"Shit, I'm sorry. Do you mind if I ask where her mother is?" Not at all. She died seven years ago giving birth to Jessica. That'swhy I don't like leav...ng her for very long. She's like a living pieceof her mother." A tear started in his eye."I am so sorry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." I do. It's about time I did. But that's what Sue was talking about,they're her mother's parents by the way. Because I don't like leavingher, I don't get out much," he went on. "It's not. " Mary, I think you can." She comes up to me, wraps her arms around me and kisses me softly. I respond by kissing her back, and the kiss deepens."Ashley, I want you so much, but I feel grubby. I haven't showered in a few days." No problem, Mary, get undressed and I'll help you take a bath."When I get to the bathroom, she's already there, drawing a nice hot bubble bath, naked. I stand and gaze at her stunning body. She returns my gaze and smiles. "Like what you see?" Wow, do I!" Well, so do I.. ''We passed between 3 and 1 and were below all of them and heading away at a high rate of speed. Jay entered some commands and everybody was surprised when we flipped over.Jay: 'Merlin. Max black hole, NOW.'The Bug flotilla was still large enough to see without the computer display but it was moving away from us – rather, we were moving away from it. We could sense the little pinnace shudder to stop and accelerate back toward the cluster of Bug ships. Before we started going toward them again,. "Actually my mate and I did, many, many of your centuries ago, not too long before I conceived my first child. He was much like you Alan though not as powerful, but he had a few tricks that allowed him to get by on what he had. Not long after I conceived Glimix he left on a mission to free a world a lot like the Tribocs, the people there were even more untrusting of him. He'd just started to heal them when he was betrayed, the fact that he had helped a good many saved his life but he was.