Destined From the Start

Chapter Thirty-five - Winter

December 2286

When he arrived at her dorm room to walk her to breakfast, Jilly seemed very quiet. He waited until they were almost to the mess hall before leaning down and asking her if she was ill. She gave him a tiny smile. "No, just thinking."

He waited again, until they had their trays and were seated at one end of the table, and then looked down and touched her hand gently. "Something is bothering you."

She sighed. "I got a letter from my parents."

"A letter? Not a subspace call? It must have taken a long time to get here." He was very surprised. Almost no one sent letters any more.

"They sent it two weeks after I left the farm and it got here yesterday. It was waiting for me when I went into the dorm last night."

"Well, surely it wasn't anything urgent if they sent it in a letter, nobody ill or anything like that."

"No. No it wasn't. Their crops were good. They made a big profit for the first time." She poked at her food. "And so they decided they could afford to expand the family. I'm going to have a baby brother."

"Does that make you sad? Or angry?"

"No. I always wanted siblings. It's just that they thought so little of me that they made me wait so long to hear the news! Why couldn't they have called me? Surely a subspace call isn't that expensive!"

"I don't think so. Mama and Baba call me every week. Speaking of which, you need to come and be there when they call and say hello to Amanda. She's freaking out that you're here and she hasn't had a chance to talk to you." He gave her a smile and she looked up and her face brightened a little.

"Oh, I'd like to do that. I'd love to talk to Amanda. And say hello to your parents. Are you sure they wouldn't mind?"

"They won't mind at all. They call on Sunday morning. Around nine." He looked at her hopefully and she actually grinned now. He relaxed and began to eat his breakfast, noticing that she was actually eating now, and not just pushing her food around.

/

Sunday morning he scrambled about the dorm room, making the bed neater than it had ever been, putting things away, shoving his laundry into the closet, while Pete laid on his bed and laughed until Grayson told him that Jilly was coming to join in on his weekly call to his parents. And then Pete jumped up and dashed into the shower, throwing on clean clothes and heading out for the library, leaving Grayson behind in disbelief. What did he think they were going to do?

Before he had much chance to actually consider that question, Jilly was knocking at the door. He let her in and settled her down in the desk chair, not five minutes before the comlink chime rang. He was pulling Pete's chair across the room, and barely got seated himself before the screen cleared to reveal his family. Amanda immediately let out a shriek and began bouncing up and down in her chair. "Jilly! It's Jilly! All grown up and gorgeous!"

Jilly blushed and shook her head and smiled, and suddenly everyone was talking at once. Everyone but Baba, who simply sat there with his lips quirked up at the corners and watched. Jilly couldn't believe how big the twins were, and had never seen T'Mara before at all. Mama asked her lots of questions about how she was settling in, and told her if she ever had any questions that she could call and ask. She even managed to get Jilly's comlink number out of her. Baba just nodded, he had it memorized that quickly. Grayson relaxed then, knowing that Mama would not let Jilly be lonely any more. After all, he couldn't be with her every minute. And Amanda would certainly be calling her, now that she had the comlink number. He grinned. Amanda would fill her in on all the gossip, for sure.

When Baba finally said that they had exceeded their time, and there were others on the ship waiting to use the subspace channel, everyone waved and said goodbye, and the screen cleared. Jilly sighed happily and leaned over and gave him a big hug. "Oh, Grayson, that was so nice. Amanda is so grown up now, and the twins are as tall as she is! I think they're going to be even taller than you are, and you must be nearly as tall as your father."

"Actually, I think I am as tall as Baba. But you may be right about the twins. They seem to grow like weeds, as the saying goes." He grinned at her. "Amanda will want you to tell her what all the new clothing fads are, so you better study up."

Jilly laughed at him. "You know all I ever wear is the uniform, except on the weekends, and then it's just jeans and stuff to be comfortable. I have no fashion sense at all." She was quiet for a moment, and then spoke softly to him. "It would be nice to have Amanda here."

"I'm sure she will be here. She will be taking the exams next year, and I can't imagine her not acing them. She's been talking about attending the academy since she was in primary school, if not before that."

"So she should be here the year you're a senior and I'm a junior."

"Yes, she should. I imagine the two of you will spend a lot of time together." He grinned at her and she grinned back. "And now it's time to go get something to eat." He put Pete's chair back where he had found it and gathered her up and out the door, headed for the little Indian restaurant that his parents had told him about.

/

It was the week before the winter holiday, and every department on the campus was having their holiday party. Grayson wore his dress uniform for only the second time, and primped in front of the mirror until Pete started laughing. "She's going to think you're the most handsome guy there, so stop already. Just get over there and get her and head for that party." His grin almost split his face in two.

"Do you really think so?" Grayson wasn't that sure.

"Man, you have got it bad if you don't see how she looks at you." His roommate stopped and looked at him hard for a minute. "Have you even kissed her yet?"

Grayson's eartips flushed. His eyes dropped away from Pete's and he stammered something, he wasn't even sure what.

Pete leaned in a little and his voice dropped lower. "They're sure to have mistletoe up. Take advantage of it." And then he grinned again, and clapped Grayson on the shoulder, and headed out for his own party.

Grayson stood there for a moment, wondering about what Pete had said. Wondering whether he had the courage to do what had been suggested. And then he shook himself, and headed out the door.

Jilly had spent even more time than Grayson getting ready for this party. It was the first time she had worn her dress uniform, and she was concerned about the fit. Annie had helped her to take it in just a little bit, here and there, until it fit snugly everywhere it was supposed to. The two girls had shared the mirror, putting on more makeup than usual, making their hair more formal than the way they wore it every day, wondering about whether they could wear any jewelry with their uniform. Finally, Jilly remembered Grayson's mother wearing earrings every day with her duty uniform, and both girls had eagerly gone through their jewelry boxes for just the right pair of bright shiny earrings. Annie's escort appeared not long after that, leaving Jilly there alone, beginning to get nervous. Thankfully, she did not have to wait long.

When she opened the door, Grayson almost gasped out loud. She was absolutely beautiful. He had known that before, but seeing her now, with her hair pulled up on top of her head, the curls cascading down, sparkly things in her ears, and the glowing silk of her dress uniform, he was simply stunned. "Jilly, you look beautiful."

A soft smile made her face even more beautiful, and she slipped her hand between his body and his arm, and glowed up at him. He found it difficult to breathe, and had to remind himself that he must not just stand there, that they had a party to attend. With great care, he led her off down the path to the medical center, where the main waiting room had been cleared and decorated. The room was full of cadets and staff, drinking punch, eating small dainties, and talking non-stop. The overhead lights were off, and many strands of twinkling lights in holiday colors lit the room. And there, in the doorway, hung a bunch of green leaves and tiny white berries.

He stopped, directly under that ribbon-tied bundle, and looked down into her eyes. She looked back up at him, and her eyes widened, and then began to drift shut as he lowered his head. He brushed his lips softly over hers, and felt the soft rush of her breath on his skin, the tiny little sigh that came from her as she leaned against him for just a brief moment. For that tiny bit of time, nothing else existed, and then sound and music and light came rushing back. He straightened back up, his eyes never leaving hers, and knew that something important had just changed forever.