Chapter 23 - There's No Place Like Home.

"Hey PA! I'm HOOOME!" I yelled, as I opened the door to the house. There was no answer. "PA?" I tried again. Just an echo. "He's probably out in the fields." I told Bee, as we entered and set down our duffel bags.

It had been a chore to get Bee dressed. After a few rounds, we settled on her black leather work kilt and one of my old, too small, and too tight, black t-shirts. The skirt still failed to fully cover the cheeks of her butt, but at least it was only the bottom half showing. And the t-shirt wasn't see-through. At least it hadn't been, until she got a hold of the scissors. It was now full of "air circulation" holes, and so short, that if she so much as hiccuped... Ya. Anyways, we were here. I showed her to my old room, as I figured I would sleep on the couch. It was a big old comfy couch, so I wasn't really puttin' myself out none. And I figured a teenage girl might want a little privacy.

We was in the kitchen talkin', while I made us a couple sandwiches. Okay, I was making one sandwich for me, and two sandwiches and a large glass of milk for Bee. Where does that girl put it all? She sure as hell ain't hiding it under a bunch of baggy clothes! Anyways, there we were, putting on the feedbag, so to speak, when we heard voices. It sounded like Pa, talking to someone about crop yield forecasting, and planter drones. Pa opened the back door, and stopped dead when he saw me. "Morgan? MORGAN! Son, I am sure happy to see you!" We met in the middle of the kitchen with a great big bear hug. My back popped, like someone stepping on bubble wrap! He squeezed me and picked me clear off the ground! At 68, my Pa was still a powerful man to reckon with! "How ya been boy? What are you doing here? When did you get in, son?" He gripped my shoulders, and studied my face, as he fired off his questions.

"Been good Pa, been real good! We was just in the neighborhood, so to speak, and I was sore missin' you, so we thought we would drop in and surprise you like."

"We..?" Pa looked around, and for the first time, spotted Bee. She was standing beside the little kitchen table, with her back to the wall. Her pale grey eyes were big, but she was smiling. "Well, hello there, little lady!"

"Pa, this here is Aria's mechanic, Bee. Her real name is Beatrice, but don't you ever call her that, or you'll learn why I call her Spitfire!"

"Welcome Bee, welcome! I'm right glad to meet you!" said Pa, as he walked over to her and held out his hand for a shake.

"I am very happy to meet you too sir." said Bee, as his big ol' paw engulfed her tiny hand.

What the hell? Did she just CURTSY?!?!

Pa turned to me with a huge grin and a wink. Suddenly, there was another voice.

"Aren't you going to say hello to me, Morgan?"

"TERRA?!?!" She was standing in the doorway with a bemused smile, wearing a red checker button up shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. And instead of trying to actually button it up, she had just tied a knot, low in the front. 'Course, I don't think mere buttons could have won that battle anyways! She also had on the tightest, and lowest ridin' pair of skintight jeans, that I ever did see. I grabbed her, lifted her up, and spun her in circles around the kitchen, while she laughed and hugged my neck.

"Put me down you big lug! No, kiss me first, then put me down!" I kissed her hard, spun her around once more, then set her on her feet as we all laughed.

"Bee, this here is Terra. I told you all about her that first night you and I met. Terra, this here is Bee, or when she's riled up, you can call her Spitfire!"

Terra raised her brows just a fraction as she looked at Bee and then back to me. Then, she went over to shake Bee's hand as well. Yup, sure 'nuff, that little Spitfire did curtsy! She also gave Terra a very thorough "head-to-foot" as they stepped apart.

"What are you doing here, Terra?" I asked, more than pleased, but a mite confused.

"Talking to your father about my farm sector, next door."

"Your farm sector? Next door? What about your PR job with Mutogen?"

Terra laughed. "They fired me Morgan. Our Mr. Creedy and the Major filed a complaint, and told them I was the one responsible for you getting that ship." She walked over and put her hand on my fathers arm. "After I left, I came to see your father like I promised, and I ended up telling him the whole story. He was the one who suggested I use my savings to buy the adjoining farm plot. That gave me the land, but I needed your fathers equipment and experience to actually do anything with it. So, your father and I became partners.

"Partners! They fired you? Because of me... I'm so sorry..." I went over and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. Things were just a bit confusing right then.

"Don't be sorry Morgan! I think it's the best thing to ever happen to me! If your father's and my predictions are correct, I will be able to completely pay off the land in two years. Then, your father and I will split all profits after that, 50-50. I will be making more then I ever would, in public relations. And..." she added, as she smiled up at my father, "The people I deal with now, are so much nicer to be around."

"I...Umm... Well, you see, I couldn't have done much to help if Morgan hadn't been sending me those credits. That's what allowed me to get that extra machinery, and fix our old ones up in the first place. Besides, this here is one smart woman. She came up with a new crop rotation schedule that should up our yields by a good 10 percent!" Terra playfully slapped him on the arm, then bumped him with her hip. My father was blushing to beat the band! Terra, and my Pa? Partners!? And the way she was looked up at him, and he was looking at her... Wow, things was suddenly feeling a mite awkward! A small hand rested on my shoulder, and Bee whispered in my ear. "Aria."

I looked at Bee and smiled. "That's right, I almost forgot! There's one more person for you to meet Pa! Aria, say hi to my Pa!"

"Greetings, Mr. Black. I am pleased to make your acquaintance." came Aria's voice from the chip's speaker.

Pa's snowy white eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Is that your ship talking son?" I nodded and grinned like a fool. "Well hello there Miss Aria. I am powerful glad to meet you too!"

"Hello again, Aria!" said Terra, getting into the spirit of things.

"Hello to you as well, Miss Slavovich. It is good to see you again. I hope you are well." replied Aria.

Terra laughed. "Indeed I am Aria, thank you for asking!"

"How did you manage this, Morgan?" asked Terra. I just shook my head, and pointed at Bee.

"This was all Spitfire's doin', not mine. These here chips, was a gift from her." All eyes were now upon Bee.

"I... Umm... I just modified a couple of A.I. remote chips, so that they could tap into the Lave station's communication network. Then I added a planetary sub-band radio relay to allow her to communicate with us almost anywhere in the planetary system." Terra's mouth hung open a mite. Pa was grinning ear to ear. I smiled with pride and looked at Bee.

Dig me a hole, and bury me deep, 'cuz I done seen everything there is to see! My little Miss Spitfire was blushing just as red as an over-ripe mutomatoe! This here is the girl that would walk, buck ass naked, through a crowded space station, and laugh her fool head off while doing it! Yet there she stood, lit up like a military laser hitting the red line!

"Well now, what do you know about that!" said my Pa, his face beaming. He clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Son, sounds to me like you got yourself one hell of a first rate mechanic!" Poor Spitfire was about to go into meltdown. "Hey little lady, I got me a harvester drone, that keeps trying to harvest the horn tufts from the wild girraffalopes around here. I've hired three different mechanics to come out here and fix it. But ain't a one of 'em been able to figure it out. Think you and me could take a look at it in the morning? If you don't mind, that is?"

"Oh, I don't mind at all, Sir! I would love to go look at it with you!" And thus was a great friendship born.

"Oh, enough of that Sir stuff now. You call me Joe like everyone else does."

"Umm... okay, Joe." Spitfire beamed!

We all moved into the living room, and we told them our stories late into the night. Finally, Pa said he was old, and had to call it a night. Spitfire had curled up on the couch beside me, and fell asleep with her head on my leg. So, while Pa went off to bed, I picked her up, and carried her into my old room. I took off her tool-belt, and  her boots, then tucked her under the covers. When I stood up and turned around, Terra was standing in the doorway watching me with one eyebrow hitched up. I put a finger to my lips and herded her out of the room. Once I closed the door, we went back to the living room. "Come for a walk with me, Morgan." said Terra, slipping her arm through mine.

We went out the back door, and strolled down the path under the moonlight. I could see Lave station up there, floating across the sky. "Everything okay up there, Aria?"

"Affirmative, Captain."

"She hasn't changed much, has she?" asked Terra.

"No, but Bee thinks she can adjust her programming to give her more "range in her personality matrix". She's been trying to teach her jokes."

Your "little Spitfire" is something else, I must say, Morgan. I am quite impressed." Terra stopped and looked up into my eyes. "A sixteen year old girl can be quite a handful, Morgan. Do you really know what you are in for?"

I told her Bee's whole story, and when I finished, I said. "So you see Terra, she needed us, and Aria and I needed her. We're family now."

"Oh Morgan... You have a heart as big as a moon." She rested her head on my shoulder, and we walked a bit more. "You've changed."

"Me? Na, I haven't changed!"

"Oh yes you have. Far more than you know. I watched you taking care of that little girl tonight, and I remembered the shy, awkward young man, who could barely speak to me, without getting tongue tied."

"I was too busy staring at your chest! And you had to look after me aplenty up there!"

"Exactly Morgan. Once upon a time, I was looking after you. Now, here you are, looking after that little girl. And I didn't catch you ogling my chest even once tonight!" She playfully slapped my shoulder. "That can give a girl a complex, you know!"

"Well believe you me, the temptation to admire your chest is still an almighty powerful force! And just for the record, I did sneak a peek or two while we was in the kitchen!" I said with a grin and a wink.

Terra laughed. "Well, thank you for that at least, you big lug! But you see what I mean? You're not the same awkward boy any more. You've got responsibilities of your own now, and from what I can see, you are doing a great job. I am so very proud of you, Morgan Black!"

"You got me blushing like Spitfire now." I said. We had stopped next to a disabled planter drone. Terra turned to face me, and put her hand up to my cheek.

"You are so sweet Morgan. Just like your father." I could see her eyes, sparkling in the moonlight. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Then why do you look so sad, all of a sudden?" I asked.

"Because, I am going to miss that awkward boy." she said, and a tear rolled down her cheek. I folded her into my arms and we stood that way, in the moonlight, for quite a while.

"I like your father, Morgan." she said finally, and wiped her damp cheeks on my shirt.

"I gathered that. And, judgin' from the way he looks at you, I would reckon the feelin's mutual."

"I mean I REALLY like him, Morgan, but I don't want things to be awkward between any of us, I couldn't bear that."

I pulled her close again, and rested my chin on the top of her head, then I took a long, deep breath. "Spitfire and me will be heading back out into space in a few days. Now, I'm pretty sure, with this new business venture of yours, and this partnership with my Pa, that if I was to ask you to come with me, you'd say no."

"Morgan, I..."

"Hush up now, and let me talk. My Pa's been alone for a mighty long time. And he's too good a man to be alone like that. I got Aria and Bee to keep me company now, but Pa's had only me for all these years. And now, I'm not going to be around no more, least ways, not very often." I took another deep breath. "You know I love you, Terra. I love you for taking care of me, and looking out for me when I needed it most. So now, I am going to ask you to take care of my Pa. He's a kind, generous, loyal, big hearted man, Terra. He won't never let you down. And if you can look out for him, and take care of him, like you done for me, then I will love you that much more!" And just like that, it was done. Terra and I had, in our own way, said goodbye. Not goodbye to each other really, but goodbye to the lives and people we used to be. It was sad and yet happy all at the same time,  so there we stood, clinging to each other, crying in the moonlight.

Terra had a small Porta-House not too far from Pa's place, so I walked her home. On the way, I remembered something she had said. "By the way, please don't let Spitfire ever hear you refer to her as a "little girl." That would send her right over the edge! 'Sides, she'll be seventeen in a few more weeks, and that really ain't so little, after all."

Terra stepped away from me and took my face in her hands. "Morgan, I'm not referring to her physically. I am sure you've noticed,.." she said, poking me in the ribs. "that she is quite mature in that regard. She already has a figure that most girls would die for. However, I am talking about her emotional age. I know a bit about psychology, Morgan, it was a big part of my job after all. You told me what her life was like on that station after she lost her father. It must have been absolutely awful for her. That kind of experience is going to leave damage, as well as scars behind. On top of that, you are going to have the usual hormones and mood swings of a normal teenager girl to contend with." She poked me in the stomach to make sure I was payin' attention. "She is going to be a huge handful, Morgan. I just want you to be ready, and to know what you are in for. I know she can be sweet and loving and cute as a kitten, but there are going to be screaming fits, crying jags, and temper tantrums to go along with it. You are going to have to be very careful, as well as a patient and caring friend, to help her heal and get through it." We had reached her door by this time, and she stood on the step so she could look me in the eye. "Now, with that being said, you described your father as "kind, generous, loyal, and big hearted". Well, his son is every bit of that and more! And I think that if anyone in this universe is capable of helping her, it's you. You big lug!" She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me good night, then went inside.

I had a lot to think about on the way back to Pa's.