Chapter Six - The Anti-Problem

Jessi had once told herself that she would never turn to this, no matter the circumstances. She was to use the phone and only the phone to summon men, never by other means. Certainly, she was never to take in a man on a whim. But he was just so handsome, a stark contrast to the grey pavement he was running on, she was just so lonely, and before she knew it, the blue haired jogger had snuck his way into the comfort of her bedroom for a different kind of exercise. They woohooed until she could almost feel the small kicks in her stomach.

She never asked for his name.

What was done was done. Jessi figured it couldn't have hurt to have broken another one of the family rules, as she was breaking so many already just by letting Carlos and Julian stay in the home, but she still couldn't help but feel guilty.

Even more embarrassing than her temporarily weak will was when Carlos, who was mulling around in the hallway, caught the obscure man on his way out. Jessi could hear their conversation through the paper thin walls, and a blush creeped across her cheeks. As if the day couldn't get more mortifying, Carlos had to know more about her intimate life.

Apparently, her mystery man was a top scientist at the local laboratory - Jessi reminded herself to never judge a book by its cover - and the two science nerds giggled like schoolgirls in the hallway, talking about the latest discoveries. Jessi had to admit, it killed the afterglow.

At least Carlos was able to convince the man to stay for a little personal testing. Maybe they were getting closer to the mystery of her rapidly aging babies.

Once again, Jessi retreated to her writing office in the glow of pregnancy, and the two men had the house to themselves. Julian took the opportunity to observe the children of the household, keeping true to his promise all the while - he never once interrupted their activities.

This wasn't to say that the kids weren't a little nervous around him, however. Julian's presence seemed to have a way of putting young ones on edge. So much so that Jessi swore that her children had aged up faster than normal as a result of the stress. These had to have been the quickest childhood days she had ever seen as a caregiver.

Unfortunately, just as Jessi had feared, Mars was the first among his brethren to age into a young man. Though his face hadn't changed, his towering height over his brothers and sisters was a giveaway to his status as Young Adult. Regretfully, Jessi was forced to send off her defunct son into the world. Carlos' promise to keep tabs on the man through semi-daily appointments did little to appease her. At least he had developed the Friendly trait, which would possibly balance his Insane and Grumpy tendencies.

Alton was hot on his half-brother's heels, aging into a formidable yet ever silent teenager. His retreats into solitude grew longer as his Genius trait forced him into long bouts with the question of existence and morality. Sometimes, Marine and Neptune forgot that they even had a brother.

And Neptune, while happy to have finally cast off the chains of childhood, found his celebration dampened by...well...

"Mom, when am I gonna age up?"

"Well..." Jessi scratched her head. Neptune, Alton, and Marine were all the same age. It was illogical that she hadn't become a teenager like the rest of them. "Maybe you're just a late bloomer, sweetheart."

Carlos tapped his foot lightly, a silent spectator. "May I speak with you in private, Jessi?"

They retreated into an upstairs bedroom, where Carlos invited her to sit on the bed. She felt strange having a man in her bedroom solely for the purpose of talking and not procreating, especially splayed on the bed in her pajamas. There truly was a first time for everything. And a last. She felt so uncomfortable that she hauled herself up and off of the bed, choosing to instead stare Carlos down. He gulped nervously.

"Now, you must promise not to get mad."

"Not the most promising first words there."

He nervously laughed. "But, uh, seriously."

"No promises."

"Fine, alright, that's fair. Well, a few weeks ago, I ran a few standard tests on the females of the household without your permission. Meaning only Marine, I guess. I don't really know why I said females..." He began to trail off, obviously flushed.

"I thought you said only the girls were at risk. Why would you break your pact with me?" Strangely, even when presented with the news that a stranger had preformed "standard test" on her young daughter, she was complacent. Something about Carlos filled her with a sense of calm. Come to think of it, when Julian and Carlos had found their way onto her doorstep, did she even ask for any proof that they really were who they said they were? Maybe Carlos' inherent charm did a little more to her than instill calm. She silently decided to heighten her senses from that point forward.

"Listen, this isn't a complaint about your parenting style or anything, but I can't help but notice that you tend to miss a few things about your kids. Namely, some more...physical aspects?"

Jessi tapped her fingers on the bedspread. "Go on."

"Marine's injuries. Ever see them?"

"What do you mean? Like, bruises?"

Carlos dug his fingers into his jean pockets. "Exactly. The standard bruise stays on the body from any point in time from two to four weeks. Marine, on the other hand, appears to have bruises that haven't healed since toddlerhood."

"What exactly are you getting at here? That can't be possible."

"And on a normal child, it isn't. But Marine isn't a normal child. With a gestation period of three days, it's not out of the ordinary that something won't develop correctly. My theory is that a recessive gene causing abnormalities in GH has surfaced in you. If something affecting the XY chromosomes in Delilah males can cause rapid growth, why can't something affecting both XX chromosomes in females cause slower growth in females?"

Jessi's head was spinning. She considered herself of a normal intelligence, but science wasn't exactly her forte. High school biology class was an artifact of the past. "What exactly is GH?"

"Growth Hormone. Most obviously involved in the process of growth and perhaps less obviously in the roles of healing injuries. When I tested Marine, not only was I face to face with some of the same bruises I noticed on her as a toddler-"

"You've been testing her since she was a toddler?"

"Well..."

"Just finish your thought. But no more surprise tests, okay?"

"That's fine, okay. Anyway, besides the bruises, I noticed an abysmally low amount of GH in her body. Frankly, I'm not sure how I couldn't have noticed it before. Unless, of course, it wasn't there before. That may explain why she aged around the same time as her siblings when they were younger."

"I think I'm starting to get it. When do you think she'll...?"

"Age up? See, that's the problem. I'm not sure when. And we have to talk about the psychological problems that'll come along with this..."

Psychology now? Jessi was regretting making Psych 101 her self administered study hall in high school.

Carlos cleared his throat, and continued. "I'm afraid that Mars is a child in an adult's body. It could be that he's simply Childish, of course, but I would like to keep an eye on future children and Marine to confirm or dash my suspicions. If it's still okay with you, yeah?"

"It's fine, but..."

Carlos reached out and rubbed the mother's arm, caressing her joints with the touch of a masseuse. Her arms were shockingly soft despite her hours of hard labor, and he felt a jolt of electricity grab at his heart. He wanted to retract but his mind would not let him.

"You're basically telling me that in doing this, my kids run the risk of being forever damaged."

"Well, I..." His words were lost to his train of thought, suspended in the air like an ungodly elephant in the room.

"Then what you're saying is..." She ran her fingers across her stomach, which had slightly enlarged in the time that the two had been talking. "You're saying that this tradition of the Delilah's should be ended immediately. And that my kids were right."

"Sorry, but I lost you on that last sentence, there."

"Lotus was right. This entire Delilah bloodline really is a way for Town Hall to fund luncheons and what not. It's impossible that not a single higher up hasn't heard of the condition affecting Delilah children, even if they do tend to make themselves hidden, especially if it's this well known in the science community. And I've certainly haven't heard anything about it before you two came to the house. Growing up, my mother just figured that any children who aged early were just going through a growth spurt. How her life might of changed had she known different! I can't continue to put my children under this misery."

"I...well, yeah. I hadn't thought about it that way." Had he really been so disconnected from what he thought was his life's work? These were real kids, not statistics!

Jessi once again sat on the bed, the information exhausting her. Her thoughts grew heavy on her mind, and sentiment stirred within her chest. "You know, I always had a dream that I would actually retell my ancestor's story. But in a more psychical sense. Actually rise up with, like, fifteen plus kids and take over town? Get a boat, sail somewhere different, start a new life."

"There's nothing stopping you," Carlos offered.

"I have children to take care of, give or take some unborn ones. I can't just up and leave. And besides, as much as I'm growing to hate the satisfaction the town takes out of it, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoying having this many kids. But if having them dooms them to a miserable life, well..."

Carlos perked up his head, unsure if it was a good idea to say what was on his mind. Ignoring standard protocol, he coughed. "What if I said that it didn't have to?"

"I thought you said that your...place...didn't have a cure. Where exactly do you work again?"

"Science lab slash research facility. Julian's more of the field researcher, whereas I'm sort of a statistics processor. It's sort of complicated what our roles are at times. Anyway."

His look pierced through her, and the room grew cold. He was obviously apprehensive.

"It's called 'testing cheats'."