Well, it was time to check the mail. Going to my own monitor in the com room, I opened up the email application and anticipated one from the President... Well, there were two actually. One was, indeed, from the President, but this other one seemed different. I decided to read the one from the President first.

'Baby steps first, Olimar! Plan well, and don't worry about me. Our debt is with Happy Hocotate Savings & Loan, after all. Besides, there's nothing left to repossess, so HA!'

Oh, Mr. President. How wrong you are. But, ignorance is bliss. Since the ship was going to send today's report to him, I decided to let that be my response back. Now for the other one...

As soon as I opened the second email, things that I had forgotten about Olimar came back to me.

'My dearest dear... How are you? Your boss gave me this space-email account and told me about your business trip. Just remember—you have a family to think about!'

"... Oh shit."

"What's up, Gin?" I heard Tori call from the dining kitchen. She was probably already coming to get me for dinner... Might as well tell her indirectly, "Um... What would you do if you got a letter from your loving wife that's worried about you?"

It was silent for a long ten seconds before her hysterical laughter filled the entire ship. A few moments after, Tori came up to the com room, still laughing. "Lemme read it! Lemme read it!"

"Tori, it's awkward enough that I suddenly have a WIFE now, but having someone else read about it is making me die inside!"

Despite my pleas, Tori began to read through the message. As she read, her smile grew as she began to laugh once more. "You're a DAD?! Holy hell! And you have a wife too! You're living the dream right there, bud!"

Okay, that's it.

"Don't think you're off the hook here! Louie's a total momma's boy! In fact, YOU might get a few from HIS MOM!" I snapped.

Tori's laughter ceased abruptly. Slowly looking at me right in the eye, she could only say, "... You serious?"

"Dead serious."

As she processed this information, she came to a deduction that was pretty much on the mark, "You're telling me the guy I am RIGHT NOW is one of those guys that's single and still lives with their mom?"

I returned with a shrug, "Probably. I don't know anything about Louie having a girlfriend and he does indeed live with his mom."

The com room was silent, with only the sound of monitors running in the background, before a very distinct "FUCK!" erupted from Tori. This, of course, was enough for the roles to be switched, with her being angry at my cackling instead of the other way around.

"Shut up! This is WAY worse than having a wife and kids! I have to figure out what to say to this guy's mom! AND I have to deal with the fact that the guy I'm stuck as is gonna be the next 40 Year Old Virgin!"

After my own laughing fit (which lasted for a bit longer than it should have thanks to the '40 Year Old Virgin' bit), I finally calmed down and regained my composure. It felt good to laugh like that. Especially in this situation. Seeing that Tori was a bit grouchy from the whole thing, I decided to propose something that she might be up for.

"Sorry, I just really needed that. But, how about this. You can read the letters I get from my... Wife?... If I can read the ones from your, uh, current mom. We can get equal humiliation and just have fun. Maybe we can make fun of ourselves even," I suggested.

This got Tori noticeably interested. She thought about it for a minute, then grinned. "Alright, sure! I mean, it's better to have equal time making fun of each other and ourselves. And it's more fun, yeah?" she said with a nod, "Now that that's all settled, dinner's ready, so—"

"Be sure to show me your letter first when we start this. You already saw mine, so it would only be fair."

Tori just let out a sigh. "Fiiiiine. I promise I will. Wrap up whatever it is that you need done up here and come down."

With that, she left downstairs. Okay. Now that I was alone...

'Work would never be more on my mind than you all. I might be far away, but I'm always thinking of all of you. Tell the kids to be good while I'm gone!'

They might not be my actual family, but they still are technically mine right now. I might as well not make them worry. After I sent my message, written completely from the training I had obtained from being forced to watch many rom coms from my mom, I left to join Tori in the dining kitchen.