Chapter 1

“The Guardian of Earth. Of course, it makes sense now. You’re of us; you’re human, just as we are. But you’re not of us, because you come from another world. Our planet, our people ... not just my people, but all of us. We’re on the brink of killing ourselves off. I can’t begin to tell you how afraid I’ve been that I would have grandchildren born, only to see them die because we did it to ourselves.”

Roberto was nodding right along with his wife. “This is such a relief for me. I knew that you were special. I’m so glad that you’re this special.”

The look in Jennifer’s eyes practically mirrored the look I was getting from Eve. SJ saw it as well. “Well, this is going to cause a few issues, I expect,” he said.

“Yes and no,” Eve said. “It’s common knowledge that the six of us are going to go to Stanford, to take all kinds of classes. It’s not totally common knowledge that Margie is pregnant, but will be pretty obvious when it’s time for us to leave. Mom, to get away from Hutchinson, will quit her job at the end of the semester, to become our housekeeper and the nanny for the baby in California, because the six of us will be so busy. Toby can come along. Lord knows there’s plenty of schools right there for him, anyway. SJ will be out of the Corps. He’ll live in the house here, and can quit sneaking around with Jessica Linden when he thinks no one is watching.”

“Then, when we come home in two years ... if we come home in two years ... it won’t make a whole lot of difference who lives where with who.”

SJ shook his head. “Jessica and I broke up. But, why do you say, if you come home in two years?”

Beth shook her head. “We planned for this house, the one we’re in right now, to be our home for no more than two years, before we outgrew it. That was when there were only going to be four of us. We’re having a nearly identical home to this one installed in California. After that ... it’d be nice if Cal didn’t have to go anywhere, do anything. I doubt that’s going to happen.”

“Unfortunately, I agree with you, Beth. I think it’s almost amusing that I’ve gotten more cooperation from the Soviet Union than I have from our own government. The minor detail that none of us technically have to attend classes any longer, other than my showing up on Friday to play football, means I can actually do more things, be more visible over the next few weeks.”

Elroy said, “If you’ll trust me to get this rifle to Earl, I’ll take both of them. I probably ought to get out of here, before it gets too late.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Margie said. “Not before we learn the truth. You weren’t just an enlisted man in the Army, during the war.”

“Damn John Ely. Of all the people you could possibly have run into, why’d you have to find him? Even Leonard didn’t know; he just thought I was one of the regular instructors.”

Emily looked at Elroy. “Wait, you’ve been lying to us?”

“Um, no. I just haven’t told you everything, is all.” He glared around the room, but no one was giving him any slack. “Fine. When I got out of the Regular Army, I stayed in the Army Reserve. So did Earl. We knew we were going to go to law school. Upon graduation, we were now considered officers and gentlemen, and because we both had more than eight years in the service by that point, received commissions as Captains in the Reserve. Due to getting to go to Korea during some of the peace talks, three years later, I got promoted to Major. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention, but ... Dwight Eisenhower remembered me from when I was dealing with the scrap metal, and how much I’d actually helped the Third Army. He hated Patton, but he was like Omar Bradley. He recognized the men that helped. I was back here by then, so it was just some simple paperwork as far as I was concerned. I’d go to drill, maybe teach a class or two during summer training.”

“Anyway, I’d already gotten another promotion, and before he left office, Ike sent my name up, so just before he left, I got my silver chicken. Not a big deal. Then JFK got shot. Earl was a Lieutenant Colonel at that point, but he was also friends with and worked with Earl Warren. We were brought in to work for the Warren Commission. We weren’t part of the Commission itself; we were their investigating attorneys. When we were done, LBJ sent my name up for promotion to Brigadier General. There was some horse-trading done, because of what we’d found out, and I stayed a one star general for all of one day, then got promoted to Major General. I was sick about it, because it was obviously a payoff. But ... we needed closure as a country. I ended up finishing my 30 years, instructing for two weeks somewhere. That’s how I met Leonard and Beverly, just for example.”

“Jesus Christ, Elroy. You’re a two-star general?”

“Worse than that, Harry. When I retired, the fuckers promoted me one more time, as a farewell present. Lieutenant General Elroy T. Bannister, JAG, at your service. Earl got out as a Brigadier General.”

Emily said, “Hang on, Elroy. You said something about closure, and a payoff.”

“I don’t believe I said anything like that, Emily. You obviously misheard me, because I would never say anything that would go against the official Warren Report that Oswald acted alone. Do I make myself clear, young lady?” He glared at her.

“On a completely unrelated note and just simply talking around things, I wonder what your reaction would be if the Messenger from Above happened to pretty much destroy the CIA building? Hypothetically, of course,” I said.

“It’d be nice if he let some of the people out first. Not the executives, of course. But that’s speaking hypothetically, because we have no public idea who the messenger is.”

SJ just looked at Elroy in awe. “You’re ... you’re a three star general?”

“That, and a dollar, will get you unlimited coffee downtown. I will be flying out to California with you all, just to give John Ely a hard time.”

“SJ, remember what I said about looking at getting the 737? If you can keep the total bill under $5 million, that’d be great. Otherwise ... just buy the damn thing.”

Roberto shook his head. “Amazing. Cal, I’m glad you’re effectively my son-in-law. We will be in touch, later this week, to make arrangements to meet Sophia. My wife, are you ready to go home?”

Esmeralda stood up, still holding the earrings. She came up to me and gave me a kiss on both of my cheeks, then kissed Dora on both of her cheeks. “Good night, all.”

SJ stood up, then held his hand out for his mother. She looked up at him and smiled. “Be sure to tuck Toby in. I’ll be home early in the morning, son.” He nodded, leaning over to give her a kiss on the cheek. He moved the rifle around the best he could, then gave Elroy a salute.

Elroy glared at him for a full thirty seconds, but SJ wouldn’t move. Elroy grunted, then stood up, going ramrod stiff himself. It was like watching the years melt from him; his back became straight, his arm moving in precision as he returned the salute. Elroy brought his arm down, slowly, but crisply. Once his hand was down, SJ brought his rifle down to his left side. He was shocked when Elroy stepped forward, giving him a hug. “Thank you for serving, thank you for surviving, thank you for getting out, so I don’t have to go to another military funeral, losing another one of our kids to the gristmill.” He stepped back, his hands on SJ’s shoulders.

“You said that you claim this scalawag as your brother, eh? Trust him with your life?” SJ nodded. “Then, since he’s my grandson, that means I’m going to have to claim you as a grandson, too. You know where my office is, down at the Courthouse. Come by there tomorrow at noon, so we can go to lunch together.”

“Yes, sir!”

Elroy shook his head. “You’re family, SJ. I’m Elroy. Now, get your ass out of here and go take care of your other brother.”

Emily and Harry watched SJ leave, a bounce to his step. Once the door was closed behind him, Elroy turned to Jennifer. “Young lady, you don’t have to do this.”

“I know I don’t. I’m literally old enough to be his mother, to be all of their mothers, if I’d had Margie when I was 12. I can’t explain it. I feel drawn to him, to all of them. I’ve been fighting it, ever since I first met him. Does that make any sense at all?”

Marcia nodded. “To me, it does. Mike, it’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve discussed our measurements with you. We’ve all been in the house more than long enough for you to get accurate measurements of everyone. You’ve also gotten more than enough baseline samples. What does your data show?”

From the speakers, Mike said, “Hello, Marcia. Elroy remains at 1.9. Harry remains at 1.0, Emily is now at 1.2 in all four lobes. I must ask, as it is now possible for me to determine the gender of your child. Emily, do you wish me to do so?”

“No, thank you. So long as he or she remains healthy, I’d prefer to wait until a regular doctor can tell, then you confirm it or not. That way we’ll still have time to paint the nursery.”

“I understand. In reference to the others not present, Roberto is also 1.0. SJ shows 1.4 in the three lobes, with 1.1 in the fourth. Esmeralda had conflicting results. Before she was given the present of the necklace and earrings, her measurements were 1.3 in three lobes, but 1.6 in the fourth lobe. After giving her the necklace and earrings, her three lobes measured 1.7, with her fourth lobe measuring at 2.4. That would indicate those items naturally enhanced her. Based upon the conversations, I would like to measure Sophia if at all possible.”

Dora chuckled. “I’m sure she’ll be here for a while, so that can get done. Last time we talked, you said we’d individually made slight increases, before we linked. Where do we stand now, number wise?”

“Eve, you are at 28.9 and 3.4, an increase of 9.1 and 1.0. Dora, you are at 29.2 and 3.4, increases of 9.4 and 1.1. Beth, you are at 47.5 and 4.2, increases of 11.3 and 1.1. Margie, you are at 54.3 and 6.1, increases of 11.5 and 1.0. Marcia, you are at 52.8 and 6.1, increases of 13.9 and 1.0. Cal, you are at 9931 and 2,662, increases of 46 and 12. Jennifer, you have not as of yet received any dosages. I will be able to track your progress and growth from where you are now. I was unable to do so with Eve, Dora, and Beth. Margie initially tested at 26.4 and 3.6, prior to absorption. Marcia had base levels of 31.8 and 3.6 as well. Jennifer tests as a normal highly intelligent human, equivalent to Sandy Lerner, at 2.2, with her fourth lobe operating higher, at 1.4.”

Elroy said, “As fascinating as those numbers are, what the hell do they mean?”

“The four lobes of the human brain. Three of them are our intelligence; our ability to process data and then utilize it. Both Marcia and Margie were able to figure out things about my home planet, simply from meeting Mike and simple discussion, for example. The fourth lobe is ... call it ESP. Most people have nothing there. Marcia felt mentally linked to Margie, as soon as we met. When Margie and I got home from Seattle, she proved that they were, because Marcia was asleep and saw what I did, carrying the truck home. But she was seeing that through Margie’s eyes, not mine. When I destroyed North Korea, but carried that Russian destroyer over the peninsula, they all saw and heard what was going on, and understood it, because they were all asleep.”

Harry frowned. “All that, from your semen?”

Margie shook her head. “I was linked with Cal, almost without anything. You heard my base numbers. Marcia and I were already ... well, what we all are now, super-geniuses, before we met Cal. No, I don’t really know why Bill Gates or Sandy Lerner, as smart as they both are, measured the same range as Jennifer, or why Elroy doesn’t test smarter than either of them. Of course, it IS Elroy, after all.” She chuckled at that dig.

He frowned. “It may be because I specialized in law, and didn’t branch out. You have your MBA, but your other two degrees are math and sociology. Marcia, you said your degrees are math and physics? Plus you’ve so much additional training from your father and mother, I expect you have the equivalent of two or three additional degrees. That could be why you initially tested higher than Margie, but now the two of you are nearly the same.”

“That makes way too much sense, Elroy,” I said. “Jennifer, now that we’ve probably totally confused you, especially speaking to thin air, do you have any questions?”

The look in her eyes was almost frightening; it was so intense. “Only one. How quickly can Elroy, Harry, and Emily leave? I’m really not sure I can actually control myself for much longer.”

“On that note, we’ll see you later, folks,” Elroy said, quickly getting the rifles. Harry and Emily were chuckling, helping him out the door.

As soon as the door closed, Jennifer rushed over to me, taking me in her arms and kissing me deeply, almost frantically. Her hands were rubbing over my body, down my back, grabbing my butt, then rushing back up to my hair, all the while with her tongue dancing and dueling with mine. I could hear and feel her moans in my mouth. She pulled back from me, panting.

“Please ... please don’t think I’m a slut. I’ve never felt more attracted to anyone, ever.” Her eyes were still smoldering, her hair mussed a bit from where I had been holding her against me. “I really wasn’t kidding, about not controlling myself.”

“Mom, why are you still talking to Cal out here, when our bedroom is this way?”

The mother was an inch shorter than the daughter, but they were both the same height, lying down. Their red hair was nearly the same shade. But Jennifer was more like Beth; she already had shaved her pubic hair. They both screamed nearly the same, when my tongue went back and forth between their pussies, licking and using a little of my speed. They also tasted nearly the same, when they both gushed onto my face. The look of love and desire on their faces were identical, when I first allowed myself to slide inside of Jennifer’s eagerly waiting pussy.

Margie brought her face up to Jennifer’s, giving her kisses, while I was stroking inside of Jennifer, bringing her to orgasm quickly and keeping her that way. “Jennifer, can you hear me, through the pleasure our man is bringing you?”

Her eyes opened a bit, but they were glazed. “Oh, my god, this is more than I hoped it would be. Yes ... I can hear you.”

“What are you using for birth control?”

“Oh. Tubal ... ligation ... after Toby ... was born.”

That was good enough for me, because with the way her pussy was massaging my cock, I couldn’t have held out much longer. I filled her belly with my cum. She screamed again as she felt me shooting in her, then her eyes rolled up in her head.

Eve turned on her side, so she was snuggling with her mother and me, while Beth and Dora licked up the cum that was now leaking from Jennifer’s pussy. “I wish you hadn’t had to ask my mother that, but I understand why. I was wondering about it, myself.”

Margie moved over, giving Eve a kiss. “I know you were, dear. I could tell, and hear it up here.”

Marcia slid up as well. “It may also be because of her fourth lobe. I would swear I could feel something from Esmeralda, even before she put that necklace on. Dora, from what your cousin in California said, your grandmother is a witch. I’m taking that to mean a psychic.”

Dora rose up, wiping a bit of cum from her face with her finger, then licking it. “Si. Keep in mind one minor detail. My parents know our OTHER phone number, not the one that grandmother called. It’s both a private and unlisted number.”

Jennifer groaned a little. I’d been keeping my weight off of her. Her eyes flickered open. “Oh, my. That was ... my god, Eve. No wonder you smile all the time. I’m sorry that you all thought I might have been being deceitful, I really wasn’t. I can’t explain why, but I’ve fallen in love with Cal.”

“I thought you had passed out.”

“I did. I could hear you all thinking that you hoped I was serious. Beth, when I got pregnant with Toby, I had been drinking. It’s not an excuse for my behavior, but after what I thought was a loving marriage had been ... empty ... of any physical love for so long, I found that not only couldn’t I help myself, but I didn’t want to. It’s one thing to sleep next to someone at night. It’s another to be able to roll over and hug them, knowing that they love you, no matter what.”

Beth said, “Welcome to the family, my sister-mother.” She moved my cock over a little, then buried her face into Jennifer’s pussy. While Jennifer was reacting to the first time she’d ever had her clit stimulated by a woman, I crawled up, so that my cock was now beside her head. She turned her head, eagerly taking me into her mouth.

Margie and Marcia began kissing Jennifer’s breasts. They were similar in shade to Eve’s, only firmer, with more freckles. Eve rolled back onto her back, with Dora moving up and putting her pussy on Eve’s face. Beth was doing a good job of licking and fingering Jennifer, so she began having orgasms again. Her tongue wasn’t as skilled as Eve’s, but she was trying to pleasure me orally. I felt myself start to cum again, with Jennifer’s arms reaching around behind me, to cram my cock as far into her mouth and throat as she could. She eagerly swallowed everything I had to offer.

After that, I fell backwards, laying on my back. Jennifer crawled over, taking my cock back into her mouth, to bring me back to life. Margie helped her, showing her how I liked my balls held. While Jennifer was bent over me, Dora got off of Eve, then crawled behind Jennifer and began licking on her pussy. Eve rose up, straddling my face, her pussy lips being parted by my chin, while my tongue reached out and licked from her clit to as deep inside her as I could get.

The feel and smell of Eve made me fully hard again. I felt Jennifer’s mouth leave my cock, then felt the bed tremble with movement. Her pussy enveloped my cock again. She was facing her daughter, rocking back and forth with my cock impaled inside her. I could still hear, even if I couldn’t see what was going on without using my vision.

“Oh, Evie. I love this. I love Cal. And I don’t care if it’s wrong, I love you, too.” I felt Jennifer’s weight shift a little as she leaned forward. I could feel Eve shift as well. From the sounds, the mother and daughter were kissing each other. I could tell from how the weight on the bed moved that Margie and Marcia were licking and sucking on the Patrick ladies titties. I was getting close to cumming again. I felt hands move my legs apart just a little. I was almost afraid of what was going to happen. Two fingers were being coated with Jennifer’s juices.

Then, as one, both fingers were inserted. One in Jennifer’s butt, one in mine. That was the last thing I felt, because I passed out.

I was only out for a few seconds, but as I wasn’t the only one that passed out, it was enough time for four other women to move into action. Three pulled Jennifer off my cock, using tongues and lips to clean extra cum from both of us. Another had pulled Eve off my face, where she’d collapsed into a quivering pile of flesh. “Hey, easy down there, I’m back. What the heck happened?”

“You’ve fallen asleep on us before, but that’s the first time you’ve passed out. You went into overdrive on your mouth, your tongue must’ve been moving at 10,000 vibrations per minute, because Eve just squealed, screamed, and fell forward. You pushed upwards with your hips, grinding everything you had deep into Jennifer, and when you shot, she actually raised up a little from the amount and the flow. I think that’s the closest you’ve ever come to hurting one of us when you cum...” Beth paused, then shook her head. “Didn’t mean to make a joke there, but ... you were incredibly turned on. If we’d known you were that into doing a mother and daughter...”

Margie said, “Nope, no way. And not with my sister, either. And I don’t think Cal would do that to Roberto.”

“Not to Roberto, and not to Esmeralda, either. Oh, sorry, not trying to be funny, just trying to wrap my head ... my big head ... around this result.”

Jennifer and Eve both woke up then. Eve groaned, “Oh, my god, my poor clit feels like it’s been through a meat grinder. I’d tell you to kiss it and make it feel better, but I don’t want anyone touching it for a while.”

“Sorry about that, love. Apparently, I got kicked into overdrive.”

“I’ll say,” Jennifer said. “I remember a few years back taking my class to the firehouse, and one of the firemen demonstrating their hose for the kids. I ended up accidentally getting sprayed with it, and pushed all over the place. I just felt like I had a huge push right up inside me, raising me almost up and off of you.”

I looked inside Jennifer. The expression on my face caused Margie to ask, “What?”

“Jennifer, this isn’t a particularly good time to ask, but what method of tubal ligation did you use?”

“The banded one. I felt guilty about having Toby and him not being Stephen’s child, but at the same time, I’d decided I didn’t want another one of his children. The doctors at the clinic did it about a month after I had Toby. They only made two small incisions to do it.”

Margie looked at me. “Let me guess. Super sperm blew the bands off.”

I nodded. “That’s why I asked. Cauterization is still reversible; it just requires a little surgery is all. Banded normally lasts a lifetime. I can tell where the bands were, and even where they are now, just floating around in there. They shouldn’t cause you any problems, but I’ll monitor them. And ... yes, my vision has gotten considerably sharper and better, than when we were waiting to find out if you had a blastocyst, Margie.”

Jennifer was confused. “Vision? What do you mean?”

Eve was still on her side, recovering, but she said, “What he means is that not only does he have vision capable of melting gold or turning people to ash, he can also see through things. Like the ground, walls, and even into people. Which means that you’re one step ahead of me now with Cal, if you want, Mom.”

“If I want what? I love him, but I’m sterile. I understand why you girls want to have his babies. I really do, he’s not just something special, he’s more special than any other man on this planet. But I physically can’t.”

“Yeah ... about that. That lifting feeling ... I have a suspicion that’s as close to losing control of what happens when I have an orgasm as I’ve ever had when making love to a woman. I don’t think we fully demonstrated to you what I can do, just assumed you knew that I have a lot of abilities. I can fly, I can and have picked up a two thousand ton naval ship, I can cut through solid rock with my hands, I don’t need air to breathe, heat and cold don’t bother me, and I have this vision of mine. What we also feared was that if I came inside someone, I might ... kill them, when my semen shot out. We did find out that if I’m simply masturbating, it shoots out like a rifle bullet, and can travel for miles.”

“How that affects you ... and all of us ... now, is simple. I almost lost control. If you take a piece of flexible plastic tubing, and put a rubber band over it, then push a lot of pressure down that tubing, it’s liable to do one of two things. Blow a hole in the side of the plastic tubing, or make enough pressure, especially if the tubing can expand, to force the band out, either breaking it or simply pushing it up and off the tubing. I just used my vision to look inside of you. You HAD bilateral tubal ligation via banding. You don’t any longer. Based upon the minor detail that you had an egg moving down one of your Fallopian tubes, and I just witnessed my sperm having a good time in there, you’re about 5 minutes pregnant.”

Jennifer looked horrified. “You can’t think that I ... that we...”

Marcia said, “Maybe out there, a little. I’ve heard the others talk about how his power affected you before. I’ve felt it myself. In here? No. I don’t think any of us could lie to one another if we even wanted to do so. Not after we’ve shared ourselves with Cal. By the way, I’m so totally out of the mood that I was in just a little bit ago, I’d like to see what measurements, if any, Mike made during this.”

A speaker in the bedroom came on. “Marcia, I am still attempting to figure the results from the data gathered. If you recall, I mentioned that upon a previous occasion, there were increases during your group activities. In this case, it appears that a critical level has been reached. Briefly, while both Cal and Jennifer had fingers in their butts, and while Jennifer, Eve, and Cal were all experiencing simultaneous orgasms, it appeared that their readings were multiplying each other. Now that they have separated, and are relatively still, I ... find that the results for both Eve and Jennifer have changed, from what they were just a short time ago.”

Marcia frowned. “What are the readings now?”

“Cal has returned to within a point of what he was before. Eve is now at 38.8 and 4.2. Jennifer is now at 8.7 and 2.5.”

Eve crawled across the bed, taking her mother in her arms. “What’s wrong, Mom? Jennifer had tears running down her cheeks.

“I ... I can’t be pregnant. I’m 40 years old. I’m an elementary school teacher. I’m going to lose my job, my reputation.”

Margie moved over, taking Jennifer in her arms as well. For some reason, the sight of the three nude women together wasn’t erotic at all. Beth got out of bed and started to get night clothes for everyone, so we could simply all sleep together. She caught my eye, and I followed her into the bathroom. Dora padded along behind us, while Marcia stayed out for the conversation.

“It’s her body, Cal.”

“I know. The way she’s acting, reacting, I almost feel ashamed of thinking beforehand that she might simply be trying to take advantage of us.”

“Si. The key word is almost. We were all thinking it, because it was almost true.”

“Consider me a stupid male, sweetie, and explain.”

“It’s simple. I saw how Jennifer and mi Madre reacted the night of your football game, the next day at lunch. They’ve both seen your power. We’re your women; you know how much your demonstrations of power affect us. Now, you just secured her future, made her family more secure. You’ve given her eldest child a responsibility and a job that will pay him well. You’ve already given her daughter more joy than she could imagine anyone possibly could. You paid off her home, so there is no worry regarding bills, so she could care for her youngest child. I have no doubt that she couldn’t control herself. She had to do something for you, and the only thing she could do was to give of herself to you. She felt safe, though, in knowing that making love to you wouldn’t give her the problems and issues that she ran into the last time she missed companionship so much, for she knew she was sterile.”

“Yes, well, as you said a minute ago, the key word for that is was. Now, she’s about five days from having the blastocyst implant itself in her uterus. I almost wish ... hell, I do wish ... I’d had such control that I could have told Margie immediately, instead of having to delay it for so long.”

“Cal, girls, can you come in here?”

“Yes, Margie. Right here.”

“Jennifer has something to say to you.”

“Cal ... I ... I do love you. I don’t know why, but I do. I’m not sure how this will affect you, will affect me, will affect all of your ladies, or what it’ll do to Toby. But I want to have one of your pendants, one of your rings. I want to be one of your women, and if you’ll allow me to do so, I’d like to also be the mother of one of your children.”

I nodded. “We’ve seven weeks before we leave for California. We’ll just modify Eve’s plan a little. You’ll quit your job with the school corporation immediately. Once we’re out west, no one will know you; no one will care whether or not you’re pregnant. And ... with proper care, I suspect that you’ll be the most fit 40 year old on the planet.”

“What do you mean, proper care?”

“Swimming eight laps per day, to get in shape, for one. For another, by regularly having sex with Cal, you’ll ... probably experience body changes as well. Mom, I’m a decent high school basketball player, but nothing special. While we were seeing the campus, we toured the gym. I ran rings around the entire Stanford Women’s basketball team, and I couldn’t miss a shot, even out to 25 feet. Dora and Beth are swimming laps at near world record pace.”

Margie chuckled. “Yeah, we never did get a chance to discuss that. But the minor detail that my hand-eye coordination with a pistol is such that I’m hitting one inch groups at 100 feet means something’s up with me, too.”

Marcia nodded. “I was just thinking it was the clean country living. I’m ... well, I’ve never been much of a runner, but I do the stationary bike. I can do a full 20 miles on it in about 40 minutes.”

Margie nodded. “I’m just a hair slower. It takes me about 45 to do that distance.”

“Um, I have a bit of an idea. Since I don’t think there’s going to be much more happen in here this evening, how about ... three showers, seven people. Cal and the two mothers-to-be in the main one, the rest of us in the other two? Just in case there was splatter, so we don’t have any cement issues?”