Chapter 38

Cormac and Iluq had their paws full dealing with five little ones at once. It was a little better once they got their own house built not far from his mom and dad's, and Holly was a big help being nanny and helping with the chores. Little Robbie, Cormac and Iluq's human child, seemed to be growing and developing nearly as fast as his G.E.L.F. siblings, Padraig, Aileen, and Maura. The pediatricians were keeping a close watch on Robbie in particular, looking for any potential abnormalities. Other than his accelerated growth and development, heightened senses, and telepathic ability, he seemed to be a normal human in all other aspects. At first, the kids stayed in their parent's room, but once they got older, they began staying in their own room, furnished with two sets of bunk beds, and a small, single bed for (wolf). In their own bedroom, Cormac and Iluq slept on a standard queen sized bed, with a carpeted ramp on one side to make it easier for Iluq to get in and out of bed.

Sierra spent much of what free time she had at her brother's house, helping with what she could, and working on homework with Cormac. Sierra and her brother had begun working on their Master's degree in Computer Engineering--Cormac focused on artificial intelligence, and Sierra continued her father's studies in quantum computing. The twin's goal is to attempt to build the first stable quantum CPU core capable of "fuzzy logic" and heuristic learning. It was during their first year of the two-year Master's program that Sierra met an undergrad wolf G.E.L.F. student by the name of Dakota, after her brother introduced to him to her. Dakota had recently moved to Fairbanks, and was pursuing his degree in Robotics--Cormac had been helping one of the professors rewrite a robot's operating system, when they met. Sierra didn't have time for much of a social life, between classes, homework, working at the shop, and helping her twin with his kids.

"Hey, bro, are ya tryin' to set me up with this guy, or what?" Sierra asked privately, giving her twin a shrewd look after meeting Dakota during a break between classes.

"You've been whining about how you wish that you could meet somebody who wouldn't have a problem with you being a G.E.L.F., so...waa. If you like him, fine, if not, fine...you can't say I didn't try, Si."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, and you did...and I appreciate it, Mackie. He does look kinda cute, though."

"Heh, it took a bit for me to talk Dakota into meeting you. I told him that you're a 'hot babe' and I think he was kinda leery...but when he saw you, I thought his eyes were going to pop out."

"You told him what_?_" Sierra asked, dropping her jaw a little.

"You heard me, Si..."

"Yeah, and you actually said that to him?"

"Sure."

"Why?"

"Because you are."

"Mackie!" Sierra exclaimed, giving her twin a light smack on the arm in exasperation.

"Well, you are_, sis_."

"Bite me."

"Heh, I thought that only worked on Vi..."

Sierra looked at her twin brother with a blank look for a moment, before realizing that he was teasing her.

"Mackie, I'm gonna..."

"Hey, I feel like grabbing a soft taco on the way home tonight...wanna burrito or something?" Cormac butted it, being half-serious and half-teasing.

"Mackie, that's...that's...ooo!"

Cormac snickered--while his sense of humor wasn't _quite_as twisted as his twin sister's, he was still able to give almost as good as he got.

"Oops, gotta run, sis...I've gotta get to the Robotics Lab. We're gonna boot up one of the industrial 'bots with the OS[1]I helped the prof rewrite with the new heuristics algorithms. We got the thing connected to a virtual machine on the mainframe so that we'll have enough processor power. Catcha later, Si!" On down the hallway he sent, "If I see Dakota, want me to tell him you'll go out with him?"

"Mackie! You better not, tail-for-brains!"

"But Si, you did say you thought he was 'kinda cute'...c'mon, ya gotta get out once in a while. Do I need to drag you by your tail just to get your nose out of a book for a couple of hours? We can make it a double--I'll get Holly or Chrysie to watch the kids for a little while Saturday, and we can go out to eat."

"Mackie, most places won't let Iluq in, ya bone-head! You know that!"

"Yeah, but there's a couple of places that will--I checked. C'mon, think about it, eh?"

"I'm gonna regret this..."

"Ooo, there he is."

"Mackie..._YOU _are gonna owe me BIG TIME for this if it goes bad..."

"Aw, c'mon, Si...like dad says, you'll never know if you don't give it a try."

"Oh, alright! Ask him...tell me after class what he says."

"Okay...later!"

After his last morning class, Cormac headed off to the cafeteria to meet his sister and grab a bite to eat. While standing in line waiting to pay for his food, Cormac saw his half-brother Fionn walk in and he wasn't alone. He couldn't tell much at first look about the human woman who accompanied Fionn because of the heavy coat and hat she was wearing. Cormac got Fionn's attention mentally to let him know that he was there.

"Hey, dude, I'm over here by the cashier. Wanna join us? Si's already got a table over by the windows."

"Hey Mackie, yeah, we'll be over there in a bit," Fionn sent back.

"Cool. Hey, who's that with you?"

"Oh, um, she's...somebody you know."

"C'mon, Fionn, I know a lot of people. Who is it?" Cormac asked, wondering why his half-brother was reluctant to tell him the woman's name.

"It's Annie."

"Annie...Annie Snyder_, from high school?_" Cormac asked, surprised to learn she was on campus.

"Yeah, she saw me as I was walking over here, and...she...started asking about you. I told her that I was on my way to lunch, so she tagged along. Is it going to be a problem?" Fionn asked with concern.

"I dunno, I hope not. I haven't seen her for a couple of years, so she probably doesn't know I've got a family of my own now," Cormac replied while paying the cashier for his meal. "Have you said anything to her about it?"

"Nope, not a word. Oh, she's got momma's Gift now...thought you should know."

"Okay, thanks bro'. Hmm, I wonder when she decided to get that."

"About six months ago, she said. Oh, she just saw you...better wave 'hi' to her," Fionn sent.

Cormac let out a little sigh and then smiled half-heartedly while he waved back at Annie. She became excited and waved faster, and then she mentally shouted his name.

"Cormac!"

Several people in the cafeteria all looked in her direction--she had unwittingly broadcasted it openly instead of attempting to do so privately.

"Annie, everyone in range with momma's Gift just heard you yell his name," Fionn sent gently to her, pointing out what she had done. "You don't need to yell, he can hear you just fine, and try not to send to everyone, okay?"

Annie suddenly became embarrassed and tried to make herself look small, hiding a little behind Fionn.

"Sorry," she said meekly, "I...I guess I still don't have the hang of this yet."

"You will, Annie, just try to stick to normal conversational levels, okay?" Fionn said trying to reassure her with a little gently humor.

Eventually they got their meals and joined Cormac and Sierra at their table by the windows, who were sitting across from one another next to the window. Annie slipped in beside Cormac before Fionn had a chance to sit.

"Hey, mind if I sit next to you?" Annie asked as she took the seat before Fionn could.

Sierra paused slightly before taking her next bite of food, shifting her eyes from Cormac to Fionn and back as Annie started to unfasten her coat.

"Um, I guess...sure," Cormac replied. "I didn't know you were going to college here."

Annie pulled off the green colored watch cap she was wearing and her bright red hair, now much shorter than it was back in high school, fell down to just above her shoulders.

"Oh, I'm not...I stopped to see a few people I know, and when I saw your brother, I thought I'd say hi and see how you were doing," Annie said.

"Oh. Er, what happened to your hair...I thought it was a lot longer."

"Yeah, Annie, it used to be down to the middle of your back," Sierra chimed in between bites.

"Yeah, well...," she started to say as she began removing her coat, "...I kinda had to."

Cormac, Sierra, and Fionn were all stunned to see the Army uniform she was wearing. Seeing the looks on their faces, Annie said, "I joined up right after high school, in case you're wondering. My unit's been with the NATO and EU forces over in Poland for the past six months, and we just got back yesterday, so I'm taking a couple of week's leave."

"Poland? But, isn't that were the...," Sierra started to say.

"Yep, it's pretty hot over there right now," Annie butted in. "We saw plenty of action, too--hey, did you know the Poles already have G.E.L.F.s in their military? I think Europe is ahead of everyone else in allowing G.E.L.F.s to join up if they want. Anyway, we got to work with some, and that was cool."

"Wait, you were in the combat zone?" Sierra asked with surprise.

Annie chomped into her food, and when she could she said, "Well, yeah...I'm a Combat Medic, see?" Annie pointed to the badge on her uniform. "So, what have you guys been doing since high school?"

"Well, Sierra and I are working on our Masters degree in Computer Engineering...," Cormac started to say.

"Yeah, and Mackie's a daddy now, and he's moved out into his own place," Sierra added.

That caused Cormac to pull his ears back and Fionn to wince slightly.

"Gee thanks, sis...you just had to blurt that out without giving me a chance," Cormac sent a little sarcastically.

"You're a what?!" Annie asked in shock, looking wide-eyed at Cormac.

"Yeah...I've got a family of my own now," Cormac replied quietly.

"The Mistress of Tact strikes again," Fionn sent to his half-sister, giving her a bit of elbow to the side.

"Hey, she might as well know up front--Mackie made it clear back in high school that he wasn't that interested in her, and he's got a mate now," Sierra countered.

"Yeah, and your point is...?" Fionn asked.

"I don't think Iluq would like another female trying to muscle in on their relationship."

"You might want to be careful where you're going with that, Si, especially since our dad has three mates," Fionn cautioned.

"So...is it a boy or a girl?" Annie tried to ask as nonchalantly as she could, after she put down her initial shock.

"Yes," Cormac replied.

"Yes, what?"

"Er, we have three boys and two girls," Cormac replied.

"Say what? You had quintuplets?" Annie asked in disbelief.

"Um, not exactly."

"What do you mean, 'not exactly'?"

"One of the girls is a wolf cub, one of the boys is a human, and the other three are wolf G.E.L.F.s like Mackie and I," Sierra said with a little grin.

Annie looked from Cormac to Sierra and back to Cormac again.

"So, uh, who's the lucky gal?" Annie asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"Her name's Iluq," Cormac replied.

"You knocked up a native gal?" Annie asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Iluq is...," Sierra started to blurt out, but Fionn cut her off by saying, "One of us" as he simultaneously--and forcefully--told Sierra mentally to shush. To emphasize, he dug his claws into his half-sister's leg.

"Ow! What'd you do that for, tail for brains?" Sierra sent back sharply.

"Because you're about as subtle as a grenade in a ten gallon fish tank!" Fionn replied with heavy sarcasm.

"Iluq and I accepted each other as mates, and now we have a family together," Cormac said in a quiet, matter-of-fact manner to Annie.

"So, um...you got any pictures?" Annie asked.

"Yeah, just a sec...," Cormac replied, pulling out his smart phone.

He opened up the photo folder on his phone and showed her a family photo.

"When was this taken?"

"A couple of weeks ago. I'm holding (wolf), and that's Padraig, Aileen, Maura, and Robbie," Cormac replied, naming off his children in the photo.

"I guess your gal must have taken the picture."

"Actually, mom took it."

"Oh. That's a really big dog you've got, what kind is it?"

Cormac took his phone back, closed out the picture, and put it away without saying a word. He looked at his tray a moment and then said, "I've got to get to my next class." He promptly stood up, grabbed his things, and walked quickly away without saying another word. Annie had a confused look on her face, and then Sierra got up to leave, too.

"And you called me the 'Mistress of Tact'," she said aloud to Fionn with a snort.

"What's going on?" Annie asked, but Sierra left, following her twin without saying another word.

Fionn closed his eyes a moment and let out a little sigh.

"You just called Cormac's mate a 'dog'," Fionn sent privately.

"Huh?"

Fionn pulled his own phone out and pulled up a copy of the picture Cormac had shown her.

"The one you wanted to know what kind of 'dog' it is...that's Iluq, his mate," Fionn sent, showing Annie the photo. "She's a part-human wolf, just like my mom." Fionn swiped his finger across the screen to display another photo, and showed it to Annie. "Here's one of the whole family..."

Fionn proceeded to point out each person in the group photo and give his or her relationship.

"Sierra, Mackie, Chrysie, Vi, Kenny, me, and Aurora...we all have the same dad; that's him in the middle in the back. That's Auntie Lu, Sierra and Mackie's mom; Aunt Rosie, she's Chrysie, Vi, and Kenny's mom; that's Kapik, our mom; that's mom's brother Amaguq and his mate, Sakari, and their two kids--Ikiaq and Miksa; that's my mom's younger brother, Mumik; and the one next to Mackie is mom's younger sister, Iluq...Mackie's mate. The picture dad is holding is of our grandparents, Atka and Sesi--they died a little over ten years ago. Oh, and Aunt Sakari, she's a wild wolf, but my grandparents were part of the G.E.L.F. Project, and that's how they ended up being part human."

"Oh...my...God, when you said Cormac's wife was one of you, I thought...," Annie said with her eyes getting wider.

"Mate...they're not married, well, at least not yet. You thought that she looked more like Sierra or Auntie Lu does. Well, I suppose it's understandable that a human might think that. Ikiaq looks a lot like a four-footed wolf, but he can walk upright when he wants to. Miksa is like her mom, but she can actually talk as well as send. I guess it's a matter of who ended up with what abilities," Fionn explained patiently.

"Oh...crap! Now I've got you guys all pissed off at me because of my big mouth! I just bombed the 'sensitivity' training I went through...!"

Annie became more upset with herself the longer she sat there, until she felt that she had to leave.

"I-I'm sorry, Fionn...I...I should be going. Some frakkin' medic_I_ turned out to be!" She stood up and looked out the window and said, "I've seen so much blood, pain, and suffering in the past six months.... I've held guys who were dying, pulled people out of the rubble of a building that had been bombed, picked up body parts, treated wounds you can't imagine, I've been shot at, hit by shrapnel, and...." She hung her head for a few seconds before continuing, "...And I just wanted to look him up and see if...if...well, I guess I've blown that haven't I? Tell Cormac that I'm sorry, and I won't ever bother him again."

Annie quickly put her parka and hat on, and grabbed her tray to leave, but she felt a hand gently restraining her arm.

"C_ome by dad's shop around four-thirty._"

She felt a hand slip something into her coat pocket.

"Remember, four-thirty, today...dad's shop."

Annie nodded her head and then headed out of the cafeteria, dropping her tray off by the door on the way out. Fionn looked out the window and watched her walk towards the visitor's parking area.

Adjusting his thoughts, Fionn searched for, found, and reached out to his sister Aurora.

"Hey, sis..."

Annie left the university and went down to the Chena River, which is just a short distance away to the south. She parked her car at the end of Fairbanks Street and got out, despite the cold mid-October air, and sat where she could watch the river. It had not yet frozen completely over for the long winter, though it would be by December. Plucking a dead weed, she fiddled with it while thinking about how things were turning out. Annie had really looked forward to coming home on leave and surprising Cormac, and see if he might want to go out with her. It had been a couple of years at least since she was into all of the steampunk stuff that she and her friends at the time were involved in. After joining the Army and going through boot camp, Annie began to change. She worked hard to make it through Medical Corps training, and ended up in an Air Cavalry unit that was bound for Europe. A group of militant extremists had been growing in power and had operations in France, Chechnya, Moldova , Bosnia, and other locations. Their followers had grown to "critical mass" and were openly attacking in force. Poland, who had recently joined NATO[2], had become the latest target. The fighting, while sporadic, was brutal, but the Poles were determined to crush the militants and drive them out. Annie's unit had deployed to Germany where they received further training prior to entering Poland at the behest of the Polish government. The fact that Poland was now part of NATO, irked Russia, though they themselves had also been attacked by the sizable militant extremist group and their allies. Annie had seen plenty of action by the time her unit rotated back to CONUS[3], and she desperately wanted--needed--to "decompress" after her recent experiences. Back in high school, Annie and Cormac had gone out one time, but it since it was at a time when she was deeply into the steampunk genre--and Cormac of course wasn't--the date was such a flop that they never went out again. Annie really liked Cormac, though, and she felt hurt that he never asked her out again after that, though deep down she knew the reason why at least according to his half-sister Chrys Ann who was her friend. Chrysie hadn't told Annie about Iluq, mostly due to having learned her lesson from the big blow up over the incident at home after Annie had let it be known that she wanted to go to the Homecoming Dance with Cormac. After high school, Annie didn't tell any of her friends that she had joined the military, though they eventually found out from one of her relatives. Now that she was home for a couple of weeks, she was hoping that maybe Cormac would at least go out to dinner with her.

"I guess I lost my chance with him back in high school," Annie thought aloud to herself, "and to add insult to injury, I called his mate or whatever a dog--he's never going to want to speak to me again after_that_. I just had to honk off the one guy I really _do_like...oh well, he's got a family now, so I guess that's that," and she tossed the weed she had been idly fiddling with.

She watched the river a little while longer, but then decided that she was getting too cold just sitting there at the end of the street.

After Annie got back into her car and started it up, she thought, "I wonder why Fionn wanted me to come over to his dad's shop."

Reaching into her coat pocket, Annie felt something and pulled it out--it was a coupon card good for one free beverage and sandwich from the coffee shop portion of the family business, for those with a current military ID card, VA card, or DD-214.[4]

"Fionn, you're way too young for me, guy, so what are you up to?"

She looked at her watch--it read 13:41, or 1:41 p.m. in the afternoon.

"Looks like I've got a few hours to kill...guess I'll go wander around the mall or something for a while."

"Mackie, wait up."

Cormac stopped in front of the door just outside the cafeteria and waited for Sierra to catch up with him.

The twins walked together in silence a bit on their way to the Engineering Lab.

About halfway there, Sierra sent, "I can't believe she said that."

"Me, neither. Si, you didn't need to drop that little bombshell in her lap--you coulda given me a chance to work up to telling her in a nicer way."

"I didn't think you wanted anything to do with her."

"Well, I got kinda turned off on dating back in high school, especially after that stupid date we went on," Cormac sent to his sister.

"Yeah, I know. I think Vi was the only one of us still trying to go out on a date while we were still in high school."

"I don't think it helped matters that we were three years younger than the humans," Cormac suggested.

"Yeah, I suppose. We're eighteen, and already working on our Master's degree. Anyway, what's wrong with telling Annie up front that you've got a mate and a pack of your own? Who knows what weirdness she's into now," Sierra said.

"Maybe, but you still should have let me explain my situation my way, instead of jumping in like that swingin' a sledgehammer."

The twins walked the rest of the way to the building the Engineering labs are in, and just before entering it, Sierra sent, "Yeah, I suppose you and Fionn are right, I do tend to dive right in and say what's on my mind."

"Well, sis, sometimes that's okay, but other times you need to be a bit more considerate."

Sierra thought as they entered the building and made their way to the lab. Before entering the room, she stopped her brother for a moment.

"Mackie?"

"Yeah, sis?"

"I was thinking..."

"Now that's dangerous," Cormac smirked, prompting Sierra to smack him lightly on the arm.

"I was thinking maybe we could go on a hunt next weekend...we haven't done that in a while."

Cormac looked at his twin sister and perked his ears fully erect and forward.

"Feeling a bit primal, are we?"

"I'm sure Iluq would like to get out of the house for a while and run with her brothers and sister."

Cormac scratched the back of his ear in thought for a moment and said, "I'll ask her tonight and let you know."

"Okay. I guess we'll need to find someone to watch the little ones. Ikiaq and Miksa aren't old enough yet to go hunting."

"Well, at least nothing bigger than a rat," Cormac sent with a grin.

"Heh, don't tell mom and Aunt Rosie's friend, Maxine, that!" Sierra chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess she wouldn't quite appreciate it. Speaking of which, she is quite a looker...," Cormac sent, recalling the last time she had visited their parents.

"Mackie, she's as old as mom is!"

"So she's thirty-eight...she's still a looker, and I like her voice."

"Yeah, well, I guess. Hey, as I remember, you thought that bat gal that visited for the summer was hot, too."

"Oh, yeah, Ms. Kylie..."

Cormac let his thoughts slip back to when Kylie had come to visit. He recalled that the reason for her visit was to attend a company "training retreat" since dad and "Uncle" Rob had hired her to work in the business office of the branch of the company located in Seattle, WA when they opened the location. Ms. Kylie may be about thirty or so years old--Cormac wasn't exactly sure, but he found it difficult not to look at her. There was something about the bat lady that had an unusual effect on him that Cormac couldn't explain. He had talked about it with his dad at the time, and he had noticed it, too.

Cormac's mind came back to the present when one of the other Engineering students walked into the lab and asked a question.

"Huh?"

"Earth to Cormac! I asked if the crystal matrix was finished yet."

"Oh, uh...it was pretty close to being done just before lunch. I'll check it in a minute, Andy."

"Okay, I'm going to power up the x-ray scanner and run some checks on it while you're doing that. Hopefully we'll have a good, clean lattice structure this time so we can try the quantum state encoder."

"Yeah, maybe by next week we can get the positron core finished and get it to actually perform some simple algorithms," Cormac agreed.

"If this crystal formulation holds up, it should work. My team has the interface ready, so once you guys finish with your scan, and if it's good, we can enclose the crystal in the interface assembly," Sierra added.

"Hey, you guys talkin' about the core?" one of the other grad students asked.

"Yeah, if the new crystal's good, it's going into the interface assembly. We might get the core finished by the end of next week and try to get it to do something other than being a very expensive paperweight," Cormac replied.

"Cool! We just got the new power supply finished and tested, so we can power up the core when you have it ready to go."

"That's great, Tim! Looks like everything's on track for testing that AIOS[5]you've been working on, Mackie!" Sierra said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah, looks like. Okay, I'm going to check the crystal matrix," Cormac agreed, and then they split up to do their tasks.

The little old-fashioned bell over the door jingled when it opened to announce someone either entering or leaving. In this case, someone was entering. Looking around briefly, Annie glanced at her watch and saw that she was still a little early, so she went to the counter and made her selection. After giving the coupon card and showing her active duty Army ID card, she took her sandwich and coffee over to one of the booths along the east wall, to the left of the door as one would enter. Taking a sip of her coffee, Annie looked around a little more carefully.

"Nice place," she thought to herself.

Annie noticed that there were some G.E.L.F.s present, more than she had seen since the last time she had been home. Most were customers, though she saw one come out from a back room on the coffee shop side that she recognized.

"Chrysie?"

The young skunk woman looked around and saw a red-haired human woman waving at her.

"Annie?"

"Yeah, it's me!"

Chrysie put a hand over her mouth in shocked surprise, and then headed over to where Annie was sitting.

"Hey, girl, where've you been hiding at for the last couple of years?!" Chrysie asked as they greeted each other.

"I joined the Army out of high school, and I've been over in Europe for the last six months--I'm home on leave for a couple of weeks."

"Jeezers, you...in the Army? Wow! I never saw_that_ comin'!" Chrysie exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess it was quite a surprise for my folks, too. I never even hinted at it with them, so as soon as I turned eighteen, I signed up. I got quite an earful when mom and dad found out, but they couldn't do anything about it I got the 'teep' thing six months ago, just when my unit deployed to Poland."

"POLAND? Oh great raisins, girl, don't tell me you were in the thick of that mess!"

"Yeah, I was. Rumor has it that we may be going back in a month," Annie said quietly.

"Jeezers! Dad's been keeping tabs on what's been going on over there. You knew he was in the Navy years ago, right?"

"I kinda remember you saying something about that back in high school. Seems like a long time ago, and a world away."

Annie took another sip of her coffee, and gave Chrysie a sad smile. Like all G.E.L.F.s, Chrysie had a general sense of Annie's emotions, and she took a hold of her friend's hand.

"I bet ya saw a bunch of stuff..."

"Yeah..." Annie looked away for a moment, and when she looked back at Chrysie she said, "I saw Cormac today...at lunch."

"Ya did?"

"Yeah, I saw Fionn walking towards one of the buildings, so I caught up with him. He was heading to the cafeteria to have lunch with Cormac and Sierra, so I went with him."

"And?" Chrysie prompted.

"And I...crashed and burned."

"What happened? Tell me about it," Chrysie demanded gently.

"Well...right after Sierra dropped a live shell in my lap about your brother having a family, I asked if he had any pictures, so he showed me. That's when things got FUBAR'd[6]." Annie paused and saw the look on Chrysie's face. "I thought his 'wife' had taken the picture, and I asked about what I thought was a big dog of some kind sitting next to him. Chrysie, I don't know one kind of canine from another, and I certainly didn't know that was his...his..."

"Oh...my...raisins!" Chrysie said softly, holding a hand up to her muzzle.

"Cormac didn't say another word after that--he just got up and left, and so did Sierra. Fionn stayed and explained it to me, and showed me the same photo Cormac had, and also a photo of all of you together. He told me the names of everyone and who was related to who and how. After that, I got up and left because I was feeling terrible about my big mouth, and I asked him to tell Cormac I was sorry and that I wouldn't bother him again, but he slipped one of those coupon thingies in my coat pocket for this, and told me to come here around four-thirty," Annie explained remorsefully.

"He did, huh? Hmm, well, I'm on my break now, and Mackie and Si will be here for a couple of hours after their last period. Hang on, I'm gonna see if my food's ready--I'll be right back."

Chrysie patted Annie's arm and left for a bit, disappearing into the back for a few moments, before coming out and bringing her food and drink back to the booth.

"Hey, slide over so I can sit next to ya," Chrysie said when she returned.

"Huh?"

"You'll see in a sec."

Annie scooted over and Chrysie slid into the booth next to her. A minute later, they were joined by two others that Annie recognized from the family photo that Fionn had shown her earlier that day.

"Dad, Auntie Lu, this is Annie Snyder--we knew each other back in high school; Annie, this is my dad, Ron Daugherty and my Aunt Lupina," Chrysie said making the introductions.

Chrysie's dad quickly glanced over Annie's uniform, smiled, and said, "Nice to meet you, Sergeant Snyder. You're a Combat Medic, eh?" he asked shaking her hand.

"Yes, sir, nice to meet you, too."

"Ooo, Annie, don't call dad 'sir'--he hates that!" Chrysie whispered into her ear.

Ron grinned and said, "Aye, there's no gold stripes on_my_ sleeve."

Seeing the confused look on Annie's face, Chrysie said, "He was a...a...Master Chief, is that right dad?"

"Aye, luv, I was the MCPOC--Master Chief Petty Officer of the Command of the original Sea Wolf units."

Annie's eyes widened upon learning that.

"Ah, I see you've must have heard something about us. Not much, I hope," Ron grinned.

"Aw geez...yeah, one of our MED-EVAC pilots was talking about when his father was in Panama back in the eighties, and his platoon got cut off and surrounded, but then there was a bunch of howling and things got really quiet. After that, you guys appeared out of nowhere and lead them back to the main unit, only to disappear again," Annie explained.

"Ah, that little cakewalk...," Ron grinned.

Chrysie and Lupina both looked at Annie and then at Ron--this was the first either of them had heard anything about what he and his unit did back then from somebody else.

"Um, are you the same Annie that had asked if our Cormac was taking anyone to a school dance?" Lupina asked casually.

Chrysie pulled her ears back and hoped her aunt wasn't going to get into that again.

"Uh, yes ma'am. We went out once after that, but I guess it...," Annie replied.

"Oh, I was just curious if you were the same one; no need to rehash the past, right dear?" Lupina said, looking at her husband/mate.

"Aye, luv," he replied, putting his arm around Lupina.

"I, um...changed a lot, since then," Annie said quietly, looking down at her half-eaten sandwich.

"The military tends to do that to a person," Ron said with a wry smile. "Have ye been out o' the country yet?"

"Yeah, we just got back from Poland yesterday," Annie replied.

"You've seen some action then, haven't ye?" Ron asked quietly.

"Yeah, in the southeast part."

"I understand, lass. How long are you home for?"

"Two weeks," Annie replied.

"I know ye'll be wantin' to spend some time wi' yer kin, but why don't ye come out to the house for a visit? I know it's a fair ride up to Hess Creek, so ye can meet us here tomorrow afternoon, say, at 1700, and bring enough to stay a night or two just in case," Ron offered.

"Oh, I...I couldn't...," Annie said hesitantly, shooting a quick glance to Chrysie.

"Sure now, you're more than welcome to come out--it might do ye some good, lass. It's nice and peaceful out where we live, especially after what you've been through recently."

"Annie, this might be a way to make things right between you and Mackie. Dad's a good listener and he's got a way of seeing things that's, well, different...but in a good way," Chrysie sent privately to Annie.

"Well...," Annie started to say.

"Just don't get Ron and his friends to start telling their sea stories or they'll keep you up all night," Lupina said with a chuckle, looking at him playfully.

Ron put his arm around Lupina and said, "I promise, no sea stories...at least not this time, luv."

"I'll hold you to that, dear," Lupina said giving him a little poke with her finger. To Annie she said, "We'd love to have you come visit, and you won't go hungry--between Ron's cooking and Rosie's, we eat pretty good."

"Yeah, mom's a pretty good cook, but she learned from dad.

Annie thought a moment to herself, "Maybe Chrysie's right, maybe this might be a way to make things right with Cormac. I should tell him myself that I'm sorry for the dog thing, instead of having somebody else do it for me. At least I might get to meet his kids."

Looking to Chrysie's dad and aunt, Annie said, "Okay, sure."

---

[1]OS - Operating System

[2]NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organization

[3]CONUS - Continental United States

[4]DD-214 - Certificate of Release or Discharge From Active Duty

[5]AIOS - Artificial Intelligence Operating System

[6]FUBAR - Military slang for "Fouled (or F**ked) Up Beyond All Repair".