Spacetran 17
This chapter continues the story of Khatia and Bennie's burgeoning relationship. Rather a sweet chapter describing their progress towards marriage and parenthood.

 

NEW SPACETRAN 17
Spacetran 17

List of our children and their friends.

Girls,
Wendy, William’s twin.
Jessica and Charlotte, Ben’s (AKA Bennie’s,) twin sisters.
Dave and Eddie , Sherriff Jack Johnson’s boys.
Linda and Sandra, Sherriff Jack Johnson’s daughters.
Ray, Wendy’s husband, (Our son in Law.).
Khatia. Bennie’s secret Muslim wife.
Farina & Francine. Khatia and Bennie’s twin daughters.

Khatia woke to find her bed inexplicably lit by the bright noontime sun. For a moment she was disorientated as she forgot where she was. She still thought she was under the station platform in the secret recess she had discovered. Then she remembered and savoured the warm comfortable bed. For a moment a tear threatened her happiness as she realised she had slept so long because she had slept in a warm, safe, comfortable bed. She was pulling the duvet about her shoulders and cuddling into a tight sensuous ball when Bennie appeared with a tray of tea.

“Come on sleepy. We’ve got some serious shopping to do. Have you slept well?”

Khatia yawned with the sensuous grace of a cat and smiled ecstatically as she sat up, nodded and reluctantly peeled back the warm duvet.

“Never better! Oooh what’s that?” She squeaked with surprise as she felt an unfamiliar movement behind her on the bed.

The duvet slipped off her legs as she turned to meet a large black cat with penetrating green eyes staring at her.

“Oh hello-oo. Who are you?” She asked.

Bennie answered for the cat.

“This is MacDoolittle. He’s my best male friend.”

“Where’s he come from. He wasn’t here yesterday and I haven’t seen any cat bowls or food around.”

“MacDoolittle normally lives in my other home, the one in the suburbs. I’ve just been to collect him while you slept on. You obviously needed your sleep.”

Khatia reached out tentatively to stroke MacDoolittle and the large tomcat leaned into her fingers appreciatively. Then he stepped gracefully forward and placed himself on Khatia’s bare lap. Khatia savoured the rich, soft, glossy, black fur against her bare thighs and grinned.

“He’s very friendly.”

“Don’t I know it? He rarely comes to the city and he’s never normally allowed on the bed. This is a rare treat for him and I think he’s taken advantage of your good nature. Come on cheeky, off the bed!” Bennie ordered somewhat hopefully.

MacDoolittle just looked up dismissively and Khatia could almost sense the cat pressing closer into her lap. It was obvious to Khatia who was the boss. MacDoolittle was going nowhere. Khatia smiled and giggled.

“I think I’ve got an ally here.”

“Why, have you got a lot of enemies?” Bennie asked darkly.

Khatia ignored the remark. To respond might have opened up too big a can of worms. She stroked MacDoolittle some more and rubbed behind his ears.

“He likes me.”

Bennie smiled indulgently. She knew Macdoolittle a little too well.

“MacDoolittle only likes food, cuddles and warm places; you’re providing two of those criteria at the moment. That’s why he’s your friend.”

Khatia grinned then pouted her disagreement as she bent down and spoke to the cat.

“That’s not true is it MacDoolittle?”

The cat looked up with a typically enigmatic, feline smile and purred softly.

“There!” Khatia claimed. He’s just said he’s my friend for life.”

“Wait until he ladders your best tights just before you’re going out,” Bennie chuckled.

“You wouldn’t do that would you MacDoolittle?”

For an answer the cat extended his claws and gently dug them into Khatia’s bare thighs.

“Ouch. Stoppit!”

The cat immediately desisted but not before Bennie let out a victorious laugh.

“There! What did I tell you? He thinks he’s the boss and you have to keep your distance, don’t get too familiar.”

Khatia looked down at the cat who had now rolled over on his back and extended his paws playfully whilst still lying in her lap. Khatia again savoured the rich soft fur on her thighs as the cat’s tail was flicking gently and tickling Khatia’s naked tummy above her panty elastic Khatia giggled.

“How familiar is that?”

“He’s being familiar with you; just don’t try getting familiar with him, leastways not until he knows you a lot better. He’s picky about his friends.”

“And you’re saying this isn’t friendly?”

“I’ll reserve judgement. Come on, we’ve got some serious shopping to do and Jasmine wants to come.”

“Eh! I thought we chose the ring ourselves.”

“We do, but for the clothes it’s much more fun as a gang and I value Jasmine’s opinions, she was an art and fashion designer before
she opened her art studio. When Jack left for London she stayed behind to run her studio and for a while, she and Eddie of the greasy spoon were the only true friends I had in Manchester, except of course for himself sitting there like lord muck. Come on you! Off the bed.”

Bennie gently forced the reluctant MacDoolittle off the bed and then prepared a well large, well-worn cushion by the radiator on the wide, south facing window sill. It was MacDoolittle’s own personal cushion and Bennie had brought it along when she had fetched MacDoolittle that morning.

During the day the window sill was the warmest spot, indeed the hottest spot in the apartment. It was obviously MacDoolittle’s favoured spot and the cat was happy to curl up on the familiar cushion as Khatia got dressed.

As she prepared to leave she looked back to bid the cat goodbye but MacDoolittle simply opened one eye disdainfully then resumed sleeping. Khatia concluded that Bennie might be right and grinned to herself.
‘Know thy place girl!’ she told herself, ’it’s obvious who thinks they are the boss in this apartment.’ Khatia knew that would change. ‘Family cat, mother’s cat.’ She told herself. MacDoolittle would learn.

Bennie closed her laptop and joined Khatia at the door. The rest of the afternoon was an eye-opener for Khatia. They met Jasmine in the town centre and the first place they made for was the new diamond quarter. This part of Manchester had grown out of Manchester’s proximity to the Liverpool Spaceport. Raw material virtually cascaded down to Liverpool’s vast new sea-island set in the Irish sea and the sheer volume of industry had caused commercial activities to expand all over the North West of England. Among a lot of other high-value commerce, diamond cutting and setting had found a new home in Manchester. As with London, the now conjoined ‘Twin Cities’ of Manchester and Liverpool had become one huge super-city. Liverpool had become the equivalent of ‘The City’ where commerce, banking and commodity trading flourished while Manchester had become the equivalent of ‘The West End’ namely the retail, entertainment and administrative centre. The old friendly rivalries still persisted but the wealth was spread more or less evenly throughout the whole north western conurbation.

Khatia now found herself being taken gently by the arm to study all sorts of engagement rings.

“D’you see anything you like?” Bennie teased her.

Khatia just wagged her head and sighed. The sheer amount of glitter had overwhelmed her. She was now glad that Jasmine had tagged along and she turned to her while Bennie had tactfully slipped out while she tried to decide. Khatia held up a beautiful ring and sighed.

“I like this one but look at the price tag! She’ll think I’m some sort of gold digger.”

Jasmine smiled. She and Bennie had already anticipated Khatia’s sincerity. That was exactly the reason that Bennie had ‘just popped out’ from the shop. While Bennie was diplomatically ‘absent’, Jasmine enlightened Khatia.

“Look I’ve known Bennie a long time; believe me she truly wants you to have whatever you want! If you like that one tell her. She wants you to be happy. She’s smitten with you. And here’s a little tip, don’t worry too much about the price tag. Bennie’s not short of a credit or two. You’ve seen the apartment she lives in and that’s just her weekend pad. She’s got another even bigger apartment in the suburbs. Has she taken you to it yet?”

“No.”

“Well when she does, you’ll understand. If that’s the ring you like, take it. Bennie will be back in a minute.”

“Yeah. Where’s she gone?”

“To book a table. We know a lovely restaurant just around the corner. You’ll like it girl, just go with the flow and take that ring if you like it.”

Khatia hesitated. It wasn’t the most expensive ring in the shop but she had set her heart on it. She looked expectantly at the jeweller and asked what he thought. He answered with a smile.

“It’s lovely ring. The stone is perfect even if a little smaller than the others and this is the best tray in my shop.”

To demonstrate, he exposed all the rings to the laser light magnification and the flaws flashed up as microscopically sooty imperfections. Years ago, even a skilled jeweller of long experience might have missed them but the new laser magnification exposed every tiny flaw. The stone Khatia had chosen was truly flawless. Diamonds were now also mined on Mars and Venus and they were an amazing variety. Only the ring Khatia had favoured showed no imperfections and the jeweller explained.

“You’ve got good taste in stones young lady. That’s why this ring is more expensive per carat. It genuinely is a perfect stone. Are you taking it?”

Khatia was about to say yes when Bennie appeared behind her and spoke for her.

“If that’s what my lady wants then she shall have it.”

“Very good madam, do you want it in a presentation box or is the lady wearing it out.”
Bennie looked At Khatia.

“Which d’you want darling the bended knee in the restaurant around the block, or to walk out wearing it on your finger right now?”
Khatia smiled tearfully.

“You already proposed to me in the Taj and everybody was soo-oo nice there. I think I’d better put it on now.”

Bennie glanced at the Jeweller who was well used to gay couples coming into his shop. He was gay himself. He locked the front door then invited the three of them into his little workshop and measured Khatia’s finger. Then he carefully heated the platinum ring to expand it ever so slightly without affecting the setting of the stone so that it became a perfect fit. Next he waited for it to cool and handed it to Bennie whilst explaining.

“I want you to place it formally on her finger. That’s your duty.”

Bennie did as instructed and kissed Khatia softly as she savoured the moment. Then Bennie plucked the cash notes out of her purse and paid across the counter. The jeweller was also well used to this and simply put the money in the overnight safe. After a congratulatory glass of champagne with the jeweller, Bennie, Khatia and Jasmine left the shop and made their way to the restaurant. Khatia felt as though she was walking on air.

After the meal they resumed shopping in Manchester’s city centre before finally returning to the apartment loaded with goods. Khatia simply couldn’t believe how much Bennie had spent on her.

‘The girl must be bloody loaded! I hope and pray she doesn’t think I’m a gold digger.'

Jasmine helped them carry the shopping up to the apartment and they settled down to share a pot of tea. Khatia only then noticed that there were only a couple of bottles of table wine in the whole apartment, no drinks cabinet, no hard liquor anywhere, not even tins of beer. She realised she had never seen Bennie drink except for a glass or two of wine at the occasional meal out.

‘For a girl so rich, Bennie seemed to lead quite a Spartan existence.’ Khatia concluded. ‘She could almost be a Muslim!’ She thought.

However, Bennie had made it abundantly obvious that she would not truck with any church or faith. Khatia was privately amused that somehow, by implication, Bennie seemed to commune privately with Allah, that was if she communed at all.

After finishing the tea Jasmine made her excuses and Khatia found herself alone with Bennie again. She could feel the tension but Bennie seemed to ignore it as she tapped away industriously on her lap top. Finally Khatia could stand it no longer.

“Aren’t you coming to bed?”

Bennie looked up, smiled and folded away her computer.

“I thought you’d never ask”.

“I thought you’d do that. The men always seem to in our family.”

“This is not your family, this is our family. It’s your right to ask and your right to say no; just the same as it’s mine the difference is we honour those rights. No means no and that goes for both of us. At least that’s how I understand it.”
Khatia’s heart melted.

‘God! This girl was good. Thank you Allah for sending such a wonderful companion!’

She gently took Bennie’s hand and pulled her towards the bedroom. In the doorway she encountered a slight resistance by Bennie so she paused and turned to her.

“Are you saying no?”

“No. Are you saying yes?”

“Yes.”

The fell into a long embrace before moving to the bed and gently undressing each other. After finally unclasping Bennie’s bra Khatia reached around and fingered Bennie’s turgid nipples. She recognised the signal and her fingers drifted lower to fetch up against an unexpected hardness. She squeezed her long slender fingers around it.

“Oh gosh! It’s hard! That’s nice, you’re ready this time. Can I see it?”

“If you must but let’s get into bed first.”

“Are you shy Bennie?” Khatia gasped with surprise.

“A bit, yes.”

“Am I the first?”

“Yes; - well the first girl. Jack’s had me many times but I never had him.” Bennie swallowed nervously

.”Well we’re the same then!” Khatia grinned. “You are my first boy; one of my female cousins and I once did it but I’ve never had a boy. We’re really starting this marriage as equals aren’t we?”

Their fears and feelings briefly overtook them and both tasted nervous, salty tears on the other’s cheeks. They were tears of joy that were to bond them for life. That night Bennie and Khatia consummated their engagement.

When Khatia awoke the next morning she was mildly peeved to find her bed and the apartment empty. Then she found a note on the dining table and she realised the time. Bennie had ‘gone to work’.

The note read.

‘You looked so contented and blissfully happy with your hair spread out on the pillow; it seemed a shame to wake you. I’m in the charity shop, see you in Eddie’s for lunch, if you wish; take a cab.’ Love you forever and ever, Bennie.
P.S. You have beautiful hair not to mention a beautiful body and a beautiful face. But most of all you have a beautiful personality. I love you, I love you, I love you!”

Khatia held the note in her hand for long tearful seconds as her heart turned over with joy. ‘Bennie had thought of her; - even left a note explaining exactly where she was and where she could meet her later.’ Nobody had ever shown Khatia that sort of consideration and respect before. Before it had always been ‘you must go there and do this’, - obey, obey, obey! Now somebody had simply explained where they would be and if Khatia wished to meet them she had only to decide for herself. She dried her tears and smiled at MacDoolittle as she fingered the note affectionately while she held it in her hand thinking of the thoughtfulness that Bennie had shown.

‘Of course she would meet Bennie in Eddie’s greasy spoon!’

It was already ten thirty so she made a quick breakfast and realised that for the first time in several months she wasn’t feeling hungry. Yes she wanted something to eat but it wasn’t the desperate gnawing hunger that could force you to eat out of garbage bins and drive you to lose all self respect. Not only had Bennie shown her consideration and respect but she had given Khatia her self-respect back. As she sipped the percolated coffee that Bennie had thoughtfully left on automatic, a tear came to her eye again. She was drying those tears on the hem of her dressing gown, - (dressing gown for heaven’s sake!), when she felt a warm soft silky caress around her legs.

She looked down smiling to see the now familiar shiny black coat and tall upright tail weaving delicately around her calves then MacDoolittle invited himself onto her lap. She sat contentedly stroking him for a full five minutes before reluctantly expelling him by lifting him gently back to the floor. She had to get ready to meet her new partner; - even the word partner had special connotations. Here, now, she was being treated as an equal and the feeling was one of pure joy. She poured herself another cup of coffee, boiled an egg and made a round of toast before showering. At a quarter to twelve she met Bennie at the counter of the charity shop before they went to Eddie’s ‘Greasy spoon’. For the first time since dining in Eddie’s cafe, Khatia did not choose a full English breakfast. Bennie smiled indulgently as Khatia nibbled delicately on a sausage, finished her egg and tomatoes then left her meal only part eaten.

“You’ve come a long way darling,” Bennie observed, “last week that would have been a clean plate.”

For an answer Khatia squeezed Bennie’s hand then kissed her passionately on the lips. This was clear demonstration that she had finally left her cultural strictures about public modesty behind her. From now on she was free to express herself as only she felt.

Thus Khatia found herself living a life of relative luxury and sharing it totally with a soul-mate who utterly complemented her in almost every aspect of their sexualities.

Several months later she told Bennie that she was about to become a father.

“Are you certain; - absolutely positive?” Gasped a delighted Bennie.

Khatia beamed with contentment.

“Yes, pretty much. I saw the doctor today. I’ve missed two periods so I think I’m two months gone but they’ll confirm it on Thursday afternoon. I arranged the scan so you could be there. You do want to don’t you?”
“Well that’s a silly question! Of course I do.”

And so it was confirmed.

Khatia was reckoned to be ten weeks along but the even better news was that she was having twins and it looked like twin girls. Bennie was ecstatic and revealed to her that his family were notorious for twins.

“I wish I could meet them!” Khatia sighed.

“I wish I could meet yours.” Bennie countered.

Khatia’s face paled as fear shadowed her eyes.

“That’s a no-no! If they found out we were engaged that would be enough to justify an honour killing in their twisted minds; - but if they found out I was pregnant as well, I just can’t imagine what evil end they would plan for me. You just can’t believe how murderous and wicked they can be when they think the family name has been dishonoured. They must never, never find out.”

“Then I cannot reveal my family to you, for if they learn of us and our children they will thrust huge expectations on our babies and I do not want that burden on their shoulders.”

“What expectations are those?” Khatia asked nervously.

Bennie reassured her.

“Not yet Khatia, not yet. I must know our children first and so must you before I can tell you the truth.”
Khatia shuddered fearfully as she thought of the inbreeding in her own family. Having polydactile cousins of her own, she just had to know what fears Bennie had about her own children.

“Is there, - is there some sort of inherited flaw in your family? Please tell me my children are healthy!”

Bennie smiled to reassure her.

“Well the doctors seem to think so. Believe me Khatia, when the time is right, we will know soon enough and if they do display the family trait you will not be ashamed or disappointed. It will not disable our daughters."

Khatia sagged with relief and savoured the comfort of MacDoolittle’s affections as the black tom-cat settled comfortably on her lap and seemed to nose knowingly at the exact spot on her tummy. Khatia looked down and smiled at MacDoolittle as Bennie brought her a hot chocolate drink.

“He’s worked it out as well; d’you think he will be jealous?”

“Not if he knows what’s good for him.” Bennie grinned as she settled on the settee beside her beloved partner and lifted her legs onto her lap. Khatia lay back into the cushions and savoured the double dose of attention from Bennie and MacDoolittle.
“Are we going to make them legitimate?” Khatia asked.

“You mean get married; I hope so, d’you want to?”

“It might at least mitigate the punishment that those primitives in my family would see used to kill me, - a faster death for instance.”

“Can it really be that bad?” Bennie wondered aloud.

Khatia nodded despondently then asked Bennie to bring her the new laptop that Bennie had bought her as one of the earliest presents. Bennie obliged and Khatia immediately opened up a website that listed all the known and suspected honour killings that had recently been and were still being perpetrated. She showed Bennie the page causing Bennie to shudder and nod with disappointment. Even with the advent of prosperity and learning world-wide, some primitive cultures still clung to their cruel and oppressive ways. Wahabist Islam was one of those cultures and Bennie was sickened by what she read.

“But Muslims; they’re not all like this,” Bennie countered, “I’ve met dozen’s of good Muslims.”

“Yes, of course,” Khatia agreed, “very few of today’s Muslims have the time for honour killings; sadly there are some who refuse to move forward. My bloody family is one of them. I hate them.”

Bennie nodded sadly and uncomprehendingly as she considered her own family and her own happy childhood.

‘At least she, Bennie loved her mum and dad, she was just too afraid to expose her children to the burden of her father, Beverly’s hopes and ambitions.’

Thus were the couple locked for the present into a life of anonymity and subterfuge. The hardest part was keeping that anonymity when they came to getting married. Bennie found a little church close to the gay village and even contacted the elderly lady pastor who agreed to marry them according to law. Had Bennie but known it, - it was the same pastor who had once married her own father and mother but the lady understood Bennie’s fears once she had secretly expressed them. Khatia’s fears were also fully understood and the pastor once again worked in a secular mode when she helped Khatia change her name by deed poll to make her marriage legal.

Khatia still hadn’t ‘twigged’ that the ‘Bennie Taff’ she was marrying was the same Benjamin Taff of Spaceship building fame. However the most important aspect was that the Pastor did not inform Bennie’s famous parents of their transgendered child’s forthcoming union. The quiet unpublicised ceremony took place one wet midweek morning in the little church close by the gay village with Tarique the chef helping with Islamic aspects of Khatia’s deeply embedded faith whilst simultaneously supporting her when her very being and sexuality came into conflict with the cruel and ungodly strictures that Khatia’s Wahabist family had encumbered her with. The wedding was both an ordeal and a release for Khatia and she found infinite support from Tarique who had also endured similar turmoil because of his homosexuality. Khatia would not have been able to get through it without Tarique’s support for nobody knew better than Tarique the real risks that Khatia was running.

Jasmine, Eddie and Jack Seymour acted as the only witnesses and guests to keep the numbers small and the anonymity secure.
It was exactly as both Khatia and Bennie wanted it.

Khatia carried her babies to full term and after a normal delivery complete with the cries of pain and anger at her horrible husband for putting her through such an ordeal, the babies duly arrived.

It being a private ward, Khatia enjoyed the luxury of some several days pampering before finally returning home to a new house that they had chosen with a view to child-rearing.

The next few years were an idyllic existence for parents and children. Bennie gave up two days work at the Charity shop so that she could devote much more time to ‘mothering’ her children for in her heart and head, Bennie was more woman than man. So indulgent was Bennie that Khatia hardly even needed the services of the two nurse ants who had been hired to help. The only time that Khatia was alone for longer periods was when Bennie made her monthly visit to the board meetings of Taff Spaceships.
Finally the time came for the girls to be schooled. Farina and Francine were enrolled in the local village school just as their parents had been in their own respective childhoods. Bennie felt it was important for the children to keep the common touch and Khatia agreed that two ordinary children in an ordinary village school was one of the best ploys to perpetuate their anonymity. There were to be no pretensions of grandeur. Bennie had long ago learned that anonymity was best maintained amongst
the ‘ordinary’ and ‘mundane’. The twins settled into a typical village school that had no particular aspirations to be anything more than what it was, namely a village school.

In the end however, ‘intelligence will out’, as people in the north of England are want to say. Beverly’s genes had finally carried through. The twins soon showed a devastating mutual gift for mathematics. By the time they were five they had already left their teachers far behind in Mathematics and they were becoming known locally for their amazing abilities.
Khatia was at first amazed and pleased that her beloved twins should have been born with such a wonderful gift but she was often puzzled when the topic came up for discussion amongst their small circle of friends in the village. Bennie just seemed to always be trying to play down the issue until one day, at their daughter’s seventh birthday, Khatia caught her actually declaring that such a gift could be as much a curse as a blessing.

To Khatia who had had to forego her own educational advancement because of the ‘arranged marriage’ expectations and her subsequent running away, Bennie’s observations were anathema. She snapped at her partner.

“How can you say that? Our kids have a gift that will most certainly keep them out of the realms of poverty and guarantee them jobs for life and yet you say it’s a curse. How so?”

She asked this with such venom that it took Bennie aback. Bennie stared at her as her jaw sagged then she took a deep breath and slinked away to avoid any further confrontation. Khatia was having none of it, she felt the issue needed to be addressed, ‘why was her partner so circumspect about their own daughter’s amazing gifts?’

She followed Bennie through the unlit conservatory and out onto the patio wall where the late afternoon, autumnal northern chill was beginning to bite as they sat arguing. In suppressed angry whispers the argument continued at some length until Khatia lost her temper. She challenged Bennie outright.

“Just what is it with you? Why is this wonderful gift such a curse? They are only seven and already they surpass their teachers, even you have a hard time keeping up with them. They will each have their maths A levels by the time they are nine and then who knows, - a degree by the time they’re sixteen. What is wrong with that? Aren’t you proud of your daughters?”
Bennie bit her tongue before finally replying.

“Of course I’m proud of my children, every bit as proud as you. But I know more of this than you do. I was brought up with this anticipation all my life. I can assure you if Farina and Francine carry on as I expect them to do they will have their degrees long before they are sixteen; more probably by the time they are twelve. In this they are following their grandfather. Once their fame becomes known, my father will become curious.”

“Why? Who is this man? Your father, - their grandfather.”

The time had finally arrived. Bennie’s beloved partner would have to know the truth for the facts were beginning to cause a rift. The showdown had arrived. Bennie stared nervously at Khatia who, despite her anger, was still astute enough and sensitive enough to realise something big was about to be revealed. Bennie gently touched her partner on the forearm and invited her to sit on the garden seat under the apple trees in the orchard. In the fading early evening twilight, Bennie looked around to make sure nobody was near then she finally opened up.

“Darling, have you ever heard of the Taff Spaceship foundation, you know, the family who -.”

“Yes, of course I have!” Khatia snorted. “The people who build all the puls and the space ships. They say they’re the richest family in the universe, - they probably are. Who hasn’t heard about them? They’ve got factories all over the universe and that Beverly Taff, well isn’t she some sort of intellectual freak, - brilliant at science and a transvestite? What about them?”
Bennie stared into Khatia’s eyes but Khatia failed to see the connection and Bennie had to explain further.

“Don’t you remember, the fifth child, the one who doesn’t get mentioned? The one who never appears in the press. D’you remember her name?”

“No. He was the weird one; - they say he was a tranny just like his dad.”

Bennie nodded slowly.

“Yes, he was but do you remember his name?”

Khatia knitted her brows as she tried to recall the last child’s name but it escaped her. The boy had literally sunk below the fame horizon, so much so that few people could recall his name. Indeed, Khatia hadn’t read about him for several years. She counted off the names of the other four who were regularly reported in the press

“They were William, Wendy, Jessica and Charlotte and’ — and, - oh I can’t remember. There were some sort of issues with him in college I remember that. The press made some issue about his transgender thing and there were allegations against him from some other students. Something happened in the halls of residence, an assault of some sort and the girls accused him of masquerading as a girl to get into their rooms or something. They say that the family tried to disown him, cut him out and stuff. Nobody knows what happened to him. He’s disappeared.”

There was a long pregnant pause as Khatia tried to fill the silent void. Bennie could almost hear the gears cranking as she waited, patiently to see if Khatia could recall anything else. Slowly the dawning inched its way into Khatia’s brain until she turned and stared with disbelief at her partner.

“Oh my God! Oh no! That was it! His name was Ben, Benjamin. Oh no! No it can’t be! Please tell me it’s not you! You didn’t rape those girls surely!”

Bennie only spoke of the alleged assault.

“I didn’t assault any girls Khatia, you know me well enough by now. D’you think I could harm another girl? One bitch tried to get inside my knickers for a bet. She had made the bet with her stupid jock boyfriend. She tried it one night during a party in the sorority house. She grabbed me and tore at my knickers with her boyfriend helping her while the whole bloody football team were watching. It was nothing short of a sexual assault, - her assault on me! Well you know I am trained to defend myself and so I did. The girl and her boyfriend got hurt, they deserved it! Then the thing blew up out of all proportion.
She claimed I attacked her and her boyfriend just had to support her didn’t he? He couldn’t admit he had been beaten by an effeminate little tranny in front of all his jock team-mates.”

Khatia continued staring uncomprehendingly; - refusing to believe what was being revealed to her. Eventually the silence broke as she responded.

“So it is you. Your name is Bennie, Bennie Taff; you’re that Bennie Taff! — Benjamin Taff!”

“The very same,” Bennie nodded, “and I’m afraid our daughters have got their grandfather’s gift.”

For long moments Khatia stared at Bennie as she tried to make sense of the issues. Then through tearful eyes she asked Bennie.

“So why our children? Why not the other grandchildren?”

Bennie swallowed nervously as she prepared to confess the truth as she understood it.

“I’m afraid to say this but my father and I think there is a hereditary issue. We think the math’s genius is somehow connected to the transgenderism. My dad thinks it’s because we might use our brains like women do, you know, both lobes left and right for cognitive functions. My dad thinks that the cognitive reasoning powers of male logic are doubly enhanced by the ‘two-sided’ female brain utilisation. We enjoy the advantages offered by both feminine and masculine aspects of brain utility.

“So why aren’t you a math’s genius then?” Khatia demanded quite reasonably.

“I just don’t know, maybe the gene skips a generation or something. I just don’t know. I’m good at maths of that you can be assured; much better than my brother and sisters but I’m nowhere near as good as my daddy. She’s in another league but everybody knows that. Nobody has yet managed to understand her maths and more particularly the physics surrounding space warp and time warp navigation. I believe Francine and Farina have the intellect to make that vital step; - they equal their grand-pappy. Our twin daughters have got her gene.”

It was the first time Khatia had ever heard her partner refer to her father Beverly in the feminine and she squinted as she considered the next question.

“Why did you call your dad ‘she’?”

“All of us children do. My Daddy is a woman just like me. You know the deal, inside our heads both daddy and I are women but we don’t want to lose our little boy bits. Come on darling, we’ve chatted about this hundreds of times.”
Khatia nodded unreservedly.

“Yes, I know that. I still don’t understand it fully but I know and accept it. But why d’you call your dad ‘she’?”
Bennie smiled.

“It’s to avoid hurting her whilst avoiding confusion as we grew up. We call dad daddy to differentiate her from mum. As kids we could hardly go around the house calling for mummy when both of our parents were feminine. So to avoid the confusion we called dad daddy and mum, mum or mummy. We still refer to them in the third person feminine. Daddy is just like me, in our heads, we’re both women.”

“But lesbian women because you like girls.” Khatia added.

Bennie nodded without reservation as she grinned.

“Weird or what? A lesbian with a dick!”

Khatia advanced her observations and asked.

“So why are you so reluctant for your father to learn of the girl’s gifts?”

Bennie explained all about her father Beverly’s hopes and desires that the new chief executive would have the same deep understanding of all the secrets of warping, especially the ‘accurate navigation’. The moment Beverly learned of Farina and Francine’s gifts, she would be desperate to induct them onto the board and groom them for executive control. Khatia listened with bemused curiosity until finally she asked.

“But why are you so against it? The girls would be made for life if they became the chief executives.”
Bennie paused and explained further.

“Don’t you see? My daddy would move heaven and earth to get the children into the family fold early, to mould them as she thought fit? I don’t want that. I don’t want our children to be burdened with expectations. I want our girls to grow up happy and balanced. Okay, I know now that they’ll never be normal, but at least let’s give them a decent childhood. Let them be kids as long as they’re old enough to be kids. If the family found out, they might even take legal steps claiming the greater benefit to mankind and the universe. Just remember, nobody so far, in the whole wide universe has equalled what my dad did. It’s an awesome thing and our kids might just be tantamount to the coming of the next messiah, at least in my daddy Beverly’s eyes. She’s desperate to retire.”

Khatia frowned then said.

“But she’s bound to get wind of them. Once their math’s prowess becomes widely known people are even going to approach them with invitations to try and work out the navigation theories even without them knowing they’re Beverly’s children.”
Beverly frowned and sighed impatiently.

“But what about their names? Other people are not going to be as slow as you were on the uptake. Two brilliant twins, both incredible maths geniuses and having the family name ‘Taff’! The girls themselves are going to put two and two together; if that is one certainty they’re going to get right it’s the surname thing.”

Khatia thought long and hard.

“We have to get your daddy on board. We have to get her to understand that the children are ours until they reach their majority. You’ve got to speak to her and she’s got to learn of us, me and the girls.”
Bennie sighed.

“Daddy’s desperate, she’s getting on in years and she thinks she doesn’t have long to live.”

“Why? Is she ill or something?”

“Not to my knowledge. Though I’m beginning to think you may be right. The trouble is once the girls understand about grandparents and things they’re going to also wonder where yours are.”

Khatia frowned thoughtfully.

“I hate to say this darling but they’ve already asked me.”

“What did you say?”

“I told them that my parents were cruel and I ran away. They’ve read enough nursery rhymes and fairy stories to understand about cruel relations. You know; wicked step-mothers and stuff.”

“Have they asked you about mine, they’ve never asked me?”

“Funnily enough no. I suppose it’ll come though and sooner rather than later.”

“You’re going to have to speak to your dad.” Khatia concluded thoughtfully.

The opportunity came to Bennie but a few weeks later when her father turned up unexpectedly in Manchester.