The mothers in the room whispered their own stories out of earshot of the queen, but over nine months, she had already heard them. It was well past su...set when things proceeded.When the baby was finally delivered, the sore and exhausted queen looked down and saw the pale infant. Jason, she thought, and other eyes in the room did the same calculation.A wail emerged from the tiny bundle as the physician presented it to the new mother, smiling to reassure her that the crying was a good sign.. As she gazed out to sea, thinking of wasting away, Emma found herself contemplating her evening meal and thought of the selection of 'meals for one' currently residing in her freezer. 'Meals for people who eat alone' Emma termed them. She wanted to host dinner parties for people like herself, not sit in front of the TV with some aeroplane food in its own little plastic bowl. But friends were scarce, most of them left behind when they'd moved from their hometown a few years back for the sake of. Bill was standing there, his nearly white hair sticking out wildly as ifhe'd forgotten to comb it in several days. His goatee might have madehim look kind of distinguished and scholarly, if it had been neatlytrimmed. Instead he just looked like a mess, which wasn't at allsurprising or unusual. He was even dressed in a jogging suit, with adirty white lab coat on over it."Hello Ted," Bill greeted Dad with a grin. "Mary," he nodded at Mom."And how are you kids doing?" Hi Bill," Katie said. ‘Oooh you look as if you’re on a school swimming picnic.’ she said. He raised his goggles, flashed very white teeth and said, ‘At your service miss. I’m Lieutenant Alex Watson.’ ‘God why did they sent over brass?’ ‘Because the Navy owes a big debt of gratitude for the illustrious service your father gave representing the senior service during his 35 years of enlistment. Our Lieutenant Commander is determined there will be no fuck up in you riding out this bit of a blow out and said I was the.