Alien Proliferation

well served. I hadn’t been able to break it, even during pregnancy, though I’d gotten down to one Coke every few days. But if I wanted something different, I just had to ask for it, and there it was.
    I called whoever did this the A-C Elves. Jeff refused to explain how it worked. The Elves could get to any A-C facility or vehicle. I’d played around with the soft drink selections while thirty thousand feet in the air—never failed to work.
    So I was only mildly surprised to see I had a nursing bra and nursing top, as well as leggings for my new mother wear. At least the Elves didn’t want me in a slim skirt, for which I was very grateful.
    Took the fastest and most boring shower with Jeff ever in our experience. But it wasn’t like we were going to get remotely amorous with Tito and Camilla waiting on the other side of the door.
    Well, we got a little amorous, since Jeff got into the shower with me and soaped me up, washed my hair, and did the full body rinse. He was careful not to do anything that would start me howling, but it was still nice, and I felt a lot better afterward.
    “You know, I feel pretty good.” He was toweling me off while I combed my hair out. “I’m sure I still look hippoish, but I feel a lot better.”
    “You never looked like a hippo. And you look wonderful, as always.” He finished drying me and then toweled himself off. I tried not to look and drool. Failed. He grinned and kissed me, and just like every kiss of his, it was great and made me forget everything else.
    I heard the baby start crying the moment we pulled away from each other. “I hope she’s not doing that because we were kissing.”
    “She’s a baby, I’m sure she just wants her mommy’s breasts. I want her mommy’s breasts, so I can’t argue.”
    I nuzzled Jeff’s chest. “Hurry up and put your pants on. My Mommy-Alert is screaming and I can’t stay in here much longer.” He grinned and did as requested. “You can just wear your pants, that’s okay with me.” I raced out.
    Jamie was in full-on baby-shriek. Camilla handed her to me. “I think she’s hungry.”
    “She never stops eating.” I kissed her and made the comforting goo-goo noises. Seemed to help.
    “Need to make sure she’s getting milk then,” Tito said briskly.
    “The torpedoes inflate, she eats, they deflate.” I didn’t want to sit on the bed, but there weren’t any loungers in here, which was weird because they were in every living quarter. “No lounger?”
    “I’ll bring you one, baby.” Jeff kissed me and hypersped out of the room. Sadly, he had his shirt on. Came back in moments carrying a nice lounger. Happily, his shirt wasn’t buttoned. A-Cs were strong, and Jeff, in particular, was able to do the massive heavy lifting and not have it seem like anything.
    Got settled into the lounger, leaned it back, started the feeding process. Camilla and Tito both watched. Back to starring in my own reality TV show. Changed sides, Jeff burped her, diaper check, baby gurgled and went back to sleep.
    “How long before it stops being this easy?”
    “Couple of weeks, tops.” Tito took her from me and weighed her. “Good. She’s up an ounce or so. Kind of early to weigh, but I want to be sure. She could just be a big eater. Are your nipples bruised?”
    “I beg your pardon?” I was shocked by the question, but the look on Jeff’s face was priceless.
    “You’re fair skinned. More of a risk for bruising. Let me know if it starts to hurt, there are things we can do.”
    “Oh, good. So, basically, every guy I work with’s seen my crotch, and you’re going to ask me about my boobs all the time now?”
    Tito grinned again. “Yep.”
    “The little joys of motherhood are without number.”

 
    CHAPTER 25
     
    T HE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS were a blur of new parenthood, investigations, and doctor checks. We still had no bassinet, mostly because everyone was still restricted to the Science Center, Martini Manor, or one of the other A-C Bases.
    Jeff and I were still adjusting to the demands of taking care of someone other than ourselves. It was pretty awesome, especially since Jamie was an amazingly good baby, at least if I took the comments from everyone who had kids of their own as proof. I had no arguments, of course. So far, while I was still tired and felt pretty unprepared for everything, all had gone smoothly.
    We’d had a steady stream of visitors. My entire family had made the pilgrimage to my hospital room. Thankfully,