Meryl: Now that Knives was out of the way, we were no longer tied to No Name Town, so we decided to
move on. But what city or town would accept us? At first, we drew blanks trying to think of where to go.
But then the answer struck us all at once—a place that didn't curse Vash, but adored him. Inepril.
When we got there, the townspeople for the most part were still friendly, instinctively knowing Vash wasn't
really to blame for Augusta and the Fifth Moon. We secured a house there. There was a bedroom for Vash
and I, one for Milly, one for Lina, and one for Sheryl.
As Milly's pregnancy grew more and more obvious, I felt myself growing protective of her. Strange, I hadn't
known how I would feel about it—resentful that she achieved this stage before me, perhaps? I don't know.
Or maybe I'd still be upset she was no longer an innocent maiden, and still sore at Wolfwood for deflowering
her? But what I felt instead was a nurturing kind of sisterhood. I had to protect her; I had to care for her.
It wasn't long before I had another reason to feel empathetic. I'd been having problems—feeling queasy and
the like. When I mentioned it to Milly at a lunch date, she piped up with, "Gee, that sounds just like morning
sickness."
I didn't finish the rest of my meal.
Not long after visits to the doctor, I sought out Vash. He was sitting on the front porch step, just idling time
away. I knelt down behind him, putting my arms around him. "Vash? You remember when we were talking
about having children?"
"I don't suppose we should, Meryl," he said, sounding distracted.
"The decision is no longer in our hands," I stated, sitting down one step above him.
He looked around, curious. "'The decision is no longer in our hands.' Hmm..what do you mean by that?"
I rolled my eyes. "You're the one who's supposed to have superhuman intelligence. You figure it out!"
Puzzled, he thought a moment. Or two. "You're infertile?"
"Oh, Vash, you're such a moron!"
He pointed to himself. "I'm infertile?"
I banged my forehead against his. "Listen Vash we are having a baby," I stated, my words punctuated by
contact with his thick skull.
"When?"
"A little less than nine months."
"Oh, okay," he said casually, then stared ahead, as he had been doing when I found him.
I looked at him, dumbfounded. This was his reaction? I was about to smack him, when he gasped, leaping to
his feet. Suddenly, he started laughing maniacally. I couldn't tell if he was delirious with ecstasy or if he was
insane from angst.
"Meryl, Meryl!" I went over to him, and he hugged me fiercely. Tears were streaming down his face, and I
realized he was ecstatic. "My sweet, sweet Meryl."
"I thought you didn't want a child."
"It's not that I didn't, I just didn't know how he or she would turn out." He stroked my belly. "But now—
now that the child is here, I'm going to love every minute."
I sighed in relief, and rested my head against his chest.
"Um, one more question," Vash began.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Can we have sex when you're pregnant, or is that taboo?"
"Oh, you're too much!"
Melinda: So, I take it Vash was an affectionate husband?
Meryl: To say the least! He never took me for granted. He was a lovesick puppy!
Melinda: Ah, that I should be so lucky! To have a legend love me and a man so caring!
Milly: All rolled into one!
Meryl: But I still am amazed that he saw anything in me! I'm frumpy—hardly glamorous!
Melinda: But back then—Milly: She wasn't glamorous then, either!
Meryl: Oh, and you were?
Milly: Nope!
Melinda: Let's get back to the subject of babies. Tell us about when the son of Nicholas D. Wolfwood was born.
Milly:I woke up one morning, bathed in sunlight, which came pouring through the window. It felt so good; I
stretched in it and luxuriated in it. The suns' brightness in my eyes reminded me of how Nicholas and I had made
love in time with the coming of the dawn. The feel of the suns on my skin reminded me of how I had lay snuggled
against his warm, bare body.
I sighed. "Oh, Nicholas, I bet you are here with me today. Right now. In fact, I just know it," I said, propping my
head up by leaning it against my folded arms. "I know! You must be here because today must be the day our child
will be born. It's just about ri—" I screeched as pain attacked. "Right on time," I gasped.
Not long after, Meryl was with me as I lay on a bed at the Inepril Clinic. Vash was in the building, too, but Meryl
had kicked him out of the delivery room. "Oh, Meryl, I don't think I can do this!"
"You can. I know you can."
"You've come this far," a familiar feminine voice added. "Don't give up now."
I looked up joyfully to see a tall woman about fifteen years my elder standing in the doorway. "Heloise! Heloise!
Oh, Meryl, it's my big sister Heloise!" I wish I could have gotten out of bed and hugged her.
She came over and grasped my hands. "Hey, I couldn't leave my littlest sister alone when she's about to have her
first baby! I see I arrived just in time."
"Oh, I'm not alone—my best friend Meryl's here—but I'm so thrilled you're here, too. Most everyone else in the
family has disowned me."
"I don't know why," Meryl remarked to my sister. "The last thing in the world she is is a slut."
"Well, don't worry," Heloise said with a wink. "Disown is much too hard a word, you know! With the Thompsons,
anyway. They're just a little sore. But I'm working on them. They can't be all holier-than-thou forever."
I've heard of some mothers being so mad at the pain labor causes them that they swear revenge on their men. But it
wasn't like that with me. This was about all I had left of Nicholas. I was in agony, but the pain was bittersweet,
and, to be honest, my moaning reminded me of similar noises on that night nine months ago. It was, if you pardon
my pun, a real labor of love.
I was holding my pink and tiny baby, who was wrapped up in a blanket. Meryl and Heloise were cooing over him.
Vash pounded at the door. "Can I see the baby now?"
"Hold your thomases, Vash!" Meryl chided.
"Aw, c'mon!"
"It's not even your baby, for cryin' out loud!"
"But it's my friends' baby!"
"Meryl, I don't think there's any harm in letting him in," I said meekly.
"But you still look a mess."
"That's okay. As Vash said, we're friends. What's a little sweat and messy hair among friends?"
"Oh, okay." Meryl opened the door and Vash nearly tumbled in.
"The baby the baby which one's the baby?" Vash asked frantically.
"The really tiny one," Meryl answered.
Vash squatted down to look at the infant. "Hey, it looks just like him. Except less hair. It's a boy, isn't it?"
"Yes," I said proudly. "And his name is Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Jr."
"I have a new buddy!" Vash exclaimed, standing up. "Um, what's the D. stand for?"
"Dimitri."
"Really?" Vash slapped his forehead. "That's weird! That's like the name of the town Knives was staying at."
"Coincidence," Meryl remarked hurriedly.
"And all the time I was thinking his middle name was Donald!"
"I thought it was Darryl," Meryl stated.
"Boy, Milly, you really did know everything about him," Vash said to me. "Can I hold the baby?"
"Sure," I said.
"Vash, be careful," Meryl warned.
"Can't you at least trust your own husband?" Vash demanded. "Besides, I need the practice." He playfully tagged
Meryl's belly.
So Vash took Nicky in his arms, and sauntered around the room with him.
Heloise, Meryl, and I all looked at each other. "I think he's more excited about the baby then you are," my sister
muttered to me.
Meryl put a hand on her belly. "Just wait until he has one of his own! He won't give the kid any breathing space!"
