...First, YAY! And Stella and Daryl start to see that Pegasus is not what it seems.

"So did you go out looking for him, or what?" I asked Daryl.

"I ran into him when I was comin' back in here," he told me. "He was on his way t' see you."

"After all this time, I can't believe he's acting like this is no big deal! I mean, yeah, we kinda hated each other way back when we were kids, but that was years ago," I fumed. "I wonder how long he's going to make me wait until he tells Henry I'm here. He's probably doing it just to make me suffer. Asshole."

"C'mon, darlin', calm down." Daryl rubbed my neck.

For a few minutes, I'd forgotten about the other news that had rocked my world. I took a deep breath. "Fuuuuuck. Seriously, Daryl? What the fuck? Maybe I'm one of the 25% where the test is wrong." Then it occurred to me how completely wasted I was just two nights ago. "Oh my God, I probably already gave the baby fucking brain damage from all the shit I drank at the fucking cathouse! Jesus, I'm a terrible mother already."

"Woah, seriously, calm down!" Daryl moved my legs out of the way so he could sit on the bed, his legs hanging over either side. He grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at him. "Woman, what the hell have I been tellin' you this whole goddamn trip?" I gave him a blank look. "Zen. Can't believe you haven't learned that yet." I rolled my eyes. "You're gonna be fine. I'm gonna to be fine. We're gonna get your brother, and we're gonna go back home, and we're gonna get married, and we're gonna have a baby. We're gonna be fine. Zen is what I'm sayin'."

I had to laugh at him. "Wait, we're going to get married? Didn't you just say the other night that a ring on your finger wasn't going to make any difference?"

"Well, yeah, but now there's a baby comin'. No kid a' mine is gonna be a bastard," he explained.

I laughed again. "Well, I think that ship's already sailed, but that's sweet." I kissed him. "So are you proposing, then?" I teased.

Daryl got up and looked around the room. Then he left for a minute, leaving me to wonder what the hell he was up to. When he came back, Daryl dropped to one knee, and goddamn it if I didn't get choked up. "Funny Girl, you are the most amazin' woman I've ever met. Honest to God, I never thought I'd snag someone as smart and hilarious and smokin' hot as you. Didn't think it could get much better 'n that but now you're gonna have my baby. I love you so fuckin' much. Will you marry me?"

Now I was bawling but managed a "YES!" Outside the curtain, I heard a muffled squeal, and I realized that someone out there was eavesdropping, but I didn't care. Daryl slipped a small metal band on my finger that somehow fit just about right, and then kissed me and scooped me into a giant hug. We stayed that way for a few minutes, until we heard someone clear their throat on the other side of the curtain.

I had finally managed to stop crying (damn hormones!), and I said, "Come in." It was Gabriela, who was grinning ear to ear. I could tell she didn't want to admit to listening in, but it wasn't like she could help it, given that we were only surrounded by a curtain. I grinned back at her and said, "The doofus proposed."

"Yessss! Congratulations!" Gabriela gushed. "I mean, I know I just met you guys, but seriously that's soooo sweet!" Tilting her head towards Daryl, she told me, "I was wondering what on earth he was up to when he asked me if we had anything 'like a ring.' The only thing I could find were these metal bands that go to the Xray, but I guess that sufficed."

Daryl was once again squeezed into the bed next to me, his arm wrapped around my shoulder. "I'll get ya a better one soon," he promised.

"Don't you dare," I replied. "This is the one I want. It's perfect." I seriously could not stop smiling.

"I'm sorry to break the party up, but I do need to get your vitals again," Gabriela apologized. "I'm going to see if I can get you released to a regular room," she told me, with a conspiratorial wink. She took my blood pressure along with a little more blood, and then gave me a thorough going-over. She said she'd have some dinner brought up for us and would give a good report to the doctor.

When she left, Daryl nuzzled my neck and said, "Thought you didn't care so much about marriage, either."

I smiled and kissed him again and said, "You made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

After dinner, the doctor – Doctor Ward, was his name – returned and officially released me from the infirmary. It was pretty obvious he was quite tickled with the engagement and was relieved that we had both come around relatively quickly to the idea of being parents. He gave me orders to get plenty of sleep, be sure to eat on a regular basis and drink plenty of water. I was also under orders to come back tomorrow for a check.

For whatever reason, Louie had requested that the two of us stay in his suite. I was pretty shocked because I figured from his reaction when he came to see me that he'd have no interest in catching up. Gabriela was getting off her shift, so she led the way through a maze of corridors to a very nondescript looking doorway. "Here you are. The vice-presidential suite," she joked. "You guys are pretty lucky because you'll get a private room. The rest of us are in dorms."

"Thanks for everything," I told her. "I hope we can hang out some time while I'm here."

She smiled. "Yeah, definitely. I work tomorrow, so I'll see you when you come in for your appointment." With that, she handed me the key and headed off down the hallway.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I opened the door, but I was pleasantly surprised. Louie's suite wasn't grand in any sense, but it wasn't too shabby. "Hello? Louie?" I called out, but it appeared no one was home. We noticed our backpacks had been left inside the door for us, and I was relieved to also see my guitar looking no worse for the wear.

There were several rooms to Louie's suite: what was obviously the master bedroom, along with a living area and another small room which looked like it had been Louie's office until probably the last hour, when the desk was pushed aside and a bed had been brought in. The overall feeling was pretty industrial, with the cinderblock walls and the dropped ceiling, but it was comfortable.

"It almost feels like," I said, as I walked around our room, "a woman lives here." That brought me up short. Who's to say that a woman didn't live here? Louie was an adult. Maybe he had a girlfriend or was married. I sat down on the bed, intrigued. "It's crazy…. This is just crazy," was all I could say.

While I was lost in thought, Daryl had stripped down to his boxers and was washing up with the basin of water, soap, and fresh towels that had been left for us. "Shit, it's like bein' in the fuckin' Hilton or something," he laughed.

I laughed, too, and joined him. The ring on my finger kept catching my attention, and each time I thought about what it meant, it actually gave me a little thrill. Who'd have figured I'd still be so traditional anymore? Daryl noticed me staring at it and grabbed me around the waist, kissing me again. His hand slid down onto my still flat belly, and he left it there for a minute.

I smiled up at him. "You can't tell me you even feel anything," I teased.

"No, but I will soon," he replied with something like awe.

I reached my hand up to the back of his head and pulled him down to kiss me. We lay back on the bed, and he covered every square inch of me with kisses. When he slid into me, it was slow and gentle and unlike anything I think we'd ever done before. It was almost…reverential. As he was about to come, he moaned "I love you" into my ear. I almost started crying again. In fact, afterwards, when we were curled up next to each other, I did start crying.

"Hey, hey, darlin'," Daryl whispered. "What's th' matter?"

"Oh, it's probably just the fucking hormones," I hiccupped. "Or maybe it's just been one hell of a day. I'm actually happier right now that I ever would have thought possible, considering the shitstorm that's happened today. I really can't wait to go home and tell everyone our news."

He smiled and pulled me closer, and we drifted off to sleep. Later, I woke up to the voices of Louie and a woman, talking and laughing quietly, and then I heard their door shut and I fell back to sleep.

0000000

When I woke up, I had no idea what time it was, but it felt like it must be noon at least. Our room had no windows, so I lit a candle that was on the bedside table. Daryl was stretched out in bed, sound asleep, and it made me smile just to see him there. I looked at the metal band on my finger. It made me feel so different, but maybe that's just because I hadn't worn jewelry in such a long time - if you could consider an accessory for medical equipment jewelry. There really wasn't much of an occasion to, back at home. I had a few pairs of earrings that I wore if I was "dressing up," but the only other pieces of jewelry I had were my wedding band and engagement ring from Ty that were tucked away in my place back at home. Those were pretty modest, even by the standards of pre-ZA life, but I was absolutely just as happy with this ring from Daryl.

I heard Louie moving around in the main room, so I thought I'd get up and make another overture of kinship to him. Opening my backpack, it was clear that it had been searched before it ended up here. I wasn't too surprised, and I was happy to note that everything was in there before was still there, only now it was clean and neatly folded. I pulled on some clothes and went out to talk to Louie.

Opening the door, I squinted momentarily in the bright light afforded by the window. Then I realized it wasn't Louie who was up and about, it was his girlfriend/wife/woman he slept with last night. When she saw me, she smiled widely. "Oh, hi! You must be Stella! I hope I didn't wake you," she said excitedly.

"No, I was up," I replied. "And you are…?"

"Oh! I'm Kendra. I'm Louis's wife," she said, extending her hand. "I'm your sister-in-law!" She smiled as the relationship dawned on her.

That brought me up short. Wow, Louie was married. I saw her looking at me expectantly. "I'm sorry. It's just been a lot of new information in a very short amount of time," I apologized.

Kendra clapped her hands. "I heard! You're going to have a baby! How exciting!"

"Yeah, I guess that is pretty exciting," I admitted. Then I looked down at my hand. "Oh, and I guess I'm getting married, too."

Kendra ran over to me and gave me a giant hug. Pulling back quickly, she made an attempt to corral her enthusiasm. "I'm sorry! I just get too carried away sometimes. Louis's always telling me not to get carried away!"

I tried to keep myself from rolling my eyes and bit back a smartass comment about the things Louie told her. "It's OK," was all I said.

"Here, let me make you some tea. It's herbal. No caffeine!" Kendra busied herself at a small wood stove in the corner, pouring some water in a kettle. I watched her, marveling at the fact that my little brother was married. She was a tiny, cute Asian woman who looked like she was probably a wee bit older than Louie. Maybe twenty-five or twenty-six. What was so amusing to me was that she was so cheerful, and it seemed completely genuine. I wouldn't have figured grouchy, self-centered Louie would have found such a bubbly wife.

As we sat down for tea, there was a knock at the door. Someone was delivering breakfast for us: toast, jam, juice, fresh fruit, and what looked like hard-boiled eggs. Kendra set the tray down on the table. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what you guys ate. We can have something else brought up when Daryl gets up, if you want."

I just shook my head, still amazed that there was room service at this place. I was much more used to the rougher, DIY kind of lifestyle that I experienced at home and pretty much everywhere else I'd seen. This was completely new to me. "Um, is Louie here?" I asked.

"Oh, no! He's been gone for about an hour now. He gets up super-early to go to work. He's the assistant to the chief operating officer, you know," she told me.

That piqued my curiosity. As I ate, I asked her about how Pegasus was run. She filled me in on all the details. There were about 1,200 people who lived there, and everyone was an "integral part" of the operation, according to Kendra. All the labor that needed to be accomplished was divided among all of the residents, from farming to security to clothing production to utilities. They had generators to power the whole compound, using wood harvested from the surrounding forest. They grew all their own food, and raised cattle, pigs, and chickens as well. Children were educated – and highly encouraged, Kendra said to me pointedly – in a central school so parents could work for the good of Pegasus. The place was run by a chief executive officer and chief operating officer, and Louie was part of the executive group.

"So you don't have elections or anything?" I asked.

Kendra seemed a little surprised. "No, Mr. diLeonardo is the CEO, and it's his operation. People who don't like it just leave."

"Do you have many people who leave?"

"Oh no! This is the best place for miles and miles! Who in their right mind would want to leave?" She put her hand on mine. "And I'm so glad you guys found your way here! It makes me so happy to know that Louis's sister is alive and well and here!"

She seemed so excited that I didn't have the heart to tell her I was planning to leave the minute I was able to convince Henry to come with me. That reminded me I needed to find out about Henry. "Louie says that our brother Henry is here. How is he?"

"Oh, we don't see a whole lot of Henry. We're very busy, you know." Seeing my look of concern, Kendra quickly added, "He's doing very well here! He has a job and an apartment, and seems very happy."

That only made me feel slightly better. "I'd really like to see him. I've missed him so much."

Kendra smiled. "I understand, but Louis says it's better not to spring this on him too suddenly. You know how he is."

I got the feeling she didn't really know how he was at all, but I just silently ate my toast. I heard the door open behind me, and Daryl came out, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Hey love, want some breakfast? This is Kendra, Louie's wife."

As he approached, she jumped out of her chair and gave him a hug. He looked at me over her head, wide-eyed in surprise. I shrugged. Immediately, she apologized again for her excess of enthusiasm. "I'm just so excited to meet you! And congratulations! So much exciting news! Can I get you some tea? Is this food OK? I can get you something else, if you'd like."

Daryl just shook his head and sat down. "This is fine," he mumbled. Regardless, Kendra rushed to pour him some tea.

I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Welcome to the family."

After breakfast, Kendra took us on a tour of the facilities, and I quickly realized life was not the same for people who weren't executives. Not that it was a sweatshop or anything, but it was clear that the rest of Pegasus was working their asses off. They weren't having breakfast brought to their rooms, that's for damn sure.

Like Gabriela said, the rest of the residents of Pegasus lived in dorms. Families had private spaces, but those were just carved out with plywood partitions or clothesline and sheets, kind of like how Danny's family did it back on the banks of the Ohio River. There was a pretty obvious social order, and Kendra wasn't shy about pointing it out. The skilled worker - the doctors and nurses, teachers, scientists, and those who managed others - had more privacy and nicer digs than the general laborers. As we passed the showers, Kendra mentioned in an offhand way that the executives had heated shower facilities, and my irritation at the clear caste system in place here was momentarily pushed aside at the thought of a long. hot. shower.

In the basement were the laundry, the boiler room, and the "production rooms," as Kendra put it. Those were places where people built new items and repaired those that were broken. It was weird to look out and see twenty people at tables, sewing with needle and thread on torn clothing. The atmosphere wasn't one of drudgery, though. The people chatted and laughed as they worked, and said hi to Kendra as we passed through.

We stopped at a doorway that looked out over the fields. Kendra told us about their food production, and how they were even able to irrigate their fields during droughts. As I was in charge of our small-by-comparison town garden back at home, I made a mental note that I needed to come back here and find out how they did it. If they could irrigate hundreds of acres, I should be able to pull it off in a garden a mere fraction of the size. Kendra bragged that in the last six years that Pegasus had been in operation, they never had a year where they couldn't feed their people. As skeptical as I was trying to remain about the place, even I was impressed by that.

Up on the second floor, we saw the kitchen and cafeteria. Once again, it was at least three times the size of the one back at home, and people scurried around, getting lunch ready. I had a feeling we would not be dining in the cafeteria while we were here. Also on the second floor was the school. There were at least two hundred kids, separated out by age into groups, from toddlers to teens. Teachers were hard at work, drilling math facts, reading stories, and lecturing on American history. Like the adults, the kids seemed to be pretty happy. We peeked our heads into the infants' room, where the workers cooed and cuddled with the babies who were wrapped up in pink and blue blankets.

"That's where your little one will be!" crowed Kendra. I shot Daryl a wide-eyed look behind Kendra's back, and he just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Throughout the tour, I kept looking for anyone who could possibly be Henry. I saw a couple of boys who might be him, but I could never be sure. When I asked Kendra where he worked, she was very vague, saying only, "Oh, he must be around here somewhere."

The infirmary was also on the second floor, and as it was about time for my doctor's appointment, I told Kendra she could let us off the tour there. Daryl and I just stood there, speechless in the quiet wake of Kendra's constant chatter and good cheer. Gabriela spotted us and ushered us inside, and I was so grateful to be with someone who actually acted like a normal person, not a Pegasus cheerleader. I was dying to get her alone later and get the real scoop on how things went here. But it was not the time for that now. She showed me to an exam room, gave me a gown, and told me to get changed.

I didn't have the stomach yet to have Daryl as a witness to a full-on pelvic examination, and he was clearly very relieved when I told him he could sit outside until the doctor was done. There was a female doctor there today, Dr. Chang, but she shared Dr. Ward's enthusiasm for pregnancy. Once the exam was done, and she brought Daryl into the room and informed us both that I was indeed pregnant, probably about a six weeks along. I got the same advice from her: eat right, drink plenty of water, sleep, and come back in two weeks for a check up. I had no plans to be here in two weeks, but I smiled and nodded.

Gabriela came into the room after Dr. Chang left. "You guys all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're fine...I think," Daryl replied, glancing over at me.

I smiled at them both. "I'm OK. When do you get off work?" I asked Gabriela. "I'd love to chat with you." I tried to sound casual, but I was really dying to ask her some questions.

"Come back around three," she told me.

As Daryl and I walked back to our room, he muttered to me, "What do you think of this place?"

"Fucking weird, and I don't like it. We need to find Henry and get the fuck back home. I'm not having my baby here, that's for damn sure."