Three of my women were still missing.
On the way we had to pick up Isabella from the Celestial Grand Hotel, and she didnât come alone.
Maya stepped out behind her â short, stacked, and looking so impossibly cute in whatever outfit sheâd thrown together that my brain did that familiar short-circuit where it tried to reconcile how something so adorably innocent could look so devastatingly innocent and
fuckable
at the same time.
Isabella climbed in first. Skirt still criminally short, heels still sky-high, that unmistakable post-Peter glow clinging to her skin like sheâd been thoroughly wrecked and wanted the whole world to know it that she was a Goddess now thanks to my Seed.
She swept her gaze across the vanâs luxurious interior, raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow, and declared
"acceptable"
before claiming a seat near the middle with the effortless confidence of a woman whose standards had skyrocketed the moment I started spoiling her.
Maya stood at the vanâs entrance, eyes sweeping the interior, and I could see the hesitation building behind her glasses â the quiet girlâs instinct to shrink, to find a corner, to make herself small.
"Maya!"
Genevieve waved from her seat, arm up, grinning wide, calling the short girl over like theyâd known each other for years instead of days.
"Over here, cutie! Come sit!"
Maya beamed and the feeling of being lost vanished like it had never existed. She moved toward Genevieve with the relieved energy of someone who had just spotted a familiar face in a foreign country, and the hesitation was gone before she made it three steps down the aisle.
Genevieve and Maya had bonded through a wall. Through the sounds of Isabella getting fucked, a shared bowl of grapes and that bond â was already stronger than most friendships built over years.
Emma and Sarah looked at each other. Emma shrugged. We used to play with Maya when we were young, which meant my two sisters knew her well enough, but theyâd never been real friends â just a few greetings and surface-level small talk. Nothing deeper.
They waved to her as she passed. Maya smiled and waved back â small, polite.
Eziel made space between herself and Genevieve, patting the seat, and Maya settled into the sandwich of two older women who immediately took ownership of her like she was a puppy theyâd just adopted.
"So,"
Eziel said, turning to Maya with the smile like sheâd identified something interesting and was about to make it everyoneâs business,
"youâre Genevieveâs friend. She never mentioned theâ"
Maya blushed crimson and gently pushed Ezielâs hand away as it drifted toward her chest with casual curiosity. The two older women burst out laughing â full, warm, zero malice â and started playing with Mayaâs hair, tucking strands behind her ears, fussing over her like aunts who had just met their favorite niece.
"Can I be your friend too?" Eziel asked, still grinning.
Genevieveâs eyes narrowed. "Are you also after Mayaâs secret?"
"What secret?"
Emma and Isabella said at the exact same time from opposite ends of the van, both heads snapping toward the conversation with synchronized nosiness.
Isabella had never seen her daughter receive this much attention from my women this quickly and the expression on her face of pride mixing with protectiveness mixing with the dawning realization that Maya was being absorbed into the haremâs social structure at a speed she hadnât anticipated.
Her daughter.
Being welcomed by her boyfriendâs other women. The layers would have broken a therapist.
I laughed watching the whole harem pivot toward one short girl like flowers turning toward the sun and pulled Madison and Mom closer against me, settling deeper into my seat.
This was going to be good.
"Donât tell me you donât see it," Eziel said, gesturing at Maya with both hands like she was presenting evidence to a jury. "Amongst everyone here â and I love all of you, truly â Maya is the most
well-endowed
inâ"
"Honey," I cut in, trying to prevent combustion, because Maya had gone from crimson to a shade of red I didnât think human skin could produce and was approximately three seconds from dissolving into the seat cushion, "youâre making her shy. Maya doesnât like being the center of attention."
"Says the
stepdaddy,"
Anastasia said without looking up from her Quantum Watch projections.
Sheâd claimed the seat with the most space â the back corner where she could project a bigger screen and have room for her typing interface â and she was deep in whatever biotech research ARIA had her running today, fingers dancing across holographic keys with the focused intensity of a woman who hadnât fully surfaced from work mode since she started learning with the Eyelens.
Since ARIA had built her the biotech wing, Anastasia hadnât really had time to do anything without folding her work into it â eating while reading papers, joining our orgies before she ran back to her work.
"What a protective father you are."
She said it completely straight. Deadpan. Didnât even realize.
Every single one of them lost it â Madisonâs mixing with Margaretâs wheeze from the massage chair, Celesteâs musical cackle rising above it all, Charlotte shaking her head while her shoulders betrayed her completely.
Even Maria, still processing the sheer volume of women in this vehicle and the easy, chaotic dynamics between them, let out a short surprised laugh she immediately tried to disguise as a cough.
Luna stirred beside her â woken by the eruption, headphones half-off, blinking sleepily â and Maria put a gentle hand on her daughterâs arm, whispering something that made Luna smile softly and close her eyes again.
Anastasia looked up from her screen, blinked, reviewed what sheâd just said, and her face went through the rapid realization sequence of a genius who had accidentally made a joke she didnât know was a joke.
"I didnât meanâthat wasnâtâI was being literal, heâs literally her
stepâ"
"Too late," Emma said.
"Itâs canon now.
Stepdaddy."
"I will end you, Emma."
"Get in line."
Maya was welcomed far better than usual after that. The teasing about her chest had broken the ice so thoroughly it might as well have been dynamite.
My women passed her between them like a treasure theyâd all decided to claim, each one complimenting something different, each one making her feel like the most unique person in the vehicle.
By the time sheâd been hugged by her motherâs fourth harem sister sheâd stopped blushing and started laughing, the quiet girl finally finding her a place she might for once fit forever.