Disclaimer: Still don't own Trigun, though I am now the proud owner of the dvd box set of the entire series. Hooray for me!

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Desert Sands

By: Batbabe

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Chapter 7

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Milly was surprised just how easy it was to get used to being unemployed.

She spent most of her days doing odd things around the house now, usually alone. Meryl worked full time now and Mr. Vash had taken some odd jobs around town to help provide for the household. Milly had started doing all the cleaning and cooking around the house as well as most of the shopping, because she didn't want to put that burden on either of her friends since they had so much to do anyway. When she wasn't doing any of that, she was looking after Knives, which wasn't her favorite job in the world. None of them knew why he was still asleep, since he and Vash were supposed to be fast healers and his injuries weren't that severe. She was just glad that he was still unconscious, though he appeared to be getting much better. The color in his face had returned, and he seemed to be gaining some weight from their feedings.

Mr. Vash and Meryl were still doing that odd dance of theirs. For every step they took towards each other, they took another two steps back. Sometimes Milly wished she could just lock them up in a room together and conveniently lose the key for a while. That would force them to admit their feelings. But she knew that she wasn't strong enough at this point to get them together long enough to lock the door without either of them escaping.

She sighed to herself as she made her way down the street towards the old general store. It sure wasn't like this with her and Nicolas. They had simply admitted their attraction and then started seeing each other. They'd never pussy-footed around like Vash and Meryl. Just another reason for her to miss the man in black.

Milly placed a hand delicately on her protruding belly and smiled a little. Not much longer now, just two more months.

She walked into the store and greeted the elderly clerk behind the counter, as she did every time she came in. She made her way down each aisle, looking at the various products and determining if they would be useful or not. She did this almost every other day, realizing that it was just an activity to keep her busy and pass the time now that she didn't work.

She had never really enjoyed working at Bernadelli's, since she didn't like to be cramped up in an office all day with little to no physical activity, but at least it had enabled her to get out of the house everyday and interact with other people. She didn't get to do that as much now, and she found that she deeply missed it.

Maybe it wasn't as easy getting used to unemployment as she thought.

She frowned as she picked up a couple of cans of pudding, in various flavors. She took her small basket of purchases to the counter to pay for them, all the while pondering what exactly she was going to do once the baby was born. Would she go back to work so that the others didn't have to do all of the providing, or would she stay at home and take care of her child? It was a dilemma that millions of women had faced throughout the ages. At least Milly wasn't different in that respect.

As she turned to leave, she took out one of the cups of pudding and opened it, just as she did every time she went shopping, and began to eat it. She savored the rich taste of the chocolate on her tongue and a smile returned to her face.

When she looked up, the cup of pudding fell from her hand with a loud splat.

Across the street from her, coming out of a bar, was Nicholas D. Wolfwood.

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