“The family warrior. Thank you, thank you.”
The twins were last. She knelt to hug them tight, and they were delighted by it. “Natalie and Tina. Oh, how sweet. My sweets, all of you.”
She stood up, then, took the arm of the man who’d arrived with her. She leaned against his shoulder and said, “I want you to meet my man, my captain, my husband. We were married a month ago.” She looked up lovingly at him. “I do like older men.”
“Ramon DiMarco,” said the man, and held out his hand, “and as you can see, I also like older women.”
There were handshakes all around. Ramon’s smile and sense of humor captured them all immediately.
Later they sat down at the dining table, and Tatjana served the meal she’d worked most of the day to prepare. Nine people were seated, the twins on risers, but there was one empty chair, one place setting that would not be used.
Grandma Nat pointed at it. “Is someone not here yet?”
Trae told her quickly about John Haight, about Petyr, a member of the family. Grandma got teary-eyed when she heard about his mission.
Leonid raised a glass in a toast. “To John, and freedom on Kratola!”
They drank to it, and enjoyed their first meal together as a family.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James won the Writers of the Future Grand Prize in 1991. Since then he has published over sixty stories in anthologies and magazines such as Aboriginal SF, Analog, and Talebones. To date he has published four story collections and eight novels. He is a retired physics professor and Dean and also paints landscapes in oils, acrylics, watercolors and pastels. He and his wife Gail divide their time between homes in Spokane, Washington and Desert Hot Springs, California. They are both active in the convention scene and do many drumming circles, playing drums, Native American flute and didgeridoo. You can find out more about Jim and his work at www.sff.net/people/jglass/
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