by Marla Monroe
“Something smells amazing,” Porter said, breaking the tension for now. Hannah could have hugged him right then.
“Have a seat everyone. We don’t have set places to sit here. Just wherever there’s a chair,” Cam said.
“We need to eat before it gets cold,” Phillip added.
For the next hour, the conversation remained light and fun, punctuated with comments on how good everything tasted and questions on what some of it was. Hannah found herself relaxing around Lacy, asking about recipes. The woman promised that she’d already written everything up for her to take back then they left.
“I figured you could use some ideas other than the ones they probably taught you on the shuttle. We’ve been passing around information among us for about two years now and it saves us all a lot of time.” Lacy reached over and poured more of the stone berry lemonade for Julie.
After everyone had eaten their fill, Hannah helped Lacy clean up and put everything away while the men retired to the office to talk business or farming or whatever they were going to discuss. She was fine while they cleaned and washed up, but once everything was done, Hannah began to feel a bit uncomfortable again. She still couldn’t believe that no one had said one word about her name being Hannah and not Gladys. They would have known who was coming with Porter and Edward.
Then there was the fact that little Julie helped them put things away. She shouldn’t be able to do much at her age, but the fact remained that she stood about the same height that she remembered her sister being at nearly four years old. Plus, she was so much more articulate for a nearly two-year-old.
“You don’t have to worry, Mif Hannahy. Evewyting is good. Mommy and Daddy Cam and Daddy Phiwip wike you fine,” Julie said patting her hand.
She had no idea how to answer that. Thankfully Lacy came to her rescue.
“Nap time, little lady,” Lacy said with a smile.
“K, Mommy.” Julie walked over to Hannah and pulled at her shirt until she bent over. The precious little girl hugged her tightly around the neck. “You awedy got a baby gwoing inside you. I heared his heart bweating.”
With that whispered announcement, the precocious child followed her mommy out of the kitchen. Lacy called over her shoulder that she would be right back.
Hannah stood in the middle of the room still reeling from the little girl’s claim. How could she already be pregnant? Yeah, she’d had unprotected sex like maybe five times now, but wasn’t it too soon? She was still standing in the same spot when Lacy walked back in the kitchen several minutes later.
“Are you okay?” she asked, obviously worried by her expression.
“Um, yeah.”
“Whatever Julie told you, she didn’t mean to upset you, but you need to know that she um, knows things sometimes.” Lacy walked over to the fridge and pulled out the carafe of stone berry lemonade and grabbed two glasses before carrying them over to the table. “Have a seat and I’ll tell you about some of the odd things that are happening here on Alpha.”
Hannah found herself following the woman to the table. She lowered herself to a chair and waited as Lacy poured them more of the slightly tart drink. Once she’d taken a sip, Lacy began talking.
“You’re going to find that children born on Alpha are different than those born on Earth were. They grow faster and mature quicker for one thing. A pregnancy doesn’t last quite as long here either. Usually about seven months at the most.”
“Why? I don’t understand. I mean we’re still regular people. One of us isn’t an alien or anything,” Hannah protested.
“That’s true, but we are living, breathing, and eating from a planet we weren’t born on. According to Doc Jeff at the space station, there are odd cells or enzymes or something in our blood now. We are probably getting them from the food we eat that is grown here and the water we drink. Even the beef we eat that we brought from Earth is feeding from the grass and grain we raised here.”
“What is it going to do to us? Is it making us sick?” she finally asked.
Fear of the unknown set heavy in her belly after eating all of the food they had consumed earlier.
“No. It’s not making us sick. If anything, it’s making us stronger and healthier. We don’t seem to get sick like we did on Earth. You know, colds and viruses. Some of us who’ve been bitten or scratched by some of the animals here have an added cell in our blood that seems to give us a higher resistance to everything,” Lacy told her.
“How is Julie different other than the fact that she looks much older than nearly three?” Hannah finally asked.
Lacy wrapped her hands around her glass and stared down at it. It was obvious that she didn’t want to share with her. Hannah guessed she couldn’t blame the other woman. Talking about your child’s oddities wasn’t something you wanted to discuss with a virtual stranger you’d only just met.
“You need to know since you’ll eventually have a child to raise. She’s my precious child and I won’t tolerate anyone upsetting her. Okay?” Lacy looked directly into Hannah’s eyes with steel reserve.
“I would never hurt a child, Lacy. No matter what you say, she’s still a child.” Hannah tried not to feel resentful since Lacy didn’t know her.
“The children here have special abilities. They aren’t all the same ones either. One little boy can find people no matter where they are. You don’t want to play hide and seek with him. It’s impossible to hide from him.” Lacy laughed. “Julie knows things about people. She can understand some of what they are thinking and we think she can understand some of the animals around here, too.”
Hannah sat there quietly for a few seconds trying to digest what Lacy was claiming. If that were true, then it was possible she was already going to have a baby, but wasn’t it too soon? How could she believe that an admittedly advanced child could know if she were already pregnant? It had been what, three days? Surely it wasn’t possible to know that soon. Not even if the child could know things.
“Why do you think she can communicate with the animals?” she finally asked, unable to think of what to say.
“A muskie was sniffing around the fence one day when we were outside and she said it wanted in because it had left food buried in our yard. She worried about the muskie’s food to the point that she was driving us crazy. Phillip finally asked her where it was so he could dig it up and throw it over the fence so she’d stop obsessing about it.” Lacy sighed and shook her head. Hannah could tell the other woman was still getting used to her daughter’s supposed abilities.
“She was able to show us exactly where each hidden catch of food was. Phillip and Cam dug it all up and tossed it over the fence. The muskie chattered at Julie then made several trips carting off its food. I’ll never forget that as long as I live.”
“I expect not. That’s sort of scary,” Hannah agreed. “Do you think the muskie would have hurt her if it had been able to get in?”
“You know, I never thought about it. I don’t know.” Lacy sipped her drink.
“Your daughter says I’m already pregnant. Do you think she’s right? Do I believe her?” Hannah asked quietly.
Lacy smiled broadly. “Congratulations! If she says you are, then you are. That’s wonderful!”
“So you believe her,” Hannah said quietly.
“Absolutely, and you can, too.”
“She called it a he, so I guess I need to be thinking of names for boys,” Hannah almost whispered.
“Don’t be scared, Hannah. Everything will be fine. You’re not alone. There are three other families who live close by. We all take care of each other and help in any way we can. Elissa, Gray, and Clint live on the other side of us. They have a little boy, Mark, who’s about ten months younger than Julie is. He’s a sweet child, very quiet and calm. You’ll meet them in a few weeks. We’ll have a big gathering to celebrate the crops coming up.” Lacy looked up when the men walked back into the kitchen.
“How are you two doing?” Cam asked while Phillip pulled the posco tea out
to refill their glasses.
“Fine,” they both said at the same time, then laughed.
The four men exchanged worried glances before joining them at the table. Hannah wasn’t sure what would be said next. She didn’t like the unease that hadn’t left her since they’d left that morning to drive over. Her entire body felt sore from the sensation of being on guard for so long. She knew it was silly when they weren’t in any danger from these people, but she still didn’t feel as if she were a part of it all yet. Despite having become more comfortable, even feeling accepted by Edward and Porter, Hannah still harbored guilt over having assumed another identity and taking Gladys’s place on board the shuttle.
“Lacy, we’ve talked to Edward and Porter about the children and everything. How is Hannah doing?” Phillip asked as he sat down next to his wife.
“I think she’s handling it fine, aren’t you?” Lacy asked looking across the table toward her.
“Um, I suppose. It’s all a little overwhelming. I mean I knew things would be different from back on Earth, but this seems a little more than just different,” she admitted.
“Believe me when I say we agree with you,” Phillip said. “The thing is that we’ve got to adapt and keep building our home here. We can’t worry over it overly much or we’ll stagnate and end up failing to survive.”
“Why are you so nervous around us, Hannah?” Cam asked all of a sudden.
Edward and Porter immediately took her hands in theirs and glared at the two men. She didn’t want them to be at odds with the other family because of her insecurities. She squeezed their hands and looked at the other man.
“You haven’t said anything about the fact that I’m not Gladys. I know you expected Edward and Porter to be married to her but you haven’t said a thing about it. It makes me nervous that you’re just waiting to spring it on me at some point,” she admitted.
“You don’t have to say anything, Hannah. It’s none of their business,” Porter said.
“He’s right. It isn’t our business. That’s why we haven’t said anything. When you arrived at the house and they radioed to introduce themselves, they told us that Gladys backed out of the deal and you agreed to take her place. That’s all that matters. We’re just glad you’re here with them. End of story. Don’t worry about it anymore. No one will question you’re being here, Hannah,” Cam assured her.
Oddly enough, a weight lifted from her shoulders at their assurance that they weren’t concerned at all about her being there. It all seemed silly now and she realized she really had been making a big deal out of something that really didn’t matter to anyone but her and the two men. If they had accepted her then why shouldn’t everyone else? She sighed and relaxed back in the chair.
“Does everyone know about the children?” Edward asked. “I mean, it was never mentioned in all of the discussions we had on the shuttle.”
“No. Only those of us with children know right now, but I think Doc Jeff is beginning to realize that there is something going on. We’ve been keeping it quiet from those back on Earth. You know how life was back there. They took over everything. Not that we’re complaining about our lives here now, but we they didn’t give some of us choices when they sent us here,” Cam said.
“We were afraid they might try to take our children to study them,” Phillip confessed.
“I can understand that. I wouldn’t want them to know anything either. How are you going to keep it from them though? Someone is going to slip up before it’s over with,” Edward said.
“We just hope for the best. Plus, according to Doc Jeff and his wife who came over on your shuttle trip, Earth isn’t going to hold together more than another three or four years. They’re really scrambling to get people off the planet now,” Phillip told them.
“I talked to their wife, Megan. She said that even though they’ve moved the women below ground, some of them are still getting Shear’s disease anyway,” Hannah told them.
“What are we going to do when they no longer bring supplies to us?” Lacy asked. “I mean, we still depend on so much from Earth.”
“That’s why we’re trying to grow and create everything we can based on Alpha’s resources. I thought all along that starting out with so much was just spoiling us to how things will eventually regress some after Earth is gone in a few years,” Phillip told them.
“I think it was necessary to give us some comfort while we got started, Phil. If we’d have had to completely wing it from day one while trying to learn the dangers of the planet, we’d have never made it to begin with,” Cam said.
Lacy chuckled. “Okay, guys. Let’s not drag our guests into your debate.” She looked at them. “If we let them, they’ll argue for hours about it.”
“As much as we’d like to stay and visit more,” Porter began. “We need to get back before dark. I know we have an hour more here, but we still need to check the fence line and water the garden again.”
“Oh! Right. I nearly forgot. How many rows did you plant?” Cam asked.
Hannah smiled and watched the two men exchange glances.
“Uh, why?” Edward asked.
Cam grinned. “Cause we have a bet going and I want to know if I won or not.”
Edward smiled and shook his head. “Might as well tell them. They’ll find out eventually anyway.”
Porter grinned and shot Edward an obscene gesture. “We planted 25 rows.”
“That were eight feet longer than your original plans,” Hannah added with a mischievous grin. She ducked when Porter made as if to strangle her.
Lacy died out laughing as Phillip threw up his arms with disgust. Cam grinned and leaned over to kiss Lacy.
“I win,” he said.
“What did you win?” Edward asked.
“Um, not going there, man.” Phillip blurted out.
Everyone laughed at that as Lacy’s face blossomed into a pretty pink color. Hannah knew without a doubt it centered on Lacy and sex for the other woman to have blushed like that. She stood up to draw the attention off of the other woman.
“We better go now. Tell Julie I said bye and thanks for the information,” she said.
“What information?” Edward asked.
“I’ll tell you later,” she said with a smile. She wasn’t sure what they would think about it and wanted a little time to let it sink in before she shared with them.
“Thank you for having us and for filling us in on what to expect,” Porter told them.
“Here. Don’t forget your recipes, Hannah.” Lacy handed her a group of papers.
“Thanks again, Lacy. I might be calling you up on the radio in a few days to ask some more questions.”
“Anytime. We’re all in this together. Survival isn’t a solitary activity. It’s going to take us all working together to make it here.”
Chapter Eight
Everyone had been quiet on the short trip back to their house. The sun still had a little while to go before it would sink below the horizon but Hannah was already ready to go to bed. Somehow, the entire day had taken a toll on her. She felt as if they’d planted the entire garden all over again.
“Since they were nice enough to send us home with leftovers, I vote we handle everything outside first and then eat an early dinner before heading to bed,” Porter said.
“I agree,” Edward said. “I’m tired. I guess I was a little tense about meeting with them after all.”
“I’ll get everything ready while you’re outside,” Hannah said. She carried one of the boxes of food in her arms as they walked inside the house.
Both men continued on through the back door back outside after dropping off their packages they’d carried in with them. Hannah sifted through everything and after selecting a couple of dishes, put away the rest for the next day. Then she set the table and returned to the living room to sit on the couch until they finished their chores outside. She had a lot to think about.
As she relaxed back on the couch, it occurred to her that the men mi
ght not be too happy to find out that she was already pregnant. It would put her having the baby right before winter. She would have to harvest and put up their vegetables when she was at her biggest. Hannah wasn’t sure how well that was going to go over. She’d canned before but never alone and most certainly never while she was as big as a whale. At least while they were getting used to having a baby, the guys wouldn’t be working as much with it being winter. Still, Hannah was a little worried about breaking the news to them.
As she lay back against the couch, it dawned on her that she couldn’t share the news of her pregnancy with her sister and that her sister was back on a dying Earth with very little chance of surviving past another three or four years according to what the others had said. Tears pricked at the back of her eyes as she fought not to sink into depression. They’d talked about it before she’d left and Cathy had made Hannah promise she wouldn’t make herself sick worrying about her all the time.
“Hannah, you’ve done more than you should have already. You’re the best sister anyone could have every asked for. I love you. Now go and be happy. I love you and always will.” Cathy had hugged her tightly before she’d left and shoved her backpack on her before she’d walked away.
Once she’d settled into her quarters, Hannah had opened her pack and found Cathy’s stuffed cat from when she’d been a child and needed one to sleep at night. The note attached had said for her to give it to her first child from her Aunt Cathy. Hannah had barely managed not to fall apart over that and pushed it to the back of her mind until now. Neither of them would have believed that time would come some soon.
A little boy. If Julie could be believed, not only was she already carrying a child, it would be a boy. She wondered whose eyes he would have and what color his hair would be. She prayed he would be healthy and strong like his fathers. Then she worried about what sort of special talent he would have. How would they be able to help him deal with something like being able to read minds, or talk to animals or know things he shouldn’t know?
