“Do you think I can see her?”
“We’ve already thought about that,” Peterson said with a smile. “The doctors said by all means, and she’s waiting for you.”
“Then let’s go!”
On the way over to the hospital in the Carter’s vehicle, Ashton leaned forward – he was in the back seat with Alexandre, and Carter and Peterson were in the front, with Carter driving – and asked, “So what happened around here? Did the information Abe and I sent back help at all?”
“It was a bit of a trick, and everybody had to work together,” Carter said.
“Yeah, ICPD, IPD Headquarters, even the Imperial Guard sent the Marines to help,” Peterson interjected.
“But we rounded everybody up, all at once,” Carter finished. “Maia and I witnessed the interrogations…”
“Boy, did that take a while,” Peterson interrupted again.
“It sure did. There were a couple of the spies that were coerced – blackmailed and whatnot – and they got some clemency from the Emperor. The rest were executed. Including all the ones from Annalia.”
“None of us are fool enough to think that we got ‘em all,” Peterson added. “Because not all of the star nations had consulates on Carolina, just the Earth-siders. But it’s better.”
“For now,” Carter said.
The reunion at the hospital was wonderful. Cally was overjoyed to see Nick, who immediately came to the bed, leaned over, and gathered her into his arms, kissing her thoroughly.
“Oh, I’m so glad to see you!” she whispered, as tears spilled over. “I was afraid you wouldn’t come back, I was afraid I wouldn’t be here when you did… I’ve been so scared, honey.”
“I know, sweetheart, I know. I’ve been worried about you, too.”
“What about worrying about yourself?”
“I don’t do that much. I try to plan ahead and figure out what might happen, then be ready for it. If things go bad, they go bad. I just didn’t want to risk leaving you with two kids to raise without me, so I planned extra hard.”
“Lemme move over here,” Cally said then, scooting over in the bed. “I want you to sit down here beside me and just hold me for a while.”
“I can do that,” Nick agreed, suiting action to word.
“We need a new reg,” Carter murmured to Peterson, as they – and Alexandre – watched from the door of the room. “No more sending anyone on a dangerous case or mission if they’re in the family way. Ever.”
“Agreed. We’ll work out the wording tonight, you and me, and you can run it by Daggert, Saaret, and Trajan tomorrow.”
“Oh, here we are,” a nurse said, rolling a little incubator cart into the room. “Look, Leya, dear! Your daddy’s home! You can feed with Mommy and Daddy tonight!”
Nick caught his breath.
“Leya?” he whispered. “Is she okay? Is she still in danger?”
“No, no,” the nurse said. “She’s coming along nicely now. She was a big girl when she was born, and the obstetrician estimates that she was very nearly full-term in her development, even at that time. She’d have been early, in other words, regardless.”
“The last few days, they’ve been bringing her to me and taking her out of the incubator for me to feed her properly,” Cally told him with excitement. “Before that, we had to try to pump my breasts and they fed her through a tube, but it was just that many more things I had sticking on me, or in me, or whatever.”
“She got her IV out yesterday, and boy, was she happy,” the nurse noted with a grin. “You’re Mr. Ashton, right?”
“That’s me,” Nick said.
“Here, Mr. Ashton. Hold your baby girl for a few minutes before Cally, there, feeds her.” And she handed the baby into Nick’s hands.
Nick gathered his daughter close to his chest, looking down into her adorable little face. While Paul had taken after his father in looks, being dark-complected, little Leya looked like taking after her mother as a golden blonde.
“Hey there, little lady,” Nick murmured, rubbing the baby’s velvet cheek with a fingertip. “Your daddy is finally home, sweetie. I hear you and Mommy have had a time of it, but I think things are gonna be okay now.”
“Agghh,” Leya told him, looking up at him with big round blue eyes. “Agghoo.”
“That’s right,” Nick said, unaware that everyone was watching with smiles on their faces; several – including Cally – had tears in their eyes. “Tell me all about it, baby girl. I’m gonna be right here now, taking care of you and Mommy and Paul. You remember Paul, right? He tells me you patted his cheek a lot.”
“Ooogh!” Leya responded, then cooed and bounced in his arms.
“I’d say you do remember him, then. He’s your brother, you know. You’re his sister. We’re a family, you and me and Mommy and Paul. With Grammy Laura and Grampa Alex. And Grammy Maia an’ Grampa Lee, too, if they wanna be called that.”
“Yes!” Lee and Maia both proclaimed in unison.
“Rrrrum-PAH!” Leya exclaimed.
Nick blinked, then looked at a bemused Cally.
“She didn’t just try to say ‘Grampa,’ did she?”
“I dunno. Sorta sounded like it, didn’t it?”
“Abbplplbbbb,” Leya spluttered, and waved chubby little fists at Cally. “BAH!”
“I think she wants dinner,” Nick said, handing the baby to his wife, as she adjusted her hospital gown to allow for feeding.
Cally was indeed released the next day. She would need to pump her breast milk and have Nick courier it to the hospital for one more week, then they could bring little Leya home.
“And then it’ll feel like everything’s gonna get back to normal,” Cally said from the recliner, where the others had insisted she sit.
“Because if you won’t go to bed, you’re gonna
