Puppies and Kittens, Oh My!
by Ev and Donna

    Carol yawned.  It had been a long night.  The lovely collie Mullard had found the night of the storm, who they had immediately named Lassie, had had her puppies last night.  It had been so exciting to watch, all of them on the farm, except for Pascal, who was still in his cast, had watched the whole thing.

    Morning had felt extra early after so little sleep.  Carol and Marie sat huddled over their coffee while Mullard fixed breakfast for a change.  "Isn't it inspirational, watching a man cook?"  Carol and Marie giggled.

    Mullard grinned at them and rolled his eyes.  He actually didn't mind doing it, but he wasn't about to say that.  Not where they could hear, anyway.

    "So what should we wear for the shower?"  Carol honestly didn't know.  It had been probably twenty years since she had been to such a thing.

    "Well, we don't need to be dressed up, but it should be something nicer than jeans.  I'd say a skirt and blouse would be dressy enough."

    "Gawd.  I don't remember the last time I wore a skirt.  I hope I have one."  Carol managed to get up and get herself some more tea.  Her stomach didn't seem so upset this morning.  That was a good sign.

    The mention of a skirt got Mullard's attention.  "You will model for me? Yes?"  He was especially glad he had the day off.  "This, I would like to see."

    Dani finally dragged himself in for breakfast.  "See what?"

    Mullard chuckled at Carol, who was just sighing and rolling her eyes. "Carol is going to wear a skirt."

    Dani was suddenly fully awake.  "Really?"  He nearly tripped over a chair on his way to sit at the table.  Marie didn't even try not to laugh at him.

    "Men.  Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."  Carol finished eating and went to dig through her closet.  She was amazed to see that there were actual skirts and dresses way in the back.  Several of each.  "Damn!  Who knew?"

    Finally Marie and Carol both reappeared in the promised skirts and blouses.  They both got plenty of attention from the guys, complete with wolf whistles and kisses. 

    "You clean up nice!"  Dani teased.

    "Jeez!  Let's get outta here before I say something."  Carol chuckled and led the way to the cart Mullard had already hitched up for them.  He had even put a picnic lunch in the cart for them.  "See you later guys.  Try and behave." 

    The wedding shower was being held at the community gardens.  It was a women only gathering, and any gatecrashers were immediately chased away. The only man that was allowed to stay was Gideon, who watched all the fun with child-like wonderment. Everyone had brought picnic style lunches, and were sharing them on the tables that had been set up for them.

    "Oh, this is nice!"  Marie had been to lots of showers, but this looked like the largest she had ever seen.  "Good thing the weather is nice."

    Carol couldn't remember ever being in a crowd this large of just women. "You might have to talk me through this.  I'm socially retarded, you know."

    "Don't be silly.  Just smile a lot and talk about happy things.  If something bothers you, wait till later and complain at home.  Ok?" 

    As the women ate, they all gave *suggestions* to Fiona as to how best to enjoy not only her wedding night, but all the ones to follow.  Of course, some of the more experienced ladies said things that caused Fiona and some of the other *innocent* girls to blush and to fan their faces.

    Carol found herself having a better time than she expected.  She whispered to Marie, "The last one of these I went to, I think the mother of the bride would have had a heart attack over this."

    Marie giggled.  "Me too!  Shh!"

    The fact that many of the women gathered there had bellies that were expanding was proof that they knew what they were talking about.  Some of the girls that had arrived on the bride ship sat open mouthed in amazement at this impromptu sex education class. None of them had mothers there, so the other ladies were making sure they all had the facts straight!

    "I have the impression, some of these girls never would have learned half this much back home."  Carol looked around at the number of red faces. "Culture shock."

    "We're establishing our own culture here.  It's pretty free compared to most time periods.  I think freer is better."  Marie smiled. 

    Once the meal was eaten, the gifts were given out.  Sarah Jo pulled out a large basket of fruit and vegetable preserves from underneath the table, smiling at Carol and Marie. "I would have given her one of the kittens, but she already has a cat apparently," she told them.

    Carol's eyes lit up at the mention of the kittens.  "Are they old enough already?  Seems like it was just the other day we talked about them.  Any chance I can still have one?"  

    "Of course!" Sarah Jo chuckled. "Why don't you come by after we are done
here and pick one out. Marie, would you like one too?"

    "Oh yes!  I love kittens!  I haven't had one since I was little."  Marie smiled, thinking of all the mischief a kitten could get into.

    "Oh!  Lassie, that beautiful collie Mullard found the night of the storm, just had her puppies last night.  We were thinking of promising one of those to them as a wedding present.  You think she'd like that?"  Carol kept her voice low, so Fiona wouldn't hear.  "Come to think of it, would you like one, too?" 

    "I would love one!" Sarah Jo said, clapping her hands with joy. "I'm sure Fiona will too!"

    Marie leaned close to add,  "They're just adorable.  There are seven of them!"

    "Great!  You'll have to come over sometime and pick out one, then.  We put together a basket of lavender scented soap and herbal teas for the shower."  Carol brought their gift basket out from under the table.

    "It was fun making this.  Maybe we'll furnish some for the Mercantile."  Marie actually had had a good time with it.

    "Good idea!" Sarah Jo said, motioning for Mercy to come take a look.  She agreed that it would be something she could use in the shop that she and Bogaslav ran together.

    "That's something we can be making during the winter, when there's not a lot of gardening to do."  Marie was always planning.  "Of course we'll be working with the wool then, too."

    Carol sighed.  "And here I was hoping for a vacation.  Let me at least pretend for a while, ok?" 

    The two of them spent a very pleasant day giggling with everyone at the shower and wishing Fiona well.  They only took a brief detour to SJ's to pick up the kittens.  Soon they were on their way back to the farm,  with Carol holding the basket of kittens on her lap.

    "Oh, they're so sweet!"  Carol crooned softly to the little black kitten that was gnawing on her finger.  The other one had long hair and was mostly white with gray tabby spots.  It was sound asleep while the other one walked on it.  "Now we have everything to make it a perfect farm."