Sabrina woke reluctantly, aware of pressure on her bladder but not wanting to get out of bed. Then she blinked, realizing she had no memory of going to bed. But here she was, and to add to her surprise, Ford was deeply asleep beside her. He was nearly always up and busy by the time she woke up, since he needed less sleep.
Groaning, she forced herself to sit, then slide out of bed. After visiting the bathroom, she wrapped a robe around herself, noting that her baby bump was already visible in her lightweight nightgown. Don't be in such a hurry, sweetheart, she thought to her daughter. Though she'd eaten roughly three meals last night, she was ravenous again. Could her body keep up with an accelerated pregnancy?
She resolved to ask Mara as soon as possible. The Crystal wasn't always a good judge of what her still mostly human body could tolerate.
Meanwhile, she would eat a good breakfast. It was probably going to be a long day.
As she entered the dining room, she was unsurprised to see that Lily and Cynthia were just finishing their meal.
"Mama!" Lily cried, beaming. "You slept so late."
"I know, sweetie. I was tired. We were up late meeting with your grandmother." She bent to kiss Lily's cheek.
"The woman, or the ship?"
Sabrina smiled. "The woman. Good morning, Cyn."
"Morning," Cynthia replied. "Looks like we're the only ones up so far."
As if on cue, they heard the front door open and close. Only family and close friends could enter without being admitted, and Sabrina frowned, trying to figure out who else could possibly be awake yet.
"Do I smell bacon?" Scotty asked as he reached the doorway.
Sabrina jumped out of her chair to hug him. "Scotty! I didn't expect to see you so soon. Where are Aurora and the kids?"
"Still at Tythir. Hey, Cynthia! Good to see you again."
"Likewise." Cynthia grinned and gave him a hug once Sabrina released him. "I'll get you some bacon. Your niece ate it all before you got here."
"Hey, Lily." Scotty grinned as he sat down beside her. "Next time, save me some."
"I didn't know you were coming," she explained. "You can have some of my juice if you want."
"No thanks, kiddo. I'll get my own."
Cynthia cast a measuring look at Sabrina. "About half a dozen eggs for you. And milk."
"Yes, please," Sabrina replied. "Where's the cook?"
"In the kitchen. You didn't think I was going to cook it myself, did you?" Cynthia chuckled as she went in the direction of the kitchen.
Sabrina shook her head, smiling, then looked back at Scotty. "So what brings you here? I thought you'd still be soaking up the family time."
"Mara only gave me a day off," he said. "I came up to check in at Control, but I'm headed right back home before everyone gets up. I wanted to talk to you for a minute. Can the kids stay at Bathir?"
"Of course, but why?"
"Mara's taking Aurora with her on her whirlwind tour. I wanted to go too, but she said one of us should stay with the kids. So I get home duty for once. As much as I love Tythir, the action's going to be at Bathir. I'd rather be there, if you'll have me."
"Of course!" She was thrilled. "Stay as long as you want. You can get to know Lily."
"I intend to." He grinned at Lily. "Annamarie says you're her sister, not her cousin. So I guess I better see who I've adopted."
Lily frowned. "Of course I'm her cousin. I don't have any sisters."
"Not yet," Scotty said. "But you will soon."
"I will?" She cocked her head at him, then looked at her mother.
"Yes. In a few months. Not right away." Sabrina hoped to head off any sulking over the wait. Lily was as impatient as her father had ever been, and she wasn't always good at sorting out short and long periods of waiting.
"Why can't she come now?"
"She has to grow more first. Though she's doing that pretty fast."
Scotty said, "Maybe this one'll look like a Devon."
"I am a Devon!" Lily protested.
"Yes, but you look like your dad," Scotty told her. "Bet you're smart and a troublemaker too, hey?"
"I'm very smart," she told him firmly. "Too smart to get into trouble."
Scotty laughed. "That'd be a first—for either side of your family!"
Sabrina shook her head. "Don't go giving her ideas, Scotty. Where she goes, Annamarie goes."
"Huh. Guess my daughter is a true Ruschar."
Sabrina chuckled. "This from the man who has followed Mara literally out of the galaxy. That's a Devon trait too, you know."
"Yeah, but only with a lot of arguing and complaining," Scotty grinned.
Ford wandered in, yawning and raking his hand through his hair to tame it. He bent to kiss Lily's cheek, then slid an arm around Sabrina's waist and kissed her good morning. "A breakfast meeting? Scotty, I'm glad you're home, but I won't be for much longer if you keep this up."
"I'm just here for breakfast," Scotty grinned. "Strictly family time. No business."
"I'll believe that when I hear it. Is Aurora here?"
"Still at Tythir. I'm heading back in a minute. Just wanted to ask if we could all stay at Bathir while Aurora's gone with Mara."
"Of course. We'd miss the kids if they left, and we have a lot of catching up to do, don't we?" Ford glanced toward the kitchen. "Is food on the way?"
"Cynthia's got it," Sabrina replied.
Ford slid into the seat beside Lily. "Good. We have another meeting in an hour."
"We do?" Sabrina was surprised. "What could possibly be left to talk about?"
"Last night was strategy," Ford replied. "Today is tactical. We're going to Giandrah so Mother can see where you and Seuréa are in your training."
"I'm going to need some caffeine," Sabrina sighed. "Morning exams are the worst."
Scotty chuckled. "Mara has to be a nicer teacher than Tirqwin!"
"Any teacher is better than none," Sabrina said. "Seuréa and I have been doing self study for too long, ever since Llevandeer died."
Scotty grimaced. "Well, now that Mara's back, we can have Imari's funeral and get the new First Chair and a new Conservator in place. Oh. I never had a chance to tell you, but Imari said she was proud to call you her niece."
Sabrina blinked, surprised by the tears that suddenly blinded her. She swallowed hard. "I wish we'd understood each other better," she whispered.
Scotty sighed. "Yeah, me too. But we did try, Rina. Imari was who she was. You don't need to feel bad about that."
"I know."
Scotty paused, then said, "Don't cry, or Ford will banish me from the breakfast table."
Ford put his arm around Sabrina's shoulders. "The adult table, anyway. I bet if you sit on the floor, you can fit at the nursery table."
Sabrina snorted with laughter at the absurd mental image Ford shared, and Scotty grinned. "I missed this," he said. "I missed you."
"We missed you too," Sabrina said, reaching out a hand to him. He took it and squeezed.
Cynthia joined them again, and a minute later, a server began setting plates on the table. As Sabrina and Ford began to eat, Scotty said, "One thing I was wondering about. While I was gone, did you or Homeworld find Malvarak?"
Sabrina nearly choked on her eggs and took a moment to swallow. "No. We've landed several operatives on Kuath, and there's no sign of him. Either the Reissians or the Kyan have him, somewhere else, we think."
Ford said, "Why the urgency, Scotty? He's been missing about a decade at this point."
"I keep remembering what he said about having no interest in the deaths of Wayships. There've been so many. I wondered if we could use him somehow. If he's been with the Kyan all this time, he has knowledge we need, especially if we're going to strike at their home space."
Sabrina sighed. "I'll check in with our intelligence service, but I think they'd have told me if they'd found him." She paused. "He might be dead, you know. The Kyan must have gotten everything they needed from him years ago."
"I'll believe that when I see it," Scotty replied. He dug into his food, offering Lily a piece of bacon, which she accepted with a broad smile.