water running to remove the rest of the salt. She then diced some green onions, scallions and pepper. She sliced some plantains to fry as appetizers as she waited on the breadfruits to roast. She quickly took some yeasted flour dough out of their refrigerator and used a rolling pin to spread it out, adding some flour to prevent it from sticking to the table. Adding some ham strips, bacon, and mozzarella cheese she rolled everything into a log. Cutting the pizza log into little buns she quickly placed them into a baking pan and popped them in the oven. İn between she had been turning the ripe plantains until they were golden brown.

She knew Chef Rodrigo, Chef Paolo or Chef Ming would fuss about her not calling them to make such a big breakfast but she didn’t want to call them in. Chef Paolo had harvest season going on at his coffee plantation and it would take about three months to harvest all his coffee beans. Meanwhile, Chef Ming was checking on his own acres of fruits, livestock, and his favorite animals which were his large emu birds. Plus she had surprised the newly married Chef Rodrigo and his wife with a new amphibious yacht and given him the year off to go sailing with his wife Sarai. Anyway, she could have the cooks prepare lunch and dinner later but for now, she was happy to cook breakfast today.

She then set up a large pot of chocolate and coffee mixed tea. Several members of the household preferred bush teas so she finished up with the plantains and then made her way out the house down to her tea garden. There she selected some variations of mint and dandelion for the afternoon’s breakfast.

By the time she returned, the house was noisy with greetings and loud laughter. That Kezideck was a natural comedian. He was especially lively when he was with the family and he brought out the joker in Rajah. She made her way to the kitchen and took out her pizza rolls, leaving the breadfruits for another ten minutes. Sher then prepared a hot skillet with plenty of coconut oil and added her greens. Then she threw in the salt mackerels. When that was done she fried some more plantains and decided to fry some eggs, bacon and ham strips too.

When it was time to start plate everything on the table, she called the men to take out the breadfruits and go peel them. Keilah helped to bring the teas and pizza rolls to the table. The kids were in charge of bringing the pitchers of juices. Sher came later with the eggs, bacon and ham.

Seated under the covered verandah, the men returned with the peeled and sliced hot breadfruits. Everyone dug in, each asking someone else to pass something. The grandchildren of course immediately claimed the pizza rolls. KB filled his plate with large chunks of delicious salt mackerel and breadfruits. Suddenly remembering that the avocados were in season and that they would go great with the mackerel, Sher sent Kezideck to quickly pick a few. Getting up from the table and taking off at a comical sprint towards the avocados, the whole table erupted in laughter at Kezideck’s military-like movements.

” And the commander in chief Grandma has struck again, thank God it wasn’t me who had to go because this food is delicious!.” KB said.

Kezideck returned in record time with six ripe avocados. Everyone quickly agreed that the avocados were needed when they tasted the smooth and delicious flavor of their homegrown avocados.

When the edge of hunger had been blunted, Kezideck piped up and told the kids that they were all going to go rowing today. Excited screams came from their little mouths.

” Papá, ¿Vienes con nosotros?” (Daddy are you coming with us?) Rajah’s twin girls asked in unison.

“ Si Papi, por favor Dad!” (Yeah please Dad!) Tingye joined in with his pleading voice.

“Of course I’m coming babies, we can also give your mom and grandma time to chat off each other’s ears,” Rajah said knowingly looking at his beautiful wife.

” Count me in too,” KB said

” Oh baba, bir seçeneğin varmış gibi” (Oh Dad, like you had a choice) Kezideck laughed pulling his Dad’s cheeks.

“ Just for that you also have to teach me how to fly your newly modified helicopter.” KB said to his son.

Slapping hands together in agreement, the two got up in an adrenaline rush and said,

“Hadi çocuklar!” (Come on kids)

Following behind the children, the three men quickly disappeared from around the table leaving Sher and Keilah. Two cheerful faces appeared, politely greeting the women. They were the new housekeepers that Mrs.Luca had been mentoring. They quickly and meticulously cleared the gorgeous oak table clean.

” Oh mamá, ha pasado tanto tiempo desde que nos sentamos y hablamos así. Tengo mucha primicia que contarte.” (Oh mom, it’s been so long since we sat and talked like this. I’ve got so much scoop to tell you.) Keilah the self-proclaimed “Head of her siblings” smiled and said.

” Before we get into all that, how was your award event?” Sher asked.

” Ahh, en realidad estaba muy bien hecho mamá, y fue entretenido porque consiguieron que un comediante hiciera bromas. Afortunadamente lo sostuvieron junto a la playa, así que Rajah y yo nos disculpamos cuando estábamos aburridos y fuimos a nadar.” (Ahh it was actually beautifully done mom, and it was entertaining because they got a comedian to do jokes. Thankfully they held it by the beach so Rajah and I excused ourselves when we were bored and went swimming.” Keilah smilingly said.

” Weren’t half of the awards dedicated to you and Rajah and the other half for some member of our family.” Sher asked.

” Ustedes nunca van a estas cosas. Les dije a los oficiantes que simplemente enviaran el premio, pero luego el presidente chino rogó personalmente que viniera alguien de la familia. Lástima que Rajah perdió ante Kaitou en piedra, papel, tijeras, así que tuvimos que irnos.” (You guys never go to these things. İ told the officiators to just send the award but then the Chinese president personally begged for someone from the family to come.  Too bad Rajah lost to Kaitou at rock paper scissors so we had to go.) Keilah summarized.

Chuckling at her daughter’s pouting face, Sher said,

” Well, at least it turned into a fun thing.”

” De todos modos mamá, nunca adivinarás de quién se está enamorando.” (Anyway mom, you will never guess who is falling in love.) Keilah said smugly

Her ears perked up at her daughter’s tempting words,

” Who?” 

"El único Kezideck!"

” What?” Sher exclaimed with raised eyebrows

“Yep!” Keilah said nodding her head, proud of her scoop.

“How do you know? Are you sure?” Sher questioned her daughter rapidly.

“Sí, y también yo sé su nombre.” (Yes and i know her name too.) Keilah said leaning back in a comfortable sofa.

” Well? Who is she?” Sher asked

“Su nombre es Nekesa.” (Her name is Nekesa) Keilah answered.

” So what’s the story? And how do you know before dad? Kezideck always tells Dad everything.” Sher said

“ İ befriended her,” Keilah said.

” Keilah, don’t interfere,” Sher warned.

” No te preocupes mamá, era mi amiga antes de conocer a mi hermano. Sin embargo, ella simplemente no sabe que el chico del que se está enamorando es mi hermano.” (Don’t worry mom, she was my friend before she met my brother. She just doesn’t know though, that the guy she is falling in love with is my brother.) Keilah replied.

” Your not one to keep girlfriends..how is she your friend.” Sher asked her daughter.

“ Remember a year ago I had told you about a cocoa farm I had seen in Kenya. There was a man who wanted to sell it to me because of debt. On further investigation, I found out he had three daughters that would get nothing from the sale. Not only would he sell their birthright but he was a well-known drunk in the area. The land was actually owned by the girls’ dead mother and having no will it was passed on to the father. With his love for drinking and eventually gambling the father had destroyed a once prosperous cocoa business.“

” This kinda shit still happens,” Sher said shaking her head.

“İ didn’t want to buy the girls out of their inheritance but I didn’t know what to do. İt was then that I talked with Nekesa, the older sister of the three about the whole situation and asked her what she proposed. She’s the proud type, so she didn’t want any handouts. She eventually asked me to buy the farm, Nekesa said, “I would rather have you own it than see it further destroyed.” So I bought it. The father immediately abandoned the girls. İt took a while to convince Nekesa to accept back her inheritance, like I said, she has a stubborn and misguided pride about her. Just as I was about to convince her, I had to leave Kenya with Rajah and the kids. So Kezideck was nearby in Tanzania at the time and I asked him to finish up the situation for me. You know he’s the most responsible when it comes to things like this.”

Nodding her head and listening intently Sher took in her daughter’s beautiful and animated face. A random thought crossed her mind of Keilah when she was three and still asking for titty and now look at her- a mom and wife herself. The child had been beautiful from the moment she was born and had grown into an exceptionally beautiful and down-to-earth woman. All of her children were exceptionally beautiful and handsome, Sher thought proudly.

“Bueno, cuando Kezideck llegó y le explicó la situación a Nekesa, ella lo confundió con mi asistente o algo así. Kezideck nunca la corrigió tampoco. Debería haber sabido que estaba perdido porque se quedó allí seis meses ayudándola a cambiar la granja. Cuando la revisé, habían diversificado la granja. Todo lo que siempre quise con la granja era hacer chocolates gratis todos los días para todos los niños de Kenia “.(Well when Kezideck arrived and explained the situation to Nekesa, she mistook him for my assistant or something. Kezideck never corrected her either. İ should have known he was a goner because he stayed there six months helping her turn the farm around. By the time I checked in on her, they had diversified the farm. All I ever wanted with the farm was to make free chocolates daily for all the children in Kenya.)

“Wow, sounds good. Maybe we will  hear of wedding bells soon.” Sher said.

“La historia de romance de Kaleyon y Hunter también es tan épica, sabes que había tantos detalles jugosos que ella y Hunter dejaron de contarnos. Tuve que escuchar piezas de diferentes personas para juntarlo todo.” (Kaleyon and Hunter’s romance story is so epic too, you know there were so much juicy details that she and Hunter left out from telling us. İ had to hear pieces from different people to put it all together) Keilah the now family investigator said.

At the mention of her warrior-like and free-spirited daughter, Sher’s mind remembered the whole saga that happened to Kaleyon in Somalia. Her daughter had been working on extracting Halonite in a mine discovered there. Midway through the project, a convoy of what was said to be extremists attacked their party while they were on their way to the main site. Looking back now everything had been perfectly planned to ambush and capture Kaleyon.

Kaleyon and Hunter had been able to keep the men off until they had reached the main mining site. Thinking the danger over, they arrived to find a third of their hired workers armed and shooting at the other workers. It had all been a perfectly planned coup, to try and overtake the Halonite source.

Fortunately, her daughter was armed with Kultan and Keslev’s latest weapons. She took out the whole rebellion leaving the culprits temporarily paralyzed from her electric blaster guns. However, the even bigger drama came after she had squashed the paid killers.

The government of Somalia wanted to arrest Kaleyon for using unknown and unregistered weapons, especially as a woman. Unknown agents had also escalated and incited the media and Somalian people against their daughter and the family’s project.

When the news of Kaleyon’s ambush and subsequent arrest had reached the family, her brothers geared up immediately to destroy Somalia and its government, so fierce was the anger that overtook the family. Only the calming voice of Jesus could restrain them during that time.

” ¿Te acuerdas de mamá, papá vino y dijo que Jesús dice que no debemos hacer nada, que él personalmente se ocupará de ello?” (You remember mom, Dad came in and said Jesus says we shouldn’t do anything, he will personally take care of it.) Keilah narrated.

” Tres días después, el gobierno y la gente de Somalia estaban pidiendo perdón y devolvieron a Kaleyon a una de nuestras casas en Somalia.” (Three days later the Somalian government and people were begging forgiveness and returned Kaleyon to one of our homes in Somalia.) Keilah went on.

Sher remembered the reports from what the Somalian news broadcasted. Testimonies from the jailers came out about them poisoning the girl’s water but her not dying. Then they spread rumors of her being a witch to the town’s people where she was kept in prison. When they were transferring her to the capital for trial they had planned to leave her open to the angry mob. İt was caught on camera that a group of five people had tried to raise their hand to chop Kaleyon with machetes but instead their hands instantly withered and fell to the ground with maggots appearing out of nowhere eating the decayed limb. Overwhelming fear had overcome the mob and they had run away.

When Kaleyon was brought to the capital,  large hailstones the size of small boulders smashed and destroyed the capital. There was no damage to the prison where she was kept. All surrounding buildings were completely leveled. İt was then that the government begged forgiveness.

” That had been three years ago, that country still angers me to this day.” Sher said.

” Yo también me conozco.” (I know me too.) Keilah said.

“De todos modos, le hice saber a mi hermana que Kezideck y yo estamos aquí. Planean venir pronto. Hunter ha estado tratando de comunicarse con los gemelos salvajes Kultan y Keslev, pero nadie puede alcanzarlos. Lo último que supe fue que estaban en la Antártida por alguna apuesta.” (Anyway, I let my sister’s know that me and Kezideck are here. They plan to come soon. Hunter has been trying to get through to the wild twins Kultan and Keslev but no one can reach them. Last i heard they were in Antarctica because of some bet.) Keilah told her mom

” Aye, i can’t keep up with you all,” Sher said

“ Oh, mamá, deja de actuar como si no fueras aventurera.” (Oh mom quit acting like you’re not adventurous yourself.) Keilah said.

” Wait Kayonai is calling,” Sher said. Touching a button on their coffee table and hologram image of Kayonai appeared.

” Hey mom, hey sis…Niko it’s been thirty minutes I think you have proven that you can protect your family in the cold.” Kayonai exclaimed in a rush.

” ¿Qué diablos está pasando hermana?” (What the fuck is going on sis?) Keilah asked

“ Nicko  is out in the snow naked trying to test his endurance as a man…these are his own words.” Kayonai informed them

Sher and Keilah burst out laughing at the couple, their family was used to doing odd ball things but this was still very funny.

“Ses fesses et tu sais ce qui a vraiment commencé à ressentir le froid il y a dix minutes, mais il ne voulait pas arrêter. J’ai dû lui suggérer de faire une activité comme couper du bois. Cela le maintient optimiste depuis dix minutes.” (His butt and you know what really started to feel the cold ten minutes ago, but he didn’t want to quit. İ had to suggest he do some activity like chopping some wood. That’s been keeping him optimistic for the past ten minutes) Kayonai continued.

“ How cold is it in Colorado right now?” Sher asked her daughter.

“ C’est-dix degrés Celsius et en baisse. C’est la première fois qu’il vient dans cette cabane. Je ne lui ai pas encore parlé des sources chaudes. Je vais lui donner dix minutes de plus, puis je vais l’entraîner là-bas pour se réchauffer.” (İt’s -10 degrees celsius and dropping. İt’s the first time he’s been to this cabin. İ haven’t told him about the hot springs yet. İ will give him ten more minutes and then I will drag him there to warm up.) Kayonai said.

” Are you talking to mom?” A male voice boomed out, it was Nichovich.

” Yes, I’m talking to mom and Keilah…remember we are supposed to meet up soon in Mozambique.” Kayonai shouted back

” Передайте им привет, и что в следующем соревновании по подводной охоте я обязательно выиграю, так что принесите их игру на пятерку. (Tell them hi and that in the next spearfishing competition I will definitely win so bring their “A ” game.) Nichovich shouted back

Rolling her eyes, Kayonai smiled and said

” That’s my Nichovich for you. Ever since he started hanging with Kultan and Keslev it’s like he is trying to channel his inner Rambo.) That’s my Nichovich for you. Ever since he started hanging with Kultan and Keslev it’s like he is trying channel his inner Rambo.” Kayonai said referring to the old classic Sylvester Stallone movie.

” Дорогая, я больше не чувствую своих ног.” (Honey I can’t feel my legs anymore.) Nichovich said.

” Maman, ma sœur, je vous rappellerai plus tard … je dois faire rouler mon homme.” (Mom, Sis i will call you guys back later…I got to go roll my man) with that Kayonai shot off.

“ Creo que quiero dormir un poco más mamá, te pondré al día sobre más acontecimientos más tarde.” (İ think I want some more sleep mom, I will update you on more happenings later.) Leaning over to kiss her mother, Keilah gave her a big hug.

Now that Sher was alone, she relaxed on her comfortable sofa and reflected on her dreams over the past two days. Every day was filled with so much surprise and activities that she still hadn’t gotten time to tell her husband about her dreams. Sher fell into a deep sleep with these thoughts on her mind and dreamt once more of Katya and Zolokhan.