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Silent Cruiser wheeled Tyler along in the wheelchair provided by the Hospital, guiding him to their new quarters. Trying to take it easy as Tyler was still recovering from his cetacation procedure and was dozing in the chair. He'd been cleared to come home, however, and Cruiser was happy about that. They kept him overnight at the Hospital just to ensure that the procedure was going according to plan. But now, they were together. And that was the important thing.

Tyler and he had been partners in their lab work, and acquaintances, otherwise. He had known that Tyler had been shy to the point that until the day at the beach, they'd rarely spoken as friends. Tyler's embarrassment was adorable to the Phin, but it meant that their relationship was essentially starting out from the beginning. And they had a calf on the way. Cruiser knew many Phin and Humans had come into relationships under similar circumstances, but it was never easy to really come together as a couple while also dealing with the hormones and stress of an incoming child or calf.

But he was determined to be everything Tyler needed and he already knew Tyler was everything he wanted. He was certain that the two of them could manage to become a solidly bound couple before the calf was born. But, if his mother had taught him anything, it was that relationships were work. True meaningful lasting relationships required effort from both parties. Life wasn't a romance novel and two people cohabiting in a single space came with headaches and that was without also being new parents.

Raising a Phin/Human hybrid would be interesting. What Cruiser had found out after the procedure was that it was good that they cetacated when they did. The little one growing within Tyler would be a Phin. While male-female pairings of human and Phin would always produce a human male baby in appearance, male-male pairings of human and Phin could produce a Phin calf in appearance, but in such cases, cetacation was immediately necessary to save the calf from auto-aborting. The four-to-five-week mark was usually when the demifetus would usually express their phenotype, but Tyler's showed the signs for certain.

So, Tyler and he would have a Phinine child. Which would mean that they would most likely be staying on Water Earth. Which would mean that Cruiser would have to introduce Tyler to his family at some point. He wondered how that would happen. And how they could explain their calf, given the NDAs they were both under.

“We should start thinking about names." Tyler spoke up from the wheelchair. His voice still groggy from his dozing. “Normally you guys choose your Human Name as a hobby or favorite pastime when you're in the UC programme, right?"

“Generally yes. And also when your in certain fields, having everyone go by their occupational title gets redundant. Two things tend to happen in those cases: They select a synonym. A doctor may choose to go by healer or medic, for example. Then of course we tend to affix adjectives, also. So, there might be several Healers or Medics in a hospital. So, one Healer may choose to be Sympathetic Healer while the other will choose to go by Watchful Healer. As I understand it, this is similar to the origin of surnames in Human cultures. There might be many Michaels, but one Michael's father may have been James, the other is from the house by the Lake, and yet another was the town's baker's son. Thus, you have Michael Jameson, Michael Lake, and Michael Baker."

“True enough. When speaking Phin, does the same hold True? Are there family names and given names, or are each of you named like you call yourselves in Human Language?"

“Not really. We have our given name and an honorific. And the higher you are socially the more honorifics you'll be given."

As they entered their quarters, another voice added, “That's all true Silent Cruiser, but here at station zero, we tend to have a Phin name and a human name." The voice belonged to a Tikk, a far too-human expression of slight amusement and playfulness lit up his face. Walking up to the wheelchair-bound Human he introduced himself, “Johnathan Michael Cohen or," he then issued a set of Phin words which Tyler didn't understand but would imagine had to be the Phinine name.

Cruiser leaned down and whispered in English, “Endless Speaker." With a slight hint of humor in his voice. Tyler had to contain his own laughter at the name.

“And I'm here representing my great uncle. He honestly wanted to come welcome you to the Station himself, but he's quite busy at the moment." The Phin finished with a very human-like sigh.

“Nice to meet you, Johnathan Michael Cohen. I'm sure you know that I'm Tyler Samson since you know my partner is Silent Cruiser." Tyler greeted grabbing the Finn's hand in marvel at how smooth the skin was, just like Cruiser's.

“So, now that we have ensured the safety of you and your child, we hope that you will not mind taking some classes on motherhood and the Phin language. The classes are not required for your stay here, but I believe they would help both you and Cruiser to figure things out. Human males never evolved for motherhood; motherhood will be difficult for you, Tyler.“

“Striped Gray Caring Healer explained some of the things that we'll need to be aware of." Cruiser said.

“I would still suggest that you take the opportunity. Tyler, how much Phin do you understand?"

“Essentially nothing."

“Then at bare minimum you should take the Phin language class."

“We'll take the classes. Be good to meet people." Tyler said. “How many Phin/Dude couples have been pregnant?"

“Information on that will be provided in the class, so despite what my name may suggest—“ here he gave a knowing smirk to Cruiser, “—I will keep my lips sealed, as the humans would say."