Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Chapter 13: godfather

Alcott managed to get the baking power and salt into the bowl before tears overwhelmed her. She let them fall for several minutes before putting the bowl back in the refrigerator. She washed her face, redid a couple of the braids that were coming loose, and headed to work instead.

"Did you hear the news?" Levi inquired when Alcott walked into the room. He was sorting some of the vegetables that Winston and Dumas had gathered the night before.

"News?" she asked.

"Cameron is pregnant," he said. "Harper told Lully, which was probably a terrible idea because Lully gossips like an old lady. Your bouncing baby boy is going have a friend his age."

Levi waggled his eyebrows. "You two can have play dates."

"You are rotatedly excited about this," Alcott told him.

"My own prospects for children are not looking very good right now," he admitted, his smile fading from his face. "I'm living vicariously through you. And I will be the best uncle either of you have ever seen. "

"Uncle?" she repeated.

"The brother of the mother or father is an uncle," he explained. "While I know I'm not actually related to any of you, I don't think the term godfather is used anymore."

"Neither is uncle. What's the difference?"

"Uncle is the family relation. Godparents are friends that you trust to look after your child if something happened to you. The term had its origins in religious naming ceremonies, but that was the gist of it."

"I would like that," Alcott said softly. "I think you'd be a perfect godfather."

Levi's blue eyes widened. "Really?"

"If something happened to me, I don't know who would take care of him," she said. "And I know you; you'll make sure that he gets a good education and does something meaningful with his life."

Levi set down the basket of bell peppers and hobbled over to Alcott without his crutches.

"I will," he promised, holding his arms out for a hug.

Alcott accepted it and wondered if this wasn't the first time she had been hugged in a full cycle. The suggestion took a weight off her mind, and she knew she had made a good choice. She had been worried about what would happen to her son if someone attacked the base again. There were no more guarantees anymore.

"Though nothing's going to happen to you and I'm going to get to spoil him rotten," Levi told her. "He's going to be decked in purple chewing on honeycomb. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"We'll see," she laughed.

Levi let her out of the hug and hobbled back to his basket and crutches. He gave her a wide grin. "Anatoly says the plums are nearly ready to pick. We're going to have plums in a couple days."

"There is no one on this base who gets as excited about vegetables as you do, Levi Hark," Alcott said, helping place the potatoes in their appropriate bin.

"Plums are a fruit, not a vegetable," Levi replied. "I like real food. I grew up on prepackaged freeze dried meals and that's not real food. Asparagus, now that's real."

Alcott laughed at him, and they continued working. Levi's holo-rib chimed, and he shifted to look at the screen.

"Hello?"

"Levi, it's Rivera," a woman said. "Were you serious about teaching Sky? It's all she can talk about."

"I am," Levi replied. "I would love to. I wouldn't want to interfere with her classes though."

"I haven't been able to get her to do any classwork since Landing Day," Rivera said. "And she finished all of it yesterday. If a couple minutes at your piano can make such a difference, then I'm all for it. How much do I owe you?"

"I can't..."

"Oui, you can," she interrupted. "Please."

"I need to build a tuner, for the strings," Levi managed. "I don't know how much it will cost, but once I do, I can let you know?"

"Thank you. That will work just fine. When is good for you?"

"Either lunches or after work," Levi replied. "I don't have a preference. My lessons as a child were about a half hour once or twice a week. She'll need to practice."

"I don't think we'll have any problem with that," Rivera laughed. "I'll talk to her and see. I could make lunch time, and I would like to be there."

"Perhaps tomorrow?" he suggested.

"Thank you."

Levi disconnected the call, shaking his head. He surveyed their work with the basket; all the bins were full of produce. Most people waited until lunch or just after work, but they would have a couple of the retired couples come in, or young mothers. Once done here, Alcott was back to measuring the progress on the wheat grass.

"Sounds like you made quite an impression," Alcott remarked.

"This is why I brought the piano here," he said. "I believe that art and music can make us better people, bring this base back to life. I have to believe that."

He was talking about Dylan, Alcott knew. She hated seeing the pain in his eyes, how he gripped his crutches tightly and how he would put on a smile immediately after so no one had to know. She noticed, because she did the same thing when anyone brought up Marcus.

"Lully said the print would be done today," she reminded him. "She'll have it tonight. And won't you have dinner over there tomorrow?"

"You're still coming right?" he inquired. "Please?"

"I will," she promised. "What are you doing for lunch? We could go over to Cameron and Harper with some fruit."

"I should probably practice the piano," Levi admitted. "If I'm teaching someone now. I don't know if I'm a good influence on young minds if I haven't practiced in a century."

"Some of that time was hardly your fault," Alcott laughed.

A low rumble started up, stopping the conversation. Farther in the bay, Winston and Dumas looked concernedly at the ceiling. Levi gripped his crutches more firmly as the sound grew louder. It felt like the whole base would be torn away, though Alcott knew that in a couple days, she would barely notice.

"Earthstorm," she said. "It's here."

___

One of my favorite chapters, for obvious reasons. I spend a lot of time while writing deciding if characters know more (or less) than I do about certain subjects. In this instance, I went with how much I know about godfathers and the origin. Sometimes (mostly with the hardcore science and languages) I research what I want them to know or understand. It's a weird balance, but I don't want everyone to be stuck with my limited knowledge of the world. Thanks for reading!