Chapter 51

Dear Willow,

Wow! All of that? I do so hope that the navy figures out how their satellites got shot down. I'd guess that is the most important bit of intelligence they could have gathered about the Sa'arm. The next bit of intelligence they need to gather is how to keep satellites up. That's 'cause you need the info they'll give you on where the Sa'arm are, especially since on your world they seem to be confined to the surface. I'd guess that if they cannot burrow or dig their normal warrens they are about desperate now. I'm wondering how well they do under a high intensity bombardment? Not that you probably know the answer to that...

So far the babies, Willow (yeah the ladies decided that she does look like you) and Wendy mostly eat and sleep. I do think from observing the other households around us that we're the odd people out as far as the number of children present or on the way. Then again most of them seemed to be wise enough to have at least one experienced mother in the house before they arrived here. That is one area where we could have done much better. You and Erica are so very much better off than we are for having invited (and managed to convince the Confederacy to let you take) Louise along with you.

I say that because we long for someone with a bit more life experience than any of us. Especially since the twins, (goodness they'll all be twins!) stopped sleeping and started crying. Even with the eight of us to share walking them and both Katy (thank goodness she has such a sweet nature!) to try to stuff their little mouths' full of tits and milk so that they'd have less chance to scream us all deaf we would barely manage to get one dry and quiet before the other one went off like some sort of sonic weapon. Too bad that baby screams won't bother the Sa'arm. If they would I'm sure a recording of our house last night would turn them back to whatever hell world they evolved on post haste. Then they'd never show their ugly faces again! Lest we torture them with more recordings of babies screaming.

We even slipped the babies into the sleep-trainer and took them by the med-tubes at the community med-center to see if there was anything wrong with them. Gas was the diagnosis. The med-tube added a nanite to their system to see if it could manage that issue until they are able to communicate with us. But I'm telling you by the time we got them both quiet and sleeping I was ready to volunteer to storm any available Sa'arm position. There is absolutely no sound more jarring to the human ear than a crying baby.

So we got the babies to sleep and most of the household went to sleep for what was left of the rest of the night. Since Lily was awake for a bit and I was too I asked her, "Are you sure you want babies?"

She looked toward where they were sleeping in the cribs that we had the replicator create and said, "Yeah, I do. I knew that babies aren't able to communicate, but I can't imagine anything more fulfilling than holding your children."

"What if Marissa and I decide that they should be Ron's children?"

"It will be as you desire. I am yours, all yours, to use as you wish. My collar and leash aren't an affectation, no matter how much you want to change that. It expresses what I am. I am your property. That would be true whether or not the Confederacy existed. If for some reason you had managed to remove me from the sway of my last owner I would have more than gladly have bound myself to you."

Marissa and I discussed that conversation later in the privacy (such as it is with an AI constantly watching) of my office. I wanted her opinion of what Lily had told me. I had the AI play the conversation back so that I wouldn't miss anything or miss report what had been said. She called Lily in and asked, "Do you belong to me or to Will?"

"Both of you."

"What if we give you conflicting instructions?" I asked. I knew that Mom and Dad had given us conflicting instructions and we hadn't been nearly as much property as the concubines in this household remain. Really that was a concern that I had with all of our spouses.