"Didn't you know the war was almost won? Why I saw it announced by opposition secretariat Manson on the holovis just the other day when he was talking...about budgetary cuts on the bloated military overspend." Won? For fuck's sake, we don't even know where the hell the Hornath homeworld is!" thundered Axel. "Ten years of war, over 1 million dead in the fleet alone, 3 million civilians on Alphacent, 7 million on Corado, half a billion on New Eden before we even knew where one of their planets. Theatmosphere was further helped by the nice television and the largebathtub. It gave the room a bit more of a feel of being at home ratherthan in the hospital. Of course, whenever one of my contractionswracked my body that warm and cozy feeling was gone.Finally dressed, I settled myself in for what was ahead. There would beno drugs; no epidural. Labor would progress naturally. I would feelall the pain that comes with natural labor. I would be completelyreliant upon everything I learned. "He was deputy manager of the agency, that means he's in charge now." ...And he couldn't have picked a worse time to take over," Jamie mumbled."Which is-" Charlotte began, before being interrupted by her BFF."Which is why we need to be united, to support him," Jamie said. "Iknow, I know... I promise, next time I see Steph, I keep my mouth shut,okay?" I'll hold you to that," Charlotte said, earning a snort of laughterfrom the two women as they approached their vast home.----------Immediately. I always treated her like a daughter, or a sister, being kind, and gentle. I liked that her and I had forged that sort of relationship through her crushing on me, and me letting her down easy, all while hiding my lust for her. It sucked, and I wished I could act how I really felt, but it's what was appropriate. (And what kept me out of jail.) We moved to the couch to sit down and began talking about her life, school, boys, things of that nature. After a few moments I noticed that her night.