Tess, the woman with Chimerism, is waiting outside the building when we get back. She is also very inebriated and quite angry at me.

"I fucking hate you!" She shouts in a loud slur as soon as she spots me. "You ruined my life." Cyril and his team rush forward to deal with her but I wave them off.

"I'm sorry, Sir, she just showed up." Cyril apologizes with a deep bow. "She was just staring at the building like everyone else has been." There have been a large string of lookie-loos throughout the day, so I don't blame them for not noticing one person amongst the crowd.

"It's alright. I know her." I turn to the woman who is trying to glare at me, at least she would be if her eyes didn't keep going out of focus. "Tess, I going to sober you up so we can talk."

"No! I hate you." When she opens her mouth I flick a bead of healing sap inside and use it to bypass her extra-strong interference, so I can clear the alcohol out of her blood. "Damn you, I don't want to be sober."

"And, I don't want to deal with a drunk." I say and head inside beckoning for her to follow. "Look, Tess, I'm sorry for the way I explained things; I shouldn't have used the terms sister or twin to describe your condition. I am not a professional healer, and seeing in-person something that I'd only ever read about threw off my already poor bedside manner."

"I don't want your fucking apology." She spits at me, literally.

"Then what do you want?" I turn to face her with a sigh once we get inside, cleansing her spittle away with a thought. "I told you before that you are the same person that you have always been. I can't change your fate any more than I can go back to explain things in a way that didn't upset you."

"Arrrgh!" She lets out a shout and starts pummeling my chest, making me have to wave Cyril off again. "Damn you! Why did you have to be there that day? Why did I have to see you? Couldn't you have just healed me without opening your fucking mouth!?!"

"I wish I had." I say while enduring her blows. "I could have handled that a lot better, and while I can't change the past. I can make amends going forward. If you'll let me, I promise to help you get through this. Whatever it takes."

"Can you..." She trails off, still thumping my chest lightly as though she can't stop herself. "Everyone is saying how powerful you are... So, can't you..." She can't quite bring herself to say it, but I know what she wants to ask.

"Even if I could. Which I can't." I lift her chin to stare her straight in the eyes. "It would just be an empty shell. You don't actually have a twin, so there would be no mind, no soul to inhabit the body."

"There has to be something I can do for her though." The poor confused woman sags in place and I have to materialize a chair for her to sit in before she collapses. "I stole her very chance at life."

"Do you think that maybe she sacrificed herself to let you live? Maybe the only way for either of you to survive was for your cells to come together and form a single whole body." I'm talking out my ass here, but sometimes people just need a pleasant story they can tell themselves. "If you want to do something for her, then live. Honor that sacrifice."

"I hate you." She smacks me again as I kneel down next to her. "I know that you're just bullshitting me." She sniffs but does start looking a little better.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." I counter. "There have only ever been a handful of Chimeric individuals ever discovered, so no one actually knows what causes it. Certainly not me; I'm just some idiot with a few skills in nature magic."

"Well, you got the idiot part right, at least." Tess huffs and finally stops hitting me.

"He is one, isn't he?" Amelia grinds her knuckles into the top of my head. "Making a girl cry; what were you thinking? I'm Amelia, by the way, and I'm sorry about Sorrel. He tends to get a little carried away when he discovers something he finds interesting."

"Sorry, Babe. Sorry, Tess." Tess snorts when I duck my head meekly.

"It's not your fault." She says to Amelia. "I've never met a man who isn't an idiot in one way or another. And, I'm sorry for coming here like this; I... well, I haven't exactly been sober since I found out. I just couldn't deal with any of it. And, I'm blaming you for that too." Tess points an accusing finger at me. " 'Here's some life-changing news, have a drink.' "

"You didn't? Sorrel, you jackass!" Amelia smacks me on the arm, hard. "Come on, Tess, let's get you cleaned up. And, get some real food in you." She adds when the girl's stomach complains, loudly.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Okay." Tess nods and lets Amelia and Apricot tow her off to our office and its private bathroom. "Gods, what is this place?" I hear her breathe out once she finally becomes aware of her surroundings.

"And, here I thought he had just gotten her pregnant or something." Toni says, a bit louder than I think she meant to, once my girls and Tess are out of sight. This draws a short round of nervous laughter from the guards.

"If only it were that simple." I shake my head with a sigh. "The poor girl started out as twins that somehow fused together in the womb. And, I made a complete mess out of explaining that when she came to the healing fair. It was just a curiosity I'd read about before, I never expected to run into someone with the condition."

"I have a feeling that working for you is going to be very interesting." Hughes says with a laugh that the others soon join in on.

"Let's hope not." I sigh. "So, where's Gen? Did his family rush him off to celebrate right away?"

"Oh, his mom is probably still crying." Toni replies with a smile. "She broke down as soon as she saw him walking and kept it up until I snuck away. I'm sure they will come by once she finally gets a hold of herself."

"That's fine." I return her smile. "Now, I should probably get back to work; I have enough of it." I add with a sigh.

"Speaking of." The girls walk back out with Tess. "Tess her said that she may have gotten into a shouting match with her old boss yesterday." Amelia says with a disapproving frown for me. "So, meet our new receptionist."

"Welcome aboard." I'm fine with hiring Tess as it will give me a chance to keep an eye on her, and we needed a receptionist anyways. "I was planning to turn part of the warehouse in the back into the daycare center and then maybe do a bit of gardening. And, I know it's probably a bit late to say this, but we should probably look into acquiring the neighboring lots."

"Heh!" A smug smile slips onto her lips. "I already bought the lots directly behind and to the right of us in a square. They just need a few more days to move everything."

"You're the best merchant ever." I chortle just thinking about what those poor people must have thought watching this building go up. "Now, I can put in a playground for the kids, a training gym for Cyril's team, and still have a garden area for our people to just relax in."

"Is he always like this?" Tess doesn't even bother to lower her voice when asking that of Amelia.

"I like to make stuff." I reply. "The past couple of days have been rather tedious; it's nice to use my magic for something creative. Now, what sort of theme should the daycare have? I'm torn between enchanted forest and an undersea playroom."

"We already know you can do plants." Apricot snorts. "I want to see the sea."

"Alright, I can carry that theme out to the playground too." I nod, already thinking up designs. "I'll make a bunch of oversized seashells and stick them together into a castle surrounded by a seashell village for the kids to climb over and play in."

As for the inside of the daycare, I start by painting the ceiling to give it that dappled sunlight seen through the waves look. I plan to play around with enchantments and fiber-optics to make it look even more realistic, but that will have to wait.

The walls go from light to dark in gradient with several golden shafts of sunlight raining down on a tropical coral reef on most of the room. One corner of the room though has a tall kelp forest soaking up the sunlight. In this corner, I build a shipwreck to serve as a nursery/nap room.

For the floor, I make a thick, sand-colored carpet. The furniture is all sea-themed too, with small chairs and tables made to resemble everything from shells, and fish, to coral fans, sea stars, jellies, seahorses, and everything else I could think of. Including one large table made from solid quartz to look like waves crashing together.

A whole host of toys comes next, mostly plush tropical fish. These all need someplace to live, of course. So, I make and hang several large hammocks meant just for toy storage. Though, I'm sure the kids will play in them too.

"Now I think I'm ready to tackle that elevator." I say with an approving nod for the decor.

"So..." Stan draws the word out. "You were holding back with the apartments, just a bit."

"Man, now I want to have kids just so I bring them here." Fawne laughs while squeezing a plush shark.

"Oh, we're going to need a policy for maternity leaves." And probably a million other things too. "I don't suppose Larendath already has guidelines?"

"Nothing official." Amelia answers. "Most women just tend to quit until the baby is old enough. Some employers will give them time off, but it all depends."

"Well, that's not good enough." I shake my head with a disappointed sigh. "How does twenty weeks at half pay sound? I think that was pretty standard back home. Oh, we really a general manager for all this policy stuff. You've got to talk to your friends again, I'd like to have someone we already know and trust in the position."

"It sounds like we're going to have a lot of pregnant women working for us." Amelia laughs.

"Mhm." I frown "Let's say they have to work for us for at least that long before it goes into effect. That should lessen the chance of someone abusing the system. I don't suppose paid time off is a thing around here, is it? Oh, well, it is now. People will always come before profits, as much as that might pain your cute little merchant heart." I tease.

"Oh, shut up." She smacks me on the arm.

"Okay, I still don't like you." Tess announces. "But, I like you a hell of a lot more than my last boss. I don't suppose any more of those apartments they mentioned are available."

"Upstairs." I point straight up. "Just make sure it hasn't already been claimed. They still need a bit of work, but I'm hoping to get most of that done today. Now, I don't suppose anyone here knows how to build a lift, do they?" I ask, already knowing the answer. "Worked with gears and pulleys? No? Nothing?"

"Sorry boss." Toni laughs. "We're more of the hit stuff until it stops working type of people."

"Oh, well." I sigh again. "I'll figure something out."

***