All part of the tradition.Office time dragged on again. Mike's daughter was displeased with having been called a slut, something he denied having said... It was a classy move on his ex-wife's part, passing that little slip back to the kid. A sobbing phone call'd turned into surrender, and he'd agreed to pay her rent with money he didn't actually have. Meanwhile, he thought, his ex and her boyfriend were living in sin off his alimony. For a man's world, he thought, this one sure sides with th the. Did you swallow on an empty stomach?" Maybe?" Digested the little fuckers. That happens. Can't count on it, though.All it takes is one fertile egg or one fruiting colony. Bam. Arsepreggers."*********It was sleeting outside, with gale-force winds. Chastity stamped herfeet on the Thank You mat in the mud room of Lao Fan Hospice. She saidhi to Nurse Debbie and got two coffees from the Debbie at the DebbieDoes Sausage cart. She pulled the sock off her pony tail and fished abottle of milk out of her. "Why would humans wish to climb so high just to sleep?" Kestra askedherself with amusement, then grinned as she remembered that her own homewas near the top of a mountain. Then again, that was entirely different."Such strange creatures."Just as Kestra had started down the hall, towards the inviting room atthe other end, a door opened up off to the side, revealing a room thatwasn't much larger than a closet. And with that a woman stepped out ofthe strange small room... only moments before the. That is partly why I didn't. They think... I think they think... hell, I don't know for sure what they think. We'll work it out, eventually."I left her, headed back into our bedroom and dug around in my duffle bag. I found my tennis shoes and put them on, tossing the temporary pair into the hot tub.I stashed my duffle in the big walk-in closet and went downstairs to the dining room. I heard muffled voices and the banging of pots coming from the kitchen. I sat down at the table and began.