Atlas’s eyes softened. “After she’s born, everything will be better.” Then he reached out to touch her face. “In the meantime, ignore the chip the best you can. Don’t let them stop you from living.”
“Alright.” She snuggled in. “I know you want more though.”
He rubbed both hands down her arms, then said low, “I can tell you do too.”
Anna didn’t say anything, but the flush on her face spread.
“Yes, Anna. I do.” Atlas kissed her forehead. “But I don’t need that part to feel satisfied. I can wait until after. Can you?”
“. . . Yes.”
He pressed his temple against hers. “If it helps, you can pretend you have a headache. Like they do in those television feeds.”
“Oh really?” Anna snorted. “I thought you didn’t understand Earth women.”
“Some things are universal.”
“You’re so cheeky now.”She pushed off his chest to stand. “Walk with me? Can you tell me more about the plants we can put in the garden?”
“Sure.” He rolled up the cording he was working on until it was a thin, organized coil. “Let me grab my bag.”
Behind the shed, an area was sectioned off for a garden. Doing much there was difficult though, with all the construction Zero had been doing. Now that it was quiet, she felt less self-conscious about trying to garden, to put her personal stamp on the yard. Even the drones lately—well, at least with Atlas nearby—didn’t hover over their home.
The dirt patch was long and already tilled. And Anna had dreams of at least getting the seeds in the soil before the baby came.
“Here.” In the bag Atlas carried were smaller satchels. “I brought some of my favorite seeds. They are all vegetables.”
She fingered the little packets, labeled with an even hand. “Do you farm all of these here?”
“No. But I’ve grown and sampled them for novelty.”
“Why didn't you get a patch of ground outside yourself at some point?”
Atlas clenched the seed bags in his hand. “I guess it didn’t occur to me to do that. I do take rotations in the farming quarters.”
“But you still collected them. And you grew indoors?”
“Yes.” He snaked an arm around her waist. “I am excited to have a garden now.”
“Mmm.” She lay back in his arms.
He nuzzled in. “It is nice to put down roots. It’s like my cherry tree. But I could take that with me when I went back and forth to the Earth.”
The cherry tree was just visible, part of it at least, inside their home with the door open. Anna rubbed the back of her neck. “I like seeing that tree. It’s your favorite tree, huh?”
“Yes.”
Her fingers stopped on her neck, right over the neural patch. “Are you going to have to go again? To Earth?”
“No.” Then he leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek. “I don’t want to leave you.” He laid his hand on her belly. “Or her.”
“. . . Oh.”
Atlas moved on, sorting through the seed packets. He held up one labeled“carrot.”“This one is not too foreign.”
“Carrots!” She said. “I remember those. Do you have any potatoes?”
A bigger bag with potato seeds was pulled out. “Yes. And tomatoes. Melons . . .”
