Chapter 39

I was so anxious to get the situation resolved with Sammi that I went looking for Cire. After two minutes, I had gotten tired of waiting for him to show up! He was nowhere to be found. Of course, all of you who own cats know that is not unusual. You have all had times when you look for them, can't find them, and then they stroll casually out from a back room, leaving you to wonder where their hiding place was. You never find it, either. I figured Cire had a couple of those places. I finally decided I wasn't going to find those places that day, and returned to wait with the others. Two minutes later, Cire strolled into the living room, a totally innocent look on his face, as if he had no idea I was looking for him. Snotty cat! Was that why Megan loved him so (being snotty I mean, not being hard to find)? Was that why she loved me so? I decided not to go there.

The whole thing of Cire helping with Sammi's problem turned out to be rather anticlimactic. Mark that on your calendar; you could count all the times anticlimactic or boring had happened in the Phillips family on one hand and have six fingers left over. Ok, so math isn't my strong suit, but you get the point.

Cire never did talk to us. He walked into the room, looked at Megan and me, and we just knew somehow that he knew all about the problem and would take care of it. That's it. Snotty cat didn't give us any information about how, when, nothing. I am firmly convinced that in the biblical account of creation and man falling into sin, the loss of eternal life and the hardships of everyday life was not the true punishment God gave mankind. It was giving them cats.

Cire walked over and jumped up on Megan's lap, stood up on his hind legs, put his paws around her neck as much as he could, and kissed (read: licked) her on the face. On the lips, even. Ewww! Megan got a funny look on her face, and then some expression slid across her face that was too fleeting and unknown for me to catch, but looked kind of like she looks when she just figured something out. Then her face went blank. She hugged Cire back and kissed him back. Double Ewww! Cire jumped down and went to pay his respects to Sarah. Mustn't have the master getting jealous.

Finally, he sauntered over to Sammi and hopped up in her lap. I expected Sammi to flinch a little, as she doesn't really like cats all that much. She doesn't hate them or anything like that, but she just isn't all that enamored with them. She took him sitting in her lap well, though. She even petted him and rubbed his ears a little, invoking monster kitty purring noises. He circled for a while on her lap, looking for the right place, then lay down and proceeded to make biscuits for awhile. Those of you who have been around cats know exactly what I am talking about. Those of you who haven't been around cats, you just have to experience it to understand. Then he went to sleep.

I looked at Megan with a 'that's it?' look on my face. She just smiled and pointed to the cat again. When I looked again, there was a faint rainbow glow around both Cire and Sammi that seemed to pulse in and out. No rainbow lightning, no fireworks, just a snotty sleeping cat that glowed. When it does get boring in the Phillips household, it gets real boring. Making up for lost time, I guess.

We sat there and watched Sammi and Cire glow and pulse for awhile. It looked like Sammi was dozing too. It was exciting. Finally, Amy looked over at Megan and me.

"As exciting as this is, and as much as I hate to miss out on it, I need to cut out on the rest of it. I have to go sort out my sock drawer. I can get all the exciting details from you later," she said, smiling sweetly, and got up and left the room. Could she actually be a cat? Snotty, catty... hmmm. Megan and I looked for something to do, so we talked. It turned out there was something she was wondering about. Scribes are nothing if not eternally curious. It goes with the job.

"Do you think Bandor was behind the attack on the President and his family?" She asked out of the blue. Where did that come from? Why would anyone change subjects so radically when such an exciting show was going on? Just the way her mind works, I guess. Oh well, just her loss as she missed out. 'K then. I really did resent her ruining my fun by taking my attention away from the excitement, though.

"No, he wasn't," I said confidently. She raised her eyebrow at me in question. Just one eyebrow. She does that because she knows I think it is cute and funny. She also does it because she knows I can't. Could all the girls be cats? Cute, snotty, independent, horny as a cat in heat, likes to irritate me... hmmm. Reminds me of the 10 points of what a cat really is. It goes something like this:

What exactly are those curious animals called cats?****

1) Cats do what they want, when they want

2) They rarely listen to you

3) They are totally unpredictable

4) They whine when they are not happy

5) When you want to play, they want to be left alone

6) When you want to be alone, they want to play

7) They expect you to cater to their every whim

8) They're moody

9) They leave their hair everywhere

10) They drive you nuts

Conclusion: Cats are little, tiny women in cheap fur coats!

Of course, that did not pertain to any of my girls. Absolutely not!

"Why?" Megan asked, apparently getting impatient with my inattention to her question about whether Bandor was involved or not as I mused about cats and women and observed the frantic pace of action that was now going on with Cire and Sammi. He was purring. Damn, I guess Megan was just not going to let me devote my full attention to that.

"First, because there was never any sign of powers being used. You know Bandor; when it started to go down the tubes, he and his flunkies would have interfered, throwing their power around to change the balance to win. Sort of like we did..." I finished ill-advisedly, my voice dropping in volume as I wondered why I said that. I was supposed to be smart. Ow! I was precognitive; I knew that punch was coming! Good thing Amy had left the room.

"Second, when Cire wiped out the five bad guys at the end with his shield, they turned to dust but he didn't absorb the dust," I went on. Megan gave me a confused look, raising that eyebrow again. Stop that! "Oh, that's right, I didn't tell you about that and you probably didn't notice it on the replay Cire gave you." Ow! Never intimate that a scribe has missed something. Especially when they have missed something. Actually, she was giving me love pats (read: punches) and they really didn't hurt (much). It meant she loved me (I think). "When Cire stopped Sarah's kidnapping, he absorbed the dust they became, and it seemed to strengthen his power. That didn't happen with the five he disintegrated. Hence, they were just normal humans."

"Finally, none of them had shields. I think it was an attempt to kidnap the President by a Mideast terror group, just as they said. Bandor might have put them up to it, but I don't think so." Megan looked at me lovingly, smiling sweetly.

"That's why I love you so much... you're so smart!" She said. What??? What'd I do now? She asked, didn't she? Megan laid her head on my shoulder, her hand softly caressing my chest, and kissed my neck softly. I guess maybe she was serious.

Later, Sammi and Cire woke up. Cire went over to Megan for the obligatory mutual affection party. Megan seemed very into it now. When Sammi got up to go to bed, Cire stood up, stretched luxuriously, and just walked into Sammi's bedroom. I looked at Megan. She was smiling brightly, her eyes moist with happiness. I guess she was really enjoying her troubled daughter getting the help she needed. When we headed to bed, we glanced into Sammi's room. She was sound asleep, on her back, with Cire laying on her chest and stomach. They were both glowing and pulsating with warm, rainbow colors.

Megan made it clear both on the couch and on the way into the bedroom that she really wasn't that interested in sleeping. That was ok; I would gladly take her anytime she wanted, anywhere. I was so in love with her I couldn't see straight. I think she knew that. She tried not to take advantage of it too often, at least not in ways that would hurt me. She did take advantage of me quite soundly that night. I didn't complain in the least.

The nightly ritual of Sammi and Cire dozing on the couch in the evening, then sleeping together at night continued for a week. I was amazed at how well Sammi got along with the cat. I guess she was a cat lover now. Cire was very careful to still spend time with Megan and Sarah, however. He and Megan seemed particularly close of late. After a week, Cire stopped the nightly meetings. He still seemed to enjoy spending time with Sammi, and she seemed to enjoy it too, but they didn't glow anymore when they were together. Megan and I received the distinct feeling in our minds that the conversion was successfully finished. Megan verified with her own check, and yes, it did indeed seem that the baby was no longer carrying the signature of Bandor.

We were debating one evening how to approach Sammi with the news about her baby when she beat us to it. She sat down to talk to us one evening.

"I was just wondering when Cire was going to take care of this baby I'm carrying. I have to make a decision pretty soon on how to resolve it," Sammi said hesitatingly, not wanting to come on too strong.

"It has already been taken care of, Sammi," Megan told her. Sammi looked upset.

"But I'm still pregnant! I can feel it! I told you, I can't have this baby!" I could see tears would be coming soon. Megan hugged her.

"You can have the baby now, Sammi. It isn't Bandor's baby anymore. Cire didn't get rid of it; he converted it to Patrick's baby. You wouldn't want to get rid of Patrick's baby, would you?" Megan asked. I was as surprised as Sammi was. I knew Cire was converting the baby to our side; I didn't know it would be mine when it was done. I guess I should have known; if it wasn't going to be Bandor's, it had to be someone's. Sammi's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Really? That's wonderful! I'm going to have Patrick's baby? Thank you! Wait until Julie hears about this!" She squealed happily as she ran out of the room.

"Well, I guess that was one way to end the competition and jealousy," Megan giggled. I could tell the success of the conversion was a big load off her mind. Now all we had to worry about was what these two babies would do.

I was even closer to Sammi and Julie now than I had ever been. With Julie, it was a two-pronged attraction for her; I had been her first, and she was having my baby. I didn't pretend to be an expert on the female psyche, but I was sure those were both huge things to a young teenage girl. Sammi was somewhat different, but still, she was now having my baby, and that was huge to her. I thought it was funny how the other girls were reacting. Amy, Cindi, Katie, Becky, and Sarah just didn't seem that interested in the whole idea of being pregnant, regardless of who the father was. Of course, that might have been said for Sammi and Julie before it happened to them. I only made the mistake once of asking Megan how she would like being a grandmother. Only once. Never again.

On Thursday, Megan came into the office and asked if she could talk to me. Since she usually doesn't ask that, I correctly deduced this meant privately. I figured it must be important, as she usually didn't keep secrets from the others. We went into the bedroom and closed the door. Megan looked nervous.

"Patrick, honey, I need to be away for a couple of weeks," she began. She looked at me with apprehension. I wasn't sure why she was so nervous about this. She seemed excited also, at the same time.

"Ok. No problem. What's going on?" I asked.

"Russ' wife, Michelle, is working on a dig in Arizona. She asked for my help. She thinks there is something there that will be of great interest to me. I shouldn't be gone more than two weeks at most, depending on what we find." I still wasn't sure what she was nervous about.

"Ok, Megan, that's no problem. I will miss you, of course. So, what are you so nervous about?" I asked. She bit her lower lip.

"The timing is bad. We don't know when Bandor's attack is going to come. The girls are about three months pregnant. If the contingency for the pregnancies to be terminated early is invoked, it will be soon. I'm worried about being gone at a bad time. Also, I'm really going to miss you. I remember how bad it was the last two times we were apart." She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big hug and kiss, then laid her head on my chest. I heard her sniffle a little.

"Well, that was a little different. The first time I was being an idiot and you didn't know if I was coming back. The next time I was stuck in Iraq. Arizona is different that Iraq... well, at least a little different. You could always tell her no," I said. The look on her face when I said that told me there was a reason why she was so excited.

"I can't. I have to go." She paused for a minute, biting her lower lip, trying to decide if she should tell me something. Megan keeping secrets? Now I was really intrigued.

"Why? What is it, Megan? This isn't just helping a friend dig in the dirt, is it?" She grinned as I used Victoria's derogatory term for archeology.

"Michelle e-mailed me a picture of one of the symbols they found there. She had never seen it before, nor had anyone else she showed it too. I have. In fact, I'm probably the only person in the field that has ever seen it before." She looked at me, eyes bright. "Patrick, it was one of the symbols on the plates that your Dad found in the van that our parents were killed in! I've never seen it anywhere else. It could be this is connected with us, who we are! I have to go, honey!" She exclaimed excitedly. I was not as excited. She picked up on that right away.

"What's the matter, honey? Don't you want to know more about us?"

"Yes, Megan, I do. I'm just concerned that if you are looking into this site, someone else looking for the same information might be looking into it also. I'm worried about you." I kissed her gently. She responded with passion. Uh oh. I'd forgotten that talking about archeology made Megan hot. Of course, so did vacuuming the house, grocery shopping, folding clothes, listening to the news, steaming broccoli, and breathing! Ok, almost everything made her hot. But not quite like archeology.

"I know. I'll be careful, I promise. I'll call you everyday. I have to do this, honey." Her eyes were bright. I had my doubts about getting any sleep tonight.

"So, when do you leave?" I asked. No sense in fighting this. This was her life. I wouldn't want to interfere.

"As soon as possible. Tomorrow. The sooner I go, the sooner I get back. Thank you, Patrick. You know how I love this stuff, and with the potential that it could relate to us, it is even more exciting. I wish you could go too," she said. That was an idea.

"I could, if there was a reason for protection for you. If you have any doubts, you call me and I'll be right there," I assured her. I saw her suddenly give me an impish grin. Ok, what was she up to?

"I talked to Victoria. I asked her to take special care of you while I was gone. I know the girls will be delighted to help you out, but I know you also need to flee to the... comfort of an adult sometimes," Megan giggled.

"What did she say?" I asked. Megan giggled again and actually turned red!

"She said she had a special fantasy she has had for a long time and that she wanted to try it out with you. It seemed like it was one I wasn't supposed to know about or be involved in. It wouldn't involve handcuffs, would it? I just thought, you both having been in the FBI..." She giggled nervously, blushing prettily.

"No, dear, we took care of that one many years ago. I doubt she wants to try that one again," I assured her. Megan laughed until she saw my face.

"You're serious?" She whispered. I nodded and I saw her shiver. She had an odd look in her eyes. "I might want to... never mind," she finished quickly. I laughed and hugged her tight.

"My kinky little Megan. No one would ever guess how wild you are when no one else is around!" She turned beet red and swatted me on the arm.

"I'm not that kinky! We haven't done all that much really weird stuff. None of it was illegal, anyway," she protested emphatically. Time to tease, my mind said.

"Well, that's true. After all, nothing was ever proven about you and those small furry animals, and no charges were ever filed," I assured her. She turned even redder, her mouth open in shock, and hit me. Hard.

"Patrick!! Don't say things like that! Someone will hear you and think you're serious!"

"Well, you do seem to be awfully friendly with Cire lately," I joked. Megan gasped.

"You're sick. I don't want to talk to you anymore. Go away." She smiled at me though, so I knew she was just kidding. However, she was serious about not talking to me anymore and she did keep her word on that; she didn't talk to me for quite a while. She did make some other interesting noises, though, as did I.

We lay together later, naked; I was spooned up against her, my arm around her as she held my arm in hers. I love lying with her that way. Megan has the cutest little body, and it didn't hurt that I loved her dearly. I kissed her neck softly, nibbling her ear as she moaned and whimpered quietly.

"So, would you really like to see me with Cire?" She asked quietly. She laughed gaily at my startled gasp.

"Gotcha! You started it. You should have known I would get you back." She could sense I was still startled. "No, dear, I don't get into animals. You are enough animal for me." She reached back and kissed me.

"Megan, I love you so much! I'm really going to miss you while you're gone," I whispered in her ear. I felt her shiver and heard her gasp, and then she turned her head and kissed me, attacking me fiercely. When she broke the kiss, I saw tears in her eyes.

"I love you too. What brought that on? We haven't said that in awhile. God, I love you so much!" I felt her tremble as she cried softly.

"Megan? Honey? I know we haven't said that to each other for awhile, we've been so busy and things have been so hectic, but surely you knew I still loved you, didn't you?" I waited anxiously for her response.

"Oh, honey, of course I knew. It's just so wonderful to hear you tell me. Patrick, you will never know or understand what you mean to me. You are my life. I couldn't survive without you." Megan cuddled close as happy tears flowed down her face.

We must have fallen asleep for a while, because the next thing I knew, someone was clearing their throat and shaking me gently. I looked up into Victoria's beautiful green eyes, twinkling merrily.

"Get a room, you two! Oh, wait, you did! We can't leave you two alone for a minute, can we?" Victoria reached down and kissed me soundly. "You two are just so cute together, but you need to get up. Your beautiful lady needs to get packed for her trip tomorrow." Victoria let her hands run slowly across my chest as she whispered to me. If she kept that up, I was going to pull her into bed with us and we would never get up! She pulled away.

"Not now, big brother. Later. I have you for two full weeks. We won't be able to walk, either one of us!"

"What about John?" I asked nervously. Victoria's face lit up.

"What about him? He's fine with it. He knows about us. We'll talk about him later. I'm sure Rhonda can keep him occupied when I'm not around." She giggled as she swatted my butt and told me to get up.

I spent most of the day helping Megan pack. Actually, I probably hindered her more than helped her, but she didn't say anything. I think she was just glad to have me around. She knew she was going to miss me.

While she was packing, I had a chance to ask her about how her translation of the plates was going. She talked about them as she packed.

"I don't know a whole lot yet. These people had a very complex language. It's taking a long time to translate. I do know that powers like we have were not uncommon; many people had them, but they apparently weren't born with them usually, or they were born with them but had to be accessed somehow first, before they could be activated. They received them somehow. That part is not clear. At some point, something happened that destroyed their ability to receive the powers. That was when a small group that had powers was sent out away from their planet for safety."