Chapter 35

Nikki's Turn:

Mommyhood hangs over us all.

Don't get me wrong, I am in no way disparaging FOUR new mommies. Let's run down the list. Susan 'n' Jason have little JW – Jason Wallace, named after him and his dad. Alan and Tina have Katherine Genevieve – after nobody in particular, but Terri is forbidden to call her Kathygen. Johanna and Stoney have Randall Stonewall, and Mister Bill and Mizz Donna have Cindy's half-sister Elise Ann, a whole two days old.

I'm likely to be the next. My Dan's had a reversal – replumbing, he calls it. Tests show viable sperm. I've been on the pill since he's been unfixed. We have discussed our impending contribution to the community crèche and this is my last set of pills.

I may be pregnant when I get my doctorate. If not, we'll be giving it our best efforts. We've been practicing that conception part together, Dan and I. I've also been the occasional holder of precious cargo and I've changed diapers and dressed little darlings in cute outfits and assisted mommies with...

"It's the downside," Susan said. "Can't just pick up and go anywhere at the drop of a hat. Going out resembles Hannibal crossing the Alps."

I was rocking little JW on my legs, listening.

"Diaper bag. Make SURE it's stocked. Buckle JW into his car seat slash carrier slash orbital re-entry capsule. Make sure I have an emergency change of clothes in case he has an accident. Have you seen it? He's like a little fountain. Half the time I'm changing him when the cool air hits 'im, he pees. And he doesn't pay attention where it ends up."

I giggled. "Yeah ... Did you catch Terri's expression the first time that he did that?"

Susan laughed. "All THREE of 'em. Beck says that's why she's so glad Rachel's a girl."

"I can understand. The girls aren't doing fountain imitations." I paused. "Speaking of girls, has Terri been asking you any unusual questions?"

"Oh, nooooo," Susan said, tossing a bit of sarcasm on her tones. "ALL ten year olds ask questions about college schedules."

"About boys."

"I guessed she's been making the rounds. She asked you, too?"

"Yeah."

"She's precocious in more ways than one, then. I told Tina. Warned her. No way I'm going to go behind Tina and Alan's backs with Terri. Well, maybe if she told me it was a secret, but even then..."

"Terri plays us like a fiddle," I said. "She KNOWS we're going to talk to Tina. So what did she ask you?"

"How I felt about the difference in ages of you and your Dan or Cindy and her Dan or Tina and Alan or Kim 'n' Tim."

"Oh, boy," I said. "How urgent is the curiosity, I wonder?"

"I hope it's not what I think it COULD be."

"Jerry?" I asked.

"Yeah. He's a nice guy. Gonna be a great engineer, I think. I've seen him work with the girls, too. He's a good teacher. Adapted to those three pretty fast," Susan said. "I was showing him the drawings for Bot-bot's parts, the ones I built or helped them to build. He's just a nice guy."

"I know. Nice-looking, smart ... Dangerous, to some of us..."

"Yeah ... Jason ... That's all it took..."

"I understand completely," I said. "I was a little bit slower on the take-up with Dan. I guess it was the shock of being trapped in that building, then getting rescued, but it took a few days ... But Terri's ten."

"She's gonna be eleven in a month. Besides, what ground do Tina and I and Cindy and Kim have to stand on? Jerry's only nine or ten years older..."

"Terri hasn't reached puberty yet."

Susan sighed. "What are we gonna do?"

"First," I said, "it's Tina and Alan's responsibility. Second, we're going to be good friends to all involved and guide Terri gently..."

"Maybe it's just a little girl crush..."

"Might be. You know Terri's gonna go through all that stuff. And being Terri, she's going to investigate and analyze and evaluate."

"Yeah," Susan said. "All that, that's our Terri. But what she determines to be the 'right' answer..."

"She's TEN," I said. "Jerry's a nerd. I don't think he'd..."

"I guess we sort of talk to Tina. I don't want Terri hurt. Jerry either, for that matter." She shifted her arm under little JW. "Gotta switch sides." She did a quick disconnect from one nipple, gently turned him, and presented the other to him. Giggled. "He's got that part down pat. Inherited it from his daddy, no doubt. My poor Jason ... Took away some of his toys..."

I thought about that. I wondered. Susan was by far the bustiest of all of us. Tina started out a bit bigger than me, maybe. We did the same thing to identical bikinis. I know she's expanded. I guess my hand just absently touched my own breast.

"Yeah..." Susan said. "That's gonna happen. Part of the process. You don't HAVE to breast-feed, you know..."

"Sis," I said, "you 'n' Tina gave me the whole spiel for the last nine months. Now I'd feel like I was depriving my own baby."

"Oh, it's not like that..."

Knock on the door. Tina walked in, little Kathy in her carrier. "Hello, sisters," she said brightly.

"Hi," I said. Susan looked up, smiled, mouthed 'Hi'.

"I just finished feeding Kathy. How's everything going?"

"You tell us," Susan said. "Your other daughter."

"Ah, we've been talking about the ever-inquisitive pTerridactyl, then."

"Yeah. She's been asking questions and we're just comparing notes. I don't think Cindy's adopted grandfather is going to sign off on Terri getting married." I told her.

Susan swallowed hard. I squeaked. "She asked about getting MARRIED?"

"Noooo," Tina giggled. She nuzzled Kathy, loving her baby. "But the logical conclusion..."

"There's a lot of steps in between," Susan said. "I mean, I HOPE there are a lot of steps..."

"I think it's the first time she really LIKED a boy..." Tina said.

"Are we talking about the same guy? Jerry Stengall?"

Tina smiled, made cooing noises at Kathy. "Yeah, I'm talking about Jerry. Terri regards boys in her home-school group as just a tad short of sub-human."

I giggled. "That 'beta-minus' comment. So, has she come out and said that Jerry's an 'alpha'?"

"Not directly," Tina said. "She just hasn't said he's a beta."

Susan smiled. "No response is a positive response."

Tina smiled. "Yeah ... I think so."

"Does Jerry know?" I asked.

"Jerry says that she's the smartest of the three..."

"I give her and Vicki a coin-toss, but Rachel's hot on their heels," Susan said.

" ... and he's very protective of her. All three of 'em, really. You know..."

"He told you that?" I spoke.

"Yeah. I told him that I appreciate the work he does with 'em. He says Terri's the leader."

"Well, duhhhh," Susan giggled. "Like Cindy is with us. Or you, Nikki. Y'all trade places from time to time."

"Nope," I shook my head. "Cindy's it. I'm a minion, just like y'all. So she's just one of the gang to 'im?"

"I suppose," Tina said. "I know ... If she does have some feelings for him, that news would be devastating."

"Oh, gosh," Susan said softly. "You know, that's right..."

"It IS Terri," I said. "She'll have the logic figured out before we do."

"Logic, hell," Tina said. "When my heart went 'flop' over Alan, that wasn't any amount of logic in the world..."

"The heart wants what the heart wants..." I injected.

"Whadda mess," Tina said. She looked down at little Kathy. "They're so easy at this stage. How did I come to be the mom of a pre-pubescent girl?"

"Boy, you fell into that one," Susan chuckled. She held little JW up, put him on her shoulder, patted his back, then gave his diaper a squeeze. "The little fountain needs changing."

I giggled. "That's it! We change his nickname to 'Pete'!"

Susan tossed me a completely baffled look. "Huh?"

"New Orleans jazz clarinetist. Pete Fountain!"

Tina joined in. "I remember hearing some of his stuff. He's legendary!" she grinned at Susan. "You gotta do that!"

Susan stuck her tongue out. "You BOTH are horrible people. I'll call my son Pete Fountain when you call your daughter KathyGen."

She finished feeding little JW and handed him over to me. Tina and I got up. Susan's getting ready for Jason to come home. Overnight trip. Jason may not survive.

"Bot-bot!" I said.

'I'm listening' beep.

"Susan's diaper bag!" I said.

I remember that I almost cried when Terri and the gang put RFID tags on things and then programmed Bot-bot's vocabulary to match a command with an RFID. He whirred over. His gripper has sensors. He picked up the bag, clasping it.

"Follow me."

Inside Tina's apartment, there's Terri.

"Good Bot-bot. Put the diaper bag down." She looked at me and grinned. "Works pretty good. Saves having to use processing power and file space with all the possible permutations of 'diaper bag'."

I'm remembering Terri's 'everything doesn't have to be a lesson' speech from a while back. This 'child' is teaching US things.

Alan came in, saw me with little JW.

"Babies in stereo tonight for a while, baby," Tina told him. "Susan 'n' Jason..." Tina raised an eyebrow that conveyed the rest. I'm pretty sure that Terri understands at least some of that.

"That's okay. Quid pro quo," he smiled. To me he said, "Dan's looking for you. Something about stress." He winked.

I walked out the door, my iPhone buzzing. I looked. Dan. 'Sandwiches for dinner. Afterward, nudity is the order of the evening.' I felt a familiar twinge between my legs. Yeah. It's still like that. You know, I've analyzed this. It's a 'community' thing. Nobody here thinks you're supposed to get bored or have affairs and cheat and get a little on the side or whatever.

But yes, I literally skipped the rest of the way home. I know that there's probably a big black block on the community calendar app. I don't care. That's what it's for. We're a social bunch but we also recognize that we all enjoy some 'alone' time with our partners, so I know that when I walk in the door of my apartment and lock it behind me, Dan and I won't be bothered unless it's some dire emergency.