Johan Birch

Polygamy was acceptable, as long as the feelings were mutual and the marriages had been blessed. There was a grey area in Samantha's case, because the soul-yanking event had never, ever, ever happened before. The wagging around that event would be debated for years, probably for a century or more.

Natalie had also pointed out that Samantha had given Jaci her approval to bond with Petra, to 'see if all the pieces still fit' as it were. Since Jaci was Petra's first love and Johan her second, the resulting purity of our marriage could not be called into question.

I found out that there was an actual council that debated these things, albeit on yet another plane of existence. Natalie told me that she had asked said council to come to Plane Terra to advise on these events since I couldn't go to them.

Calleigh, Mathis and Correy were coming to the hospital for support, for both me and Samantha.

Natalie would not explain why Birch Industries had a hospital. It was the first time I was hearing about it, and I was supposed to know about all of the Birch Family holdings in the United States. For some reason they felt like they had to keep things from me.

Petra was at the hospital when my car arrived. I didn't understand the look on her face, and asked her to explain it before I took another step. She said that she was afraid that I was going to choose Samantha over her. I knelt on the ground, pulling her down with me. I explained my feelings for her, all of the things that we had been through together, there was no way that I would choose Samantha over her. She tried to interrupt me, and I put my finger on her lips and told her to shush.

I told her what I had decided on the drive to the hospital. Johan was married to Petra Aslantis-Birch. Samantha had been married to Jaci Stone. Jaci Stone was dead in the eyes of the world, and in the Laws of Man. If for some reason that Petra Aslantis-Birch and Samantha Birch-Stone could agree on the extremely weird fact that both those bodies shared the same soul, we could have the ceremony binding the souls of the three.

The look that I got seemed like one of anger. Petra told me that I was trying to pass the decision to her. I told her that it was her decision to share me as it was in all the old texts. I got the squint that told me that I was holding something back. I told Petra that I was going for all the sex that she would let me have.

Natalie let out a snort, letting Petra and I know that she was still there. She told Petra that I was right, the wife always determined who was the fling and who shared the heart. Gaia had always given that power to the wife, and while our situation was triply unique, Petra was the wife now.

Petra tugged on my hands, letting me know that she wanted to stand, and we did. The doors to the building opened at our approach, Petra leading me to Samantha's room and letting me go just outside.

Samantha was laying on a queen-sized bed. There were no medical machines about, just a white room and a white bed, a Samantha with white hair tucked underneath the covers. When I sat down in a white chair with black cushions, I noticed the wardings on the walls, ceiling, and floor. I could read those spells, and they said that they were keeping Samantha's soul in her body. If she wanted to take her last breath, one only needed to open the door and the soul could eclipse.

"Hi," I said.

"Hey," Samantha replied.

"Hi."

"Who are you?"

"Do you want the truth?" I asked.

"Give me the lie first," Samantha closed her eyes. "Tell me a story."

"Well, my name is Johan Birch. I am a member of the Birch Clan by a shirt-tail, but I have been tasked with running all Birch Industries interests in the Americas, now known as Birch America. Birch America also has a sister company, it's called Birch Research, Development and Production. Some have taken to calling it 'Birch RDaP.'"

"You sound like a busy man, Johan Birch," Samantha said, eyes still closed.

"I have been busy," I admitted. "My companies are doing good things."

"You help gaia," Samantha murmured. "I can feel that, all around me. The wardings, they keep negative energy out, but they do not filter out positive energy flowing in."

"That is something I love to do," I offered.

Samantha made a show of sniffing the air. "You smell of blood, Johan Birch."

"Blood is something that I have had to give in my quest."

"Yes, that is something I understand," Samantha sighed. "Men have been giving their blood in quests for centuries."

Was that some sort of challenge? "Samantha, I assure you that my quest is pure."

The door opened behind me. "Johan?" Yvonne Birch asked.

"Close the door, Yvonne," I ordered.

Yvonne closed the door, and I saw a little smirk on Samantha's lips. "They still fear you."

Still?

"The Birch Sisters are..."

"My sisters are afraid of you, Johan," Samantha opened her eyes and looked at me. "I am afraid of you. I don't feel you. When Yvonne opened that door, I could feel everyone on the other side of that warding, but when she closed it, I could feel nothing. You are what mortals call talent-negative."

"Samantha, I am not sure what class I fall into. I bleed, but I don't bleed much. I can be healed by magic, but magic in general doesn't affect me."

"Have they tried cutting off your head?" Samantha asked with a slight chuckle.

"To be honest, I used to wish for that." I heard a thump on the door, that had to be Petra. "But not anymore. Not...any...more."

"I'm glad," Samantha closed her eyes. "So, you must have a pretty big family, Johan. I can safely assume that."

Jaci has a bigger one.

"Yes, I do. Nineteen children." Nora and Jane had pushed us past the unlucky thirteen by having theirs at exactly the same time in the same room. Fourteen boys, five girls, I was blessed.

"I have only carried five children," Samantha sniffled. "And one of my babies gave her life in my defense."

My counter had to be swift. "As bad as that sounds, Samantha, the three that remain are just outside the door."

"I don't want them to see me like this, Johan. I feel so weak!"

She was falling, I had to catch her. I stood up and put my hands on her shoulders. "You are not weak, Samantha. You have lived life!!!"

"I wish I could have lived it better, Johan. My wife, Jaci? She lived life, she loved life. Did anyone tell you that she was The Gardener? Goddess, she planted flowers in the middle of the desert and they thrived! She was a goddess amongst the supposed gods!"

She was getting hysterical. "Samantha, you know that there are no gods." I gave an audibly male chuckle. "There are only goddesses."

A pause. "Yes, you're right. Gaia is the goddess, she is mother earth."

My test. "But even she doesn't have all the answers."

There was another bang on the door. "No, she doesn't," Samantha agreed. "They don't like you, Johan. You don't sugar-coat the truth."

"There are times for lies," I admitted.

A dilation wave dropped as Harriet appeared. "Johan, you need to tell her," Harriet demanded.

"My wife already knows, Harriet," I said. "Meddler."

"Yes, Jaci, I knew," Samantha opened her eyes. "Your body is different, but I see. The voice is different, but I hear."

"Samantha, Jaci exists no more," I warned.

"So many know of you," Samantha shook her head.

"Nobody else," I said.

"I don't like this," Harriet huffed. "This is not the way things are supposed to be!"

"Harriet, really, who the Mylthea are you?" I asked. Mylthea was the plane of existence that was supposed to be Hell for mortals, but only immortals could survive the trip. Petra had told me that all souls met at The Wall. I couldn't understand the ambiguity, so I had left it alone.

"My name is Harriet Thatcher, and I am what you will call a....Temporal Mechanic."

Will call.Neat.Future imperfect.

"Don't you think that the non-squeaky wheel needs no grease?" I asked Harriet.

"This present doesn't have a future," Harriet growled.

"Let it play out," I said. "Will you take an order from me?"

There was no answer. Harriet vanished and the dilation wave went with her.

Neater.

"Johan, did I just admit that I know of your subterfuge?" Samantha asked.

Not subterfuge.She asked me to tell the lie first.

"Yes, you did," I answered.

"Nineteen children," Samantha sighed. "How long has it been?"

"Almost five years," I admitted.

"Two hundred thirty-five years for me. Petra, your first love? You told me that she only went for the bears?" Samantha was half-looking at me because of her time-bent stupor. "She went for you."

"Sammie..."

"Johan, it is all right. I told Jaci to go for Petra, to see if all the parts still fit. Goddess, they did! Nineteen children!"

"Sammie," I sighed.

"Johan," Samantha smiled. "You did well, extremely well! More than I could have ever hoped for when I set foot on Fontalan."

Hysteria again. "Samantha. Stop," I ordered. "You know the rules."

"What do you command, Johan?"

"I ask you to wait, to think, to process the new information," I said. "The door will remain open," I looked over my shoulder. "My order."

A moment passed, then a minute. Then there were two knocks at the door before it opened. Whoever opened it had brought a wedge to hold it open. "They are scared of you, Johan," Samantha whispered.

"They'd better be," I whispered back. "Think upon what I said, that's an order. I tried to take the easy way out once, you know that."

"I know," Samantha sighed.

"Then I am going to go home and get some sleep," I grunted.

"Have some fucking first," Samantha giggled. She knew that Jaci Stone couldn't have a good sleep unless she had some good fucking. By extension, Johan Birch couldn't have a good sleep without a good fucking, either.

***

Slap!

I opened my eyes, Petra was straddling me, getting ready for another slap. "What the fuck, Petra?" I asked.

"You've been sleeping for four days, Johan," Petra rolled off the bed.

"It must have been something magical at the hospital," I offered. "I didn't take this nap intentionally, my body demanded it."

Petra leaned over me, studying my eyes. "Yes, that little bitch Harriet Thatcher caused this fucking shit."

"Language, my wife," I prodded.

"Whatever. You have a flight to attend. In three hours you need to be on your way to Auckland in that carbon tube you call an aircraft. Mortals, mold collectors that you are, need to fly everywhere. A film production that you invested in requires your attention, your friend Joe wants you to look over the sets."

"Of course," I sighed. As much as I hated the words 'Of Course,' I still had to use them. The term 'mold collectors' was something new, and I could not ascertain where it had originated. "Let me grab my clothes."

"Your wife would like to see you before you go," Petra said.

I got out of bed, legs a little wobbly from being immobile for so long. "That was a quick decision."

"I had a couple of weeks to think about it. I told Natalie to give me the key to Fontalan, and she did. She also gave me the skinny on that date you two had."

"Petra..."

Petra took my face in her hands. "Sweetie, if any of the Birch sisters want to get frisky, go ahead and bone them. That's an order."

"Shit, Petra. You're taking this 'wife is boss' thing a little too serious, aren't you?"

"What?" Petra smiled, giving me a kiss before she let go of my face. "You told me that you want all the sex I would let you have and now you are turning it down?"

"You caught that, huh? I still have a company to run, so don't schedule all my time, okay?"

"I'll schedule anything I want, including your in-flight entertainment."

"Petra, you can't have sex in a plane for a flight that long, it will stink up the cabin!"

She gave me a scowl in return. "The movies that I scheduled are related to the movie set you are going to look over. Men! Always with sex on their minds!"

Yeah, not going to win that one.

***

While I had seen all of Joe's new movies, I really hadn't had a chance to watch most of his old ones. I liked the ones with fast planes and another with fast cars, but I couldn't stomach the one with the renegade General with nerve gas and went on to the next one.

The assistant that Petra had asked to come along with me on the flight, admitted that she didn't like that movie much, either. Karol was one of my assistants-with-benefits that wasn't a magician. That was a good idea, because sorcerers liked to mess around with aircraft carrying magicians, even if it were just some lowly novice on board.

Toward the end of the long-ass flight, Karol got pouty because I wouldn't get into her panties. There wasn't really a reason to not have sex with her now, we were only forty-five minutes out from the airport. I gave her a fake sigh and let her tug me to the back of the plane.

Joe had a car waiting for us at the airport. It wasn't really a car, but a shiny Range Rover. The fact that it was an all-terrain vehicle told me that we were going somewhere remote.

The site where they were doing the filming wasn't really that remote, it was just that his budget had taken a hit and he needed some help. Evidently one of his people had broken her leg on a hike and he was being forced to recast her part and reshoot some scenes.

Because his budget had taken that hit, he couldn't afford to hire a puddle jumper to fly me out. When he tried to get all apologetic, I admitted that the ride had shown me some beautiful scenery and I hadn't minded at all. Joe gave me the customary tour of the site before he made his plea for additional funding. I had told him the first time we met that all he had to do was ask. I did attach a proviso to that, telling him that any screening that he invited me and Petra to attend better have popcorn.

The first time that Johan had encountered Joseph Bruckberg was when Janine Olsen was selling Jaci Stone's production company. He was there to ask me if I was going to call in the notes that he owed. I had promised him then that I would hold the notes and told him to keep making good movies. Over a private dinner, he gave me the rundown on the movie he was currently producing. At the beginning of the dinner, I had called him Joseph, by the end of desert he asked me to call him 'Joe.'

Joe, happy as a clam that he was going to finish his movie insisted that I join him and some of his cast for a dinner. I told him that I didn't want to get all fancied up, and he explained that it would be a buffet. I was glad to have a close-up meeting with the cast and senior members of the crew. When Joseph popped away from the table to take a call, Leigh Landreau took his spot across the table from me. "Hello, Mister Birch."

"Hello, Missus Landreau," I countered. "How is your mother?"

"Irritated."

Leigh's mother, Morena Waskiowski, didn't really like Johan Birch. Beside the fact that I was a big hairy burly male, I was also associated with The Birch Clan.

At some point Morena had realized that we would have to negotiate a deal between our respective companies as well as us as people. She had called bullshit when I told her my secret, so I grudgingly called Joshua to tell her that no, I wasn't bullshitting her. As business partners we would communicate through our respective staffers, which wasn't a problem. As clans, I would have to keep as much distance as possible from her people. That reason was simple: Too many horny wicca.

As a result, Leigh, Chastity and Johan had never gotten acquainted. That was just fine with me, although it did hurt to see them with Jaci's children and not be able to hold them. Leigh and I knew of each other because of the condos that she had gifted to Jaci Stone. When the condos had been put up for sale, Leigh had been out of the country, missing her chance to have the view back.

Leigh had made overtures to purchase the condos at a higher price from Petra, but nothing had happened. When I finally broached the subject with Petra, she told me that she had to shut Leigh down because she was getting too aggressive about the purchase. Leigh said that she had gifted those condos to Jaci Stone and they should have been returned to her when Jaci had been declared 'missing with no hope for return.' That particular declaration had triggered a legal agreement between Jaci, Marci, and Janine for control of Jaci's properties.

"It was nice of you to come and help Joseph with the financing. One can't help but wonder why this couldn't have been done from your offices in Los Angeles."

"Joe wanted me to come and see his work in progress. This isn't the first time I've come to see one of his projects."

"Joseph tells me that you don't watch many movies," Leigh prodded.

I had to shut her down. "I don't get much of a chance to watch anything but the financial news. Being head of a multinational corporation kind of limits my free time."

"I'm sure. I suppose that all of your 'assistants,' like Nora over there, occupy a lot of your time as well."

If Nora was here, that meant that Petra wasn't far behind. "Yes, they do."

"So how are you two getting along?" Joseph had approached from behind Leigh, actually surprising her.

"About as well as can be expected," I shrugged. "Pleasant, but not too pleasant."

"Well, at least she isn't clawing your eyes out." Joseph went to retake his spot, Leigh sliding down the bench to get out of his way.

"It's okay, I know some good healers, I mean doctors," I said.

The 'healers' was a jab, but before she could counter, Leigh looked up and behind me. Petra was here. "Got room for one more?" She gave my shoulders a pat.

I tugged her to sit on my right, so she didn't have a direct line of sight to Leigh. "Right here, babe."

"You two didn't come down together?" Joseph asked.

"My travel agent booked me on a separate flight," Petra answered.

Travel agent.That was worth a snort.

Petra picked a piece of meat off my plate and popped it into her mouth.

"It's nice to have you with us as well, Missus Birch," Joseph said. He met my eyes and I gave him a shake of the head to warn him. "Did you get set up in your hotel okay?"

"My goddess yes! The view is so marvelous, and the forest behind is so magical!"

Joseph had been looking at Petra, so he didn't see Leigh do her little eye-roll. "Joe, how about you introduce me to some of the co-stars?"

"Sure."

Joseph and I got up from the table at the same time, but I let him get a few steps ahead so I could talk to the two of them in semi-privacy. "You two need to find a nice time slip and get these differences worked out. That's a fucking order!"

Leigh did her little fish-gape, like she was trying to figure out how I could talk to her like that. "We will, husband," Petra promised.

"Good." I gave the table a slap and went off to Joseph.

When Joseph and I had finished talking he asked me to follow him into a sound booth, closing the door behind us. "Johan, this thing between Leigh and the two of you, I can tell that it is deep and personal. I hope that it doesn't interfere with my work, because I can't have moody, distracted actresses on the set, and there's also a cash factor attached. What gives?"

"It's deep, all right," I admitted. "And believe it or not, Jaci Stone is the focal point of it all."

"How so?" Joseph asked.

"You've seen Petra's daughter, Aysun, and the children Leigh and Chastity have been toting around and doting on?"

"Who hasn't? Stephanie calls that shade of red 'Devil's Kiss' because it is so unique."

"And of course you remember Jaci's hair," I prodded.

Joseph got a thoughtful look on his face. "Jaci was really knocking them up, wasn't she? That can't be the cause of the current problems, Aysun is in her thirties?"