Life

Chapter 12

Epilogue

It is now 5 years later

Kate was taking the elevator up to their private level that required a pass code to reach unless it was the fire department or a maintenance person. She was on her way home from school. Amazingly, the school level she was in, which was still grade school, wasn't all that far away. They didn't own any transportation and it was simply easier to walk it instead of going the wrong way for a while before finally making it to the space port where she would be the last one to get off. Of course when it rained she did take the bus, however usually she just walked.

The elevator opened onto a short hallway. On one side was the door to home and the other side was the door to her parents' home. Theirs faced the landing pads of the space port while her parents' home faced toward the largest mountain on the planet. They both had a view, it was just that each one was different.

Kate searched for her fob and ran it across the lock to open the door. It opened onto the wide open living room, dining room, and kitchen. She immediately saw Rick at the dining room table with a computer display right in front of him. She really didn't like him working on the dining room table but their shortsightedness had meant they didn't have an office in their home for him to work in.

They did have an office down on the ground floor but that was rather far away so she tried to ignore it. "What are you working on?" She could guess but it was simpler to ask.

"Bookkeeping. Our renters pay monthly and while we and your parents get our power from the solar panels on the roof, the rest of this place is connected to the main power grid. Our tenants pay all their own utilities but parts of this space port are ours, so we have bills for what we use. In addition we and your parents are connected to the cistern for rain water, however, everyone else, including those sections that are ours in the space port, are connected to the city supply. So we have more bills," Rick explained.

As he talked Kate remembered all that. School always did this to her. Her mind was still focused on school and couldn't switch fast enough. She put her homework on the dining room table next to him and began working on his shoulders. "So how are we doing?" It had been ugly at first but things got better fast.

"We're still making a profit. The hotel's occupied and is paying rent. The companies that are sending ships are still paying rent. We're being paid for container storage. Two companies have maintenance bays under construction so they're paying rent. The hotel has their own restaurant but two other restaurants are operational and paying us rent. We still have empty space for three more restaurants and space for three more maintenance bays.

"We have employees that we pay salaries to. That doesn't include the fire crews for emergencies. Then there's the maintenance for all that equipment." Rick was ready to keep going but Kate had heard enough already.

"So we're making money." That was all she cared about. She left what she really didn't fully understand yet to her mate.

Rick tilted his head back as far as he could so he could look up at her. "Yes, we're making money." He smiled up at her and only stopped when she leaned down to kiss him.

"Where are the cubs?" Kate asked since she didn't see them.

"Napping, thank god." That earned him a soft swat to his head. Their cubs weren't that bad.

Kate had known she might one day end up pregnant. God knows she hadn't expected to have twins. One boy and one girl. They weren't yet a year old but according to Rick they needed to start planning for something called a birthday party.

Kate left him to go to the kitchen and find a cold drink.

"Oh, your parents left for the cabin today. They were talking about staying there for the weekend. Yes, they played hooky from school to get a head start," Rick said.

"We could join them," Kate suggested only to see her mate shake his head.

Rick shot that idea down. "We have a meeting with someone tomorrow who wants to look at one of our empty restaurant locations. See where they are, what size they are, what services are in the space, and what the price is."

"More money." Okay so they wouldn't be joining them. "Water park, maybe?" It was almost right next door and easy walking distance. It was even closer than her school was.

"We can do that. Right after our meeting." Kate walked up behind him and this time she kissed the top of his head. She wasn't even using the translator any longer and neither were Jim or Johanna. They weren't masters at it yet but usually they didn't need it so it didn't work most times.

"I'm going to check on the cubs." The cubs needed to be up soon or they would be up all night long. Kate came back carrying both Elora who was rubbing her eyes since she was still sleepy and Ailen who was wide awake. Rick took him from Kate and sat him in his lap. Rick hugged him and kissed his cheeks.

"You want to help me do the books?" Rick asked him but all he got in return was a hand in his face that just missed his eye by a fraction of an inch. Rick spun him around so that he was facing the table instead of him so that didn't happen again.

Kate played patty cake with Elora then put her in the play pen so she could play with her favorite toy. Then Kate went into the kitchen to make an early dinner.

Their new home was nice and different from everything else. They were on the very top of the spaceport and had one wall that was all glass. Or more accurately glass doors that were presently all open. All they had to do was unlock one set and push each direction to open the space up to the patio area.

Out on the patio was a large dining room table that could seat 8 people. Near by was an outdoor grill. Just beyond the table was a low wall of glass. This wall was needed to keep the cubs from falling into the pool. The pool was narrow but it also stretched from one end of their place to the other. One end had a jacuzzi. Another low glass wall kept them from going over the side and landing on the roof of the spaceport.

Inside there were two bedrooms on one end and their bedroom on the other. Just inside the door was the kitchen that had an island with four seats at the countertop. The front wall of the island was yellow with yellow lights. One end of the kitchen held the refrigerator while the other end held the pantry. The island was about 8 feet long.

Across from the kitchen was the small dining room table that only seated six that Rick was presently using. Most of the space was the living room. The sofa was white and it was curved and easily 16 feet long with an end table on one end. It created an arc and faced the glass wall. In front of it was a glass coffee table.

The ceiling had huge concrete beams. The ceiling was concrete but it had been stamped and colored and looked like real wood. The floor was also concrete though it looked like huge 4 foot x 4 foot tiles. There was a massive 8 bladed ceiling fan that could put out a lot of air if they really wanted it to.

The far end was their bedroom, bathroom, and closet. It also had a wall of glass doors that could be opened and led out to the same patio. There was another bed out on the patio that Rick and Kate had originally thought would be theirs. But it had turned into one big bed for the family to just lounge on and spend time together and watch ships come and go.

To soften all of the hardscape thanks to all the concrete, they had potted local plants set all over the place. However, the ones that Ailen could use to keep himself standing also allowed him to dig in the dirt and spread that dirt all over the floor if they didn't catch him at it.

"THERE!" Rick pointed and got the attention of his son. It was a huge cargo container ship that was taking off slowly as it gained height. Ailen slapped the table with both of his hands.

Ailen liked watching the ships take off and land. He seemed especially fond of the enormous cargo container ships. Thanks to their sheer size they were easy to spot and watch until they got too high.

"He loves those ships," Kate called from the kitchen.

"I'm thinking it's because of the size. I mean seriously, how does something that big and ugly looking really fly? We're both going to rue the day when he figures out the little ones are a lot faster and wants one," Rick warned her.

Kate quickly decided for him. "He flies through space in one of those tiny things over my dead body."

"The show's over so you want down now, do you?" Ailen was getting fidgety. So Rick put him down and watched him crawl straight toward the kitchen and Kate. "Here he comes." Then Rick went over to the play pen and picked up Elora. "How's my favorite girl?" he cooed. He abandoned his bookkeeping and crawled around on the floor with his kids.

(O) * [|] * (O) - [|] - (O) * [|] * (O)

It was the end of their day. Tomorrow was going to be spent at the water park. Kate walked naked out of the bathroom and saw her nude mate sitting on their bed. She got on the bed and crawled over to him and began working on his shoulders. "What's wrong?" He was too silent.

Rick sighed. "Just wondering if I did the right thing. I talked you and your parents into this. We could have spent the money on something else. Maybe even had a place on my home planet. Built a house out on a beach somewhere. Gotten an apartment on the ring, maybe. Bought a space yacht and sailed the stars."

Kate kissed his neck. He really was a good man. "I like it here. School's close, the water park is close and eventually the amusement park will be also. Mom and Dad have their hunting cabin. We're making money. I've got you and we have cubs. I'm right where I want to be." She stopped working on his shoulders and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "Now quit worrying. Please shift half way and make love to me. I want you. I need you." Kate nibbled on his ear until he tried to get away and wound up standing in front of her.

Kate stood and shifted half way, smiling at him until he shifted half way so she could kiss him like she wanted to kiss him. She loved him as much now as she did the first time they made love.

(O) * [|] * (O) - [|] - (O) * [|] * (O)

They both woke up suddenly. Their glass wall was still open since it was nice outside with a little breeze. Then they saw a fire. Rick leapt out of bed and ran to the edge of the patio. "SHIT!" Kate was right next to him. "Had to happen some day. Some idiot crashed on take off or landing." Rick hung his head as Kate watched it burn.

"I need to get dressed." They had hired a manager to handle the day to day things and Rick knew he would be handling this. But he was the owner so he should be there, too.

Rick came out dressed and stopped next to Kate who was still standing there. She was watching it burn and the fire crews showing up to put out the fire. "I'll probably be gone all day. The cubs are all yours. Call your parents and go to the waterpark if you still want to. Don't bother cooking for me. You might not see me until tomorrow." He was sure this was going to take time but he didn't know how much.

Rick embraced her and kissed her. She looked up at him. "Stay safe, please. I love you." She was sure it was dangerous.

"I'm not fighting the fire, I'll be fine. …I love you, too." Rick gave her another quick kiss then ran off.

Kate stood there and watched for another minute until it occurred to her that the cubs could probably see this as well and might be scared. Instead of putting clothes on she shifted half way and went to their bedrooms. If they were awake she was going to get them ready to go to the pool. They liked the pool and if they were in the pool they couldn't see the fire.

Kate chose not to call her parents and she didn't take the cubs to the water park. Rick should be there for this.

(O) * [|] * (O) - [|] - (O) * [|] * (O)

She didn't see him all day though the fire was out even if the wreck was still there.

The cubs were finally in bed. She went to bed alone and kept twisting and turning. She couldn't get to sleep. It was partly the crash and partly because she was alone in their bed. Missing him, she switched her pillow for his and cuddled up to it so she could smell him. It was enough so that she could sleep.

(O) * [|] * (O) - [|] - (O) * [|] * (O)

Suddenly she heard their shower running. Still sleepy she stumbled out of bed and found him standing under the water and just letting the water run over him. She stepped into the shower to join him and wrap her arms around him. "How bad?" Kate whispered into his back. He spun to face her. She let him pull her into him and hold her tight. Damn but she loved being in his arms.

"Four dead. It's a total loss," Rick told her and felt her melt into him. "The wreckage is going to be there for a few days until a team from the home planet can come to investigate why. We're now short one landing pad for ships. The only good thing out of it is that they didn't crash at the entrance and exit for the cargo container ships. …This is going to cost us money."

Kate looked up at him. "Why us?" It wasn't their ship. Yes, they were down one pad but they had others.

"Fire service used up foam to put out the fire. We're going to need to replace all that foam which means buying it, having it shipped in, and getting that done before we have another one." They still had foam, but they were short on it now. "We don't have to pay to have the ship removed but if that crash damaged the pad we're going to have to pay to fix it," Rick explained.

"Oh…" Kate was sure they had the money for that. "Four?" People died but this was the closest she had been to people dying.

"Unfortunately it looks like a mated pair and their two cubs," Rick said.

"OH, GOD!" Kate squeezed him a little tighter and pressed her head into his chest.

"How did Ailen and Elora do?" Rick inquired.

"I put them in the pool most of the day so they couldn't see anything. They're fine. All they saw was flames but don't know why," Kate replied.

"Smart thinking." Rick kissed her head then yawned. "I'm really beat and tomorrow's going to be another long day." They still had a wreck to deal with and had to wait for an inspection team to show up.

"How tired?" Kate smiled and slowly reached down to see if she could get him interested in still more sex.

"Not that tired." Rick lifted her head up so he could kiss her.

(O) * [|] * (O) - [|] - (O) * [|] * (O)

Kate woke up to find Rick already gone. She was hoping she had enough time for a shower and to get dressed before checking on Ailen and Elora. Though just as she was getting ready to open a door their front door opened. Only she, Rick, and her parents had a fob to get in with.

"Hi Mom, Dad." She had been hoping it was Rick but her parents were good, too.

"We're back early because we saw a fire," Johanna explained.

Jim held up his bundle. "We brought you some meat, too."

"Thanks, Dad!" Kate was happy to have something fresh instead of frozen like all the meat they bought. She took it and went into the kitchen with it. "We had a ship crash. Either on take off or landing, Rick didn't say and I forgot to ask."

"Oh, no!" Johanna moved to the kitchen while Jim went out onto the patio to look and see if he could see it. Basically all he saw was a burnt pile of metal on one of the pads. There was another ship landing that had no trouble.

"A mated pair and their cubs," Kate told her mother since she still felt bad about that.

Johanna could feel her heart fall and she shook her head. "Ailen and Elora?" She was silently hoping they didn't see anything.

"They both saw the fire but we spent the day in the pool where they couldn't see anything once the fire was out."

"Good thinking." Johanna approved of that move. "A family. That's going to hurt."

"Losing Rick, Ailen, and Elora would kill me. They're my life. I can't lose them, any of them." Kate stopped working with the meat so she could keep herself standing by holding onto the island.

Johanna came around to wrap her arms around her. "You got lucky. Rick's a good man, a smart man." Johanna liked him a lot. "So what's your plan for today? We all have school tomorrow."

"We were supposed to have a meeting with someone who wanted to rent one of our spaces for a restaurant. Unless Rick did it without me. We had planned on spending the day at the waterpark. They both like water a lot." Kate didn't have a problem with water though her animal did, but her animal wasn't the one getting wet.

"Jim and I can go change and we can go with you. Just don't forget the diaper bag and their diaper covers. And the sunscreen." Johanna let go of her.

"Thanks, Mom. Let me see if I can tell Rick where we'll be and give me a chance to get us ready and we can go." Kate would love the help.

"If we stay there long enough maybe he can join us." Johanna kissed her head and went in search of her mate.

(O) * [|] * (O) - [|] - (O) * [|] * (O)

Rick stole himself away and guessed correctly that he would find them at their favorite restaurant.

"You made it!" Kate stood up so she could kiss him.

"My family's here, where else should I be?" Rick kissed her again. "I found a message when I got home so I could change. It was Mother. You three are no longer the only ones of your kind. There are now ten more of you. It's not just you anymore," he informed them. It reinforced his belief that he was right to save them, even if it had cost him in the short term.

Just look what he had gained. Dreams really do come true.