That never happened with the few guys I dated.”“Yes, but you weren’t planning to marry one of them in less than a year,” I replied. “I get t...e feeling he doesn’t think I’m good enough for you. Your biological dad, on the other hand, is making me feel like part of the family.”“True. But neither my step-dad nor my mom said anything negative to me.”“Well, it’s not them I’m interested in marrying, so unless their opinion matters to you, it doesn’t particularly matter to me.”“It does, but not enough. "Here, look at this video," he said. "We got it two days ago."He flipped open his palmtop, 1024 gigabytes of memory that fit into a piece of electronics the size of a pack of playing cards. I'd owned two of them, and gave them up after the insurance company refused to pay for the second one, the one I'd dropped into the fishtank. A laptop was fine for me.With the press of a few keys, Drew produced a holographic film of a girl jogging in a park."Cute," I said. "Nice legs." Recognize her?" he. . for the two of us?”Nancy had heard all of this and was smiling like nobody’s business.We had a three-way pinkie swear, followed by hugs all around.The day ended too soon, and the girls left.“I saw the kiss between you and Nancy, little bro,” Karl said. “Hillary can’t go on a date with me alone, would Nancy and you like to double-date with us?”“If mom and dad approve, it’s ok with me. Are you talking about going to a movie?”Everyone got the Parents approval, so next was which movie?I was a big. They could use a man with a sharp blade riding with them."Indigo laughed. "We are truly kindred spirits, my friend. I have already heard of their journey and asked to accompany them."Noticing a shiny new sword on Indigo's hip, he said, "Speaking of sharp blades..."Indigo muttered something in his own language and slapped his forehead. "I had nearly forgotten. It is a gift from Pompeil. Come, my friend. You need a blade to replace what you have lost. He asked me to find you and bring you to his.