Chapter 26 - Welcome To The Family.

The next day, Pa and Bee were thick as thieves, scrounging broken machinery for salvageable parts. I worked a bit for Pa in his office, programming drones. I watched the monitors for a while, to make sure number twelve was leaving the girrafalopes alone. It was. I hit the Galnet and looked for any contracts we might pick up.

I was feeling antsy.

I went out and tried to help Bee and Pa for a bit, but I felt like a third wheel, with those two talking about stabilizer field plates, and hydraulic coupling units and such. Terra had gone into town for supplies as, thanks to Spitfire, we had 'bout cleaned out Pa's kitchen! I wandered around the farm for a while. Pa had done a good job with the credits I had sent him, and the farm was looking, and running, real good. So good in fact, there wasn't really anything for me to do.

"Aria? Everything still okay up there?"

"Affirmative, Captain. Nothing new to report."

"Okay Aria, thanks."

"Captain?"

"Yes Aria?"

"Knock Knock, Captain."

Oh no... "Who's there?"

"Ye old lady, Captain."

"Ye old lady who?" I asked, with mounting dread.

"I was uninformed that you could yodel, Captain."

ARGH! "Did Bee teach you that one Aria?"

"No Captain, I analyzed the jokes that Bee has been teaching me, as well as others I have been researching on the Galnet. I was then able to deduce the similarities between a commonly portrayed "yodel", and the phrase "ye old lady who."

"So in other words, you made that one up yourself?"

"Affirmative, Captain."

"Well, in that case Aria, it wasn't bad at all!"

"Thank you, Captain."

I shook my head and laughed, as I headed back for the house.

After dinner, Pa asked everyone to come out to the barn. We all pushed the old grav-trac out through the big double doors into the yard. Pa handed the keys to Bee and said, "You done all the work on it, kiddo, you ought to be the one to start 'er up the first time. Bee looked at me and then Terra, then smiling at my Pa, she took the keys, clambered up into the old tractor seat. She pushed a few levers, and turned a few knobs, then turned the key. There was a high pitched whining noise, then flames shot out from under the engine panels! Bee quickly made some adjustments on the control panel, and with one last belch of flame and smoke, the engine quieted down to a low pitched rumble and hum. The old tractor lifted a few inches off the ground and hovered there. Pa signalled for her to take it for a ride around the yard. Bee, with a grin from ear to ear, drove the tractor around the yard a few times, then brought it to a stop and shut it down.

"That there tractor, ain't run in thirty some odd years!" He said admiringly, as he lifted Bee back down to the ground. "There's one last thing to do!" He went into the barn, and came out a few seconds later, with a can of red paint and a brush. Then, on both sides of the tractor's engine panels, he painted "Spitfire" in big bold letters. When he was done, Bee wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight.

Back inside, we sat in the living room and talked. Bee and Terra played cards on the floor. Terra taught Bee how to play several different versions of poker. I gave Terra a glare when strip poker was mentioned, but that just made them both laugh at me. Bee finally got tired, and Pa said he was going to walk Terra home.

Once Bee was in bed, I made up mine on the couch and turned off the lights. It took Pa an awfully long time to come home... "G'night, Pa." I said, as he tried to sneak past me in the dark.

"Oh... uh... g'night, son."

I grinned.

At breakfast the next morning, I decided it was time to leave. And time to do the thing I had been dreading, more than anything else I had ever done. Bee had gone outside to explore, or more likely, look for something to fix, and I told Pa and Terra my plans. They were sure sad I was going, but they understood. For me, home was now on board Aria.

And it was time to go home.

I went outside and called for Bee. "What's up?" she asked, as she came running from the barn.

"Come walk with me a bit, there's somethin' I want to talk to you about." I said.

"Sure!" And she slipped her hand into mine as we walked down the path.

There was an old log beside the path, warn smooth by the backsides of peoples britches. I sat down and Bee sat beside me. Bee was watching my face carefully. She could tell something was on my mind. "What's wrong, Morgan?" she finally asked.

"Well Bee, it ain't that anything is wrong exactly, but I want to ask you something."

"Okay..."

"You like it here on the farm, don't you? And you been happy here, these past few days, ain't ya?"

"Oh yes Morgan! All of this, is just... well, it's just perfect! Your dad is one of the greatest people ever, and so's Terra! And your dad lets me fix things, and work with him, just like my dad used to!"

My throat was on fire, and feelin' awfully tight. "Um.. ahem.. Ya, well, what I wanted to ask you was, umm, well, how would you like to stay here, and umm, live with my Pa on the farm?

"Oh wow, Morgan! Are you serious? Oh my gosh that would be soo totally cool!" Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "But where are we all going to live? Because I'm pretty sure your dad is going to marry Terra, you know, and then we gotta figure out how to bring Aria down too. We could use her on the farm Morgan, and..."

"Whoa there Spitfire. Slow down a second. What I meant was, would YOU like to live here with Pa. And probably Terra too. But Aria and I... Well, we gotta head back out there into space. That's where we belong right now.

Spitfire had gone perfectly still. Those pale grey eyes had gone huge as they looked into mine. She didn't speak, didn't blink, didn't move.

"It's just that, it's dangerous out there, Bee, and I'm scared that someday... Well, someday I'll make a mistake. Now that's a chance I can take with my own life, but if anything happened to you, Bee, I just can't handle the thought!"

Spitfire just watched me. Her eyes never blinked or wavered from mine. Then I saw the tremors. It was like every muscle in her tiny body was suddenly tensed to the breaking point.

"Bee?"

A faint whisper left her lips. So soft, I could barely hear it. "Please don't leave me, Morgan... Please don't leave me!

"Bee, I..."

The dam burst. Great big tears, began flowing down her cheeks, her entire body began to shake, almost like spasms. Yet her eyes, never left mine. The whisper grew louder. "Morgan? Please! Don't leave me! Please don't leave me too!"

'Please don't leave me too!' Those were the words, that damn near tore my heart right out of my chest! And then I understood. First her Pa had died and left her, then her Ma had deserted her. And now, I was talking about doing the same thing. I felt so low, I could have walked under a snake's belly, with a top hat on, and never tickle a scale!

I held my arms out to her, and that was all it took. She launched herself onto me, wrapping her little arms around my neck, and her fingers grasping at me, like I was a rope, thrown to a drownin' man. And the whole time she was sobbing, "Please, Morgan, don't leave me! Please, Please! I'll do anything, please don't leave me! Please, Morgan! Please!

Dam number two let go, as I started crying along with her. "Oh Bee, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that you had to stay here, I just wanted to know if maybe you wanted to. You just seem so happy here with my Pa and the farm and all..."

"No Morgan, please! I want to go with you. I don't want to stay here without you! Please take me with you!" Her muffled voice sounding almost hysterical, as she sobbed into my chest

"Shh. Shh. Shh. There, there, now, it's okay. You can go with me. I promise, I will never leave you, not ever! I promise Bee! I promise." It was the better part of an hour, before I was able to calm her down, and convince her, that I wasn't going to make her stay behind. Both our eyes were red, and my shirt was a soggy mess...Again. How did I always manage to get into these situations anyway? She gripped my hand tight as we made our way back to the house.

It was later than I had planned when we got back, so I decided to wait until the following morning to leave. Besides, Bee and I were both wrung out, and I figured she needed a good nights rest. She was quiet and subdued for the rest of the day, and only reluctantly would she leave my side. Pa and Terra both looked heartbroken when they watched her. She helped Pa wash dishes that night, and Terra took me into the living room. Bees eyes followed me the whole way.

"She will be okay, once you two are back on Aria." Terra said.

"I hope so Terra, I scared her pretty bad. I just didn't even think about how she would see it." Through the doorway, I could see Bee standing beside my Pa, drying the dishes he handed her. He was trying to make conversion, but every chance she had, she would look over her shoulder to make sure I was still there.

"She'll bounce back, Morgan. I told you about being patient with her. This was a good example of that damage I was talking about."

Pa and Bee came out of the kitchen, and Bee immediately curled up on the couch against my side. We talked for a bit, and when I glanced down at Bee, she was sound asleep, her fingers gripping my shirt.

I picked her up, and carried her into my old room. I took off her tool belt and boots and tucked her in, but when I stood to leave, she woke up, grabbing for my arm. "Don't leave me, Morgan! Don't..."

"Okay, okay, I'm here, I'm not going to go anywhere if you don't want me too. I motioned for her to scoot over in the bed, and then I kicked off my boots and laid down beside her. She snuggled into my side, her fingers once again wrapped in my shirt. We both fell asleep.

When I woke and opened my eyes, I found myself looking into two large pale grey ones, looking back at me. Our foreheads were only inches apart on the pillow. "I'm sorry." said Bee.

"Sorry? Sorry for what, Bee? Hell, I'm the one who's sorry! I should'a know'd better than to talk about leaving you!"

"No, I'm sorry for acting like such a baby yesterday. I don't know why I acted like that, I just couldn't help it, I was so scared."

"Of course you were scared, and I understand why, now. And it sure as hell ain't nothing for you to be sorry about! Do you think you can forgive me, for scaring you like that?"

"There's nothing to forgive." she said. "You just wanted me to be happy and safe, even if it meant that you would be lonely."

"Well, yes Bee. It broke my heart, to think I might have to leave without you, you're more than just crew Bee, you're family now too."

"I'm family?" she asked.

"You bet! You, me, Pa and Terra, and even Aria! I love you all!"

Bee smiled, slid her head closer, and rubbed her nose against mine. "I love you too, Morgan."

I grinned at her. "Come on, let's get packed, and go home."