Chapter 19
**
"Hey, Jennifer," I say, as I answer the door. I’m in a pair of ratty old sweatpants and a tshirt from my Navy days; I know my hair’s a mess, too, since I’ve been asleep on the couch. The muted chime of the doorbell woke me from a doze I’d fallen into, and I discovered I’d drooled a bit on one of Alice’s reports I’d been reviewing.
"God above, you look like… well, you don’t look your best. How about I fix your rat’s nest, I mean, hair, and we go out for lunch?" Jennifer says, jokingly. She’s dressed immaculately in some sort of outfit that looks like it’s designer, which it probably is, and way too fancy for me. There’s snow on the brim of her fedora, and on her silk scarf. Must be snowing again, I think, dully. My head hurts.
"Ah… I’d love to, chick, but I really feel sort of under the weather. You know, with the activation thingy and all. Shawonda said it’d feel a little like the flu, and she wasn’t kidding. That shot the tech gave me sure hurt, I can tell you that much. Can I take a rain check?"
"Hey, okay. How about I bring you back some chicken soup? My mother’s recipe. She swears by it. Sound good?"
"Um…" My stomach lurches in protest, and I swallow. Usually anything by a recipe developed by Jennifer Feinberg d’Ingolfsson’s mother is something to die for, but right now… that’s kinda literally how I feel. "Sure. That sounds fine. Listen, Jenny, I’m gonna go lay down for a bit. Okay? When you stop by with the soup, just come on in. I’ll leave the door open."
"Yeah, that’s fine. Want some help getting to bed, chicklet? You really do look under the weather. I thought the activation was supposed to make you feel younger, and better…" She slips an arm around my shoulders and guides me to my study, where she knows I like to nap. "Here, honey, you lie down here. My god, Erin, you’re burning up… are you supposed to be running a fever?"
"Well, they said it’d be like the flu, so I guess so…" I lay back into the cot, feeling the memet-based springs beneath me form to my body contour like molten fluff. "I just hope this doesn’t last very long… would you hand me a quilt?"
"Here, faygeleh, here’s a quilt. Cover up, now. I’m going to stop by and ask Shawonda about this fever thing. You’re hotter than Gehenna…" A swift, gentle kiss on my forehead, a stroke down the side of my face, and then Jennifer’s gone. I fall asleep.
When I wake up, it feels like I’ve been asleep hours and hours. My throat’s dry, so I clamber free of the quilt and stagger into the kitchen. Boy, it’s hot in here. Wonder what the temperature is? I’ll drink some water, and that’ll make me feel better. It always does. I open the door of the cooling unit, and reach for the bottled water…
Why am I seeing NOR diagrams? Where’d they come from? What in the world… I realize I’m lying on the kitchen floor, looking up at the underside of the table. My head feels light as a feather and I’m freezing. Shivering, I manage to sit myself up, rubbing a bump on my head. What happened? I close the door of the cooling unit and stand, slowly. The cold is so intense my teeth begin to chatter and I’m shaking uncontrollably. Better get back to bed, kiddo, I say to myself. My voice surprises me; I’ve spoken out loud.
I wander back to the cot, and sit down. The shifting movement under me makes me a little queasy, and then with only that as a warning, I’m violently sick to my stomach. I make it over to the study’s trash can, next to the desk, knocking aside the chair in my haste. I hunch over the trash can, my stomach clenching and roiling painfully. When I’m doing nothing by dry heaves, I crawl back over to the cot and lie down. The pain in my stomach is spreading out, and lances through me like flaming arrows. I curl up, on my right side, trying to control the spread. The world goes grey…
When I wake up again, the pain seems more distant, more of an annoyance than anything else. Muscle cramps are racking my body this time, and I watch as the muscles on my forearms ripple and tense on their own initiative. There’s someone in the room, I think, and try to sit up, unsuccessfully. Suddenly, the taste of avgas and salt water fill my mouth, and the room goes dark. I’m floundering in the water again, in the night, listening to people drown all around me. A hand grabs me and pulls me under the waves, into deeper layers of darkness, and as I scream, my mouth fills with water, burning down my throat, my lungs…
Thompson’s there, and Chief Grey, and Billy Hobson, and Julia Highsmith… their pale, bloated faces, with marks of burns and other wounds gaping, stare at me. The comm center’s still on fire, somehow, beneath the waves, and I struggle to get free of the hand holding mine, crushing mine. I tug, and then I’m free, floating up to hit the crushed overhead, with obscene trails of blood and other things smearing into the water. I look down at my hand, and see that someone’s hand is still attached to mine; the arm dangles in the murk, torn free of its owner. I gag, and try to breathe. Their voices, chill, fey, pound in my head with each heartbeat. "You left us, Erin Kane. You left us…"
"But… no! I tried, I did—it burned, oh god, it burned, my face, my hands… I tried to get you all out, but you were dead, oh jeezie petes, please…"
"You left us, and now you’re coming back to us…" intones Chief Grey, his chest cavity yawning pink and black in the firelight reflected from the oily water. "Where you belong. You never should have left."
"Nnnnnhhhhhhoooooo…"
I feel a tug at my leg, and look down into Peter’s shattered face. "I’d like my hand back, please, Erin. Thanks."
"Peter! Ah, god, no… you lived, you didn’t die here… oh, god, help me. Please…" I scrabble at the hatch, trying to undog it, and nothing’s moving. My lungs burn, and then slowly, insidiously, a calm settles over me. Maybe I shouldn’t struggle so much. They were my friends, after all, except Grey, and maybe he’s not so bad, either. I belong here. They know me. Up top, no one really does. It’s easier to stay here. Just floating… no worries, no stress… weightless. Quiet solitude, alone with my friends…
"Erin?"
"She’s really bad off, isn’t she, Shawonda?"
"God, yes. Hey, get the medmonitor over here, stat. Call Muhmis Gwen, something’s wrong…"
The voices echo around me, and I try to look into the darkness, to find their owners. Shawonda’s ebony face suddenly looms over me, her big brown eyes full of concern, both professional and personal. "Shawonda?"
"Hey, honey, it’s okay. No more screaming, now. You’re gonna be fine. Yeah, Tammy, fix that over her left arm, make sure it’s secure…" She turns away for a moment, and the tide of blackness washes over me again, whirling me away.
I struggle to move my legs, and can’t. Pain burns through me, short, hot stabbing jolts, and I hear myself screaming. It must be another beating, I think, Mother’s tied my legs down again. Must’ve kicked her or Father a good one… no, please, make it stop. No more… the sullen whish as Father’s belt comes down, the amazing sting of pain that always follows it. His voice, intoning Bible passages, calling me cursed, perverted, evil… Mother’s voice, echoing his, calling for me to repent. I feel her weight pressing down on me, smothering me, and somehow I get my arms free in an insane burst of strength.
"No, no—god-dammit, no more, get off me, no more whippings, I’ll never change, I’ll never say what you want me to say, go to hell, nooo…" I hear a thud as my fist collides with my father’s face, and he lurches backwards, out of my line of sight. I try to tear loose the binding straps on my legs, and feel someone’s hands on my shoulders, pushing me back. "Nooo!"
"Erin, calm down…Erin, it’s me, Gwen, no, don’t hit, calm down now. Listen to me, wench. It’s Muhmis. Listen…"
A moment of clarity returns, and I look up into Gwen’s concerned face. She’s holding me down on a stretcher, a floater, and there’s commotion in the background. My fist hurts. I unclench it and look at the swelling knuckles dumbly. "Muhmis?"
"You just managed to knock out one of Shawonda’s assistants. Now hold still. You’ve been delirious. It’s all right now, Erin. Muhmis is here. It’s all right…" I feel, as much as hear, the soothing harmonics in her voice, and stare up into leaf-green eyes, full of life, of…
Hunger. The blackness roils before me again, and clears, suddenly; I watch with horror as Gwendolyn reaches down a clawed hand to my abdomen, digging in. Blood spurts, splashes over my face as I writhe under her hand, unable to move, or fight. It emerges from my chest with something brown and bloody, and she lifts it to her red-speckled face, white teeth glinting in the sun. "Mmmh… fresh human liver. How tasty." She rips part of it off and eats it as I watch, my vision going grey again. The last sound I hear is my despairing, burbling scream of horror…
"Get into the pilot’s seat, Alexa, and get us emergency clearance. We’re going to Delta Nine; they’re the closest. We’ve got to get her to a real medcenter, quickly." Gwen’s voice holds the ring of command to it, and I whimper. She turns swiftly to me, pushing aside a tech who’s adjusting a meter of some sort. "Darlin’… my darlin’ Erin, it’s all right. Honey, listen to me. We’re taking you to an orbital weapons platform, one with the medical facilities you need."
"What…" My voice cracks; my throat feels like it’s been scraped raw and then painted with salt. "What’s wrong… with me… Gwen?"
"You’re having a reaction to the activation cycle. I’m not sure why yet. Shawonda’s running some tests, right now. Ssshhhh… lie still, little ‘un. Lie still, now."
"Please, please… whatever I did, I’m sorry, please, Muhmis… please let me go…" I try to wriggle loose from the straps holding me down, and then a pressure like a huge hand over my entire body pushes me into the floater’s mattress. When the spots have gone away, or mostly, I find I can still breathe, although it’s an effort. I feel light-headed again, and the nausea returns. There’s nothing to throw up, though, and I retch miserably, noticing in an abstract sort of way that someone’s holding my head to one side, with a mask covering my mouth. Cold air blows onto my face, feeling like heaven.
Things go grey again, and then I’m in Archona. I recognize some of the buildings, and then find myself in Gwen’s townhouse. Gardens surround us, hundreds of exotic flowers in bloom, but they have no scent. I turn from the window, and come face to face with Yolande Ingolfsson. Her huge grey eyes bore into mine, and fear crawls through my belly.
"Damnyank… my daughter’s favorite is a damnyank… you’d think our family would learn, wouldn’t you?" Her voice is cold as the space between the planets, and I try to back away. She laughs, quietly, with an edge of madness. "I tried to tell her there’s only one way to break a damnyank. I did it. I’ll do it again, since she doesn’t have the guts or the sense to do it now. Gwen’ll thank me later, don’t worry."
Yolande raises a tiny silver box, and aims it in my direction. I look down at my right wrist, and my eyes widen as I recognize a controller cuff. "Please, no… I obey her, please… oh, god, no, I’m not Marya, please, Yolande, no…"
The pain explodes in my head, and I lash out with all my strength, trying to get away, to do anything, die even, to make the pain stop. I hear the crash of equipment falling over, and curses; hands strong as steel clamp down on my legs and arms, my head, holding me to the medcenter gurney. "Nooo! No, please, no!!! Peter, please, I need you, please… someone, oh god, make it stop, I’ve obeyed, damn you, damn you all to hell, oh god… let me go, please, Muhmis, Muhmis, let me go…"
There’s something cold at the side of my neck, my vision clears of the red haze that had surrounded me, and I again see Gwen’s face. There’s a tiny trickle of blood from her lower lip, and part of my mind wonders about it. "Ah… nnhhh…. Gw… enn…" The words flow from me like molasses on a cold day, and the world feels warm and fuzzy.
"Darlin’, it’s all right. Please, please listen to me now. It’s all right. We’ve got everything under control, Erin. You’re going to go to sleep now, and when you wake up, you’ll be just fine. I’ll be here. No one will hurt you. My mother won’t hurt you, darlin’, no one will. Ssssaaaaa, my sweet little thing, it’s okay. Just close your eyes, and sleep. It’s all right, Muhmis promises, darlin’. Shhh, sleep now…" Her hand, smoothly caressing my face, soothes me, and my eyes grow incredibly heavy.
"Gwendolyn?" I whisper, and then the world stops for a while.
**
The cool pastel colors of the walls are nice, I think. Not too much, not too little. I like that. My stomach rumbles, and I try to sit up. I’m amazed at how good I feel, but I’m weak, too, like a kitten. I finally give up and lay back on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling.
"Well, so you finally decided to wake up?" Gwen’s voice makes me open my eyes, and I focus on her tanned face. I smile at her, and she returns it. Alexandra peeks over her mother’s shoulder and winks at me.
"Hey, sleeping beauty. Hungry? I heard your stomach rumbling…" she chuckles.
"Mmmhh… yeah, I am hungry, to be honest." I try to sit up, and Muhmis helps me, scooting me to a comfortable sitting position with pillows propping me up. I tug at the blanket, shy as usual, and then stop. I look down at my breasts. Something’s different, I think. What… my god, I look so… taut. So much more firm than I am… or was… I look at my hands next. The few scars that were there are gone, and the tell-tale age signs are gone, too. My nails have been manicured and buffed, too, I realize. I reach up and touch my face, looking into Gwen’s eyes as my hands explore.
"Yes, sweetlin’, the rejuve took, finally, and you look lovely. Simply lovely." Muhmis sits on the side of my bed, and taking my hand in hers, kisses it. "Glad we got you here, though."
"What… what happened, Muhmis? I thought it wasn’t supposed to hurt or anything," I say, feeling the old terrors rising again. "It was terrible…"
"Yeah, you can say that again. You knocked out a couple of attendants, and said crazy stuff, like about grandmother Yolande…" Alexandra suddenly stops, reddening. "Sorry, Ma."
"Run along and get Erin something to eat."
"Uh, well, okay, Ma. Any special requests, Tantie-ma?"
"No…" I smile up at her. "Crazy stuff, eh?"
She shoots a glance at her mother, who inclines her head fractionally toward the hatch, and then Alexandra bends down, gives me a quick kiss on the lips, and strides away, out of the room. I turn to Gwen, an eyebrow raised. "Crazy stuff? Yolande?"
"You don’t remember?"
"No."
"Maybe it’s for the best, then. You were quite… irrational, delirious. Your fever went dangerously high for a human; your internal systems were shutting down; going into shock. We finally figured out what happened, and fixing it wasn’t much of a problem."
I snuggle into the blanket, and squeeze her hand with mine, still sandwiched between hers. "What did happen, Gw—ah, Muhmis?"
"You can call me Gwen, darlin’, it’s all right. We have the whole ward to ourselves. Well, what happened was an inexcusable error. The tech who gave you the activation sequence injection gave you the servus version. Your system was basically destroying itself as it tried to destroy the alien gene sequence. The gene sequence was doing what it was supposed to be doing, which was replicating, and it caused all sorts of problems. Once we determined what had happened, though, we were able to remove the servus genetic material and inject you with the correct human sequence."
"It made that much difference?" I shiver. Wonder what happened to the tech, I think, but then decide I really truly don’t want to know.
Gwen reaches over and strokes a strand of dark blonde hair from my face, tucking it behind an ear for me. "Yes, darlin’, it did. Almost lost you." Her voice is a little husky, and I think I see tears standing in her eyes for a second or two.
"Don’t want that, do we?" I grin, and raise her hands to my lips. "I don’t want to go away, Gwen. Not ever."
"Well, all the tests show that the rejuve process took quite well this time round, and that means you have an unlimited life span. You’ll be next to me for millenia, with luck. My beautiful saafn, my pretty-girl…" Gwen pulls me gently to her, and I wrap my arms around her neck, nestling into her warmth, her strength. I feel a surge of arousal, and kiss her throat.
"Ah-ha…no, little ‘un… not yet. You have to get your strength back. In a few days, though, believe me, we’ll have plenty of time for… mmmhh, yes, for that, too…" Gwen chuckles, a purr rumbling from deep inside her chest as she returns my enthusiastic kisses.
"Um, hey, y’all, are you gonna make out like mad mink or is Tantie-ma Erin going to have the first solid meal she’s had in days?" Alexandra stands in the hatchway, an amused smile playing over her face, and I smell wonderful things on the cart behind her, manned by a nervous-looking servus. He wheels it in, following Gwen’s daughter, and uncovers some of the dishes with a flourish. Ham, scrambled eggs, grits, corn bread, grapefruit, slices of melon… my eyes grow huge as I feel hunger roar through me.
"I think we can hold off on making out for a few minutes, don’t you, Erin?" Muhmis laughs, stroking my back. I nod, and she hand-feeds me a slice of honeydew melon, catching a drop of juice with an index finger, then allowing me to suck it off.
"Arrrgghh… you guys. All you think about is…"
"And you never think about it at all? That’s not what Patrick tells me…" I scold, waving a finger at Alexandra’s eye-rolling act. "Not at all?"
"Oh, you must be all better, if you can fuss at me," Alexa says, coming to sit behind me, and hug me. "I’m so glad you’re okay, Erin, really and truly glad. I was scared for you…"
"I’m okay, hon. Thanks, though," I return, squeezing her steel-strong arms with my hands as Gwen prepares to feed me another slice of melon. "I was a little scared, myself, truth be told."
"All’s well that ends well," Alexandra says, leaning forward and nipping off a piece of melon. Gwen chuckles at her; the young mahogany-haired woman stands up, giving me another affectionate peck, and then one to her mother. "I’ll leave you two to get erotic with the scrambled eggs and maple syrup, and go get something to eat, myself. See you in a bit…" She waltzes from the room to our joined laughter, and then Gwen kisses me, delicately, longingly, on the lips.
"Doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but let’s save it for tomorrow. Let’s just eat, now, honey." She hands me a plate with eggs and ham on it, and I grin at her.
"We’ll put that on the ‘to-do’ list, then, Muhmis…" Breakfast tastes so good, I think, as I eat sitting next to Muhmis. We talk of inconsequential, everyday things, glad to be free of the shadows of madness that passed over me. My body feels so different, so much more vibrant, I think, as I lie down at Gwen’s command after we’ve finished eating. Her hands massage me from toes to nose, and the last thought I have before I drift into a deep, untroubled sleep is: glad I made it back. Back to her.
**
"Hey, Squirt Two, have you seen Tantie-ma Erin? She looks totally cool now…" Alexandra says, tossing one of my genengineered cats off the bed and plumping down next to me. The cat fluffs her fur haughtily and says something about "big feet, no treats, may fur fall out" before stalking away to perch on my dresser.
"Will you puh-leaze quit calling me that?" I moan, thrashing about dramatically. "I hate it!"
"S.T., S.T., S.T.," Alexandra chants, tickling me. I squirm under her hands, laughing, but all of a sudden it feels different, and I stop laughing. Grinning down at me, Alexa smooths back her now-short red hair and tries one more experimental tickle. I try to sit up, and cross my arms defensively. It feels like when Ariadne wants to get frisky, and I’m not used to feeling this way with Alexandra, that’s for sure, I think to myself. "Hey, what’s wrong? Too hard?" Alexa asks, a small frown crossing her tanned face.
"N-n-no…" I manage to sit up. "Um, no. Just, well, you know…" I feel the blush creeping up my throat, and curse both Mama Alice and Mama Erin for having such fair skin. You can’t hide a blush when your skin looks like mine. "Just, well, quit, already, okay?"
"Mmmmhh…" Alexandra sits up; her leaf-green eyes look me over appraisingly. "You’re feeling aroused, aren’t you?"
"Oh, hell!" I jump off the bed; the cat runs out of the room, cussing me. I go over to stand by Ariadne’s and my study desk, and flip through a notebook, trying to calm down. Gods above…
"Ssssaaa, it’s all right, little ‘un… really. Hey, now, May, it’s really all right. No, don’t try to pull away, goofus. C’m’ere." Her strong arms surround me, lift me up, and then she’s kissing me, hard and fast. Harder than Ariadne does. I gasp, and try to pull my arms free.
"Please, please… it, I, uh, mmmph, um, please…" Her kisses are growing more insistent, and I know if I don’t stop her soon, I won’t be stopping her at all. "Please, uhmis Alexandra."
" ‘uhmis’ ? Why so formal… oh. Oh. You don’t want to? But your scent…" She stops kissing me, but continues holding me. I’m very, very aware of the touching of our bodies, her warmth along my thighs, our chests together. I try not to squirm, afraid she’ll misinterpret it.
"But… well, I’m not a virgin or anything, but… Ariadne and I have, well… but…"
"It’s okay. I’ve asked her, already. If you don’t believe me, call her with your transducer, silly, and ask. Mmmhh… you feel sooo good, May, so very good…" Alexandra nuzzles against my throat as I frantically page Ariadne.
Ari? Ari? Answer, damn it!
What? What’s wrong?
Where are you? Did Alexandra ask you something… about me?
Oh. Um, well, yeah, earlier. In fact, a couple of days ago. Sorry. Meant to mention it to you, but with Tantie-ma Erin getting back and all, well… I forgot. It’s cool with me, though, if she makes a pass at you, darlin’…
What do you think she’s doing right now? Damn it, why didn’t you tell me earlier? Ari?
Hey, now, my little pony, settle your butt down. I forgot, okay? Sorry. Enjoy it. I hear she’s pretty hot. Maybe you’ll learn some of those Senior Level moves, and then you can teach them to me.
Aaaarrrgghhh… I send a mental wave of irritation towards Ariadne, in the indoor pool, and then drop out of the link, feeling Alexandra peeling my jeans off. "Oh, gods, Alexa!"
"Mmh-hhmm?" She picks me up and tosses me down on the bed, purring loudly. Then she strips off her tunic and skirt, and pounces. Her lips on mine, green eyes staring down into my face, the sound of her arousal filling my ears… soon, that’s all I notice. That, and how she’s touching me, and showing me how to touch her. I do manage to learn a thing or two, as a matter of fact. Maybe, just maybe, if Ari apologizes enough to me, I think, I’ll show her a few new things tonight…
The afternoon passes in a blur of passion, but finally Alexandra’s sated. I’m exhausted, and lying next to her, curled up against her slender, muscular body. Her heartbeat sounds loud in my ear, as my head rests against her chest, and she’s slowly stroking one hand through my auburn hair. "That was simply lovely, May. We’ll have to do this more often. Ari doesn’t know what she’s got, with you."
"Um… well, maybe not. You sure showed me a thing or two this afternoon."
"Yeah… and you’re a damn fast learner, too." She chuckles, and slips a leg between my thighs. "Want to learn some more?"
"Urk. Well…"
She grins, and pulls me on top of her with an easy motion. "Tired my pretty out, did I?"
"Don’t they let you be frisky while you’re at school? You and Patrick, and some of the others, have been doing it almost nonstop since you got back for midwinter break, Alexa…" I pout, propping myself up on my forearms, across her collarbones. She runs her fingers down my ribs, delicate, precise, and laughs out loud as I squeak. "That tickles! Hey, that’s what got all this mess started… mmhh, no, please, I am kinda tired out right now, Alexa…"
"Okay… no, we’re too damn busy to spend much time being frisky. It’s harder, too, being frisky with other Draka, cause when you’re an Ingolfsson, then the other person starts thinking you’re wanting to make some sort of alliance or something dumb, when all you really wanna do is get off. It’s frustrating. Too, I’m used to getting some whenever I please, not whenever I can manage it. That’s been hard to get used to. But thankfully, only one more session, and then it’s off to space for me and Pat…"
"I can’t wait to go. I really, really can’t. Doesn’t Ariadne want to be a pilot commander like you?"
Alexandra twirls a piece of my hair around one long, slender finger. "I don’t know. She’s not very talkative around me for some reason, since I came back. When I saw how well you’d blossomed, I knew I wanted to have a taste, and she wasn’t gorky about it at all, but she’s been, well, real quiet. How come?"
I wait a minute until my blush settles down, and slide, gently, down off Alexandra, to lie next to her again. "She’s just nervous. I think she admires you so much that half the time, she’s not sure what to say around you, or Muhmis Gwen, either."
"Gwen’s something else. Man, the more I learn about her, I mean, the official stuff, the historical stuff, the more, well, intimidated I feel around her. Jeezie petes, as Tantie-ma Erin’d say." Alexandra pulls the quilt up over me, and smooths it down. "Ma does kinda scare me. Sometimes. Then there are times when I could just curl up in her lap and purr for an hour or something. That doesn’t seem to happen as much as it used to."
"That’s kinda the thing Ariadne’s going through, too. Your mom’s always sort of scary to me, even though she’s never done anything mean to me or anything. She just kinda makes me feel like a mouse must to a cat."
"And a sweet little mouse, at that!" Alexa laughs, kissing me on the nose. "Take a nap, why don’t you? I know you need one. I’ll call you in time for a shower, and dinner. I’m going to go talk to that silly little Squirt sister of mine, whether or not she’s so admiring of me…"
"Hey, that sounds like a good idea, really, Alexa. She wants to talk with you, and your Ma, but she’s just a little scared on how to begin. Don’t get frustrated or anything with her, will you?" I snuggle under the warm cover, and feel her hands tucking me in firmly.
"No, I won’t get frustrated with her. I promise. After all, she was nice enough to lend you to me, now wasn’t she? Gonna teach her some new moves the next time you two do it?"
I roll over, burying my face in the pillow. "Maybe. If she apologizes enough for forgetting to tell me you asked for me…"
A gentle kiss on the back of the neck, and Alexandra’s gone, silent as a cat; speaking of, Hubble, the cat who ran out on us earlier, returns to stake her claim to a nice warm spot on top of me, and we both fall asleep, worn out by our afternoon’s excitement.
**