"-And that's why the sky is blue," the gatón said to her classroom of students, who looked upon her with their undivided attention. She tapped the black chalkboard behind her to draw their attention from her own, unique appearance to the diagram she had drawn.

"Mrs. Farkas?" A student asked, raising his hand. Alexis nodded to him with a gentle smile. "Yes, Gavor?"

"Is that the same reason why there are rainbows?" The young lupar asked, his face a study of curiosity.

Alexis smiled a bit wider at him. "A good intuitive idea, Gavor," she said, but then shook her head. "But no, it isn't. Rainbows come from light being split by raindrops in the air, and not by the air itself. It is a similar process in effect, but still different." She saw his ears go down a bit in embarrassment, and she granted him another smile. "But don't feel bad. It was a very good guess, and even the Humans took a while before they figured it out."

The young lupar smiled back, and his countenance brightened a bit. Alexis nodded and was about to go one when the simple bell built into the schoolhouse rang, announcing the end of the day.

"Well, saved by the bell, eh?" She asked of the youngsters in the room, and they smiled and giggled. Alexis smiled back and then looked down at the planning book in front of her. "For your assignments over the weekend, I want you all to find five different leaves from any plant and bring them into class."

Another student raised her hand, and Alexis nodded to the young girl. "Yes Alayn?"

"Do they have to be only native plants?" The gatón asked innocently. Alexis smiled again and shook her head. "No, they don't. You can bring in some of the plants the humans have brought with, but at least one leaf should be from a native plant." She then paused and looked over the group of twenty-five. "Any other questions?" When none were forthcoming, she waved her left arm towards the door. "Class dismissed. Enjoy your weekend."

"Thank you Mrs. Farkas!" All of her students replied at once, and then they began to chaotically file out of the room. Alexis watched them go, and she sighed after the last one had left the sun-lit room. Such nice kids, she thought as she began to place papers into the folder she was using to carry around assignments and notes.

A knock interrupted her, and she looked up to see a very familiar face in the doorway. Smiling broadly, she walked over to meet the newcomer halfway. "Mikula!" She said happily, reaching out to hug him lightly. "Off duty so early?"

Mikula drew back from the hug and smiled at his wife. "With so little to do at this time of year, it's a wonder that I'm not off work early every day," he said warmly. "Colonel Tanaka likes to keep us busy, however, though today she let me sneak out a bit early." He then looked around a bit. "Where's little Earl?"

"With my parents," Alexis replied. "I think he resents having to come into school when he's not old enough and doesn't have anything to do." She chuckled then. "Especially when he'd rather be playing. That comes from your side of the family, you know," she said and then razzed Mikula.

The lupar chuckled. "Well, maybe the new one will be more like you," he said and placed a hand on her swollen belly. "How has he been?"

"You mean how has she been?" Alexis teased back. Then she smiled again and placed her hand over Mikula's. "And she's been quiet today, thank God. Yesterday I couldn't stand half the time in class, she was kicking so hard."

Mikula chuckled again. "You seem so confident that it will be a girl when you wouldn't let the doctor tell us the sex from the ultrasound."

Alexis razzed him again. "Woman's intuition," she said and then turned to collect the last of her papers as Mikula withdrew his hand. "Besides, they were wrong about little Earl, weren't they?"

"They've gotten better since then," Mikula said as he walked to the front of her desk so he could continue to face her. "And speaking of which, you'll remember in his last letter that 'Big' Earl said that our son isn't going to like being called little," he said with a smile to rob his words of any offense.

Alexis sighed. "I know, but he will always be my little baby," she said as she closed her folder and picked it up. "But I promise to stop calling him that if you will."

"It's a deal," Mikula said, waving for her to go first through the doorway. She did so, and eventually, the pair left the halls of the new, relatively modern schoolhouse behind and entered the streets of Shulana.

"You know, speaking of Earl," Alexis said contemplatively as she paused just outside the school. "That reminds me, isn't the fifth anniversary of the Blakest Surrender in two days?"

Mikula smiled and nodded. "Yes. I didn't think that you would forget so soon," he said, teasing her now. "Especially since you kept that hole in your ear."

Alexis razzed him. "It's a good conversation piece," she said, amused. Then she shook her head. "But it's not that I forgot, it's just…" She sighed. "Five years, and look how much we've accomplished," she said and waved her free arm over the town. Buildings made of concrete had started to appear, the schoolhouse included in that number, and what weren't made of concrete and rebar, had been reworked by power tools and modern wood construction techniques. The streets were paved now, though with concrete slabs rather than asphalt, as the natives of Bowman's Planet were still far from a completely mechanized society.

"It's a wonder, all right," Mikula said quietly as he reached over to hug his wife. "Not quite NeoTokyo, but a sight to behold nonetheless."

"Oh, definitely," Alexis said and then purred as he squeezed her shoulders. "Still, such a long way to go…"

"Hey now," Mikula said, interrupting her thoughts and bringing her attention to his face. "Don't you get sad on me, not when you're so close to term," he said and then smirked. "Bad luck, you know."

Alexis smiled up at him devilishly. "Sometimes, that's the best luck of all," she said, and then they reached out to kiss each other.