Chapter 2.4

The next day, after a busy night with John, I contacted one of the local counselors. She seemed to be a very nice person, but when I tried to schedule an appointment, she almost declined.

“I’ve already agreed to be John Carlson’s counselor. If he agrees, would you like to come in for family counseling?”

“Uh...” I had no idea John was going to go to counseling. “Certainly.”

I was planning a small dinner, similar to what I had done for N22 for that night centuries ago for the command staff. I had planned on my own take on some Chinese food. I had found the recipes in an archaeology dig, on some hard drives that supplied information to, what was once called, the internet. I wasn’t sure what they were supposed to taste like; in fact, no one was, thus it was my own take, but I felt that they were excellent. I steamed the vegetables, and made the sauce and meats as written. I thought that it must be close to what they originally were. I doubted that the recipes had survived over the years. Especially as China was now gone. I had acquired several recipes like that. Several were from Italy, Japan and even Hawaii. I wasn’t sure how they had been lost, but there it was.

I was shocked when Paula and Fred showed up and respectfully asked, “May we join you?”

“Of course!” I told them.

“Thank you,” Fred told me, “but if you’d rather we don’t we will respect that. This is your restaurant, and we won’t violate that.”

I hugged Paula, and after a minute, I hugged Fred, telling both of them “Thank you. You’re always welcome.”

They started to enter, but Fred stopped for a moment. “I understand you’re feeling the way you do, and I appreciate the gesture.”

I nodded, and we entered the back room where the rest of the command crews were seated. John had helped me all day, and we brought out the entrees together. I did not believe in hiring someone to bring out the food when I could easily do it myself. Everything was buffet style, and I explained what was in each dish. It certainly seemed to be enjoyed. Later, we discussed what to do with the ship. We knew that to get to Alpha Centauri would take a hundred years, but Neo22 had never heard from Centaurus. We were not sure why.

I was silent through most of the meeting. I was still embarrassed at my behavior the previous day. Finally, Paula asked what I thought. I looked down, and answered carefully. “I think we should go to Alpha Centauri and see what is there. We have no idea if they made it or not, but if something happened, we might be able to help them.”

“If we find them,” Rhoda said. She had voted to go to the next planet Centaurus was supposed to visit.

“I know it’s a little ship in a huge galaxy, but if we don’t try, we’ll always wonder if we could have found them.” I took a deep breath and hoped no one took my next words wrong. “I don’t want that on my conscience.” John had been holding my hand the entire meeting, and he squeezed it now. I knew he supported me, even though we disagreed on this.

Rhoda turned to her parents. “What do you think?”

“We discussed this earlier,” Fred told us. “We both think we should go to Alpha. This ship was made for recusing people. If Centaurus had problems, we need to find out. Your mother and I also have six kids on that ship. I’d be lying if I said we weren’t concerned about that.”

Paula nodded, and I thought about what Fred had said. I could not fault either for their desire to find out about their children. Even though my first was still inside me, the love I felt was indescribable.

Paula looked around at everyone. Her daughter and daughter-in-law had disagreed with her. “Do I have everyone’s assurance, that even if you disagree with going to Centaurus, you will back us in every possible way?”

Everyone said they would certainly, but I think Carla said it best. “I can understand how Rose feels; I have considered her my sister for over four hundred years. When she spoke about your relation to Willem, I was as mad as her, but I had a chance to think about it last night, and I’ve decided that you didn’t have to rescue us. You could have left a hundred thousand years ago, and left us to die. You are giving us the opportunity to pay our rescue forward. Even if I didn’t want to go to Alpha, I want to rescue that ship. I’ll stand behind you in this until I die.”

She nodded, accepting our answers.

When everyone else had left, Paula and Fred remained at the table. John and I had been taking the remaining food back to the kitchen. There was very little. I came out to clean the table and was surprised to see them there. Paula was crying this time, and I turned around to give them their privacy.

A few minutes later, I came back out. I didn’t bother them. Instead, I sat down by the kitchen doors. I could see them, if I stood and walked to the door and looked in. Rather than do that, I decided to just wait until they came out. I wasn’t sure why Paula was crying, but I knew the feeling, or rather, I thought I did.

I supposed that Fred’s statement about their kids probably got to her as a mother. John and I talked about the success of the dinner while we were waiting, and I didn’t begrudge them the time at all. Maybe I was healing.

Everyone had agreed that Heaven’s Rose was going to be unanimously chosen the best restaurant in town. I guess I should tell what it was like in this part of the ship. Heaven’s Rose was it’s own building, which was strange. In the other ships my restaurant was always on the ground floor of a multi-story apartment complex. Her, however, there was a town at the outer edge. The steakhouse that we had been to was here as well. It was a little ways away from mine, and I personally felt that I would have to work hard to maintain an edge. Granted, there was no money used, so it was all a friendly competition. In a way, the one who was known as the best lost. They had to work hardest for no real gain except popularity. I had my pride, though. That was one thing that Willem had never been able to take away from me.

After about half an hour, Paula and Fred came out of the private room and looked around. They saw us and walked over.

“Thank you, Rose,” Paula told me. “That was one of the best meals I’ve had.”

“Thank you, Paula.”

“I’m sorry for losing it there after the meal. It had nothing to do with you or the meal.”

“If I’m out of line, please tell me,” I said to her. I put my hand on my abdomen. “I have not had the experience as a mother as you have, but if my feelings for this little one are any indication, it has to be horrendous for you, not knowing what has happened to yours.”

She sat down across the table from me. “Rose, I know you don’t trust us very much, but I hope we can eventually be friends.”

I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I just nodded. I reached across the table and took her hands in mine. “I th-think we w-will.” I stammered to get the sentence out.

She stood and asked, “Can we help you here in any way?”

I smiled and shook my head. John spoke for me. “We’re done.”

Fred nodded, then Paula came around the table and as she put her arms around me. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother.”

That did it. It was my turn to cry now. While we were in the embrace, she whispered into my ear, “I’m pregnant too, but don’t tell anyone. Fred doesn’t know yet.” I pulled back from her, unsure whether to continue crying or giggle. Paula glanced over to where John and Fred had moved to, and I did too. Since they were away, I made my decision and started giggling. I pulled back into the embrace and in an excited whisper told her, “Congratulations!”

“Well you’ve sure been in a good mood since we started home,” John commented when we arrived at our rooms. “What’s up?”

“Does a girl need a reason to be happy?”

“Not always,” he told me.

“Are you wanting to sleep on the couch tonight?” I asked with an eyebrow raised.

“That depends,” he answered. “Will you join me?”

I tried to keep a straight face. I really did, however I couldn't. I laughed and hugged him. “I’m willing to give it a try.”

So we did.

The next day, Paula got on the ship wide intercom. She had two announcements.

The first was that we were done in our solar system, and would be leaving now to head toward Alpha.

Her second was that Heaven’s Rose would now be open for business. I blushed a deep red when the cheers went up for that.