"Yeah," from Whitney.Nicki hesitated, then leaning forward, "Uh, can we call you Meemi, like Arlene and the other girls do?" Sure," Susan said without...hesitation. "I think that would be fine." Ask her," Nat said.Nicki looked embarrassed. "Uh, that didn't come out just the way I wanted it to. I didn't say all of it. Uh, you know we're orphans. We've never known our mother or father. A lot of the other kids there are the same way. There are some, though, who knew their parents, and the kids wound. Ever since he could remember he was always one of, if not the shortest, person in his class or where ever he worked. It seemed that girls looked upon him as a companion, a friend, not someone they wanted as a lover. That was the reason Paul buried himself into the world of computers, they didn’t care about his size. Being a semi regular, Paul had gotten to know Dave the bartender pretty well. When things were slow, Dave would park himself across from Paul and they would talk sports and current. He took a half step, limping and favouring the leg that Chris had kicked. He lined up the big right hander again, and by reflex Chris looked away just before he got hit again in the head, his ineffectual attempt at a block brushed aside. Then Jerry used both hands and pushed him as hard as he could into the wall. Chris's head hit the wall side-on, and everything went black."Chris!"Vaguely he heard a voice calling his name. Why?"I think he's unconscious!" Nearly, I think. Chris!"A face appeared. " And you won't die before one hundred," Diana added."Do it, Baby," her mother encouraged."But I feel fine," Charlotte protested even as she stretched out and pulled her blouse out of her pants enough to expose her flat belly. "Nighty-night," Arlene said with a grin as she put Little One on Charlotte's stomach. A glow began under the alien and a blue beam reached out for the young woman's forehead. A smile touched her face and her breathing deepened in sleep.A Hummer worked its way up the.