Baby Baby

By
Lady MoonHawke



 Baby, I'm so glad you're mine
 And ever since the day you put my heart in motion
 Baby I realize that there's just no getting over you.
"Baby, Baby" - Amy Grant


David RunningHorse pushed open the back door to his parents’ house, the door everyone used, and entered the kitchen.  To his surprise, it was almost empty.  His mother, Lisa, stood by the counter grinding nuts, from the sound of her mortar and pestle.

“O Siyo, e tsi,” he greeted her.

“O Siyo, Atsila Kala.”  She hugged him after her set down his luggage.

“Where is everyone?”  David asked, switching to English.

“They knew you were coming and ran away,” Lisa teased him gently.  “You know them,” she replied more seriously.  “Out and about.  They’ll be back once they smell of food starts to circulate.”

“Is Adry out?”  He started rummaging through his bag.  “I had a layover in Paradise City, so I wandered over to the Ivory Center, and I saw something...I swear, Mom, I could see it on her.”  He fished out a scrap of satiny gold fabric adorned with lace.  “Can’t you just see it?”

“I’ll leave those delights to you.”  She stepped away from the counter and caught her son’s arm.  “David, something is going on with Adryanna.”

His face darkened. “What to you mean?”

“She’s lost interest in the studies we were working on, she doesn’t keep breakfast down, and she’s lethargic in the afternoon.  She’s really looked unwell the last few days.  She walked into town today, came home and went straight up to bed.”

“Do you know what’s wrong with her?” he asked.

“I have an idea,” she said.  “But she’s been so quiet lately.  I may be able to do something to help, but she has to talk to me first.  Go and see if she won’t tell you what’s going on.”

He nodded and headed for the stairs, but she called to him and tossed him the gold lingerie from where he’d left it.  “I’d take it along.  She might be in the mood to feel pretty.”


David raised his hand to knock, then paused before he touched the door.  It seemed strange, to knock on his own door, but rude to just walk in and disturb her if she was sleeping.  Finally, he just tapped gently and walked in, closing the door softly behind him.

She woke when the door opened, blinking a few times and smiling when she saw him.  She raised herself up to rest on an elbow and pushed her loose hair out of her face.  “Hi.  I missed you,”

He crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed facing her.  “I missed you, too.”  He leaned over and kissed her gently.  “I brought you a present.”  He held out the gold nighty.

Her smile widened.  “Oh, David, it’s beautiful!”  She studied him from under lowered eyelids.  “Want me to try it on?  I’m sure it will look wonderful on the floor.”

He smiled at the thought, then pushed it aside.  “In a little bit.  Mom says you don’t feel good.  What’s up with that?”

She sat up against the headboard and scooted over, patting the space she had just vacated.  “Have a seat and I’ll tell you the whole story.”

He slipped his shoes off and sat down beside her.  “Okay.  I’m sitting.”

“Okay.  Monday, I was feeling pretty miserable.  I’d found my planner in a box of stuff my mother sent, and I realized that the cardinal was due Wednesday and would be hanging around this weekend, plus my stomach had been all messed up and I was feeling so tired.  Then I realized that he’d skipped his visit in June, and I’d just chalked it up to everything being so crazy and tense for a while.  Then when Thursday rolled around, and I was still feeling so awful, and no cardinal…. David, we never talked about it, but I’m like, atomic-clock regular.  So I walked over to the Cherokee Health clinic today.  You know what’s funny?  On Earth, it would be like, the last place to get funding, and the place that needs it most, right?  Here, it’s got all the modern gadgets.  Everything’s up-to-date in Cherokee City.  Makes you wonder why everyone doesn’t pack up and move here.”  She sensed his growing irritation with her tale and moved on hastily.  “Anyway, they looked me over six ways from Sunday, then gave me this.”  She leaned over and picked up a post-card sized paper from the nightstand and handed it to him.  “It’s official and everything, I had them check twice.”

He read it aloud. “Adryanna M. RunningHorse.  HCG beta count: 205,000 Result: positive.  Okay.  I’m lost.”

She turned and tossed a leg across him, straddling his lap, and rested her forehead against his.  “I’m pregnant, silly.  We’re having a baby.”

He stared at her for long silent minutes, until she started to chew her bottom lip in anxiety.  He reached up and pulled her lip out from between her teeth.  “Hey, no.  None of that.”

She dropped her eyes.  “I’m sorry.  I thought you’d be happy…”  Her breath started to hitch, and tears filled her eyes.

“I AM happy, love.  I am beyond happy.  There isn’t a word for how good I feel right now.”  He tilted her face up and wiped away the tears that were starting to fall.  “Hey, no crying.  No being sad.  Bad for the baby.”  He lifted the edge of the t-shirt she wore; one of his, printed “Property of New Eden Military” and addressed her navel.  ‘Hey, you in there.  You be good.  Don’t give your Mommy any grief, or you’ll tangle with me.”

Adry went from crying to laughing.  Then she sobered.  “I’m going to be someone’s Mommy.”

He kissed her forehead.  “And you’re going to be the best Mommy that kid ever saw.  You’ll be the mom every kid wishes he could have.  All his friends will think you’re too cool to really be someone’s mom.”

She lifted an eyebrow.  “Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself?  I could have a girl. The firstborn in my mother’s family has always been a girl for years.”

“Doesn’t mean you still won’t be the coolest mom in the neighborhood.”  They could hear voices gathering in the kitchen below.  “Hey, I have some more good news.  Want to surprise everyone with everything at once?”

“What is it?” she asked.

“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

She peeled her shirt off and set to work on the buttons on his.  “I could seduce it out of you…”

He leaned forward, letting her push the shirt down.  “You could try. But I’ve been trained to resist all kinds of torture.  You’d have to try very hard.”

She tilted them to the side, then rolled so she was beneath him.  “I’d try very hard.  I bet I could come up with something no one ever thought of before.”

“You do that.”  Then he sat back on his heels abruptly.  “Wait.  This doesn’t hurt the baby, right?”

She laughed.  “I checked.  It’s fine.  Besides, I was pregnant last weekend, and you were a lot more forceful.”

He wiggled out of his slacks.  “Great.  Then I am going to…  Darn it.”

“What?”

“I was thinking how great it would be to make love to my pregnant wife for the first time, and here you’ve been pregnant almost the whole time.”

She laughed.  “So do it again.  No one’s counting.”

“That’s what you think.”


The family was gathering for dinner in the kitchen when David and Adry appeared in the kitchen.  There were theatric gasps and Nathan rubbed his eyes dramatically.

“What’s this I see?  David and Adry, not sitting in a tree?  Miracles will never cease.”

“Your miracle will cease in short order if you don’t shut up,” David said with an evil smile.

Lisa shot them both looks.  “You’re joining us, then?” she asked, pulling plates from the cupboard.

“Yep.  We have news.”  David leaned back against the counter and pulled Adry in front of him, wrapping his arms around her from behind.  “Adry and I are having a baby.”

There was a moment of silence, then a crash of voices as she was advised to sit down, to lie down, to chain herself to the bed for the foreseeable future.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lisa said in a clear voice.  She handed a pile of plates to Adryanna.  “Set those around, dear.  And none of you coddle her, you especially,” she said, poking David in the arm.  “She’s perfectly fine.  But you might reconsider horseback riding for a little while, just for a few weeks.”

She smirked as she laid the plates around.  “Funny.  That’s what got me into this situation.”

Lisa sighed and shot her smirking husband a look.  “Wrong riding, dear.  Wrong riding.”

Adry affected an innocent look and turned to David.  “I don’t think I was doing it wrong.  David, was I doing it wrong?”

He nearly choked on his iced tea.  “I don’t think so.  I have no complaints.”

There was general snickering until Adry shot back, “No, just lots of directions.”  Then the laughter turned into outright guffaws.

Nathan blushed as red as his tanned face would allow.  “Oh, God.  Mom, make them stop talking about it in front of me.”

Lisa stood at the end of the table, arms akimbo.  “If anyone in this house is unaware of where babies come from, then I have woefully under-educated you.”

“I know about it,” Nathan muttered.  “I just don’t want to hear about it.”

Melissa smirked. “We’ve all heard about it…repeatedly.”  She hoisted her glass of tea.  “Congratulations!”

The other’s quickly raised their glasses in a toast as well and drank.  “Okay,” Michael, Sr. said, setting down his glass.  “Who remembers where we put the board after… was it Jessica or Jennie?  They were so close together.”

“We did it at the same time,” Lisa reminded him, pulling the affectionately named ‘Baby Pool’ board from the pantry.  In black dry-erase marker, she wrote “David and Adry #1,” then turned it around.  “Okay, guys.  Standard buy-in.  $5 bets, and we’ll start with date, sex and number.  Adry, what month are you due?”

“March.  And the doctor said-“

David covered her mouth quickly.  “No, no.  Don’t give anything else away.  It spoils the fun.”

She turned her head away from his hand.  “Can I tell you that they’re holding a spot open for me tomorrow if I want to have my initial exam?  They could have done it today, but I thought you’d like to be there.  First ultra-sound.”

“That’s fine with me. But make sure they can transfer your records.”

“Why?”

“That’s the other surprise.  I am being transferred, effective Monday morning, to Wild Hunt AFB, commensurate with my promotion to flight instructor for the new Phoenix Fleet.”

She turned in his arms to face him  “You’re kidding, right?  Isn’t that like, really close?”

“If Cherokee were here,” he said, kissing the outside corner of her right eye, “and Navaho were here,” he kissed the left side of her nose, “Wild Hunt would be...Well, I’d run out of face.”  He kissed her lips instead.  “But it’s a couple of hours away by Mag-Lev.  I have to leave very early Monday morning to check in, instead of Sunday night.”

“Come sit down for dinner,” Lisa instructed in her ‘no arguments’ voice before they could go any further.

David helped her over the bench, then sat next to her.  “And I put us on the housing list already.  I can update the requirements Monday when I arrive.”

It was Adry’s turn to choke on her tea.  “Housing?  You mean I can move out there with you?”

“Glory, halleluiah!”  Nathan shouted, and Lisa smacked him on the back of the head before David could reach around behind Melissa.

Elizabeth looked across at her youngest brother.  “You know, Nathan, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes when you get married.  I imagine there will be a number of tasteless comments and nasty jokes all aimed at you.  I certainly hope your wife has a sense of humor at least as good as Adryanna’s.”  She shifted her gaze to them.  “I hope you are both very happy, and if you need anything, feel free to ask me.”

David smiled at her gratefully.  “Thanks, Sis.  That means a lot to me.”

“Feel free to take any or all of them,” Lisa said lightly.  “Maybe Nathan would benefit from a change of scene.”

Adry laughed as she spooned potatoes onto her plate.  “Ha.  We couldn’t guarantee you’d get him back in one piece if you weren’t there to pull on the leashes and keep David from going for his throat.”

Lisa watched her daughter-in-law load her plate with concern.  “Adry, how’s your stomach?”

Adry looked down at her plate and laughed.  “I guess I’m hungry.  Much better, to be honest.  I felt so awful all week.  Even when I could keep stuff down, it didn’t taste good.  Now everything smells delicious.”  She dipped a forkful of potatoes into her gravy and tried them.  “Mmmm…wonderful. I may live on these for the next 8 months.  You can just ship them out to me.”

“Better yet, I’ll teach you to make them yourself,” Lisa offered.  She watched Adryanna steadily pack away more food in that sitting than she’d eaten in a week.  “Adry, you’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t slow down.”

Adryanna shrugged.  “I feel fine.  Like I could eat for days.  Anyway, you always say I’m too thin.”

Michael, Sr. smiled indulgently.  “Let her be, Lisa.  If she says she feels fine, she probably does.  You nearly emptied the refrigerator with Jessica and James.”

“I knew I was having twins.  Are you sure you feel all right?  Rejecting everything you ate will hurt a great deal.”

She spread butter on a slice of bread and nibbled at the edges.  “Not a tidbit is stirring.  Not even a little bit.  I just feel like eating for once.  Funny, ‘cause I usually don’t.”

“It’s true, Mom,” Michael, Jr. said.  “She usually picks at her food like she’d eat it if she could.”

Adryanna reminded herself sharply not to snap back at all the comments about her behavior.  They only watched her because they cared, she reminded herself.  It was so odd getting used to all the attention, though.

“May I remind you that 90% of the time you have known her, she’s been pregnant, whether we knew it or not.  The only one who knows Adry’s normal habits is Adry.”

David felt Adryanna flinch next to him and stood up.  “Thank you all for the fascinating review of my wife’s habits, but I’ve heard enough.  Can we please talk about something else?”

“Who wants pie?” Lisa SilverWing asked, standing up and starting to clear.  Adry stood up to help her, but the younger Lisa waved her back.  “Sit, you.  One slice or two?”

It was on the tip of her tongue, but she resisted.  “One.  Just in case.”


Adryanna pressed the back of her fork into the last piece of peach-flavored crust and then put it into her mouth, drawing the fork out slowly.  “Mmmmm… maybe the potatoes and pie.  And gravy.  And some chicken. Oh, heck.  I’ll take all of it.  But not right now.  Right now, I am full.  And if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be back to help clean up in a minute.

“Is it your stomach?” Lisa asked.

”Nope.  But it feels like someone is sitting on my bladder.  I’ll be right back.”


She returned to the kitchen to find herself alone with Melissa, who was stacking dishes in the sink.  “You want to wash?” David’s sister asked.  “Mom thinks you shouldn’t be stretching to put away.”

“Probably thinks I’ll throw up again.”  But she dutifully took her place in front of the sink, sitting on the stool Melissa dragged over.  “If I weren’t so tired, I’d kick all of y’all’s asses, you know?”

Melissa laughed and handed her a sponge.  “You’d try.  I know that much.  You could stop David in his tracks if you took off your shirt.  Nathan, too.”

“What is with Nathan anyway?  Does he not like me and just show it funny?”

Melissa laughed again.  “I think he likes you a little too much.  He’s jealous that David gets you all to himself.  So he makes childish jokes, but together you guys make him a little squeamish.  Plus he’s afraid of being the world’s oldest virgin.”

Adry set the sponge down.  “Get out of town!  You mean…?”

“Not that I know of.  And I’m sure you’ve noticed that stuff in this family gets around.”

“Ho, yeah.”  She started washing again.  “Now, some of my relatives, they would say to take care of him myself and kill two birds with one stone.  He’d be over me and rid of the annoying unicorn-bait status.”

“Seriously?”  Melissa asked.

“My relatives have some complicated morals, and motivations make all the difference.  It would be an act of charity, almost like a favor for my husband.  And then, theoretically, Nathan would owe David a favor back.”

“Wow!  You guys must not do a lot of favors for each other.  It’s like a way of life out here.  Everyone owes someone for something, so you just stop counting.”

“It’s one of the reasons I left.  Along with being sold like cattle to the highest bidder.  But there’s more trading that you’d think.  Dad borrowed some help from my uncle in exchange for naming his first son Jareth.  He should have been Steven.”  She handed Melissa another plate.  “What about you guys?  Any naming traditions I should know?”

“Are you kidding?  With two sets of Michaels and Lisas, you have to ask?”  She took another clean plate.  “I had an Uncle Steve, but he died in the War against the Demon Clan.”

“That’s so sad.  No one close to me has died.”  She reached out and rapped on the table.

“He was Dad’s younger brother.  Everyone said Zan was in love with him, but I don’t know.  I was too young to remember him.”

“Does David?”

“Maybe.  He’s ten years older than me.  Anyway, it doesn’t really matter because she is 100% in love with Will, even though she tries to hide it.”

Adry looked around.  “Well, that’s done.  And where did David disappear to?”

“He was going to make an offering of thanks, then meet Dad and the boys in the sweat lodge for another lecture on manly virtues.”

Adry frowned.  “I didn’t think the sweat lodge was part of Cherokee culture.”

“It’s not, really,” Melissa told her, “but there’s so little left compared to what we had, so we import some of the traditions of others, and they import ours.  And what does it matter who tells the stories, so long as there is someone to listen.  And each child born to us is a slap in the face to those who tried to exterminate us,”

“Even though it was almost 200 years ago on another planet?”

“Even though,” Melissa agreed.  “But you know all this stuff, right?  You talked about it where you grew up?”

Adry shook her head.  “I was pretty isolated, between my father and my uncles.”

“You should really look sometime.  Look at my father, especially, and yourself.  I think you’re one of us, whether you know it or not.  Look, your dad’s Fae, right?  Don’t worry about us knowing.  Mom’s mixed up in it somehow.  What about your mother?  Where’s she from?”

“Montana,” Adry replied promptly.  “No, wait, that’s not right.  She grew up in Montana.  She was born in Texas.  My grandmother was born and raised in San Antonio.”

“And your grandfather?”

“He was from Montana.  We thought it was Frostbite Falls, but it turns out it was a little town balled Busby.  I got interested a few years back, after I met David.”

“That’s in the Northern Cheyenne Reservation,” Melissa said knowingly.  “You ought to track it down some more if you run out of stuff to do.”

“That doesn’t seem likely for the next several months.”

“Nope.  That it doesn’t.”  She looked out the window into the night.  “Looks like they’re about done.  If you hurry, you may be able to beat David upstairs, and surprise him.  I heard he brought you a nifty present.  Bet he'd like that.”

Adry lifted an eyebrow.  “You think?” she asked sarcastically.

“Well, beautiful women don’t do much for me, but I wouldn’t kick a cute guy out of my bed.”

“Sing it, sister.”  Adry hopped off the stool.  “Well, I’m going up to bed.  G’Night, Melissa.”

“’Night, Adry.  Sleep well, assuming you sleep at all.”

“I’ll think about it.”


David sat in the chair next to the examining table holding Adryanna’s hand as she stared at the ceiling, feet in the air and a drape covering her from the waist down.

“Just a little pinch now,” the doctor said, and she winced slightly.  “All over.  Let me put the end back up and you can relax.  Just another minute and we’ll get to the best part.”

“There’s a good part?” Adry murmured.  “I hate Pap smears.”

David squeezed her hand in sympathy.  It was still slightly unreal, that he was sitting in the doctor’s office, seeing his wife poked and prodded and relieved of what had seemed like a quart of blood.

“We’ll be right back with the sonogram machine,” the nurse said reassuringly.  “You two just stay right there.”

“I’m not leaving without my clothes,” Adry said once the door had closed.

“I don’t know,” David replied.  “You’ve done it before.”  He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.  “How are you holding up?”

“Well, I usually do more than shake hands with someone before they get so personal.  And that damned thing was cold again.  I swear they keep them in the freezer.”

“My poor baby.”

“Your baby is fine,” she snapped.  ‘I’m the one being treated like a side of beef.”  She sighed.  ‘I’m sorry, David.  I’m just so tired, and I’m starting to feel more like a project than a person.”

He leaned over and kissed her.  “I love you.  You’re amazing.”

She laughed.  “I’d bet money your father told you to say that.”

“He has plenty of advice on the subject, that much is true.”  He kissed the back of her hand.  “It will get better soon, I promise.”

The door opened, and the doctor and nurse reappeared, this time rolling in a machine covered in dials and switches and sporting a large monitor.  The nurse plugged it in then set about rearranging Adryanna’s drape and gown to bare her midsection.  The doctor settled himself on his stool next to the machine.

“We’d normally use the vaginal wand at this point,” the doctor explained, ”but since you are in such excellent shape, I think we’ll skip it altogether.”

Adry sighed in relief, and David whispered, “See?  I told you.  Better already.”

Instead the doctor squeezed gel onto her abdomen, and she squealed a little. “It’s cold.”

“Sorry about that.  Ginny, find the bottle warmer, in case we need more.”  The nurse nodded and left, while the doctor flipped some switches.  “Here we go.  Get ready to see your baby.”

Adry squeezed David’s hand and turned her head to face the screen.   It was a dizzying wedge of gray and black, with a gray blob in the center.  The blob grew larger and the doctor magnified the image, until the blob took shape and filled the screen.  Adry tilted her head up, trying to comprehend what she saw.

“That’s the baby?”  she asked.

The doctor flipped a switch, and the screen changed form gray to red.  “In living color.  You can see the heart beating.”  He pointed to a rhythmic flutter near the center.  “Here’s the head.  It will be more in proportion later.  There are the arms.  You can almost see the fingers forming.  The legs are tucked up a little, but they’re there.”  He left the transducer in place, letting them enjoy the view.

One of the arms twitched spasmodically, and Adry gasped.  “Why didn’t I feel that?”

“You won’t be feeling anything for another 8 weeks, at least.  How were your symptoms this morning?  You complained yesterday of vomiting.”

“Lisa finds the subject intensely fascinating.  But I was much better. I had a full meal last night, and I ate lightly this morning.  No problems.  I was a little dizzy when I got up, though.”

“That’s completely normal.  Take your time getting up, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”  He printed off some pictures.  “Here you go.  Souvenirs.”  He shut off the machine and turned the lights back on.  “You can go ahead and get dressed now.  I’d like to see you again in 4 weeks.”

“We’re moving down to Wild Hunt,” David said.

“This month?” the doctor asked and David nodded.

“I report Monday morning.  We’re already on the housing list.”

“Well, make sure you ask them to request your records.  Should save you having to go through all this again.”  He made a note and closed the folder.  “All right, then.  Good luck to you both.”  He shook their hands and left.

Adry continued to stare at the grainy images.  “Hello, baby.”

“He’s waving at you.”  David smiled.

“You’re just not going to believe it’s a girl until you see with your own eyes, are you?”

“I have a feeling.  Get dressed.  I’m taking you out to celebrate.”


They were on the Mag-Lev to New Ziveu before it occurred to Adryanna to ask David any questions.  “Where are we going, by the way?”

He wrapped an arm around her and hugged her.  “We, my love, are going to Paradise City, where we will shop, have dinner somewhere very nice, and stay over at a lovely hotel.  Then, in the morning, we will shop for anything else you may still want, and catch an early afternoon train to Huntington to let Zan in on the good news.  Then, Monday morning, I will regretfully kiss you good-bye before you wake up.”

“I like it all except for the last part.”  She leaned against him, snuggling happily.  “Why do you fly planes, David?  There’s plenty of work at the ranch.  Your parents could use you.”

“I love to fly, and I have yet to figure out how to make the horses defy gravity.  If I could do that, I’d never leave.”

She smiled, drifting off.  “You mean you’d never come down.  I can, you know.  Fly, I mean.  And I wouldn’t come down if you weren’t there.”

He chuckled.  “I love you, too.”


Their train was on a continuing trip to Paradise City, so he let her sleep until they pulled into the station.  Then he helped across the platform and out into the sunny city street.

Adryanna hadn’t seen the City on her last short trip to New Eden, and she looked around in wonder.  “It’s so beautiful.  Like St. Petersburg or Moscow, but somehow cheerier.”

“Not as many problems.  You feel up to a bit of a walk, or do you want to take a carriage?”

“Oh, let’s walk.  I feel fine, and it’s a beautiful day.  What are we shopping for?”

He escorted her down the street.  “Whatever pleases you.  Military housing comes with really basic furniture.  My mother’s piled up quite a few odds and ends that she’ll want to send us off with, but I want you to buy whatever you like.”

She chewed her lip a moment, the stopped quickly when she saw him watching.  “David, my father gave us quite a bit of money as a wedding present.  Would you mind if I spent some of that instead of blazing through your money?”

“I can live with it.  He told me he left you something for whatever you wanted.  But anything for the baby, I get to pay for.  Nursery furniture, clothes, whatever.  Okay?”

“Good enough.”  They entered the Ivory Center near the food court, and Adry’s eyes opened wide.  “Oh, David, buy me lunch first.  I’m starving.”

He laughed.  “I’m going to hear that a lot the next few months.  Whatever the lady wants, the lady gets.”


Adryanna stood in the hotel’s bathroom, rubbing aromatic lotion into her arms.  She glanced at the half-open door, then cleared her throat.  “You know, I should e-mail my parents tomorrow when we get home.  Here we’ve known for more than a day about the baby, and they have no clue.  And I should have Dad come out and do something for me, while I’m thinking about it.”

“What?”

“Family thing.  See if she has the potential for gifts.  It’s harmless, but sort of necessary.  If I don’t ask Dad, Uncle O. could put his foot down and insist that he do it himself, and I’m not in much of a mood to see him yet.”

“It wasn’t in the deal you made?”

“Would you believe I completely forgot?  I was so not thinking of children right then, and Uncle J. never gives an inch more than he has to.  Anyway, it’s only this time.  Next time, I’ll be able to do it myself.”

“Next time?” he squawked.

“Yeah.  I wasn’t thinking of stopping at one.  Why, were you?”  She hung her head around the edge of the door to see him sitting on the bed, propped against the headboard.  He’d shed most of his clothes, and she took the opportunity to admire his long legs and torso, her view only interrupted by a pair of boxer shorts.

“No.  I just…  Your family is small, compared to mine.  I thought the idea of a lot of kids would have you running for the hills.”

“Nah.”  She drew back into the bathroom and adjusted her short robe, adding a last minute decoration from a small bag.  “I like kids.  So, I have a confession to make.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.  While you went to that hardware store, and I was just sitting on the bench, you remember?”

“Yes…”

“I wasn’t just resting.  I saw something, and I wanted to surprise you.”

“I saw the extra bag, love.  I can count, you know.”  He glanced over at the half-open door.  “So do I get to see this surprise?”

“Of course.”  She pulled the door all the way open and stood in the doorway.

David stood and crossed the room in a distance-eating stride, joining her.  She wore a short, cream-colored kimono-style robe, belted closed, and she’d affixed a red Christmas bow to the front, right where the two sides came together.  She was taller than normal, too, and he looked down, taking in her golden-tanned legs and the very high-heeled shoes she wore.  It put her within an inch of his own height, a very convenient kissing height, and he took advantage of it.  “So,” he asked at last, toying with the ends of her sash, “do I get to open my present, or do I have to wait ‘til Christmas?”

She stepped back and laughed, bending double.  “Honey, I’m not going to FIT in this at Christmas.  You’d better take the chance when you’ve got it.”

He looped his fingers through the bow and urged her out into the room, closer to the bed.  “C’mere, you.  I want to see the present I’m unwrapping.”   He pulled the end of the sash and the knot fell out.  The robe fell open, revealing a matching short chemise.  He slid the robe off her shoulders, going behind her to take in the view.  The back plunged low, almost as low as the dress she wore at Christmas.  He tossed the robe into a chair and let his hands rest on the flare of her hips, thumbs rubbing slow circles in her lower back.  “Do I get to compromise you this time?”

“You can certainly try.”  She turned and wound her arms around his neck, neatly pulling one foot out of her mule and wrapping her leg around his.  “Happy Baby Day.”

“Very Happy Baby Day.”

To: ASLandon@SLInd.com
From: AMRH@Cherokee.ne.net
Re: Weekly news

Dear Mom,

Everything’s good here.  Miss you, Dad and the boys, but I’m not lonely or bored.  There’s always plenty to do and people to talk to.  Lisa’s been teaching me about Wicca.  Certainly very interesting.

Much good news.  David has been promoted.  Now training pilots to fly new class of plane.  Remind me NOT to introduce him to Uncle Mike.  We’d never see either of them again.  New job comes with transfer to base on southern edge of Plains.  Two hours by Mag-Lav. Whoo-hoo!
Best news:  We’re expecting a baby in March.  Have attached ultra-sound prints.  Dr. says everything A-Ok.  Felt awful all week.  Much better now.

Moving to base soon.  Will send you new address as soon as I have it.  Ask dad if he can come and have a ‘look.’  Really looking forward to rubbing Uncle O’s face in it.

Much love and many kisses all around.

Adry RH (<-I just love that :))

“Okay.  Show me the crust again?” Adry asked, drying her hands on a towel.

Lisa chuckled.  “Michael Jr. and Nathan both out of the house, and you want another pie for dinner?”  She tossed a number of apples into a bowl and handed it to Adry along with a paring knife.  “You start on those.  If David ever finishes with his brothers, they’ll be starving by the time they get home.  Your husband does not cook beyond the very basics.”

“Me either,“ Adry confessed.  “And my mother doesn’t cook at all.  Her biggest accomplishment was boiling water for corn once.  So one of us has to learn how, and I don’t think it’s in those training manuals David’s reading.”  She set to work peeling apples with ease while watching Lisa mix piecrust from memory.  “You never measure.  How am I going to know it’s right if I don’t have measurements?”  The green skins slipped in long curls under her fingers.

“You never watch while you peel an apple.  And I’ve never once seen you so much as nick your finger.  How do you do it?”

Adry shrugged.  “Okay.  So it’s practice.  But I need something to practice on.”

“I’ll write you out some basic measurements,” Lisa conceded.  “But you may have to adjust them.  Some days it’s too wet, some too dry.  Mix with your hands.  Never be afraid to touch what you’re cooking.”

Adry laughed. “I’ll remember that the next time you scald milk.”  She set down the last of the apples as Lisa dug into the piecrust dough.  “Do you want me to slice them, too?”

“Please, then throw in some sugar and-“  There was a noise in the other room, and she looked up.  “That’s strange.”

“What was that?”  In the 6 weeks Adry had lived with her in-laws, she was sure she hadn’t heard every sound in the ranch house.  But she was equally sure that the sound they had just heard was not normal.

“The front door-bell.”  Lisa regarded her crust-covered hands with annoyance.  “Would you get it, dear?  I’m a mess.  Whoever it is, they’re probably lost.”

“No kidding.  No one uses the front door.”  She hopped off the stool and headed for the living room, wiping the apple juice from her hands as she went.  Dropping the towel on a side table, she reached out to open the door.

There was a tall figure on the front porch, wearing a black leather duster.  She could see little of his face under the equally black Stetson pulled down low.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

His head tilted up.  “Hello. Princess.”

She squealed in delight.  “Oncle! Come on in!”  She reached out and pushed the screen open so he could enter.

“You’re quite sure?  Oberon’s still smarting over that little trick you played on him.”

“You are welcome in my home, Jareth, King of the Goblins.  Now get in here and talk to me.”  She grabbed his hand and pulled him in.  “I’m learning to make pie crust.”  She dragged him toward the kitchen.  “What are you doing here?”

“Doing a favor for your father.  Your parents are both regretfully up to their necks in business, and couldn’t get away in short order.  Oberon is sure to hear of your… state, before then.  And most hearty congratulations, from myself and your aunt.”  He pecked her on the forehead.   “You’re a very good girl.”

“I still don’t see how it reflects on my behavior, aside from the obvious, but thank you.”  She dragged the rest of the way into the kitchen.  “Lisa, look who it is!  Oncle, my mother-in-law, Lisa RunningHorse.  Lisa, my uncle, Jareth Landon.”

Lisa looked at him cautiously.  “Which one are you again?”

“Ah, the one in favor of champagne and rice, dear lady.  Though at this point, the latter seems unnecessary and the former ill-advised.”

Lisa chuckled.  “Okay.  Nice to see you again.”  She offered her hand, then remembered it was covered in pie dough.  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Not to worry.  Sit down, Princess.  What are you doing standing about in your condition?”

She laughed but sat anyway.  “I’ll have you know, Oncle , that my condition is absolutely fine.  I just tired a little more easily.”

“It’s a blessing in disguise,” Lisa said, and Adry blushed faintly.  “Everyone here knows how hard she and David worked for this.”

“Lisa!  God, it’s bad enough when Nathan makes jokes.  I can’t make you run and hide, too.”

Jareth patted her on the head.  “Don’t be ashamed of yourself, Princess.  I told you.  You’re a very good girl.”

“David seems to appreciate it when I’m not,” she sassed back.

Lisa tried not to choke.  “What brings you out here, Mr. Landon?  Business, or just a social call?”

“Family business.  I own my brother Steven a favor, though it’s hardly an imposition on my part.”  He accepted the glass of ice tea she held out.  “Thank you.”

“Since when do you owe Dad a favor, Oncle?  You would have brought it up ages ago, trying to get out of it.”

“I will owe your father a significant debt for the rest of my life, assuming he keeps asking me for things I would do anyway.  Your father didn’t mention.  When are you due?”

“March.  I’m not allowed to tell the day.  They have a big pool going.”

“You just think about it, then, and I’ll pick it up.”  He rested a hand gently on the top of her head.  “Mm-hmm.  I might have known,” he said after a moment.  “Well, you certainly didn’t waste any time, did you?  I think we’ll manage, though.  Where would you like to do this?”

“I should lie down, right?”

“You should be relaxed.  And since you’re not very far along, I think a large field to work with would help.  Madam, may we borrow your living room?  You’re welcome to observe, if you like.”

“It’s Lisa, and please, help yourself.  May I ask what you plan to do?”

“Off you go, Princess.  Lie down and get comfy.  We’ll be along in a minute.”  She rose obediently and left.

“You have her well trained,” Lisa noted with a hint of displeasure.

“I had to.  From the time she came to live with me, Adryanna showed more will and capacity for the gifts than any other halfling I have ever seen, including my own children, and their talents are not inconsiderable.  She had to learn, from Day 1, that I was the final authority.  It simply became an ingrained habit.”  He studied her carefully.  “We know about you, as well.  There are some that think her marriage should be dissolved no matter what.  But she has been given the opportunity to prove herself in this match.  If there is any spark of talent in this child, she will have won the battle.”

“But not the war?”

He chuckled, and it was a cold sound.  “Never the war.  We just move on to the next playing field.  Regardless of what you may believe, I am on her side.  But I can feel the power building somewhere, and I don’t want her hurt by it, or your son.  I trust we can agree on that?”

Lisa nodded silently.

“Good.  Put on a happy face.  She has several cousins in much more obvious power positions.  It’s more than likely one of them, but I watch what’s mine.”

“I watch what’s mine, as well.”

“Then we’re agreed.  Good.  Come and watch.  You won’t see anything, but I think you will feel something amazing.”


“Well, you two certainly took your time,” Adry said when the appeared.  “What were you doing, Oncle, trying to get her pie crust recipe?  Don’t bother, Lisa.  He doesn’t cook anymore than the rest of us.”

“If I desire dessert, I can certainly arrange for it easier than playing patty-cake in the flour.”

“More the pity for you,” Lisa said.  “There’s a great deal of satisfaction in creating something from what seems like very little.”

“Should I ever find the time, you will have to teach me, dear lady.  I would be your willing pupil.”  He gestured to Adryanna, where she reclined on a sofa.  “Scoot over, Princess.  Give your poor old uncle a corner.”  He sat down next to her.  “Let’s have a look, then.”  He peered into her eyes for a moment.  “Open your mouth, please.  Say ahh.”

“Ahhh-  What are you doing, Oncle?  This isn’t a medical clinic.” 

“So it isn’t.  Humor me.”  He picked up her arms and felt her pulse.  “Tell me about David.  Why isn’t he here?”

“He works, Oncle.  People do that, you know.”  She craned her head to look at Lisa.  “He’s really not a doctor.  I don’t know what he thinks he’s playing at here.”

“And what does David do that tears him away from your side?”  He rested a hand on her forehead.

Her voice was softer.  “He flies planes.  Big planes, little planes, planes like birds.  He flew in on a big bird to save me.”

“Is that how it happened?” His hand moved down to her abdomen.

“Yeah.  I asked Old Auntie to come get me, and she brought David on a big bird.  I told him I can fly, but I don’t think he believes me.  I’ll have to show him later.”

Jareth chuckled.  “You just think about that for a while, and be quiet.  I’m trying to listen.”  He was silent for a moment, then spoke in a low voice, almost to himself.  “Well, hello there. Aren’t you curious?  And what if I just…?  Ahh...Excellent.  Good for you.”  He moved his hand, patting her arm.  “Wake up, Princess.”

Adry blinked, and her eyes cleared.  “Well?”

“Do you want to know what it is?”

“No.  Just good news or… other news.”

“Good news, I think.  Your baby is very healthy, and rather curious for this stage.  And though the potential isn’t what you or I are used to, I’d say there’s a fair amount of power behind it.”  He leaned over and kissed her forehead.  “Oberon’s not going to be at all happy.  I think I’ll tell him myself.  You be careful.  And be patient.  I have a feeling that baby has a schedule all its own.”  He stood and walked over to Lisa and kissed her hand.  “Thank you, dear lady, for the hospitality.  I look forward to seeing you again, but I must go.”

“You won’t stay for dinner?”

“No, thank you though.  Another time, perhaps.”

She walked with him to the door.  “Sure.  And feel free to use the back door.  Everyone does.”

“Ahh, but then you wouldn’t know it was me.  And my niece knows how I like to make an entrance.  Be a good girl,” he called to Adryanna.

“Too late.”

“I know, but I felt obliged to try.  Farewell, dear lady, until we meet again.”

Lisa shut the door behind him.  “Well, that was something new.”  She had heard the baby’s half-formed thoughts, felt it reaching out to bat away the gentle nudge of power.  “Are you okay?”

“I feel fine, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to just lie here a while and think.”

“That’s fine with me. I’ll call you for dinner.”  With that, Lisa retreated into the kitchen.

It’s going to be okay, Adry thought, closing her eyes for a moment.  That was the last thing to worry about, and it’s fine.  Everything’s going to be fine.


“Just a few more steps,” David said, leading her along.  Adry reached up and touched the cloth he’d tied carefully over her eyes.

“Do I have to wear this?”

“Just for a few more minutes, okay?  It’s not a surprise if you get to see it in bits and pieces.” He led her a few more steps, then stopped and turned her a quarter turn to the right.  “Okay.  Reach out and feel what’s in front of you, carefully.  Waist high.”

She reached out, carefully, as he suggested, and felt smooth painted wood under her fingers.  She traced the outlines, feeling sharp inclines and declines, with small flat mesas on top.  They seemed to be nailed to a horizontal bar, and she let the picture form in her mind.  “Oh, it can’t be,” she said softly.

“Yes.  Your own picket fence.  I thought you might like that.  But no looking just yet.”  She heard the sound of a gate latch opening.  “Forward now, about five steps, then stop.”

She walked forward carefully.  “Just tell me, is the fence white?”

“Of course.  Is there any other color?”  He stepped up behind her, and she felt him loosen the knot behind her head.  “Okay.  Here we go.”  He pulled the cloth away.  “Welcome home, baby.”

Adryanna blinked a few times as her eyes readjusted to the bright sunlight.  Then she saw the house and forgot to breath for a moment.

It was white, with deep blue trim.  There were three distinct levels, one over the other, and the level with the front door beside them, centered between the other two in height.  She could just see the top of a chimney near the back corner of the two-story section, and solar panels gleamed on the highest part of the roof.  A stone footpath curved gently through the enclosed yard to the front door.

She sucked in a deep breath.  “I can’t believe how perfect it is.”

He hugged her from behind.  “I went back three times to get that trim paint right.  It had to be as blue as your eyes.  Close enough?”

“Oh, David.  I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”  She sighed happily.  “So are you going to carry me?”

“You think I should?”

“It is traditional.”

“Okay.  If you say so.”  He tightened his grip around her lower ribs and lifted her off her feet, carrying her forward.

She squirmed in her arms.  “Wait, stop.  Not like this.  Carry me nicely.”

He set her down.  “Wait.  Why am I doing this again?”

She sighed in exasperation.  “Good luck, remember?  You carry me so I don’t trip or use the wrong foot or something.”

“Well, I don’t know if I like that.  I have no objection to carrying you anywhere you wish to go, but I’m not going to do it to imply that you have suddenly turned stupid or clumsy.”

“Then carry me across the threshold because I want you to.  Please?”

He kissed her temple.  “That, I will do.”  He shifted his grip and lifted her more traditionally.  “You have to get the door, though.  This is a team effort, right?”

“Right.  It is unlocked, yes?”

“Actually, no.  Hold on tight.”  She held on around his neck as he shifted her weight to one arm, and quickly dug a key ring out of his pocket.  She took it from him as he rearranged her again.

“Which key?”  There were four on the ring; two that looked like house keys and two that were smaller, which she couldn’t place.

“Either of the ones that look like house keys.  Half of those are yours.  One for the house, and one for the cart.”  He was carrying her up the low brick steps to the porch.

“What cart?”

“You’ll see.  Can you reach the door?”

She reached down and managed the screen, then fit the key into the locks, opening them, then turning the knob and pushing the door open.  “Okay.  Looks good.  No harmful spirits that I can see.  You ready?  Right foot on three. One…”

“Two…”

“Three,” the said together, and David took a large step forward, into the entry hall.

Adry perched precariously on the back of the sofa, stretching out over the floor to reach the end of the curtain rod covering the picture window.  It was almost within her reach, and she worked to stretch the valance fabric all the way around the edges.

A knock at the door startled her, and she swayed dangerously, then righted herself and climbed down to answer it.

“Katya!  Hi.  What are you up to today?”

“I go to PX this morning.  I think maybe you go too?”  A pilot’s wife and recent immigrant, Katya’s English was still heavily accented by her native Russian.

“No, thanks anyway, Katya.  I’m expecting company this morning, and I want to finish with this window.  But come over when you get back and I’ll introduce you.”

“Okay.  I see you later, then.”

Adry waved as Katya left.  “See you later.”  She closed the door and went back to her task.

The first side looked good enough, and she climbed back up, this time dragging the fabric to the other side of the curtain rod.  She perched again on the arm and tugged the reluctant drape into position, She glanced down quickly, then back up.  Have to be careful, she thought.  Not a lot of room to maneuver if I slip.

She gave the balky fabric a sharp tug, and was dismayed to hear a ripping sound from the center,  Overbalanced, she pulled harder, and only heard more ripping.  Turning as she fell, she saw the wall and floor coming up fast.  She only had time for one thought, Shit, before her head hit the wall, and she fell to the floor hard, landing in an unconscious heap.


Zan knocked on the door again.

“Maybe she’s just running late,” Will suggested.

“No.  It’s David that has no sense of time.  I’ve never known Adryanna to be late for anything.  She’ll disappear for months at a time without warning, then reappear just as suddenly, but if she says she’ll be there, she’s by God there.”  She knocked again, harder, but received no answer.

“Excuse me?”  They turned at the sound of a soft voice.  “You are friends of Mrs. Adry?”

Will stepped forward.  “Yes.  I’m Will, and this is Zan.  Have you seen her?”

“I speak to her this morning.  She not go to store; must stay home to wait for guests.  She is not answering?”

“No,” Will said, “and we’re worried.  We made special arrangements to meet today.”

The young woman studied them, then nodded to herself.  ‘I am Katya Korenskova.  My husband is training under Captain RunningHorse.  Mrs. Adry has been very kind since we come here.  I know where is her spare key.  I will open door for you.’  She moved up on to the porch.

“How long have you been on New Eden?” Zan asked.

“Not very long,” Katya replied.  “We are only married three weeks ago.  Mrs. Adry tells me she is only married little time, too?  And already is expecting baby.  My family would be pleased if I have baby quickly, too.  Means good marriage.  They are far away, my family.”  She fished the key out from a hanging planters, and tried the lock.  “Is not locked.  She must be home.  Adryanna?”  He accent gave the name rich tones.  “Adryanna?  Is Katya.  Your friends waiting for you.”  She entered the hall, Will and Zan close behind, then she turned right, into the living room, and gasped.

Will and Zan rounded the corner and found Adry huddled unconscious on the floor.  Blood seeped sluggishly from a cut on her forehead, and more was pooled underneath her.

“Shit!”  Will pushed forward and laid a careful hand on the side of her throat.  “She’s alive and breathing.  Katya, do you know how to call emergency here?”  She nodded, eyes wide, and he pressed on.  “Do it.  Get an ambulance here immediately.  Zan, help her with the details.  I don’t want to move her until I know if she has a spine injury.”

“What about the baby?” Zan asked, phone in hand.

“I don’t know.  But she’s bleeding.  Could go either way.”

Katya was scribbling something on a horse-shaped notepad with “Running Horses” printed across the top.  “Is emergency number for Phoenix Team.  You call this, say what has happened, they come home now.

They could hear the wail of a siren, and Zan hung up the phone.  “Thanks.”  She pocketed the paper.  “Listen, I need to ask you a big favor.  The blood in there…”

Katya nodded.  “I will call other wives.  Mrs. Adry good friend.  We will make sure everything nice when she come home.”

Zan squeezed her arm.  “I owe you a favor, then.  If you ever need anything, ask for Zan, in Huntington.  Someone will get you to me.”  The paramedics were wheeling Adryanna out the door.  “I have to go.  Don’t forget.  Zan of Huntington.”

“I remember,” Katya promised.  She was on the phone before the ambulance wailed away.


David shoved through the swinging doors into the main hall of the hospital’s third floor and loped to the nurses’ station at the intersection.  “Adryanna RunningHorse?” he asked breathlessly.

The nurse looked up.  “And you are?”

“Her husband.  Captain RunningHorse.”

The nurse checked her chart.  “Room 312.  To your left, third door on the left.  The doctor is with her now.”  He was gone before she could finish the directions.

He was reaching for the door when it opened and the doctor appeared, chart in hand.  He took in the anxious young man in the flight suit before him and jumped quickly to the right conclusion.  “Captain RunningHorse, I’m glad you could come so quickly.”

“How is she, Doctor…?”

“Deloren.  I’m with Obstetrics.  Your wife is doing very well, considering.  Why don’t we talk about what happened, and then you can see her.”

“What about the baby?”

“One thing at a time, Captain.  Your wife came in by ambulance, unconscious.  She revived very quickly and was able to tell us that she took a nasty spill hanging some drapes and hit her head.  She seemed more upset about the ruined fabric than the blow to her head.  At any rate, she was unable to position herself when she fall, and suffered a partial abruption of the placenta.  However, we were able to stabilize her, and after some signs of distress, both she and the baby are fine.  We were just able to confirm this with ultra-sound.  I made a tape you can watch if it will help reassure you.”

David sagged against the opposing wall.  “They’re okay?”

“For the moment.  But she must rest, Captain.  At least two weeks with no activity beyond necessary trips to the restroom.  She should lie down, or at least recline, with her feet and knees raised, for most of the day.  Can you arrange for someone to be with her during the day?”

David nodded.  “I have sisters.  I’ll borrow someone for a while.”

“That’s fine.  And let me add a few last things.  No sexual relations until she is recovered.  She described your married life as ‘energetic,’ and right now, that’s too much.  And also, try not to get angry over what led to her fall.  She’s feeling quite guilty now, and I’d like her not to be upset.”  Deloren looked down at his watch.  “They should have her settled comfortably now.  The head wound looks worse than it is.  The other injuries will heal with time and rest.”  He reached out and shook David’s hand.  “Thank you for your time, Captain.  I rarely see such patient family members.”

“I don’t know if I’m patient or in shock.”

The doctor patted his shoulder.  Go see her.  It will do you both good.  She needs to stay overnight for observations, then she can go in the morning, assuming someone can stay with her.”

David nodded.  “Thank you, Doctor.”

“You’re welcome, Captain.”  Deloren patted his shoulder again, then walked away.


Zan was sitting in the chair next to the bed, holding Adry’s hand and crooning an old Cherokee lullaby.  He touched her shoulder gently.

She looked up.  “She just drifted off.”  She rose slowly, still learning to use her new joints, and let David take her place.

He wrapped Adry’s hand in both of his own.  “Did Will come with you?”

She nodded.  “He’s calling Aurora now to give her news.  He knows they’re okay now and that she’ll recover.”

“What happened, Zan?”

“I don’t know.  Either the fabric tore and she slipped, or she slipped and it tore.  But she wound up with a clonk on the head and a hard fall.  We found her, thanks to Katya.”

“Lieutenant Korenskoff’s wife?  And here I thought she was just a mouse.  She’s so shy normally.”

“She’s a lion when defending her friends.  She said Adry’s a good friend.”

“Adry loves it here,” David said.  “She says it’s the most normal her life has ever been.  She’s always chatting with the other wives.  Katya’s like her personal protégé.”

There was a soft knock on the door, then Will entered.  “Hey, David.”

“Hey, Will.  Thank you.”

“You’re more than welcome.  I was just glad to help.”

“What did Aurora say?” Zan asked.

“She said someone would come later to check on her.  I got the impression they would wait until she was home.  She and Steven are saving as much of their vacation schedules for March as they can so they can come on a moment’s notice.”  He looked at the monitor tracking Adry’s vitals.  “They’re coming up.”

Zan looked, and saw that her temperature and heart rate, both low due to loss of blood, the doctors had said, were now rising steadily and settling in at normal.

“He’s good for her,” Will whispered.  “Cone on.  Let’s go.”  He put a gentle hand on the small of her back and led her quietly from the room.

“You’re gonna be okay, baby,” David whispered as they left.  “You have to.  It’s forever, remember?  And this isn’t nearly long enough.”

Elizabeth handed Adryanna a glass of water, complete with straw.  “Are you sure you don’t want anything else right now?”

Adry shook her head.  “I’m not doing enough to work up much of an appetite.  Maybe later.”

“All right.  I’ll make us lunch in a little while, then.”  The doorbell rang, and she moved to answer it.

“If it’s Katya, tell her to come on up,” Adry called from where she lay on the bed.  The first few days of her enforced bedrest has sorely tested her patience, and she was counting every hour of the remainder of the 10 days as they crawled by.  Katya was a frequent visitor, and  they chattered for hours under the guise of improving Katya’s English.

Elizabeth opened the front door to see a woman perhaps a few years older than her on the porch, looking confused.  “Can I help you?” she asked.

“Hi.  I’m looking for the RunningHorse house?  Is this it?”

Elizabeth nodded, opening the door a little wider.  “It is.  I’m Captain RunningHorse’s sister.”

“I’m Adryanna’s aunt.  Is she home?”

“She’s resting, but I know she’d love company.  Come on in.  I’m Elizabeth.”  She held out her hand.

“Sarah Landon.”  She shifted her bags to shake Elizabeth’s hand.  “How is she?”

“Better, but the doctor said two weeks of rest.  It’s hard for her.  Are you Steven’s sister?”

“Steven’s brother’s wife, actually.  I’m married to Jareth, and Adry spent a lot of time with us growing up.”

“I see.  Well, come on upstairs.”

They went up, and Elizabeth stuck her head I the door.  “I found you some company.”

Sarah walked in and Adry propped herself up on her elbows.  “Sarah!”  Her smile was wide with delight.

“Lie down, Princess,” Sarah instructed, leaning over to kiss her niece.  Then she settled on the edge of the bed.  “Sounds like you had a pretty close call.”

“I swear it was the dumbest thing I have ever done, and if I could have, I’d have taken it back right then.”

Sarah patted her hand.  “Don’t worry about that now.  Worry about getting well and learning from what you did.”  She leaned over and emptied the contents of one of her bags.  “Your mother loaded me down when I saw her before coming.  She plans to come in March, but say the word and she’ll be on the next flight.  In the meantime, she sent these to keep you amused.”  She handed Adryanna a pile of disc cases.

“My anime!  Thank you.  This will help a lot.”

Elizabeth stuck her head in the door again.  “Sarah, can you stay for a while?”

“Oh, sure.  I promised Aurora a long report in excruciating detail.”

“Great.  If you don’t think I’m being rude, then, I’ll run out and do some errands.  We promised David someone would be with Adryanna all the time.  My sister Melissa nearly got her head snapped off when she ran to the market, especially when David came home and found Adry scrounging around in the kitchen.”

“It’s a fine thing when I can’t open my own refrigerator for a glass of juice,” Adry complained.

“What is she allowed to do?” Sarah asked.

“Necessary trips to the bathroom.  David handles the shower details himself.”

“It’s not that much farther to the kitchen,” Adry pouted, but they weren’t listening.

“We’ll be fine,” Sarah said.  “Go ahead and do whatever you need to do.”

“Thanks.”  Elizabeth withdrew, and Sarah turned back to Adryanna,  “You didn’t do Melissa any favors, it sounds like, Princess.”

“Well, who told David to wander in at two in the afternoon?”

“It’s his house as well, unless I miss my guess.”

“You sound like Oncle.”  She sighed.  “It’s so hard to just lie here, Aunty.  I hate it.”

“You’re worried?”

She nodded, tears standing out in her eyes.  “The doctor said there were signs that the baby had been in distress.  What if I’ve really screwed things up?”  The tears slipped down her cheeks, and Sarah handed her a tissue.

“Do you want me to check?”

“You can do that?” Adry asked.

“I haven’t lived this long with your uncle and learned nothing.  I may not be able to do much, but I’m good at what I know.”  She tilted Adry’s chin up and looked into her eyes.  “You have your father’s eyes, you know.”

“Mom says they’re me best feature.”  Her voice was soft and relaxed.  “I think she’s biased.”

Sarah smiled.  “Your mother has been in love with those eyes for a very long time.  Hush now.”  She stared at Adryanna for a long time, then smiled and broke eye contact.  “Everything seems fine.”

Adry closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh of relief.  “Oh, thank you.  Thank you thank you thank you.”

Sarah saw the mask of petty annoyance slip, revealing a girl who had been very worried and was still very tired.  “You haven’t been sleeping well, have you?”

“I couldn’t stop wondering.”  She looked at Sarah with very young eyes.  “Will you sing to me, so I can sleep?”

“I’m not as good as Jareth.”

“I don’t care,  I just need to hear it again.  I always felt safe when I heard it.”

Sarah chuckled.  “Okay.  Get comfortable.”  She waited until Adry was settled, then produced a crystal and set it spinning on the tip of her finger.
There’s such a  sad love, deep in your eyes
A kind of pale jewel, opened and closed
Within you eyes.
I’ll place the skies within your eyes.

Within moments, Adryanna was asleep.

Adry stared resolutely at the ceiling.  She could feel with perfect clarity the cool gel on her body and the pressure of the transducer, and she could hear the doctor talking, but she couldn’t look.  Not yet.  Sarah’s words more than a week before had been comforting, but she was determined to wait until the doctor has said the words.

David squeezed her hand by reflex.  She knew he was watching avidly, feeling the outward wash of his will almost like a breeze against her skin.  If sheer will counted for anything, he had certainly spent enough to guarantee a good result.

“Okay, folks,” Dr. Deloren said, and she turned her head to look at him, seated next to the screen.  But she wouldn’t look at the image.  Not yet.  She had to hear it to believe.

“Everything looks fine.”

She closed her eyes and let out the breath she’d been holding, slow tears leaking unnoticed down the side of her face, and David squeezed her hand tighter, lips brushing against the back or it in silent communication.  Love you.

She squeezed back and opened her eyes, finally looking at the fuzzy gray image on the screen.  Deloren was motioning with his pen, pointing out the head, the legs, the little arms that were more like faint outlines.  Slowly, she reached out one hand and traced the outline of the head.  “Hello, baby.  It’s good to see you again.”

Freezing the image, the doctor removed the transducer and wiped off the conductive gel.  “I’d say you can go back to your normal routine now.  But I’d like you to rest for a while every afternoon, and stay on the planet.  I don’t anticipate anymore problems, but I want you to stay close just in case.”  He wiped his hands and stood.  “You can go ahead and get dressed now.  I’ll want to see you again in two weeks.”  He nodded to them and slipped out the door.

David slid his hand over the low rise of Adry’s belly.  It was really only visible if you knew what to look for  “God, I’m glad to hear that.  Don’t you go scaring us anymore.”

She chuckled.  “Are you talking to me or the baby?”

“Maybe a little of both,” he confessed.

She sat up and slid back into her jeans, struggling to fasten the button.  “This isn’t going to work much longer.”

David offered her a goofy smile.  “I don’t care.”

“You’re not the one who feels like a sausage,” she complained.  “And it’s not going to get better.”

“Sure it is,” he said, standing, “because you…”  He kissed her.  “…are the most,” kiss, “beautiful woman,” kiss, “in the galaxy.”

“That’s just your opinion,” she protested, but tilted her chin up, granting him better access to her throat.

“Do you care about anyone else’s?” he whispered in her ear.

“Mmmm…No.  Not really.”

“I have the whole afternoon off.  Arranged it just for you.”

“Then why are we still standing in this room with this incredibly uncomfortable bed?”

“Did you have a better idea?”

“Yes.”  She smirked.  “’Take me to bed or lose me forever.’” 

David snorted.  “I can beat his ass there, too.”

“Prove it.”

“Yeah, Lisa… Yeah.  No, he didn’t.  Yeah, a little, but I got an offer I can’t refuse out of it, so I’ll survive.”

Adry levered herself away from the wall.  Sitting was becoming a luxury in what she fervently prayed would be the last few weeks of her pregnancy.  It wasn’t so much getting into a chair that was difficult, but getting up again.  And with David on what was hopefully his last extended patrol before his leave started, she was being very careful of what she got herself into.  Her worst nightmare was to be stuck in some ridiculous position and have to call someone to get her out of it.

“Yeah, I’m ready.  More than ready… Ow...Nah.  Just a foot in my liver or something…  No, you don’t have to do that.  Soon as David’s home he’ll start leave… Well, I’ll do my best, but God only knows if I’ll even remember my name at that point, much less to tell David anything aside from the fact that he’ll never get near me again… Are you kidding?  I was there when my brothers were born.  The stuff coming out of my mother’s mouth…whew.”  There was a knock at the door, and she made her way slowly towards the entry.  “Any day now would be fine with me, to be honest.  Hang on a second, Lisa.  There’s someone at the door.”


At her kitchen table in Cherokee, Lisa sat snapping beans for dinner, phone wedged between her ear and shoulder.  She could hear distantly the murmur of a voice, low and masculine, and thought for a moment that her son must have returned early.  But the tone was off somehow, and as she waited, she realized that it couldn’t be David.  He’d never knock at his own door, and Adry hadn’t shrieked in happiness the instant she saw him.  She could hear Adry’s voice, demanding to know what was going on, what had happened, then a mournful howling, followed by the crash of the telephone falling to the floor.

Lisa wasted no time trying to attracted Adryanna’s attention back to the telephone.  Whatever had happened was sufficiently disastrous enough command her complete attention.  Instead she hung up the phone and lurched to the sink, throwing open the window.

“Michael!”

She was in the bedroom when he found her, throwing clothes haphazardly into an overnight bag.  “Something’s happened to David or Adry.  I’m going down there and find out what.  I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”

Michael took all this in quickly and nodded.  “Okay,” he said, reaching for his radio.  “Nathan, bring the Jeep in.  Your mother’s in a hurry.”  He hefted her bag as she zipped it closed and followed her out of the room.

Melissa was in the hallway.  “What’s going on?  What’s wrong?”

“We don’t know yet,” her father said.  “Your mother will call when she-“

“I’m going, too,” Melissa said determinedly.

Lisa eyed her youngest carefully.  David and Adry had both seemed genuinely pleased to see her at both Halloween and Christmas, but there had been no invitations issued for Melissa to visit since Adry’s accident.  Of course, there had been no real invitations for anyone.  David and Adry had been completely wrapped up in experiencing this first pregnancy, and they did live on a military base, despite the fact that it was the ‘model’ base, a showcase for the New Eden Military.

“Five minutes,” Lisa said at last.  “Then I’m leaving, whether or not you’re ready.  Do you understand?”

Melissa scrambled back down the hall to her room without another word.

“And bring your gate ID.  I don’t want to waste time getting you another.”


They were at the house three hours later.  The guard at the gate had scrutinized their passes and given them a strange look of pity and sympathy.  He’d said nothing of interest, except that they were free to go to the house. And oddly enough, to tell ‘the Mrs.’ that he was sorry.  It boded ill, and Lisa didn’t like it at all.

There were a number of the electric vehicles common on base in the small street and in the driveway, but the front door was closed and the neighborhood quiet.  They hurried up the stone-set path and knocked on the door.  It opened almost immediately.

“Can I help-  Miss Melissa!  Come, come!”

Melissa let Katya drag her into the house, followed closely by Lisa.  “Katya, what’s happened?”

They paused in the entry, though voices could be heard clearly from the living room.  “The team was attack on way home,” she explained, stress enhancing her accent.  “Captain RunningHorse turn back, made sure whole team get away, but his plane go down.  No one know where yet, if he still alive.  Mrs. Adry crying since they come to tell her.”

Lisa slipped into the room and took the seat one of the other ladies vacated.  Adry turned and started to cry on her shoulder, and Lisa wrapped her arms around her.  “Shhhh, honey.  It’s going to be all right.  I don’t know how yet, but it’s going to be all right.”


Lisa trooped tiredly down the stairs.  It had taken a long time to settle Adryanna down enough to sleep, and the circumstances had taken their toll on Lisa as well.

Melissa handed her a cup of tea as soon as she entered the kitchen.  “She’s asleep?”

Lisa nodded.  “Finally.  She’s cried out for the moment and pretty near heartbroken.”

“I can imagine,” Melissa said.  “So what are we going to do?”

“Adry finally agreed.  We’re taking her home to Cherokee tomorrow.”

I'm trapped in this world
Lonely and fading
Heartbroke and waiting
For you to come

The music rolled through her like waves through the ocean, neither soothing nor distressing, but simply there.  It was something she could grab onto and hold, something that kept her grounded and there, rather than allowing herself to be swept away; carried off into the beckoning darkness.


“I don’t get it,” Melissa said as she wiped down the table.  “David hates that CD.  She knows David hates that CD.  Why would she play it now?”

For two days, then same music had issued from overhead.  The first two hours, it had been loud, rattling windows and shaking floors, and the anger and despair it poured out had been obvious.  Now it was quieter but no less sorrowful, like a mourning chant echoing again and again.

“I imagine that’s why she’s playing it,” Lisa said.  “Maybe some part of her is hoping he’ll come in out of nowhere and plead with her to change it.  She’s not ready yet to accept the possibility of the worst happening.”

“Neither am I,” Melissa said, setting a stack of plates on the table.  She sighed.  It seemed like so few, when she could remember times when the table had been packed elbow to elbow, everyone jostling and joking.

“I know, honey, and it’s too early to give up.  But she’s fragile right now, and if listening to recordings of her screaming in anger to music helps, I’m certainly not going to suggest that she stop.”  Lisa picked up one of the plates from the stack and started ladling food onto it.  “Why don’t you take that up and see if Adry will eat something?”


She could hear the soft tread coming up the stairs and along the hall, so the gentle tap at the door was no surprise.  “Adry?  It’s Melissa.  I brought you dinner.”

She sighed and shifted a little; comfort in any one position was a distant memory.  “Thanks,” she said listlessly, raising her voice enough to be heard over the music.  “I’ll get it in a little bit.”

“Listen, I just wanted to tell you….  I’m sorry.  We’re all sorry.”

She was silent for a long time.  “I know,” she said at last.  She wasn’t sure if Melissa heard.  The footsteps retreated along the hall and down the stairs, and Adry was left in her solitude.

She dragged the studio headphones over her ears, trying to blot out the voices of her relatives she imagined she heard.  Their jeering condescension would come soon enough.  She didn’t need to hasten it with her own overactive imagination.

It was quieter inside the headphones, with only her own voice for company.  She shifted a tiny bit more, then closed her eyes  Just a little longer before she ate.  She was so tired.


Hey…what are we doing here?

The voice woke Adryanna, but she didn’t open her eyes.  The voice sounded enough like David’s that her heart clenched, but it couldn’t be him.  It simply couldn’t.  What do you mean? she asked.  They were her schizophrenic delusions, she reasoned.  She could talk to them if she wanted to.

Why are we here?  I don’t know how to put it any different.

You’re gone.  Your plane went down.

Oh.  I’m dead?

I don’t know.  They hadn’t found the plane, last I heard.

So I’m not dead?

I don’t fucking know, okay?  No one’s told me…

Don’t swear at me.  I don’t need that.

I’m sorry.  I just don’t know anything right now.

Why not?

Why not what?

Why don’t you know anything?

I’m in Cherokee right now.  I couldn’t take it for a while.

Oh.  Okay.  You need to go back home.

Home?

Yes.  Home.

Home where?

I suppose that’s up to you.

For a long moment, there was silence, and she thought he had gone.  Then he said one last thing.

I really hate that disc.

Then his voice really was gone, and Adry opened her eyes.  Bright morning sunlight was streaming in the open drapes.  Slowly, she pushed herself upright and stood.  She was still tired and a little wobbly, but she had a purpose now, and that made everything else a minor inconvenience.


Within half an hour, she was downstairs, showered, dressed, and the breakfast plate that had replaced her untouched dinner dutifully emptied.

The others were still lingering around the table when she entered, and her appearance made the room go silent.   Ignoring the shocked stared, she set her plate in the sink and poured herself a refill of orange juice from the pitcher on the island.

“I’m going home,” she announced.  She saw the confusion in their faces, the same as she had felt when David’s voice had told her so clearly what to do.  “I appreciate your support the last couple days, but this is what I have to do.  I’m catching the next train I can get back to the base.  If anyone wants to come with me, I’d love the company.  But I’m going today.”  She gave them all one last look then turned and left the room.  Her careful measured footsteps on the stairs were loud in the silence.

Melissa stood and took her plate to the sink.  “I’m going with her,” she announced.

“Melissa…” Lisa began.

“No, Mom.  I’m going.  I know I screwed up before.  This time, I’m going to get it right.”  She was out of the room without another word, her footsteps an echo of Adryanna’s.


“I’m fine,” Adry said again.  It had to be the tenth time Melissa had asked her if she ought to be walking that far.  “It’s only four houses from the corner.  We walked farther on the Mag-Lev plat… form.”  Her voice died away as she saw the EV parked in front of her home.  Powered vehicles had a silent hierarchy on the base, from the electric golf carts many officers owned to the plush alternative fuel cars the line officers were given.  It did nothing for Adryanna’s peace of mind to see one of these behemoths crouched at the curb.  She froze as a door opened and the base commander, General Ramius stepped out.

“Mrs. RunningHorse,” he greeted her.  “We were concerned when we couldn’t reach you by telephone.”

“I went to my family’s home in Cherokee for a few days,”  she replied.  “Do you have news?”

“Better than that.  We have David.”


Adry wasn’t sure just yet how she’d gotten in the car.  She remembered throwing her keys to Melissa, instructing her to call home and tell the others.  Then she was in the back of the luxurious car as it sped across the base, the driver paying no heed to the lines the indicated where vehicles were supposed to drive.  They cut across runways and taxi-ways, wove through the wheels of moving planes and skimmed under them with the barest margins of clearance.

“What happened?” she asked, averting her eyes from a truck bearing the twisted remains of a once proud Phoenix fighter craft.  She didn’t need to see the numbers on the tail to know it was David’s.  The rest were all safe, tucked into their private hangar.

“They were wrapping up patrol at the southern end of the continent when they were attacked.  David broke off to ensure that the rest of the team made it back.”

“I knew that much before.”  All Ramius had said was that they had him.  He hadn’t yet told her what shape he was in, if he was in any shape at all.

“I know that, Ma’am.  We know now that David picked up a missile.  His plane was hit but he was able to punch out and land relatively safely.”

He was infuriating.  “How is he now?” she asked, deadly quiet.

“I’ll let the doctor fill you in.”  The car stopped in front of the base hospital, and she struggled out before anyone could open the door for her.  Slamming the car door in the general’s face, she raced for the building’s sliding doors, daring them not to open for her.


It took the hag at the reception desk forever to look up at her.  “Yes?”

“Captain RunningHorse,” Adry said breathlessly.

She picked up a clipboard and flipped through the pages attached.  “When did he come in?” she asked boredly.

Adry cursed to herself silently.  “I don’t know…  Last night, I think.  I’m his wife.”

The receptionist looked at her again, taking in her very prominent belly.  “Yes.  Try up on Three.  Someone at the nurses’ station there can help you.”


The elevator was going to kill her, she was sure.  It rose slowly, completely uninterested in her desperate desire to get upstairs as quickly as possible.  She’d considered the stairs only for a moment, then passed them up.  Walking across flat ground was still fine, but up two flights would have taken too long.  Of course, the elevator was taking too long.  At this point, simply appearing on the third floor wouldn’t have been fast enough for her.

She was pacing by the time the doors opened, and she bolted from the elevator like a caged tiger finally freed.  She caught the edge of the nurses’ station and leaned into it.  “David RunningHorse?” she asked breathlessly.

Before the nurse could respond, her name was called from further down the hall.  “Adryanna!  Over here.”

She pushed away from the desk and saw her obstetrician, Dr. Deloran, heading for her.  “Doctor!  David’s here somewhere.  Have you-“

“Relax, relax.  He’s here, he’s fine, or he will be, I should say.  I was covering the ER last night when they transferred him in from Posiden.”  He took her elbow and led her gently down the hall.  “By far his biggest problems right now are exhaustion and exposure.   When he wandered into the other base, he was suffering from a dislocated shoulder as well.  It was reduced successfully and it’s been immobilized to speed healing.  He’ll have to see an orthopedic surgeon before he leaves for an idea of how long he’ll be wrapped up.  I’d guess two weeks, myself.”  He stopped outside a door and rested his hand on the handle.  “You can stay as long as you like.”

He opened the door and she pushed past him into the room.  “David?” 

The figure was lying on one side, facing away from her.  She rounded the end of the bed and sat down in the chair, pushing away all thought of hesitation.  His left arm and shoulder, the one turned up, were pinned to his side almost unnaturally, and she could see the edge of un ugly black bruise creeping out from under the collar of his gown.  She picked up his right hand, careful of the IV needle, and gently kissed the back of it.  “David?  David, sweetheart, wake up.  Just for a second, please?”

She felt his hand squeeze hers just a little.  “Not sleeping,” he whispered faintly.  His eyes cracked the tiniest bit.

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.  “No, of course not,” she agreed.  “The drooling and snoring were just to throw the doctors off.”  Fervently, she kissed his fingers.  “Gods, I missed you so much.  I was okay until they came to tell me you were missing.  Then it was like I fell apart.”

“Shh, shh.”  His fingers wove through her hair.  “You’re still so beautiful, even an inch from crying.”

She laughed through a sniffle.  “Oh, sure.  Looking like a swallowed a watermelon whole.  And stuffed my bra with softballs.”

“You’d look good covered in mud.”  His eyes slid shut, then fluttered open again.  “You’ll stay with me?”

“All my days.”  She twisted herself in the chair until she could rest her head on the bed, David’s hand curled around her.  She let her eyes drift closed, finally feeling like it was safe to sleep.

“Hey, baby?”

She was right on the verge of sleep.  “Hmmm?”

“I hate that disc.”

She didn’t have time to wonder how he knew before Morpheus dragged her under.


The clattering of something rolling into the room woke her, and Adry groggily disentangled David’s hand from her hair and pushed herself far enough up to peer over his hip.

Dr. Deloran was directing orderlies as they pushed in another bed and the familiar ultrasound machine.

“I thought you were still here,” he said conversationally.  “Especially when you weren’t in my office for your appointment.”

She looked down at her watch and swore.  Four o’clock.  Two hours late for her prenatal visit.  Slowly, she pushed herself upright and stood.  “I’m sorry, Doctor.  I fell asleep in here.”  She felt David’s fingers twine with hers, and she rested her other hand on his head, both of them comforted by the touch.

“I know.  I had the nurses peek in on you every so often.  But I wanted to have a look at you before I left for the night rather than having you reschedule.”  The doctor turned to the orderlies.  “Go ahead and lock this bed to the other one.  And try not to jostle Captain RunningHorse too much.  Let me get in there a minute first.”  Slowly, he helped David turn so he was lying on his back.  “That better?”

David’s grip on Adry’s hand had tightened, and he grimaced a little, but nodded.  “Not too bad.”  He kissed Adry’s squeezed fingers.  “Sorry, baby.”

“Don’t worry about it.  I’ll be returning the favor soon, I’m sure.”

“All right, men.”  Deloren moved back, and the orderlies pushed the bed into place, reaching underneath to lock it into place next to David’s.  “That’s what I love about New Eden.  Only the best where it really counts.  Mrs. RunningHorse, right here, if you would.”

Adry climbed onto the bed slowly, and the doctor offered her a drape; orderlies leaving as a nurse came in.

“I just want to confirm that Junior’s pointing in the right direction.  If not, we’ll have some time to talk about options.”  The nurse plugged the machine into the wall while Deloren felt her bulging abdomen.  “Everything feels pretty good right now.  How has the movement been?”

“A little less, lately,” she said.  “But she always responded more to David’s voice than mine, and he’s been gone for two weeks.”  Her fingers were threaded through his hair again, slowly rubbing his scalp.

“That’s fairly normal.  Space is getting tight in there, too.  I’d say Junior’s over five pounds by now.  Head feels like it’s in the right position, but we’ll look just the same.  Still thinking it’s a girl?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Deloren chuckled at the simultaneous answers.  “Well, one of you will be right.”  He took the transducer from the nurse stepped back so she could apply the gel.  “It’s going to be cold.  Not much I can do about it here.”

Adry shrugged a little.  “My own fault for missing my appointment.”  She flinched a little as the cold gel was spread over her exposed skin.  The wand followed quickly. 

“Yep.  That’s what I thought.  The head’s right down here where it belongs.  Heart beat looks good.”  He laughed as a limb zoomed into view, transducer pushed away by an elbow.  “And I think that’s all we’re going to get.  Someone certainly seems to enjoy his or her privacy.”  He rolled the machine out of the way as the nurse wiped the gel off Adryanna.  “I think you can expect labor to begin anytime after next week.  If you haven’t delivered by the 21st , we’ll look seriously at inducing, but I doubt it will come to that.”  He made some notes in her folder, then closed it.  “I’d like you to go home and rest some time tonight, but you’re not going to, are you?”

She shook her head.  “Not a chance in hell.  Not now.”

The doctor nodded.  “I rather thought so.  I’ll check in on you tomorrow if you’re still here.”  He nodded to them both, and left, the nurse following with the ultrasound machine.

Adry rolled ponderously, curling up against David’s back.  She buried her nose in his hair, kissing the back of his neck.  “Have I told you yet today that I love you?”

“Mmmm.  If I say no, will you say it again?”

She slid a hand carefully around his chest below the immobilzer.  “As many times as you want.  I’m thinking about it every instant.”  She was silent a few minutes, feeling his chest rise and fall as he breathed.  “David, while I was in Cherokee…”

“Yeah?”

“I… I thought I heard you.  I thought I was going crazy.  I was talking to you in my head.”

He tiled back a little, leaning into her touch.  “Were you listening to that disc you made?”

She nodded against him.  “I had to hear it.  Everything else made