Goma's Note: Isn't it a SHAME Tulusu doesn't own P/A/ AVP? GGG. Some sick twisted stuff would happen then!

My life at the castle became scheduled. I'd go to sleep, Go'ma the radiator next to me, making weird "keh, keh," noises while he slept. I'd wake up and change, feed, or hold Verto whenever he cried, and consoled him in spanish. Go'ma would leave the Human Room everyday at seven thirty for his work as a phycologist, working with hunters, the mentally ill (you mean they aren't all "insane?"), the flags, and preds going through mid-life autobiographical break-throughs. I'd wake up sometime later, take a shower, give Verto a bath, and take him to the park with me. The park was really a museum, full of tropical-like plants. I always wondered if even these were trohpies of a sort, stakes pointing out which conquered planets each had been taken from. We were all aliens, on the castle. Orphans. But then again, I guess all men, be they human or only humanoid, are natural orphans .. Too much philosophy for me .. Anyway, I always wondered what their history was. Did they like it on the castle? Did they miss others of their species?

Two of the other "experiment" parents would bring their children to the park as well, Sango Ottowa's father Jhon, and Beatrice Arrow's mother Anna. A few times I would see the Yaujuttan mothers stroll or walk their children in the park, but it was as if they couldn't see me, or my child. Nor any humans, for that matter. If I was sitting on a bench, a Yaujuttan mother or nanny would stand to the side, playing at simply admiring the view, even if their child clearly needed changing or a drink. I'd speak to Verto as if he were my imaginary friend, or my only consolement, speaking in spanish so no one could understand me. Jhon and Anna would talk to me, though at first we were all hellos and waves. Much like tropical trophy plants, even though we came from different places and walks of life (different planets— Jhon worked at Subway, Ana was a secretary), we had the edgy kinship with the others, knowing that we were all aliens on that ship.

"What will I be doing here?" I had asked Go'ma, after my first night on the castle.

"You'll be a mother," He had said, before feeling my stomache and putting a mandable onto my neck, "And you'll make sure the children think like healthy people, human wise. I'll take care of functionality." A mandable slid up to my ear.

"When will I meet these other families?"

"Ah, for dinner, tomorrow .." We had breakfast together, and when I had only been able to see a chrome canister, I asked him what it was. "What do you think?" He asked me, clearly amused by the worried look on my face. I had grinned, "It's not human," he grunted, before putting it in my hands. "Just eat it. It's okay tasting, and it's healthy .. It's organic, too, so no meat .. We don't really eat meat."

"That explains the hyding."

He laughed, "That's only if you had a gun." Seeing my shock, he stuck his cheek out for a kiss. "Kiss me, oh smelly carnivore."

It's strange, how you can look at a word, and assume you know everything about it. Like Predator. What at first seems just inatley evil, turns out to be, just like everything else in life, with its cons and pros. Though you can't tell which are which at first, the closer you observe, and the longer in some instances, the more you see. When I met the "other families," things were much like this. At first the Yaujuttan parents seemed far off, and distant from their children, but then I realized they were just acting that way around eachother. When alone, the females acted gossipy and more social. The males took care of buisness, but sometimes when I'd pass the saloon, I could see males chumming it up like any other males of a species. And in a few instances, I've seen these parents chase down butt-naked space babies, looking like any other frantic and embarassed parent, looking around apologetically at any viewers.

Vertumnus, from the moment he could walk, liked to follow Go'ma around, hanging onto a leg or hand and sometimes crawling after him. Go'ma would take his hand sometimes and bounce, bounce, bounce him up into the air. Go'ma's back was often hunched over, and stayed that way because of his small companion, until Verto turned about three. Verto thought it was pretty funny when he was two, to take off all of his clothes and run down the hall as fast as possible, making loud noises so that the neighbors would look. The single neighbors took to laughing, pointing, and being wise alecks. Go'ma or I would run quickly, but always loose him after trying not to crash into him at the same time. Usually, he would tire of this game once we were too far behind, but at others, when he felt more cheery about our folly, he'd like to go to the saloon and hide in the crowd. Har, har, har.

The most horrifying experience, nearly, I've ever had on the "castle" took place because of one of these naked-olympics. I was in third place at the saloon, ariving just after Verto and the second place Go'ma. Verto pointed at me. "You lost," he said, grinning widely. This was his new favorite phrase, passed onto him through Ana, who liked to have foot races and declare herself the winner no matter what.

I demanded he come back. Go'ma was looking at the flashed victims, eyebrows quirked apologetically. A young'en, Jera, stood behind Verto. "You lost," he repeated, laughing. "Can't you keep clothes on your own child? Apperantly not on yourself, either." He was referring to Go'mas lack of day-attire. "Nor your woman." He shrugged one shoulder, and grag-gragged it up merrily. I was wearing a robe, in my defense.

"Well, when you have children, I'll remind you of that," I said for a still-struck Go'ma, who looked like he was between processing what the young'en had just said and saying something nasty.

"Child," The young'en scoffed. "Is that what you call that thing?"

I looked around at the crowd. This is so fucking unfair, I wanted to scream. Everyone was slowly filing out the doors or taking seats at the back of the saloon. The bar tender seemed highly pissed.

"Yes, that's what I call him." Verto had long since placed a hand around his father's leg protectively. Go'ma picked him up, and started to walk out the door,

"And you better stay away from it—us, too."

"Is that a threat, old man?" Old man? Since when had Go'ma turned into an old man? Was I an old woman, then?

"You can think whatever you want," Go'ma replied, before taking my hand up in his spare. I was scared and proud at the same time.

a/n. Kae-Shi-Katsumi; How many words is long enough? Lol.

the greatest Boba Fett Fan; Verto is only four. Tehee. I cheat!

Irish; Yessem. I had a very good bond w/ my dad from day 1. In many ways, Peg is a lot like me. But very different still.

Nasty Girl; I'm glad you think it's nice.

Thank you guys for all your reviews! Their so much fun to read. GGG. I've got eighteen! BWHAHAHAHA!