"Very well. There's no way to make you immune from the effects. It's what they call a trade-off. You wouldn’t retain superior strength and speed, but neither would others from your dimension of origin. They wouldn’t have any advantage over those who come to your aid. And there will always be people at Jefferson Unit ready to come to your aid. Capable people. So you’d have a better than good chance against them. It wouldn’t be just you. Alone.”
It was easy to read both concern and sincerity on Monq’s face. There was no question in her mind that he cared about her in his own way. Maybe not as much as the Monq who had been her tutor growing up and had taught her everything from Latin to horseshoes, but still.
“And you’re ready to test it on me. Monq. You do realize that I’m nursing.”
He pursed his lips. “I can’t tell you what to do about that, but I think staying alive is more important. I can give you something to dry up your milk quickly and painlessly and without having any detrimental effect on your, uh, natural shape.” Monq turned pink when trying to communicate that last bit of info.
“You mean feed Helm formula milk instead.”
“You could wait until he weans naturally, but…”
“I get it. I’ll talk it over with Ram tonight. Maybe I’ll look into baby formula.”
“Already done. I put Allicent on it. We had some flown in with the last passing. Just in case. It’s expensive. Made in Switzerland.”
“Just in case,” she said dryly. “You’ve thought of everything.”
“I should hope so since that is my job.”
When Ram finished music practice, he hurried “home” to the Jefferson Unit apartment he hoped would be temporary quarters. When he opened the door, he saw Elora sitting at the table next to Helm’s crib, hands on the portaputer keyboard.
“Hey. What’s up?” With a Ram-style smile that lit up the room, he headed straight for his mate, gave her a kiss in passing on his way to pick up Helm, but made sure to linger long enough so that she knew it was heartfelt and not routine.
As he lifted the baby, she said, “Something we should discuss.”
“Sounds serious.”
“Hmmm. Depends on how you look at it. Can you sit?”
Ram sat and listened intently without interrupting. “’Tis no question about what you’re goin’ to do. Is there?”
She looked thoughtful. “I didn’t want to make a final decision without talking to you. I’ve done a little research and I think Helm will be okay so long as I still spend the same time with him and hold him the same way I would if I was nursing.”
“Helm is strappin’. Just look at him.” She had to smile at the pride so evident in Ram’s voice. “What our boy needs is for his mum to be survivin’.”
“So we’re decided.”
“Great Paddy, Elora! O’ course.”
An hour after Elora informed Monq of their decision, six of the trainees showed up at the apartment door wearing boyish expressions – a cross between sheepishly shy and eagerness to get a look at the private life of their instructor. Each was carrying two cases of expensive Swiss formula. Ram directed the stacking of the boxes while Elora smiled and thanked them for their help.
Elsbeth stopped in after her shift in the clinic to give a crash course on the proper preparation of bottles. It wasn’t part of her nurses training, but she had a sister-in-law who had done bottle feeding.
Elora walked Elsbeth down the hall to the elevator.
“So don’t think I didn’t notice that special glow, which can only mean one thing where you’re concerned. Hot date.”
“Not per se. More like a get together.” Elsbeth managed to look coy, which was a remarkable feat considering the level of her worldliness and experience.
Elora laughed in her face. “Keep it to yourself if you want. I’m just sayin’.”
“Well, you know I’ve been seeing Dirk.”
“No. Who’s Dirk?”
“Fennimore?”
“Oh. Dirk is his first name? I didn’t know that. The knights all call him Fenn.”