Rollback

After all too brief a time, he felt her pulling away. She looked at him, her eyes flicking back and forth, staring first at his left eye, then his right. "What are you doing here?"

"I— I hope you don’t mind."

"Mind?" she said.

"I didn’t know whether you’d be happy to see me."

"Of course I’m happy! Are you taking a vacation down here?"

He shook his head. "I came just to see you."

She looked thunderstruck. "My… God. You should have called."

"I know. I’m sorry."

"No, no. Don’t be sorry, but…" She paused. "All this way just to see me?"

He nodded.

"My God," she said again. But then she tilted her chin down a bit. "I was so sorry to hear about Sarah. When was that? Four or five months ago?"

"Over a year," said Don, simply.

"I’m so sorry," she said. "I— I’m just so sorry."

"Me, too."

"And now," she said, a shift in her tone indicating that the enormity of the situation had struck her, "you’re here."

"Yes." He didn’t know how to ask his next question politely, or how to segue to it elegantly, so he just blurted it out. "Are you seeing anyone?"

She looked at him a moment longer, and it was clear that she understood the import of the question, and also understood that she’d been offered an out: she could simply respond in the affirmative and not have to deal further with him. "No," she said, firmly if squeakily. "No one."

He felt air rushing out of him, and he pulled her close again. "Thank God," he said.

He hesitated for a second, then gently tilted her face up, and kissed her — and, to his delight, she kissed him back.

Suddenly there was a loud sound, and another, and another. He turned his head and looked up, and—

And there, standing at the top of the stairs, were a handful of students, waiting to come into the room, and one of them had started to applaud, a big grin on his face.

The others joined him, and Don felt an even bigger grin splitting his own features, and he looked at Lenore, whose skin had turned bright red.

"If you’ll excuse us," Don said, and he took Lenore’s hand, and the two of them began walking up the stairs, and the students started coming down, passing them, and one of them slapped Don on the shoulder as he went by.

Lenore and Don headed out into the warm midday air, which was a wonderful contrast to the Canadian winter he’d left behind. There was so much he wanted to tell her, and yet he found it impossible to begin. At last, though, he said, "I like your hair that way."

"Thanks," said Lenore, still holding his hand. They were walking along the banks of the little river, which Lenore said was called the Avon; it made a pleasing background sound. On the opposite side of it were campus buildings and a car park.

The pathway was paved, and there were trees of types Don couldn’t name on its margin. Lenore nodded occasionally to passing students or faculty members.

"So, what are you doing now?" she asked. A couple of birds with black bodies, long curving bills, and orange cheek patches hopped out of their way. "Have — have you found a job?" She said it gently, knowing that the issue was a delicate one.

Don stopped walking, and Lenore stopped, too. He let go of her hand and looked into her eyes. "I want to tell you something," he said, "but I need you to promise to keep it a secret."

"Of course," she said.

He nodded. He trusted her completely. "Sarah decrypted the message."

Lenore’s eyes narrowed. "That can’t be," she said. "I’d have heard…"

"It was private message."

She looked at him, brow knitted.

"I’m serious," he said. "It was private, for the person whose survey answers the Dracons found most to their liking."

"And that was Sarah?"

"That was my Sarah, yes."

"So what did the message say?"

Two students were ru

"My… God. Are you serious?"

"Absolutely. Cody McGavin is involved in the project. And so am I. I’m going to be the…" He paused, even now still somewhat amazed at the notion. "…the foster father. But I’ll need help raising the Dracon children."

She looked at him blankly.

"And, well, I want you back in my life. I want you in the children’s lives."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

She looked stu

Don’s heart was pounding. "Yes?"

She smiled that radiant smile of hers. "And I have missed you so. But… but this stuff about raising — my God, the very idea! — about raising Dracon children. I — I’m hardly qualified for that."

"No one is. But you’re a SETI researcher; that’s as good a background as any to start with."

"But I’m years away from finishing my Ph.D."

"Have you picked a thesis topic?" he said. "’Cause I’ve got a doozy…"

She looked stu

Presumably you’re pla

"Don’t worry about that. When we go public with this — and we will, just as soon as the children are born — every university on the planet will want a piece of it. I’m sure arrangements can easily be made with the administration here so that your degree won’t be jeopardized."

"I don’t know what to say. I mean, this is — it’s almost too much to take in."

"Tell me about it," said Don.

"Dracon children," she said again, shaking her head. "It would be an amazing experience, but there are tenured profs who—"

"This isn’t about credentials; it’s about character. The aliens didn’t ask the survey respondents to rank themselves socioeconomically or to indicate how much education they had. They asked about their morals, their ethics."

"But I never took the survey," she said.

"No, but I did. And I’m a pretty darn good judge of character myself. So what do you say?"

"I’m— overwhelmed."

"And intrigued?"

"God, yes. But talk about bringing baggage into a relationship! You’ve got kids, grandkids — and you’re going to have… um…"

"Sarah called them ‘Draclings.’ "

"Awww! So cute! Still, kids, grandkids, and Draclings…"

"And the robot — don’t forget I’ve got a robot."

She shook her head, but was smiling as she did so. "What a family!"

He smiled back at her. "Hey, this is the Fifties. Get with the times."

She nodded. "Oh, I’m sure it’ll be great. But it’s not — you know — not complete. The family, I mean. I’ll want to have a child or two of my own."

"Oooh! More presents on Father’s Day!"

"If you’re the father…" She looked at him. "Is that… is that something you’re interested in doing?"

"I think so, yes. If the right woman comes along…"

She whapped him on the arm.

"Seriously," he said, "I’d be thrilled. Besides, the Draclings will need playmates."

She smiled, but then her eyes went wide. "But our kids will be — my God, they’ll be younger than your grandkids…" She shook her head. "I don’t think I’ll ever get used to all this."

Don took her hand. "Of course you will, darling. Just give it time."