Page 48 of Paradise

“It was, originally,” Garrett told him, still holding Cody’s hand. The kid hadn’t let go of him the whole trip, and Jonah couldn’tblame him. He kind of wanted to keep a hold on Garrett too, but he didn’t want to make his fiancé feel too claustrophobic, so he hung back and contented himself with bumping shoulders as they made their way from habitat to habitat.

“There was a span of a few centuries where cloning and genetic manipulation was a popular pastime,” Garrett continued, “and it was pretty easy for amateurs to fool around with whatever genomes they wanted to. Most of them did things that were pretty harmless, just one-offs as pets or something, but some of them got a little out of control. One of those people was a botanist, who pioneered what he called ‘mutobotany.’ He decided to take different plants and merge them with animal DNA to make brand-new species.”

Cody frowned. “But we do that all the time, right? Scientists change plants and animals so they can help them survive better on new planets. And they do it for places like that other zoo, Chibi World. Right?”

“True, but those scientists have a lot of special training that lets them figure out what the best combination is for each new place, so they won’t all just die or overwhelm the local flora and fauna. And Chibi World is a closed circuit; those animals don’t get the chance to live in the wild,” Garrett explained. “This guy didn’t care about that; he just wanted to make new things. It took him a while, but eventually he crossed all sorts of animals and plants successfully. He was going to take them around in a big ship as a kind of travelling show, but the police found out what he was doing and raided his home.

“The botanist, who was a very wealthy man, had enough time to put samples of his experiments, all cryogenically frozen, into capsules and shoot them into space before he was stopped. He said his work would thrive even if he was locked away. And it did. Some of the capsules were found, but most of them made it to their destinations, and they hit the ground, and thenew creatures woke up and headed out into their brand-new environments. And some of them did really well, like this one.”

The three of them watched the tigerlily silently for a moment, taking in the grace of its long central stalk, the leaves that were edged with hard green claw-like nubs and even, as its primary blossom opened as though it were yawning, the long red stamens that drooped out like three lazy tongues. “There are tigerlilies on ten different planets now, and they’ve eaten a lot of native species into extinction.”

“That’s not good,” Cody said with a frown. “He wasn’t very responsible, was he?”

“No, he wasn’t.”

“What was his name?”

“George Harmony Caractacus-Ledger.”

Cody looked up in surprise. “He was related to you?”

“A distance cousin, yes. He died about five hundred years ago, but he did accomplish his life’s goal. His hybrids have thrived.”

“Wow. Your family is so weird.”

“They’re your family now too, kiddo, keep that in mind,” Garrett teased him as they headed for another exhibit.

By the time they returned to the Mansion, Cody was exhausted, and Jonah wasn’t far behind. They put him to bed, cleaned up, and lay down together, and Garrett snuggled close instantly. “Did you have a nice afternoon?” he asked quietly as the bed’s temperature adjusted to their preferences.

“Real nice,” Jonah replied. “You’ve got family everywhere, don’t you, darlin’?”

“Oh, you’ve no idea,” Garrett said, rolling his eyes. “We’ve got our claws into nearly every major disaster or triumph since the Alliance began. The Caractacus clan is infamous. But no letting it get to you.” He poked Jonah’s chest. “It’s not important. There are so many of us that no one really cares what most of us doas long as the central line stays intact, which means I never hear from my grandmother, which is a wonderful thing.”

“Still, it’s a hell of a family legacy,” Jonah couldn’t help but point out. “You really sure you want to take my name?” It was something they’d argued about, a little, but Garrett had been adamant.

“Technically we’re hyphenating,” he said carelessly. “The ‘Caractacus’ will still be on all the legal documents, but it’s going to be silent. Besides, Garrett Caractacus-Helms is such a terrible mouthful, and I’d never do that to Cody. Garrett Helms is better.”

“And you’re sure Miles doesn’t mind?”

Garrett laughed. “Are you kidding? He would have changed his name years ago if he thought he could get away with it. Dad was the bane of every poor private in the marines—they spent hours practicing how to say his last name in case he happened to walk by. Everyone who fucked it up thought for sure he was going to have them cleaning out antique latrines or digging ditches by hand just for the hell of it, but he ignored it all for the most part. The smart ones just called him ‘sir.’” Garrett kissed Jonah’s chest. “Stop worrying, everything will be fine. Go to sleep, baby.”

Garrett had followed his own advice easily enough, and Jonah had tried to do the same, but it was no use. He was getting married tomorrow. Married.Married.

Marriage was a lot more common among naturals, whose shorter life spans gave their actions a sense of gravity that most folk didn’t have, but here he was. Getting married. Blending everything about their lives. All of the crazy Caractacuses, all the brilliant ones, all the leaders and the outlaws, Jonah was forging a connection to them through Garrett, his own crazy, brilliant man. And who was he? There was no registry that held his name,no lineage he could point to with pride. Drifters were almost entirely their own folk and not much for recordkeeping.

Jonah slept fitfully, his mind spinning from place to person, from the past to the future. Not out of nervousness, just out of … consideration. And when morning finally came around, he was exhausted while Garrett jumped out of bed like he was Cody’s age, all smiles. “Come on, we have to get ready!”

“Mmph.”

“When you’re coherent enough to articulate an actual argument, I’ll listen to you. Until then, up!” Garrett whipped all the covers off the bed, leaving Jonah bare to the crisp morning air. “Up up up!”

It was going to be one of those mornings.

His mind wandered all through breakfast, just fruit and coffee for himself as he listened to Cody playing with Renee and Miles joking with Garrett while Claudia organized things in the background. This was his new normal. Not just for the duration of this trip either; they’d be back regularly, thanks in part to Jack. This was a real family, doing things together. This was his life now.

“Hey.” Jonah looked up from his coffee into Garrett’s slightly concerned face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Jonah smiled. “I’m good, darlin’.”

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