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John woke up in the bed he shared with Aeryn, curled around her from behind, his face buried in her hair. Lazily, he breathed in the scent of her and smiled.
Perhaps sensing that he was awake, Aeryn stirred as well, stretching herself along the length of his body.
“Good morning,” he whispered, nuzzling her neck.
“Mmmmm, good morning to you,” she whispered back. He continued nuzzling, and started doing interesting things with his hands, and she giggled softly.
She rolled over to face her husband, and their lips locked in a passionate kiss.
Aeryn moaned and John whispered frantically, “Shhhh, not so loud, they’ll hear us!”
Too late – the sound of running feet and high-pitched giggles came from the corridor outside their quarters.
They sighed and got out of bed quickly, throwing on the clothing they typically laid out each night.
“This is your fault, you know!” Aeryn declared. “If you weren’t so frelling good at….”
“….We wouldn’t have all these kids, I know, I know, so you keep telling me. But it takes two to tango, Aeryn,” John said, as a troop of seven or eight leather-clad children came bounding in, shrieking in delight at seeing their parents awake and ready to “play.”
“I think Pilot tells them when we’re awake,” John remarked, as he scooped up the three smallest kids that weren't jumping on Aeryn and kissed them on the tops of their heads.
“Why would he do that?”
“So we don’t make any more?”
“Oh. That makes sense.” Aeryn grinned at the sight of John covered in small bodies, then surveyed the room. She plucked a child from halfway up the door grille, and unwrapped another from her leg and picked it up, brushing dark hair from its forehead.
John noticed she was counting heads. “Hey, where’s your brother?” he said to the oldest child, a boy of about ten called DK.
“Pilot,” Aeryn called, “we seem to be missing a child.”
“You’re missing TWO,” came the aggrieved response.
Aeryn hastily counted again and shrugged at John.
He mouthed, “Oops.”
“You’re right, Pilot. We’re missing two,” Aeryn agreed.
“They are both in HERE,” Pilot told her.
“We’re on our way, Pilot,” John said, rounding up the troops. “Come on, guys, let’s go rescue Pilot.”
“Can’t we eat first,” one of the smaller ones asked plaintively.
“No,” said Aeryn firmly. “We’re all going to get breakfast together, so we have to go get Huey and Dewey.”
Twin girls around the age of 7 shouted, “Last one there’s a rotten egg!” and took off down the corridor, followed by everyone except DK and a beautiful dark-haired girl of about 6, who hung back with their parents.
“Gilina, be careful!” Aeryn called at the departing mob, watching her daughter trip over a DRD. She sighed. “I don’t know, John, I think she needs a retinase treatment. I really don’t think she sees properly.”
“You think so?” John asked. “I don’t know if our insurance covers that. Frelling HMOs….”
“Daddy, Daddy,” the little girl at his side said, tugging at his arm. “Are we going to Disneyland yet?”
John and Aeryn exchanged glances, and Aeryn took this question. “Well, darling, we’re not going to be able to go to Disneyland for a while yet. We got Jool home last cycle, but we still have to restore Rygel to his throne….”
“But Daddy,” pouted Jena, ignoring her mother, “you PROMISED to take me to Disneyland for my birthday!”
DK smirked, “He still doesn’t know where it is!”
“Now, that’s not true, young man, we’ve got the wormholes narrowed down to only 150 more to try!” said John indignantly. He was saved from another smart remark by his firstborn when they arrived at Pilot’s Den.
As DK and Jena rushed forward to join their siblings, John and Aeryn stood in the doorway and surveyed the chaos. Children were everywhere, and Pilot was looking frantic.
Aeryn corralled the ones she could find, lining them up in order of age. They stood at attention smartly, recognizing the look in their mother’s eye.
As things began to settle down, John realized that their missing offspring had climbed up on Pilot’s console, and were hanging from two of his arms, swinging their feet back and forth and kicking at each other. “Huey! Dewey! Come down here right this minute! Pilot is NOT a jungle gym!”
When the two ignored him, John strode across the room, leaned over Pilot’s console, and snagged one smartly with each arm. “Now you’re in for it, guys. Your Mom’s got a line-up going.”
He brought them over and deposited them in front of Aeryn. They scurried quickly to find their place and smiled ingratiatingly at Aeryn. “Lucky for you you’ve got your father’s smile,” she told them, and sent the whole squad marching towards the central hold for breakfast.
“Sorry, Pilot,” John said as he and Aeryn followed the kids out. “I’d say it won’t happen again, but we both know it probably will.”
“I cannot be held responsible, Commander…”
“I know, Pilot, I know. We’ll do our best….”
John and Aeryn wrapped their arms around each other’s waists and followed the kids through Moya’s corridors. As they walked, Aeryn cleared her throat. “Um, this probably isn’t the best time to tell you this, but….I’m pregnant again.”
John stopped in stunned surprise, started to speak – and woke up in his bed, heart pounding and head spinning….
He lay there for a moment, listening to the peace and quiet of deep night on board Moya. He could hear and feel Aeryn’s regular breathing as she lay on her side next to him in the dark. “Huey and Dewey?” he whispered to himself. Actually, Gilina and Jena were scarier, as names for Aeryn’s kids went…. Well, at least he knew where the dream had come from. First-time expectant father fears.
He wanted to laugh out loud at some of the images, but he didn’t want to wake Aeryn. She wasn’t sleeping very well these days. As big as the baby was getting, he’d have to suggest she try sleeping in a chair instead of lying down in bed. It might help. Maybe he could rig some kind of recliner.
He rolled over carefully and kissed her on the cheek. He wasn’t sure he would tell her about the dream in the morning. She was scared enough as it was of being able to cope with one little baby, he could only imagine what the thought of a dozen or so would do to her!
He laid back down flat, and went back to sleep, thinking how nice it was going to be to have ONE, count ‘em, ONE beautiful child in his arms so very soon….
