Page 37 of Doran

“Please, I wish to assist,” Daisy said.

“Is she like Bob?”

“Not quite. More like a much smarter Siri or Alexa from your planet if they had a body,” Bob answered, hearing his name. “And Jesse said to make sure you know you can’t refuse.”

She laughed then. “Okay. Some help around the house would be nice, especially once we fill up more rooms.”

“Kaelor said a few males working long term contracts at the spaceport were interested in renting rooms,” I replied.

“Really? Gosh, he should have sent them over to talk to us. We have nine bedrooms going spare at the moment, and Tarek and Darren’s house won’t take long to build once it’s started, so that will be two more. Okay, Daisy, you’re coming home with us.”

A small “ding ding” sounded as a little light above her head flashed. “Event recorded. Going home. Setting home location, in progress.”

“Let me fetch your rings,” Kelran grinned, going into the back. He came out with a small velvet box, which he opened to show us what was inside.

“Oh, they’re beautiful.”

I beamed. When I’d asked her about rings, knowing about them from having been to our governor prince’s wedding along with the rest of Walnut Grove, she’d simply said to choose something simple. So I had. Two gold bands etched with sheaves of wheat is what I’d come up with, and Kelran had worked with Bob to make my design into something both beautiful and practical to wear before replicating them.

“And I’ve sent the replicator pattern to your registered account. You’ll be able to make the clothes, hats, and boots at your leisure.”

“We also wanted to purchase three of those children’s wrist comms. Two Minnie Mouses and one Mickey," I informed him.

“One Minnie should fit me, as Emma is old enough that an adult watch fits. Lucy needs a child’s one,” Sarah added.

Kelran nodded, going over to his replicator and creating what we requested. The wrist bands were bright red leather.

“Perfect,” Sarah said, admiring them and checking that the larger one would be the right fit.

I held out my wrist comm, and he debited my credit account.

“They just came from Disneyland, so I think they'll get a kick out of these,” she continued, slipping them into her pocket along with our ring box for safekeeping.

I beamed at her. “Ready to go home and ice that cake?”

“Yep!” She leaned up, pressing a quick kiss to my jaw. “Thanks for putting up with my bit of crazy there.”

“Not crazy at all,” I reassured her. “Just nerves. I’m rather nervous myself. I took the handles of the stroller and turned it round.

“We must make quite the sight,” she giggled as we walked back home. “Us with a stroller and a robot floating behind. Look, some people are staring and taking pictures.”

“Tourists,” I scoffed. “They come, gawk, make their vids and take their pictures of the ‘Prairie Town in Space’, hoping to capture the Tyridium doing their dance to honor Bob, sleep aboard their personal craft, and then go home.”

“Well, hopefully some of those tourists start staying in some of our rooms so we don’t have too many vacancies,” she laughed, placing her arm through mine. ”After our wedding.”

“After,” I agreed. I couldn’t wait. Tomorrow, we were going to do her people’s mating ceremony, and claim each other one more time, and afterwards, we both would have a new physical sign to let anyone we met know we belonged to each other.

23

SARAH

Doran and I stood together at the edge of the landing area, waiting. We’d returned from the general store, and I’d frosted the cake. The lettering had come out wonky as my hands wouldn’t stop trembling, but that was alright as I never could write with a frosting bag very well to begin with. Kaelor, Darren, and Tarek had returned to the house and we’d all eaten sandwiches Doran replicated for our lunch. I couldn’t tell you what was on them, as I’d eaten them distractedly.

Something with cheese. Ham, probably. Then Nicky had sent the boys home so they could meet my kids, and things got a little chaotic before Darren settled their sons down to watch some Scooby Doo and put Laura in her playcenter. I’d only had a moment to catch my breath and breathe it seemed, before Bob messaged us. The shuttle was in-system and coming in to land. Doran and I hurried out the door then, walking as fast as we could to the nearby spaceport, as the flitter wasn't big enough to hold us, three kids, and my parents too.

The spaceport was quiet in the strange way it often was between ships. The enormous open hangar behind us served as customs, warehousing, passenger arrivals, and half a dozen other things New Haven hadn't yet needed separate buildings for. Beyond it, the settlement of Walnut Grove stretched toward the fields, bright green beneath the unfamiliar sky.

Had it really been such a short time before that I’d first seen this place for myself? It felt like longer, somehow, and I knew it was because I felt a sense of belonging here that had always been missing from my life as an adult. I wondered how my children and parents would perceive this wonderful place, and if they’d take to it as readily as I had. I hoped so, the children anyway. My parents weren’t going to live here, after all.