Second Nature

Chapter 25

The arches of her maxilla and mandible were way too narrow and elongated. And the condyles of the mandible hinged at the temporal bone half a foot farther back than normal; meaning her temporal bones were not in the right place, or were themselves elongated, either of which would explain why her ears were set abnormally far back on her head. 

In his waterproof notebook, Jimi drew a detailed profile of the bones of Gen's face and skull. Next to it, he sketched a dolphin's facial bones. He labeled the two anatomies with arrows pointing from a single list. The similarities were uncanny. Did no one else realize one could describe Gen's strange facial structure as a blend of dolphin and human features? 

"Impossible," he told himself. Two disparate species can't reproduce, can't combine and blend their genes. It was one thing to breed horses and donkeys to get sterile mules; or breed lions and tigers to get sterile ligers. But human and dolphin? 

Actually, there was no mechanical reason the two species could not mate. In fact, a few of the most eccentric dolphin nuts had reported having sex with the animals. Sexual intercourse, okay. Weird, but believable. But conceiving a human-dolphin embryo? 

"No way." 

Jimi set down his pen, lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He wanted to interview Gen extensively, as soon as he figured out the best way to approach her. She seemed very shy and skittish about herself- 

Lana screamed from upstairs in the mansion. 

Jimi was on his feet and out the cabin door when she screamed his name. He raced through the Inn's backdoor and heard a noise above like wood splintering, followed by a loud thud. He flew up the stairs two at a time and flung open her bedroom door.  

Lana was bouncing up and down on top of her broken bed, stark naked, laughing like a little girl on a trampoline, tears streaming down her face.  

Jimi's eyes went to Lana's ample breasts, lifting and falling with each bounce. A delta of luxuriant black fur adorned the juncture of her thighs. The beauty of Lana's nude body so startled him it took a couple heartbeats to realize the whole miracle of what he was seeing. 

Lana was bouncing on her own legs. 

* * * 

It wasn't possible. She was dreaming. It was a miracle. 

The door flew open and Jimi stood in the doorway, his mouth hanging open. 

She stopped bouncing. "Am I dreaming?" she managed to gasp out between laughs and sobs. "Is this real?" 

Jimi crossed slowly to her, his arms outstretched like a sleepwalker. He touched her legs cautiously with his fingertips, as if he feared fresh paint might come off. Then he started crying, and clutched her legs so tightly in his arms that Lana lost her balance and fell back onto the mattress, dragging him down on top of her. 

"How?" Jimi said. 

Lana laughed, flinging tears. "You're asking me?" Then she started to sob, her chest and shoulders heaving. "Why...did...God...choose...me?" 

Jimi just shook his head, dazed. 

"Why me? There...are...others...more deserving." She squeezed her eyes shut and began to wail. 

That made Jimi cry harder. "You deserve it," he whispered hoarsely. He almost sounded angry. He picked up a corner of the sheet and wiped at two clear streams that ran down from her nose. "You're an angel. You're the best. I love you, Lana. Goddamit, I love you so much." 

Lana opened her eyes to see a boldness in Jimi's face she'd never seen before. As if all disguises had vanished and nothing but the truth could be told. His pale eyes shone like blue-hot stars.  

Just then, Tripod bounded up the stairs and into the bedroom. Through a flood of tears, Lana gave a double-take to register what she was seeing. She gasped. 

Jimi searched her face. "What?" Then he turned around to face the dog and saw the second miracle.  

Tripod was barking and dancing in circles on all four legs. 

Downstairs in the sun room the parrot began squawking in its cage. 

Jimi burst out laughing. "Snapper, too?" He jumped up and started for the stairs. "Be right back." She heard his footsteps race down the stairwell like a drum roll. 

Lana dashed over to her sewing table and grabbed a needle from a pin cushion. She bent forward and poked herself in the lower left calf. "Ouch! That really hurt!" But she pricked herself again in the right leg and grinned as if sticking a pin into your own flesh is great fun. 

Tripod barked and barked, wagging his tail like a whip. Lana knelt and hugged his big neck and kissed his furry face. "We's got legs, good boy! We's got legs!" 

Jimi came marching back up the stairs and carried Snapper, cage and all, into Lana's bedroom. The macaw flapped two bright green-and-blue wings. His prosthetic lower beak had fallen to the floor of the cage; a new, shiny black beak stood ready to bite careless fingers. 

Lana stood up. "My God!" she said, and launched into another bout of laughing and crying. She reached through the bars of the bird cage and stroked the parrot's velvety feathers. Snapper allowed only Lana to do that with impunity. The macaw closed his eyes and snuggled his warm head against her hand. 

"And Ray can see," Jimi said. 

Lana blinked. "Ray, too?" Ray was a blind tomcat Lana had taken in a couple summers ago.  

"He was darting around the living room pouncing on shadows. The fat cat can see." He laughed. "And look!" He held up his left hand, wiggled the little finger. "Been itching me bad all morning."  

Yesterday the finger had curled upon itself, useless-the result of a whittling accident on Jimi's twelfth birthday when he'd finally received the folding Buck knife he'd begged for. Now the damaged finger functioned again.  

He grinned. "I can really play air guitar now." 

Lana laughed and shook her head. "This is too much." She couldn't wait to see Haven and Cade, to share this fabulous gift of joy. Jimi read her mind. 

"Wait till Haven sees you! And Cade-he'll go ape-shit." 

"But how do we tell them? It's overwhelming." 

"Tell them? Would you believe it if I told you?" 

She shook her head. "I can't believe it now." 

"Don't put your dress back on. That'll do it. Just look at you. You're so beautiful." He knelt on the floor and kissed her legs below the knees.  

The gesture was spontaneous, and Lana knew he hadn't meant it to be erotic, but she suddenly got wet between her thighs. She wanted to dance with Jimi, as in her dreams. She reached down and pulled him to his feet. He tilted up his chin and she kissed his mouth. His eyes smiled at hers and he did not conceal his appetite. 

They fell onto the broken bed, hugging and crying on each other's shoulders for a timeless moment. Neither of them noticed the transition to making love. Neither of them planned when their joyful kisses would turn passionate and their caresses would begin to burn like sweet fire. The choreography just happened. Desire moved their bodies in an intimate progression until they were dancing as one. 

Lana wrapped her slender, muscular legs around Jimi's back, and their hunger was not done with them for a long time.