I don't want you pulled into the muck that will be sure to follow. Once everything was said and done then I would be free to ask you to be my wife, my...lover, the mother of many urchins." Alex stood with his back stiff his heart in his throat waiting for Laurel to speak."Zinmer and I will always be there for you if you need to escape the muck, Alex, and if things become too difficult you can always borrow one of my forks. I would be lying if I said I wasn't hurt, angry, shocked but most of all. Jessica flushed slightly and said, “Sorry, I didn't see you standing there.”“I hope I didn't startle you too much,” said the older woman. “You may call me Ms. Veronica. I wasn't sure if you were one of my girls until I got up close, but I see that you are.”Jessica stuttered, “I... I... I don't know what you mean.”Veronica moved close to the teen, put fingers on the girl's chin and replied, “You know. You may not be ready to admit it yet, but you certainly know.” She leaned slightly forward. I realize that you do, but you six might want to think about how you might keep from looking like an incredibly lucky man and his seraglio.”Dad stared at her for a few seconds, gazed around at all of us, and, while turning back to Mom, shook his head.“That might be difficult, as I’m still in amazement about this situation. Fortunately, as we’ve learned, some of our daughters are quite good actresses. Hopefully, they can ameliorate that appearance for me.”We piled into the Trooper, the two wee. Diana tucked her hand under his arm.Penny did the same with Michael, and the two couples walked arm-in-arm to the Nexus Room in the Headquarters Building.When the Deschenes party arrived, the Nexus Room held, besides the duty corporal and a private learning the ropes, Batch and one of his two concubines, two other red-coated figures who Danny recognized as having commanded the Primary Defence Line and the Shackleton Defence Line, the two cadets' fathers plus a single concubine escort apiece,.