Jackie: Ink, you are so impatient. 'smirk' I will get to the plants, I haven't forgotten them, just keep reading. Before this fic is done the loose ends will come together. I intend for this fic to be longer than Silver Wings and Silver Wings was 25 chapters long. You won't be disappointed, and if you are, I will gladly publish any flames you care to write.

'listens to the music' hey, hey, now, down girl. Behave yourself! No lemons this chapter, but some mild Meryl x Vash fluff.

Thanks to all, I LOVE reading the reviews.

Disclaimer: Haven't said it in a while, so in case you've forgotten. I don't own Trigun.

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Chapter 18;

After dropping Millie and Wolfwood off at the house, Vash and Meryl checked into a small inn in town. As Vash was signing the guest book, Meryl snatched the keys and stormed upstairs. Vash pouted as the man behind the counter said, "Oh, she's looks like she is in a mood. You sure you don't want two rooms?"

"I'm sure," Vash said, "Ummm, could I get a glass of water while I'm standing here?"

"You're going to need something stronger than water," The man chuckled and handed Vash a glass, "But here you go."

Vash slammed in back. "AH! I'm alive again! Gee thanks, mister. Gotta go deal with the little lady now, cya!"

The man's eyebrow twitched with confusion as Vash strode upstairs. He shook his head and said, "3… 2… 1… "

"AhHHhhh," a muffled voice screamed from upstairs, "Whatcha do that for???"

The inn keep smiled and poured himself a drink, thankful he didn't have any other guests for them to disturb. He laughed and said, "Should've taken the other room."

Vash marched through the bedroom door with his goofiest smirk on.

KAPOW!

"AHHHhhhh," Vash whined, "Whatcha do that for???"

Meryl was fuming. She turned away from him, crossing her arms and sniffed. Vash blinked at her back wondering why she hadn't laid into him verbally yet. She was never at a loss for words.

"We have one special night together," She started softly, there she goes, "A few dates, and we WERE planning a 'big' date, but THAT got canceled. I understand why but… Damn it Vash, you go running off whenever ANYONE else needs you. Why couldn't Knives have gone himself? We would have kept an eye on Mira; she would have waited for him. I'm sure of it. Why is it always me who gets left behind why you solve everyone else's problems?"

"Meryl, I-" Vash started.

"I'm not finished," She snapped, "Those dates… Let's see, we went to five different saloons, you got drunk, and I carried your sorry butt home. You know, helping out is just who you are, I wouldn't mind waiting…"

Meryl turned and slipped her arms around him. Her eyes were closed as her lips brushed against his. She whispered against his lips, "Just give me something worth waiting for."

"Meryl," Vash breathed against her lips.

Meryl's soft kisses and gentle caresses had Vash hypnotized. Meryl turned them with a few expert shuffles and then backed him up against the bed. With a slight eep of surprise Vash and fell back unto it and Meryl straddled him. Vash peered up into Meryl soft violet gaze, clouded with lust, and smiled softly. He rubbed the small of her back gently and said, "Meryl, I can't do this."

"Why the hell not?" Meryl growled.

"Because I don't believe in it," Vash said.

He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed each knuckled gently. He closed his eyes and whispered into her palm, "I want to, I want to so badly, but… I would have to marry you first."

Meryl gaped at him. Of course! Vash was always doing the honorable thing, it just fit his character. Meryl wanted to laugh at her terrible luck, and she did.

"What?" Vash asked looking more than a little surprised.

"Then it's never going to happen," Meryl answered.

"Oh," Vash said sadly, "Because you would never marry a drifter like me?"

"No," Meryl said looking very much like she was about to issue a challenge, "Because you don't have the guts to ask me."

Meryl got up and did her 'I know I'm right walk' to the other bed. Vash whined, "Hey! That's not fair! Don't you want to cuddle?"

"Nope," Meryl teased, "Can't do that until we're married."

With that Meryl turned out the light.

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Jackie; I don't have chickens yet 'frowns' I think my thermometer is wrong. When I candle the chicks they don't look far enough along, which is a sure sign of low temp. My thermometer is at the level of the eggs and reads 100.5 degrees, which is right where it should be. I'm going to adjust so that it reads 101.5 and see what happens. Too low a temp causes late or failed hatches, too high causes pre-cooked chickens. EEEWWWW. I guess I'll just adjust up a degree at a time until I have a successful hatch. The humidity and ventilation seems perfect. It's just simply not hot enough

Now that you know more than you ever wanted to about chickens… GOODNIGHT!