Shera was eased by the hot water of her morning bath. She placed herself on a padded stool, wiped the fog from her glasses on the counter, and ran a towel through her damp hair while the rest of her air dried. It was comforting; she wasn't the only one awake and ready for the crisp, pre-autumn day. Along with her current mood, the view outside was inspiring. The changing colors of the trees around Rocket Town urged her to prep for the shifting season.

"One…" Shera sat perfectly still "Two..three…" She was counting movement; doctor's orders. Fortunately enough, their triplets weren't having any suspicious lack of movement week by week. Sometimes, Shera inquisitively wondered what they responded to. When she was home alone, she'd give herself a gentle push or pat, or make an assortment of noises to see if there was a reaction. Her experiments were inconclusive, but still engrossing. She honestly enjoyed her time away from work. Being home alone left her with time to prepare for her last month of pregnancy, and scratch other important items off her chore lists. Today, she decided she would do maintenance work around the house. Cid had neglected to do so for the past five years, and plenty of the home was leaky and in need of replacement or repair.

Dried and dressed, Shera took a picture of her side in the bedroom mirror and sent Cid a text while he was on duty. When the message had sent, she clicked her cell phone onto its charger and padded out of the room in direction of the stairs. Out of a storage drawer, Shera took a pair of Cid's old, brown work gloves, and a slightly rusted tool kit from under the kitchen sink. She sat on her knees at a side angle and tightened a few bolts while she was there to stop an annoying leak from under the garbage disposal. Thorough in her work, she took a bit of electrical tape and wrapped it three times around the joint in the piping. "That will do for now." What else…

Much of the day was spent counting kicks and scratching tasks off her mental to-do list. The sink was an easy fix. Light bulbs were unscrewed and replaced just as quickly. The puzzle behind the water heater's sluggishness to actually heat was solved, leaving Shera with either fixing some of the cracked electrical breakers outside, or fiddling with her herb garden.

"Maybe I shouldn't press my luck." Shera muttered to herself. She knew damn well what she was doing, and Cid usually trusted her with the electrical box, but the last thing she wanted was some sort of accident. Better have the Captain deal with it when he gets home. The garden it is.

Knowing that Cid wouldn't mind, she took his gloves with her outside. By the time she ventured out through the door, it had already drifted into the late afternoon. She decided not to stay out for long. Her energy was waning, and she'd neglected to eat between her small breakfast and lunch.

"Afternoon, Mrs. Highwind. I have parcels for you and the Captain." Instead of being placed in the box, the mail carrier greeted Shera with a polite smile, waited for her to dust the planting dirt from her front, and handed her the packages one by one. Most were small enough for her to carry, but the heavier ones, were settled on the doorstep of the house for Cid to open later. If they were heavy, they were probably filled with ordered machinery.

"Thank you!" Shera waved as the other woman continued deliveries to the next home. "Junk, junk, junk…hm?" She tugged off one muddied glove, and placed a gardening shovel aside. Shera lowered herself to the porch steps to sit and alleviate the growing ache in her legs. There were some packages of ordered baby products for her, and then another letter addressed to Cid from "Johnny G. Highwind…?" She'd have to ask Cid who that was later.

Mason jars of tea and fresh herbs were restocked after Shera retired for the day. Habitually, by the time Cid had made it home in the evening, she was tucked like a fresh bun under a heated blanket on the couch; snoring or absentmindedly watching the small livingroom TV.

"You been layin' there all day, Shera?" Cid called out after making sure the door was locked. He rubbed the indent of his goggles after taking them off, and tossed his gloves over the back of a wooden chair. The smell of dinner still baking in the oven made his stomach growl.

"Mm, not all day." Shera poked her head from under the patchy blanket. Her glasses were crooked and she shifted a bit to fix them. "I went out to check the mail earlier. You have some packages, and a letter from Johnny G. Highwind. A relative?"

Cid closed the refrigerator door harder than he intended to. His back snapped into a very stiff, upright position. "Er…" What the fuck?! He ain't heard from Papa Highwind in eons.

"Cid?" Shera sat up more and glanced over the back of the couch. She turned down the sound from the TV.

"Johnny G. Highwind is my daddy." The Captain awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Didja'….didja' open it, Shera?"

"No, sir? It's your mail, not mine. Should I have?"

Shit, shit shit! "Nah, uh, I'll get 'round to openin' it later." Cid mumbled.

Shera didn't totally trust Cid's answer, but didn't bother him on it. "I hope you're interested in eating pot pie. I had to use that extra baking dough before it sat in the fridge for too long." She stretched as much as she could. Shera was dizzy when she stood and placed a hand to her forehead to synchronize her momentarily quadrupled vision.

"I don' mind. You alright there, Mama?" Cid nudged the mentioned parcels and letter out of the way with his shin (another issue for another day…), and met her halfway between the kitchen and living room. He placed his hands on her hips; not minding that her belly bumped him.

"I'm fine, Captain. I just rose a little too quickly." Shera rewarded her husband's attentiveness with one of her damn sexy, chocolate cake, strawberry lemonade, whipped cream, sweet-as-sugar smiles. A rather mischievous grin spread on Cid's face in reply.

"I know that look." Shera squinted in suspicion, though her smile remained. "That's the look that got us here." Cid knew exactly what she meant.

"When's the last time you rode this fucker to town?" He stepped around her and pressed his chest to Shera's back. Cid's arms wrapped around her upper torso and she lightly batted him in embarrassment.

"I'm not sure. It's been a little while." She gently answered. Shera quite clearly remembered saddling herself in Cid's lap, and riding him down and dirty on the flight deck on his birthday. Cid's birthday was February twenty second. Her due date was October twenty third. Funny story.

"We should change that, doncha' think?" He nibbled around the stud in her ear lobe. Sure, they'd have to play a little twister to get around the obstacle that was Shera's stomach, but they could make a little lovin' happen. Sex was a-okay until the due date, and that was a-okay with Cid.

"Sorry, Captain. No sweets before dinner. You'll ruin your appetite." Shera coyly stated. She gently removed Cid's arms to make her way back into the kitchen to check on the food in the oven.

"Then how's 'bout we change up the ol' routine? I'll bang you into the kitchen table, and we'cn eat after."

Shera pushed her glasses back up her nose and rolled her eyes. "You're silly, Cid." The oven clicked off with a chirp. She removed a glass pan with a crispy, buttered crust and sat it over the stove top to cool. "Set the table?"

"Yah, yah." Cid was still snickering, though; Shera knew he had probably been completely serious.

Talk over eating and some iced tea was business as usual. Shera presented some of their bank statements and reported to her Captain that saving was going smoothly. She also explained more of what she did today (while evading asking him about the letter again), and Cid was pleased that she avoided fiddling with the electric box. If something happened while she was working, he probably would have suffered an instant case of hypertension.

Dishes washed, nicotine patch replaced, request phone calls from the WRO replied to, and Cid was ready to hit the hay. That is, if Shera still didn't want to take up his offer. He was halfway up the stairs after clicking off all the lights, and making sure every door was properly locked. "Shera?" Cid asked. She was just standing there at the end of the hall; motionless with an unreadable expression contorting her face.

"Shera?" He called her again. Her teeth gritted from sudden pain in her lower back and abdomen.

"Cid…"

Forget about the goddamn box, Cid had an instant case of hypertension right now.


We'll figure out what's in that letter eventually.