Chapter 15: Expecting

~~ Delta - Aug/02 - (Earth - Feb/2095) ~~

Karri turned up in time to hear the good news.

While in Futura, she had spent the daytime with her family. Her nights, however, had been happily spent in Aeron and Yuko’s bed. They had come with her this morning at the message from Sean. They too were pleased Lee and Debora were doing well as were the babies.

“Wow, I finally became an Aunty,” Karri said to Sean.

Sean pattered her on the shoulder, “We’ll hold your breath because you will be an Aunty again soon.”

Everyone looked at him perplexed. Sean grinned at Kyle and then at his and Lee’s dads, then the Genteli women. They were all amused at the white faces of Pete and Antonio.

Olivia looked at the men, apologetically, “Sorry, didn’t you understand that is why we initially sought you out?”

Both men shook their heads in shock. Lee had failed to mention that little fact when she had meddled. Kyle looked at Sean, questioning.

“Helen told me when I was holding her this morning. I hope you want a sister, Kyle?”

Kyle grinned while Antonio digested this information. Kyle then hugged his dad and then a delighted Trisha, “Way to go, dad and Trisha.”

Pete looked at Sean. Sean grinned and said, “Lee has always wanted a brother.” He then shook the man’s hand and hugged Olivia.

He turned to Karri, “I hope you don’t mind having a little sister getting into your old stuff.”

Pete and Antonio both had to laugh. Looks like all three of them were going to be dads again. Anne looked at Sean. “But I’m too old! I’m fifty-two years of age,” she exclaimed.

Sean hugged his mother, “Don’t worry mum Aronha said rookies and mages live a lot longer than ordinary humans. You will age even better than a Genteli. So, you will have plenty of time to enjoy and see my sister grow up. Do you feel old?”

Anne grinned, “No, actually, I’ve felt very well and fit as a woman half my age since I’ve been here.”

Pete and Antonio thought about this, the girls said they would live at least another eighty to ninety years. Now that they too have extended lives, they would get to enjoy their new kids as well.

Antonio turned to Trisha, “This child will not grow up without her father. No, no, no. I missed out on seeing my son grow up. I will not miss out on my daughter. We will have to get married, and then we can sort out, some sort of arrangement. I am more than happy to marry you.”

Trisha hugged him with tears in her eyes. She had not been looking forward to Antonio, leaving at all. As much as she wanted this child, she wanted him too.

Pete looked at Olivia. He too had missed out on Lee growing up. It had hurt to read the reports his father sent. But he still read them avidly and watched every vid about fifty times. He couldn’t go through that again.

Plus, he really liked the woman, possibly even more. She had been good fun both in bed and out she had become one of the family in no time. He knew Lee liked her and she wouldn’t have meddled if she thought she wasn’t good enough for him.

“How hard do you think it will be to get them Australian Citizenship, as our wives, Robert?” he found himself saying still looking at Olivia.

He took her hand in his and squeezing it. Her gentle smile told him all he needed to know about her feelings. He smiled back at her lovingly.

Robert looked at his friends. “Well, it would be easier if you were both based in Australia. I’ve been thinking of having a couple homes built on the front of my property for you guys. That way, our coming and going from here would be less noticeable.”

“Our property is made up of multiple entitlements that I bought to put it together. The two blocks either side of the drive are both ten acres if you’d like to buy them?”

“Well, that is one solution. I’ve another for you to think about,” said Kyle. “The three countries you guys represent on the UN Council have all signed the charter, and your blocks of countries have too.”

“I’ll bet if we asked for you guys to be assigned to the UNSEC Headquarters in Clarksville, as the representatives here to oversee the projects they would agree. Especial since you presented the charter and have an in with the Lord Wizard.”

“Damn, Kyle, that’s brilliant,” Sean said. “We can always hock off GB & JK as well, we don’t really need it. I don’t think it will be hard to sell off what do you guys think?” Sean said.

The three men looked at each other. Robert smiled and said, “We still have the other company to run why don’t we do both? We can even let our governments know about the ring. Saying you guys put it there to make life easier for us to get back and forth, in order to perform our duties on their behalf.”

“I could always turn our property over to UNSEC, and we can make it our Earth compound to service here and provide the link back to Earth. I’m sure the Australian government will be quite happy for us to run the compound out of their country.”

“I bet they and UNSEC will help make sure the ring and us, stay safe then. Plus, it will help us ensure we are meeting our obligations to the Keltria people.”

None of the wizards could fault this logic; it was definitely a good solution all round. “Let’s go have breakfast and then thrash it out with Lee?” Sean suggested.

They all agreed and headed off to the diner for a late breakfast. They discussed a few other options, the logistics involved, but all ended up agreeing Robert and Kyle’s solutions worked the best for all concerned.

Olivia and Trisha had no problem with having two homes if it meant they got to stay with Antonio and Pete. The boys, in turn, knew they would do their damn best to make the ladies happy. They had both decided they liked the idea of them being around and having their kids. Plus, they got to see Lee, Kyle and their grandkids more often as well.

Pete later said to Sean, “My daughter is one devious woman. She gets it from my father. The only person I know who could pull a fast one over him was Lee.”

Sean could only agree with him. When they told Lee what they planned, she looked at Helen and they both just smiled. People say newborns don’t smile, but they hadn’t met Helen.

Kyle and Sean had looked at each other. They both knew instinctively she had planned this all along. She just let them work it out after she got the ball rolling.

After they left Lee and Debora, the girls went shopping, and the boys set up a meeting with Nick, Gary, the Goldsmiths and Group Captain Roger Bligh to discuss the proposal.

Aeron was pleased to be included in the discussions as an indigenous representative, or so Robert told him. Aeron knew it was because they considered him family and was more than happy with this arrangement.

They all agreed this was a workable solution and recorded their recommendations for the delegates to take back to their governments. Nick suggested that they would need to extend this offer to the other signatories. They could build a couple of domes off the southern side of the wall that opposes the orchard.

Sean thought about this. “We did tell them we would build a compound for the UN. How about we flatten that area of land about five klicks to the east where that other big river joins up with your eastern river. We can stick up a wall like for your compound and divert a channel around it.”

“We can then build a dome set up like the one we have on the island for the delegates and one or two more like yours for the soldiers and their families. But all transporters to Clark Country have to land in your depot.”

They all agreed this would work. It also allowed the delegates to have their own staff but kept them all under the one roof. They could turn the third story into a living area and provide more space for the soldiers with families.

Those assigned to look after the delegates could live in that dome and the rest in the other compound. They could shop in Clarksville and help keep the economy going at the UN’s expense.

“Well we almost have the school built, so I have no problems shifting people onto the new project,” Gary said. “How soon can you flatten the area so we can get started?”

Sean looked at Kyle and Tony. “Well Aeron and Karri haven’t done this, so it wouldn’t hurt for them to learn.”

“Agreed, we could collect Allan, Zan and Uren as well and turn it into a wizard’s learning experience,” Kyle said.

“Can we come to?” Robert asked, eager to see them in action.

“Sure, I don’t see why not. How about, we tee it up for first thing in the morning? It’s supposed to be a wizard’s day tomorrow, but we postponed it due to Lee having the baby. Plus, it will give you a chance to rest up afterwards before you go home.”

Happy with the meeting they separated. Sean, Kyle and Tony dropped in to see Lee to tell them what they were doing.

“Ooh, that sounds like fun. Hey, Deb, want to go to the island and be pampered by the staff?”

“Does it mean I get out of here?” she answered.

“Absolutely,” Lee replied with a big grin. The girls hadn’t really got a lot of rest because all and sundry had been popping in to see the babies and congratulate them.