Feathery breaths escaped parted lips; dewy and rich, capable of broad, curlicue smirks. He wore a snowy shirt in bed, three buttons left unfastened at...the hem. One of the tails had fallen aside and the other bunched shyly above the waistband of his trousers. With eager fingertips, Veronica lifted the shirt then smoothed down creamy bare skin; skating along his washboard belly to reach the closures of his slacks. The waistband of his white shorts was just high enough to glow softly above his. “He is also the one who brought Polly such ecstasy on her maiden, er, voyage, shall we say. And he has been very good to me as well.” Cali blushed slightly at what she had just told her grandmother, then slowly, she turned to me.“Michael, this is our grandmother, Thesan. Goddess of the Dawn and Mother of All Creation. The sword and rings you bear once belonged to her sons,” Cali explained reverently. It was obvious she held this Grand Dame, her grandmother, in deep veneration.“Let’s leave that. The last time I saw Arnold and his family was at an ice skating exhibition featuring his adopted daughter Joanie and three hundred other kids. I had to give her credit. She didn't fall even once. However, at the speed she skated, I could have polished off a fat novel in the time it took her and her teammates to enter the rink, perform their number and skate to the exit.Anyway, Annette's mother and Arnold's mother-in-law, no relation to us, passed away but curiously included Arnold's sister, my. ... Cosmos watched in horror as one timeline began to ripple. She looked along it, tracing it to the source. There!A massive hole in the timeline. She knew this place. It was the great city of Midgar! Time wouldn't flow correctly without it! Then she felt more ripples begin, in various worlds. She looked to see what was causing them and each time she missed the event and found only a hole. But then she saw it. Rising into the sky was the Tower of Babel from a separate world. Red tendrils of.