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“Yes.”
“Oh, my god. I want to bring my grandkids over to meet her once you are settled.”
Ondine asked, “So, can I go on mat leave for a year?”
“Are you willing to be on call for local emergencies?”
“Of course. I just need to be able to get up, feed the little miss, feed myself, and try and get into a routine and feel normal, just for a year.”
The prefect looked at her and said, “I get it. When I got pregnant with Salat, I took time off and ended up in politics instead of defense. Once you are settled, contact me. With the number of awards and medals you have racked up, any country would be happy to welcome you as a full citizen. Including Aksalla.”
Remark frowned. “You aren’t a citizen?”
The prefect rolled her eyes. “She has mentioned immigration and refugee status several times. Citizens aren’t worried about being deported.”
The older woman smiled. “Now, when are you having a housewarming, and can you invite me and my family so they can meet Amadine?”
“A week from possession of the house, and I guess so. Limit the tech you bring with you though. Amadine is sensitive.”
They talked for a bit, and the prefect finally asked, “Who fathered the child?”
“Uh... He’s a local.”
“I need his name if the documentation is going to be a one-off.”
She leaned forward and whispered it into the prefect’s ear.
The older woman grinned. “He’s my nephew on my husband’s side. Oh, his parents will be delighted that he has made a match.”
Ondine blushed and shook her head. “He hasn’t. We don’t. We didn’t. It was a lab thing, and neither of us were there.”
Remark blinked. “Wait... Geero?”
Ondine thudded her head into the table.
The guys all laughed, and Ondine felt herself crying. She hated being mocked.
Torun snorted. “No wonder you rejected me when you had someone so pretty waiting.”
The prefect’s voice turned to steel. “Torun, what the fuck are you doing? Remark? You, too? Kaymex, I will deal with you later. You know she’s only twenty-four, right? And she’s been in an armoured suit the entire fucking time. Saving the world with no one to hold, throwing herself between you assholes and harm again and again. I needed the father’s name for the genetic printing, and you guys are acting like she has been dating this whole time. She’s been protecting her sibling and healing. None of the high school shenanigans that you are imagining have even been possible for her. So, she finds one person... and you are laughing at her for her choice.”
Remark nodded. “Sorry, Ondine; sorry, Prefect.”
Torun sighed. “Sorry. It was just locker room joking.”
Ondine lifted her head and knew her face was flushed and her eyes were red. “When have I been in a locker room?”
He darkened. “Right. I do have to ask, how can you take the hits that you do?”
“Suit takes the hit, I get the residue, and it causes the titanium in my system to rise and reinforce the injured site until my body can heal it. I authorize you to ask Zera for the rest.”
Remark asked, “Zera, not Kritz?”
“No, Zera deals with biologicals first and additives second. Kritz does biomechanics. Everyone just thought I was visiting him.”
He nodded, and Torun’s eyes widened with understanding.
She used the palms of her hands to wipe her cheeks. “Apologies for the outburst. Apparently, the thought of a social life is one step too far for me.”
