Home Sweet Home by Lynne Leeper

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Home Sweet Home, Part 2
by Lynne Leeper

The crowd at the fire was loud and festive. The rush of having made it to New Pacifica was still flowing from one person to the next, an endless stream of energy that showed no end. For everyone but True Danziger, that is. Devon was as caught up as everyone else with the excitement. She kept exchanging knowing glances and touches with John, his presence giving her the feeling of being omnipotent. Until her gaze fell upon True who was sitting with Magus and the rest of the Ops crew, who were exchanging stories about the old days, days the likes of which most of them would never see again. John felt the sudden change in her demeanor.

"What is it?" he asked, concern in his eyes. She sighed and buried her head in his shoulder.

"We need to talk later," she told him. He stared at her a moment, then nodded.

When the festivities had finally died down and the kids were put to bed, Devon suddenly felt exhausted. She and John retired to their tent where she threw herself down on the cot and closed her eyes.

"Hey, am I going to have to undress you too?" he teased. Devon opened her eyes and smiled at him as he began pulling off his boots.

"You're so good at it," she returned. He rewarded her with a devious gleam.

"Seriously, John," she said pulling herself up and running a hand through her hair. "We may have a problem." He sighed, pulled off his shirt, then sat down beside her.

"We haven't even been here for a day yet, and we already have a problem?" he asked, stroking the back of her neck. She shuddered in response.

"John, stop that," she insisted. "We need to talk - about True." His hand fell to the cot.

"What about True?" he asked, confused.

"John, how old is True?" she asked

"Eleven years old. Her birthday is next month. You know that," he told her, getting even more confused. Devon looked him squarely in the eye.

"John, I was eleven when I had my first period." Danziger looked like he had been hit by lightening.

"Has she...?" he asked, stunned.

"No, not yet." He closed his eyes and slumped. He was quiet for a moment, then looked at her with the most vulnerable expression she had ever seen on him.

"Thank God," he said softly.

"John, it won't be long. Have you ever talked to her about this?" His response was to get up and start pacing. She knew she had been right when she guessed that he hadn't. It amazed her that this big, strong, confident man was so helpless when it came to his daughter.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin," he finally said. "This isn't the sort of thing a father is supposed to have to worry about for his daughter. Her mother should take care of it." Devon could see the memory of Elle stabbing at his heart. She stood up and slipped into his arms and gave him a hug.

"Hey, come on now. This is nothing new. Every girl has to face it eventually, and no one I know of has died from it," she teased. She felt him relax and he hugged her back.

"Yeah, I suppose," he sighed. "It's just that it's really awkward for a man to explain a woman's anatomy to his daughter."

"I'd think that was the least of your worries. I suspect True knows more than you think about that," she told him. He jerked back to look her in the eye.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, come on John! True's a smart girl. And she had friends on the Stations, didn't she?" Devon asked.

"Well, of course she did - when I could afford to put her in school," he answered.

"And how old were you when you found out about sex?" she pressed. He moaned, wondering if Devon was right. His own daughter?

"Don't you think it's time to find out what she knows and to make sure she's prepared for what's coming?" He nodded reluctantly.

"Besides, if you're worried about the finer details, you can leave that to Julia and me. But from you, she should hear what it means to be in love and what the privileges and the responsibilities are that go with it." John looked at her, relief in his face.

"I'd also like her to know that she's welcome to come an talk to me about it - to get a woman's point of view about this." John gave her a long searching look, then kissed her gently.

"Thanks. I need you to help me with this," he told her.

"I want us all to be a family," she responded, reaching up to stroke his cheek. "It's time that we brought the kids into this." He held her close and let himself get lost in her gaze. In the space of a few minutes, he reviewed the time they had spent on G889, starting with his first real look at her after they had stepped out of the pod onto the surface. He had very sharp pictures of her safely stored in his thoughts, many of them just moments when she was unaware he had been studying her and his own barriers had slipped. Moments when she laughed, moments when she was furious with him, moments when she was in pain, moments when he had thought he had lost her. He had no idea how long they stood there like that, but he knew there was no reason to wait any longer. He gathered his courage together before he changed his mind.

"Marry me, Adair, " he breathed into her ear. He felt her tense, then shudder in his arms. In that brief moment, his heart stopped, he couldn't breathe. Memories of being rejected in the past came rushing into his thoughts and he felt like he was going to explode waiting for her answer, his fears expecting the worst.

"Of course I will," she sighed, reaching for the sensitive part of his lower back. "But you still have to undress me tonight," she laughed. A wash of relief flooded through him as Danziger felt it all coming together, the dreams they had shared of their future. He was sure there were no obstacles left that they couldn't overcome together. He felt deeply content as he began to respond to Devon's demands.

***

The Strategist had left the Fighter on watch while the invaders, which he now knew to be something called "Eden", had caroused carelessly into the night. The Fighter had awakened him when the last of group had finally dispersed to various tents, and only one man was left by the fire, armed with a Magpro. It was easy to see that the sentry was as exhausted as his companions and wasn't very attentive to his duties. The Strategist decided that it was now appropriate to get a closer look at the enemy camp.

The Fiend was given the assignment of scouting the camp, with specific restrictions on what he could and could not do. The Fiend had an uncanny knack for moving unseen amongst his prey and was pleased that his skills were recognized by the others. He made his way down to the perimeter and studied the sensors. Simple things, really. Hardly what he expected from a group with other more sophisticated equipment. He pulled out a few tools from his vest and with a few quick adjustments, walked smugly into the Eden camp.

He began by walking around the perimeter noting which tents were occupied by people. It wasn't hard to tell. These Eden invaders were a noisy lot. Even though there were no lights in any of the tents, he heard conversation or other vocalizations coming from several of them. One tent sported someone who snored like a Transrover. The Fiend knew he wasn't to disturb any of these people - yet, so he made his way to the supplies tent and began to take inventory, his photographic memory keeping a tally. He made his way to the communications tent, making a game of dancing around the sleepy guard who carried his weapon like an inconvenience instead of as an extension of himself. Amateur. He sniggered to himself as he checked the gear, all of which had seen better days. Last, he checked the vehicles. It was clear that someone in the group had a clue as to what they were doing. These vehicles were only running because of some clever improvisations. He made note of all he could see.

He left the camp as unnoticed as he entered it and made his report to the Strategist. Yes, it was going to be easy to get rid of these Eden people. The Fiend was sure he was going to be able to have some fun this time. These invaders were no threat to him at all.

***

No one was in a hurry to get up the next morning. No one had to pack up their stuff, throw it on the Transrover, and walk for miles and miles that day. The excitement of the previous day had left everyone exhausted and it was generally agreed that this day was a day of rest, to give everyone time to explore their new home at a leisurely rate or sleep all day, if that's what they felt like doing.

Yale was up early. Of all the adults, he really didn't have a choice. Uly had spent the night trilling in his sleep and then had risen at the crack of dawn. Yale knew that this probably meant that the Terrians weren't far away, and that Uly was probably going to be going on walkabout again, and soon. Feeling the responsibility heavy on his shoulders, he kept Uly in sight as the boy wandered around camp, seemingly in a daze. Uly couldn't get past the perimeter sensors without setting them off, so Yale decided to give the boy some space.

It wasn't long before True appeared from her own tent. Apparently Magus had had company last night. Yale sighed, knowing that the young girl in front of him was going through her own turmoil. He was torn about what he should do, or not do about it. He offered her as much companionship as he did Uly, but it was clear to Yale that she needed her father's company, not his. True had been spending more and more time with Bess Martin. That was something else. It was obvious that she needed a female confidant as well.

Yale was happy for Devon and Danziger, but maybe it was time for them to put their feet back on the ground and resume their duties to their kids. Not that they were deliberately ignoring them, but they were so blind for each other that they were missing the obvious clues from their own offspring.

***

Devon woke up slowly, the shadows of leaves from the nearby sycamore-like trees dancing on the canvas of the tent. She was feeling too content to move, so just soaked in what her senses were receiving. She was aware of John's steady breathing next to her and the pressure of his arm draped over her stomach, the memory of his proposal still fresh in her mind. She dwelled on that for a while, then became aware of sounds coming from outside. Yale was calling out to Uly.

Uly. When was the last time her's was the face he first saw in the morning? She knew that it was only because they were living in tents, single room dwellings, that this had happened. She knew it was going to be a priority to set up family dwellings, and soon. Since they didn't have any of their cargo pods, it wasn't going to be easy, but it was time for her to put her skills as a designer to work. She wanted a house that had lots of rooms in it, one for each child, including however many she and John decided to have. The thought of children brought her to True.

True was going to be tough for her. If Bess was right, then she was working in the negative already. She had to get True to see that John was still her dad and that he still loved her. She resolved to get John to set aside time every day to spend with his daughter. Once that relationship had been patched, then she would work on True accepting her. The thought of suddenly having an eleven year old daughter to guide through the difficult years of puberty was a bit frightening. She wanted to get it right, for her and for John.

"You're thinking too hard again." John hadn't moved or even opened an eye. It always amazed her when he did that to her. She shifted onto her side to face him and he pulled her to him.

"Just thinking about the kids. Our kids, the ones we already have." He opened his eyes.

"I promise I'll talk to True today, if she'll let me. Now that I've thought about it, she's probably pretty pissed at me," he admitted. "If I don't get things straight with her, she'll probably go ballistic when I tell her we're getting married."

"Yeah. I think I'm going to have the harder job of getting her to accept *me*. Somehow, I have to convince her that I'm not stealing you away from her," Devon lamented. John smiled at her.

"I have confidence in you. I have yet to see that Adair determination fail yet," he teased. Devon grunted then pulled away from him and rolled herself out of the cot. After she got her balance, she turned to Danz and grabbed his hand.

"Come on," she said pulling on him, "it's time for us to plan our strategy for True." Danz groaned.

"What if I don't want to get up yet?" he moaned.

"Then you'll miss our first walk on the beach together as the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. Danziger," she told him.

"I hate it when you do that to me," he moaned pulling himself up and standing in front of her, his hair in his eyes.

"No you don't," she said pushing his hair back so she could see him. He gave her a quick kiss.

"No, I don't, " he admitted. "Shall we go see what our kids are up to? Then we can take that walk on the beach." Devon replied by handing him his day-old clothes to wear down to the river where the solar showers had been set up.

"Since we have the option, let's look presentable first," she said, pulling on her own clothes. He followed her example.

"It's going to be weird getting used to civilization again," he yawned.

***

Julia and Alonzo decided to strike out on their own that first morning in New Pacifica. They confiscated the dune rail before anyone else had awakened enough to notice and headed north along the beach, then up the steep terrain to the tree line. They followed the trees for awhile until an opening appeared that would let them head inland and followed the path as far as they could.

The path had slowly wound them up to some steep terrain and when the dune rail could go no further and they decided to head up on foot to eat lunch and take in the view. As they got to the top they were treated by a spectacular view out over the ocean. From this vantage point it was clear that they were sitting on an ancient ridge line that had been eroded to an insignificant leftover of the original mountain range. To the north, the old range dipped and flattened out for a ways into a large plain area, several miles across. This was obviously an old river delta, probably on old route of the big river next to which they had set up camp. There were still several creeks running through the plain towards the ridge line that kept the surrounding soil green and lush. Past that, the terrain sloped upward slightly and became sparser, but never completely lacking, in vegetation.

Julia stared out, slowly filling in the empty plain with her vision of the township of New Pacifica. She would have to get Devon out here to look this over. The place had definite possibilities. While she day-dreamed, Alonzo called into camp to let them know everything was O.K., then fished the video camera out of the storage compartment behind the driver's seat of the rail. Starting the recorder, he slowly turned a full circle starting at the ocean, taking in the view to show everyone back at camp. When he reached where Julia was standing, he zoomed in on her face, catching her at a moment when she was unaware of his focus. After a moment, she turned to him and smiled sheepishly, then waved at him to keep going. After recording several personal comments to go with his subject, he then continued his panning. When he was satisfied that he had done his duty, he put the camera away and pulled out their lunch. Julia joined him and they chose a spot at the edge of the hilltop to eat a leisurely lunch and watch the waves breaking along the distant shoreline.

***

True had found Uly to be boring company that morning. He was in one of his Terrian moods again. This usually meant that the kid was going to be obtuse to her questions about what he was doing, so she decided ignore him. That left her with nothing to do. Her saw her dad going down to the river with Devon, obviously to do his morning turn in "the bathroom", as that spot by the river had been christened. She wandered about, wondering if Bess was up yet since she had seen Julia and Alonzo sneak out of camp earlier.

A while later, she was sitting on a log, just staring into space when a voice by her ear shocked her into almost falling into the sand.

"Hey, Sport. Had breakfast yet?" She turned to see her dad, clean and shaven, squatting down next to her. She looked at him, then all around him. She could hardly believe he was alone.

"Um, no. Not yet," she told him. He eyed her dubiously.

"Come on. You're usually the first one in line. What's up?" he asked, sincerely. True squinted at him as he stepped over the log to sit next to her. She wondered what he wanted.

"Nothing," she answered simply. Danziger could hear the loneliness in her voice and felt a wave of guilt wash through him.

"What about Uly? You guys get the day off too. You can do anything you want today," he told her cheerfully, then considered what he had just said and added, "well almost anything." She didn't respond, staring down at the ground instead. Danz sighed.

"True, I'm sorry. I know I haven't been around much for you lately, I'd like to make it up to you," he said softly. True looked up at him, not sure of what he was saying.

"I'm still your dad and I love you very much," he offered, wrapping his arm around her.

"What about Devon?" True asked, her tone impatient.

"Devon's become a very important part of my life, but that doesn't mean that I don't still love you. You are a part of me, and always will be. I wouldn't trade that for anything. We're partners, remember?" he told her with as much conviction as he could.

"Then why haven't you been there for me for the past two months?" she demanded angrily. He deserved that and he knew it. He stroked her back while he tried to phrase what he wanted to say.

"When I lost your mom, I lost a part of me that I never thought could be filled again. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that I was going to be a father, that I would have someone who was a part of me and of her to take care of. But as important as you were then and still are to me now, I never really felt whole again, until we crashed on this planet. Surviving that crash has slowly opened a door in me that had been sealed for a long time.

"At first I was angry, angry because I knew it wasn't going to be easy to get to the meeting point with the colony ship. I wasn't sure we would make it back then, but I was too stubborn to admit defeat. The only one of the group who put any faith in us surviving at all was Devon." he said.

"But you guys argued all the time. I remember some of the things you said about her," True cut in. Danz felt guilty again, but reminded himself that hindsight gets you nowhere.

"Yeah, we did. We were all beginners at surviving on this planet. I thought that Devon was too optimistic, to unrealistic about our ability to do the job. She thought I was a self-defeating pessimist, that I would self-destruct before I admitted that it was possible for us to make it. We were both right.

"But over time, as we gained experience, Devon and I began to see the merit in each other's thinking. We became a balance for each other. As we changed, we became closer and before I was willing to admit it, I fell in love with her." Danz stopped to look at True. He could see that she was fighting with this inside. He decided to continue.

"It has only been the past few months that Devon and I realized we couldn't ignore what we were feeling for each other. Both of us had been without a companion for a long time. There was a lot of loneliness and hurt in each of us to mend, and the last two months was the time we needed to heal each other," he finished. They sat quietly for a while.

"What about mom?" True asked quietly. Danziger felt the sharp pain he always felt when he thought of Elle.

"Elle was special. I'll always love her, but I had to accept long ago that I would never get her back." He paused for a moment. "I don't think she would be very happy with me if I just let myself fade away," he answered carefully.

"No, probably not," True replied, startling her father. True looked up at him. "It's just that I thought that we were forever, that you'd always be there for me. You're my *dad*."

"And I haven't been lately," he finished for her. "I know," he said wrapping his arms around her and giving her a warm hug. After a moment, True returned his hug. Danziger felt a wave of relief that his daughter was going to accept him back. He knew then that this was going to the first of many intimate talks they were going to have to have over the next few days, and he was going to make sure that they had the time for them.

"Tell you what. Tomorrow we'll take the rail and go exploring, just the two of us," he offered. "What do you say, partner?" True's eyes lit up with a big smile.

"You got a deal!" she said, hugging him again. Danziger laughed, then pulled her up to her feet.

"Now, what do you say we get some breakfast?" he asked.

"I'm starved!" she replied, then grabbed his hand and pulled him to the cook tent.

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