Reunion

All of us found a seat around the kitchen table in joyous spirits. Suddenly, Morph came from who-knows-where with loud, happy trills. He recognized his former owner immediately and rubbed against his cheek as the cyborg stroked the blob with his finger.
"Morphie!" the rouge cried merrily. "Oh ho! I've missed ya so much. The ol' spacer's life hasn't been much the same withou' ya! Bet Jimbo and the fam'ly are takin' great care of ya though."
Morph flew around Silver's head enthusiastically as if agreeing with him. We knew the little creature missed his former owner. He snuggled on the man's left shoulder to rest as we chuckled.
"So, Silver," stated Jim with uncontainable joy in his voice. "How'd you find Danny? How'd you get here? When did Liz join the group? Why-"
"Whoa! Slow down, Jimbo! I think Danny here should start the story."
"Uh, okay," Danny said somewhat unsurely. "Well, it all kinda started when I went out the window."
Liz gave a stifled laugh to this expression.
"Anyway," he continued after giving her a look, "I brought some money in my duffle bag--enough to get to the spaceport. So I figured I'd find the ship I was supposed to go on and asked where to find it. When I found its docking area, I went to a nearby pub to get something to eat. Well, that's when I ran into Silver."
"So you were at Crescentia the whole time?" Jim asked Silver, dumbfounded.
"Oh, no, Jimbo. Only on occasion," Silver responded. He continued, "He was at the bar area and ordered something non-alcoholic. Smart lad. He looked angry 'n' was reserved. Not talkin'. So I started something. I asked 'im where he was from. He answered, 'Montressor.' He looked vaguely familiar. That angry expression. I asked for his name. 'Danny Hawkins,' he answered. Well, when I heard that, I guessed who his father was. Of course, I was correct. The boy wasn't surprised. He said, 'You probably know my famous parents. My dad's a captain, and my mom's a navigator.' I took a wild guess. I knew only one navigator who would be 'round Jim's age 'bout now. 'Laura Williamson Hawkins?' I asked. He nodded without a smile."
Jim and I started at our son.
"Hey," Danny cried. "You guys know I was tired of being referred to as the captain and navigator's son!"
"Danny," I corrected, "let him continue."
"Wait a sec," Jim interjected. "Silver, you know Laura?"
The pirate didn't hesitate. "I met 'er when she was just a tiny lass. Besides, everyone's heard of the Williamsons."
"Whoa. This really is a small universe," Jim said with wide eyes.
Silver went on, "I couldn't believe my Jimbo was a captain already, but I knew he had the makings of greatness in 'im."
Jim smiled as if lost in a memory.
"So I introduced myself to the boy, and he perked up. He told me his father talked to him and his sister about me. That Jimbo said if his children should consider anyone to be their grandfather, it would be me. Well, I was touched to the heart. I asked 'im 'bout his sister. 'She's just so perfect,' he said in an annoyed way. 'N' he said, 'I wanna be like her, but I can't. I wanna be like my parents too. But I just don't fit in, so I'm running away. I'm thinking of not going on that ship I'm supposed to go on and just finding something else'"
"Danny!" I raised my voice.
"Well I felt rebellious," my son replied in self-defense. He continued a little of the story. "Silver was gonna leave on one of those pirate ships soon after that. He told me that he only worked at the pub about a week every couple months, and they invited him back only because he was such a good cook. I knew he was a pirate from what you told me, Dad. So I asked if I could go with him. It sounded cool and, most of all, rebellious."
Silver continued, "I didn't want to put the lad in danger, especially when I knew he was a Hawkins, but I brought 'im with me on the ship anyway. It was docked out of sight only a couple blocks away. I promised myself I'd keep my ol' cyborg eye on 'im all the time. Sure we plundered a few innocent merchant vessels 'ere and there on our trip, but I watched the lad the entire time. Like I looked after you, Jimbo. I saw you in this young boy."
Jim smiled proudly and ruffled Danny's hair. Danny chuckled.
As I listened to his story, I forgot about my father and the murder. All I saw at that time was a good man with a soft heart.
"It was awesome!" cried Danny, interrupting my thoughts. "He taught me how to maneuver a longboat, handle the solar sails, let me try my hand at the helm, and a lot of the other stuff spacers do. I mean, not like the stuff officers do, but you know. Anyway, that's where Liz comes in. Go on, Liz."
"Well, the merchant ship I was on reached its destination at Spaceport Neblaria. I stayed at this inn near the docking area. The next morning we set out for home, but this small pirate vessel attacked us. All of the goods were taken. The rest of the merchant ship's crew escaped in longboats, apparently heading for Neblaria. They hadn't noticed that I hadn't joined them. Before I got my own longboat, the pirates captured me. I was tied up down in the brig and was probably there for at least an hour. That's when Danny came down to check on the prisoners (although I was the only one). I was shocked. None of us thought I'd find him while I was gone. This was more than I could stand, however. He had become one of them. A pirate. I told him that I wasn't leaving unless he came with me. After much persuading, he finally agreed. Then I met Silver."
"I went down into the brig to check on Danny," started Silver, "when I saw 'im helpin' a young lass out of the ropes that held her. I recognized those blue eyes immediately. Yours, Jimbo. He introduced me to Liz, and said he had to leave with 'er. I felt a pang of sadness. I couldn't go with 'em."
"But," Danny interrupted, "we--well, I-- pleaded him to come with us. Besides, he was the only one who knew a way out of there without getting caught by the other pirates. They were still busy stealing the last things from the victims' ship, so we figured we could get out without a huge risk of being noticed. So we got in one of the pirates' longboats and got out of there. Silver let me drive."
Liz had to say, "Mom. Dad. Have you ever seen him maneuver one of those things? He's brilliant."
Danny was trying to hold back his pride. "Hey, Silver taught me everything I know about it. Besides, Liz, you navigated us to Neblaria without your instruments. That's not bad."
"I used the stars. Mom taught me how to do that. We met up with the captain and the rest of the merchant ship crew at Neblaria. We kinda had to make Silver keep his distance from us, so they wouldn't see him in the crowd. I mean, they wouldn't let a pirate on their ship. I also kinda told them that Danny was also a prisoner, and we escaped together."
"Liz," I said threateningly, "you know about lying."
"But, Mommy, I wouldn't have gotten Danny on the ship otherwise! Anyway, Silver, Danny, and I stayed at that inn I told you about near the docking area for the night."
"Hey," Danny laughed. "That guy at the front desk was flirting with you!"
"He was not! He was just being polite!"
"No. No, he was so flirting with you!"
"Danny," I had to stop the nonsense. "Finish the story."
He went on, "So we sneaked Silver on another ship we took home (the other ship was pretty much destroyed). I don't think anyone suspected we were sneaking food to a stowaway."
Silver laughed heartily.
"He got off the ship at Crescentia when no one was looking and got him on the shuttle home. I don't think anyone there knew he was an outlaw. Then we got back here."
"Wow," said Jim somewhat breathlessly. "What a trip!"
"Thank you, Silver," I wasn't afraid of him then. "You have really helped Danny. I don't know how, but you did."
"Aw. It's all inside of 'im, Laura."

We gave Silver our rarely-used guest room. Jim talked happily half the night about him. My feelings about Silver may have changed.

I got up early the next morning to put on a pot of coffee and possibly make breakfast. Silver came down the stairs and into the kitchen soon afterward.
"Oh, good morning, Mr. Silver," I began the conversation.
"Top of the mornin' to ya, Laura! Your hospitality is much appreciated."
"Anytime. By the way, thanks again for looking after Danny. How did you make him so happy and so much more outgoing?"
"Well, he mentioned all that bothered 'im when he met me. I knew his father wasn't like Jimbo's, but I thought I could teach 'im a thing or two by keepin' 'im busy. Sure enough, he found that he was good at lots of things on the ship. You should've seen his face light up when he handled that longboat. Just like his Dad!"
"Thank you."
"Would ya like me to help ya with breakfast?"
"Would you like to?"
"Well, I'm an ol' galley cook. Of course I would."
"Okay. Wanna know something? Jim is a much better cook than I am."
"Really?" Silver's eyebrows rose as he got up to help.
"Yeah. I mean, think about it. He helped his mother run an inn and helped you in the galley when he was your cabin boy. I, on the other hand, was navigating all the time and so was my mother. We haven't had much time to learn to cook great cuisine, but we get by. My family eats what I cook, but they love when their dad does it." Silver and I chuckled.
"So how is yer mother?"
"Oh, she's fine. She hasn't navigated in a while though. Migraine headaches, you know."
"Oh. I see. Yer getting along alright?
I knew where this was going. "Without my father? Oh, yeah. We've missed him, but we got by."
"I'm sorry, Laura."
"What?'
"I'm sorry I killed yer father. He was a great man."
"Why'd you do it?"
"Philip knew I was a pirate when no one else on the ship did. He also knew about my obsession for the 'loot of a thousand worlds.' He repeatedly reminded me that there were more important things in life than riches, but I became worried that he would tell someone about my violent past and my potential intentions to get the loot."
"So it was all out of fear and selfishness?"
"Yes. I'm sorry, Laura."
I had to express my true feelings. "I never told anyone, you know. I let them believe it was just an accident. At first, it was out of fear of your threats. But it doesn't matter to me how he died anymore. It's just the fact that he's dead. Telling someone won't bring him back. No one's going to replace him. But now I've seen that you are able to love and how you loved Jim and saved his life. Without him and the new attitude he got after he met you, I wouldn't have my children and my wonderful life today. I wouldn't have married a law-breaking rebel, and I wouldn't have gotten to know him because he wouldn't have been at the Academy, I'm sure. I owe that to you, Silver. The murder was too long ago anyway. I will never forget Daddy's death, but I forgive you for it."
"Oh, Laura. That's a courageous thing. To forgive."
After a minute's thought, I changed the subject. "So, Silver! What's on the menu?"
"How 'bout Bonzabeast stew?"
"For breakfast?" We both ended up laughing.

Author's Note: To be continued...