Chapter 5

Anthony, umbrella in hand, watched the dock master slug slither off in one direction, the monkey driven bus with its cargo of Earth tobacco driving off in another. Rain, unchanged in the hours since they first braved the elements, fell in sheets around him. Again, he thanked whatever gods ruled this world for the lack of wind.

"So..." Hannah stood next to him, umbrella actually a bit under his, causing its runoff to just miss his arm. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are we staying here? Sure, now we have money, but the kids are born. I assume we're not hanging around until Alicia and I pop ours out."

He laughed. Things changed so quickly, concrete plans tended to be nothing more than future suggestions. Daium, on his other side, just shook her head under her own umbrella.

"If we're not planning on coming back here, we might as well spend all this money we now have." Anthony saw her finger the stack of plastic bills in her hand, as if it was burning a hole. "We have the driver's number. Maybe go into town tomorrow?"

"It'll involve splitting us up," he warned. "I doubt our mothers will be in any shape to leave the ship, and Chuck's not leaving their side."

"There's no way we can have landed here and NOT let Mary see her first alien planet," Hannah said. "I think it'll be safe leaving Moms and babies on the ship."

"Morning it is, then. And I like how you lumped Chuck in with the babies there."

"You two don't fool me."

Chuck looked down at his two wives, disgust clear on his face. He shook his head. The two evil females in question lay next to each other in the center of their bed, nude, a sleeping few hours old baby on each of their chests. Despite exhaustion clearly showing, Rinda and Melinda grinned back at their husband wickedly. Melinda gently cupped the back of little Carol's head.

"Why don't we fool you?" she asked, almost managing not to break out laughing while using a little girl's voice. Chuck growled, large finger touching his daughter's incredibly small hand, marveling at the smoothness of the pink skin.

"Come on. Rinda pops out little Jeli there, and you just HAPPEN to go into labor a half hour later? You two had this planned, didn't you? Or were you jumping up and down to try and squirt Carol out so Rinda wouldn't hog up all the attention?"

"He's got us," Rinda loudly whispered to Melinda, shifting their son a bit so he wouldn't slip off. His little black fists were clutching her fur, head snuggled between her breasts.

"Damn straight. I know you both too well." Chuck, sitting on the edge of the bed, reached over and smoothed out the dark blue hair on his son. Or was it fur? Time would tell. Rinda reached her own black skinned hand up to take his, fingers intertwining.

"That you do..."

"Yeah," Melinda added, taking his other hand, fingers joining as well. "We can't pull anything over on you..."

"And don't you forget it."

Chuck gazed at his family. Family ... he had a family. Pulling his hands away, he removed his clothing. The girls shifting apart on the bed, he moved over to lie down between them. Weight changing the gravitational pull of the mattress, they slid down against him, giggling. He put his arms around their shoulders, pulling each in for a sweet kiss. His arms would probably soon be numb and tingling, but he didn't care.

Some pain was worth it.

Nona sprawled face down on her unmade bed.

Pillow. She needed a pillow. Her head, pressed against the mattress by the evil gravity, was not on a fluffy surface. Where was her pillow ... ah. Yes. It was up at the top of her bed. Where else would it be. But, she was down here. Her head was a good two feet short of that fluffy goodness. Could she move up to the pillow?

... No. She was too tired to move. Two babies. She had delivered two babies in three hours, mind terrified the entire time. To have four lives in her hands! God, she just wanted to sleep...

A soft knock came from the bedroom door.

"Nona?"

Nona instantly moved, rolling over and up, sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand supporting herself while the other went to her forehead. Dozens of post birth complications ran through her head.

"I'm up! What is it?!?"

The door opened, a surprised and chagrined Tammy quickly poking her head it.

"I'm sorry! Everything's OK! Everything's fine!"

Strength once again left every limb of Nona's body. She fell back onto the bed, feet still on the floor, bouncing once. She heard a groan. It may or may not have come from her mouth.

"What do you want?"

Her voice was tired. Or were her ears tired? Could it be both? Maybe. Hard to say. Her mind was tired.

"I'm sorry, Nona. I ... I didn't think you were asleep. I thought you might be thirsty. I brought something. I'll ... I'll put it over here..."

Drink. Did Nona need a drink? She swallowed. Dry. Her throat was dry. And tired. Drink would be good. It would require movement, though. Movement upwards. Maybe Tammy could just pour it into her mouth...

OK, this was getting silly. With a loud groan, which to her ears was embarrassingly theatrical, Nona first pushed herself back into the bed, then forced her body upward. She sat up, stopping as she achieved a vertical sitting position.

"No, no, don't go ... drink would be good..." She shook her head, trying to wake. Her straight black hair continued the movement for an extra second, before settling into place. She blinked. There was the sound of things being put places, liquid being transferred between containers. A weight settled on the bed next to her. Looking, she saw Tammy, still, like her, in their Bells ship uniform, holding two clear glasses with a dark red liquid. Nona reached for the offered glass with her right hand, paused to consider how much she liked her nice bedding, and used both hands to grasp the drink. There was a light touch on her bare arm. Looking up, she saw Tammy smile and raise her glass.

"To the babies, and a job well done."

Nona blushed. She kept her glass still while Tammy clinked hers against it, then took a deep drink. To be honest, they weren't sure what this stuff was. They found it five planets ago, an incredible combination of fruity red wine and beer. Served cold, as this was, it went down like water and refreshed even as the alcohol did its thing. Not only had they filled an entire storage room with bottles of the stuff, they had left that world with seeds, plants, and every book on brewing they could find. A test crop was already sprouting in the garden.

She lowered her glass, already half empty. Tammy topped it off.

"I didn't do anything, you know," she said, sighing. "Just stood there, like a catcher. We were lucky..."

"No," Tammy replied, shaking her head. "You did a lot. You kept the girls calm. Focused. You had the right kind of pain killers for Melinda, and used them well."

"God she's a screamer..."

"I think we ALL knew that," Tammy laughed. That did get a chuckle out of Nona. Everyone always knew when Melinda was getting some from Chuck, or Rinda. Or from...

Nona blushed. Looking away from Tammy, she took another swig of her drink.

"You ... you helped too, Tammy. Thanks for being my nurse."

"Oh, my pleasure. I'm sorry I wasn't dressed for the occasion. I'll have to see if I can have a naughty nurse outfit ready when Alicia's due."

"OK, question." Nona, drink in her right hand, raised her left forefinger as she looked back at her friend. "Why is it there's only naughty nurse outfits, and not naughty doctor ones?"

Tammy cocked her head, barking out a laugh.

"Ha! Do you want Hannah to make you one?"

Nona could feel her ears burning. She couldn't answer that. Who would she wear something sexy for? Not herself. She really wasn't the kind to do that. Not Danny. Who would she want to dress up, or down, for? Why had she even ASKED the question, and to Tammy of all people?

There was a light touch on her bare arm. Every nerve end, every hair, seemed to react. Nona kept her eyes down in her lap.

"I'm sorry, Nona. Bad joke. I shouldn't have..."

"No, it's OK." Nona shook her head. "It's ... hell, I wouldn't even look good in one."

There was a moment's silence. Her eyes closed. If Tammy agreed with her ... oh, God...

"Hey."

A smooth, strong hand touched her chin, raising it. Her face was gently turned, eyes forced to meet Tammy's. The look she saw in her face ... Nona trembled.

The hand began to caress Nona's cheek.

"You're beautiful, Nona."

Her face had to be glowing, blood from the rest of her body seemingly rushing to re-enforce the blush. Her eyes ... couldn't leave Tammy's. She should look away. Say something, take another drink, something...

Tammy's eyes, her face, seemed to be getting bigger. Closer. God, was she leaning in to...

No.

Tammy wasn't moving.

Nona was.

Her head jerked back, eyes wide, half empty glass dropping from her hand to the rug. A growing patch of blue carpet turned purple.

Tammy let out a breath, seeming to deflate. In that moment, the entire atmosphere of the room changed. Something ... had been lost. Something Nona wanted. Needed.

And had rejected.

"I'm sorry, Nona. I'll go..."

Tammy stood, weight leaving the bed. She was going. Nona's mind whirled. Tammy was leaving. Everyone was leaving her. Mom. Dad. They had gone. Left her alone ... No. She had left THEM, and now they were gone. Forever. And, now, Tammy was ... Nona was making her go...

"Please..."

It came out as a whisper. She didn't even know if she had said it aloud, let alone if it had carried across the void to Tammy. Nona wet her suddenly dry lips, trying again.

"Please, Tammy ... stay."

Silence.

The mattress creaked next to her, weight returning to it ... not so close this time. Nona's eyes refused to look at her friend. She didn't want to see the ... disappointment in her face. Or, worse ... affection...

"What do you want, Nona?"

There were so many layers of meaning to that quiet question. So many answers, all true, yet not. Her right hand went to her forehead, trying to contain the sudden throbbing.

"If I knew that, do you think I'd feel this way? Do you?" She was going to cry. She knew it. Cry again, like she had the other night. The night Tammy had held her...

"Were ... were you going to kiss me, Nona?"

Her other hand joined the first on her forehead.

"I don't know!"

The words hung in the silence. Nona felt the bed shift next to her. Tammy's voice, still soft, came from somewhere closer.

"Do you want me, to kiss you?"

"Yes..."

The words were out of her with no conscious thought. Her eyes shot open. Oh, God, what had she just...

Two warm, soft hands took her own, pulling them away from her face. Nona's head slowly turned. Tammy sat there, eyes wet with tears. She was beautiful. Nona had always known that, always thought that, but ... had never UNDERSTOOD it. She did now. God forgive her, she understood.

Tammy. Beautiful Tammy. Athletic. Graceful. Understanding. Loving.

She leaned forward. Nona sat still, frozen, only to realize she too was slowly leaning into Tammy. Her eyes closed...

Something soft, silky, touched her lips ... and was gone.

Her eyes slowly opened. Tammy was looking at her with ... awe. Her own expression must have mirrored it. The older woman took a moment to compose herself, then stood. She bent down, limbs moving in ways Nona would never permit herself to really see before, picking up the fallen glass. Handing it back to Nona, whose hands took it mostly by instinct, Tammy grabbed the bottle off the nightstand and refilled it. She then raised the wine to her lips and took a long swig. Letting out a sigh, she dropped her arm, holding the bottle loosely with two fingers. She looked down at the Malay.