"Transfer of resources is going according to schedule," Breetai informed Lisa during their weekly call. "Thanks to your effort, we have all that we need."
"I had Exedore's help," Lisa reminded him, sharing the credit with her friend. She knew that they needed a lot to replenish their supplies and taking from only one of the planets would deplete its resources and create a disadvantage for the previously disputing races. It was through Exedore's extensive knowledge of intergalactic history and protocols that they were able to broker peace. With the union of the prince and princess, she hoped that they would have lasting peace from then on.
"It was quite a romantic end," Exedore noted, voicing her thoughts. "I must read this 'Romeo and Juliet' that you mentioned."
"I can have a copy sent to you," she offered, jotting a quick note for Cindy.
"I find it amazing that there are similarities in human literature," Breetai reflected. "It allowed us to change the course of history in this planetary system." He had heard from Exedore the gist of the story and how they had applied gentle persuasion for the kings and queens to see how their adamant objection to their children's love could end in tragedy.
"I think we're all connected somehow," she mused. "We all live to either love or fight."
"Some are more predisposed to fight," Breetai said casually, knowing that they were built by the Robotech Masters as fighting machines.
"But not unable to overcome it," she reminded him. "The Zentraedi is proof that a race can learn that there is more to just fighting and find love, compassion and friendship."
"True, anything is possible," Exedore agreed.
Just then, the door opened and revealed two little children running towards Lisa.
"Mommy," Clarisse greeted first.
Lisa hugged both her kids before asking them to greet Exedore and Breetai through the communication console.
"Hello Uncle Exedore, hello Uncle Breetai," Clarisse greeted in turn as her mother requested.
"Unkey Exedol, unkey Bleetai," Roy tried to mimic his sister as best he could.
"No Roy, it's Exe-dore," Clarisse tried to correct him by enunciating. After a few tires, she gave up seeing that he was not yet ready to say it right.
The adults watching were quite amused and knew that Roy tried his best.
"Well gentlemen, thank you for the updates," Lisa said at last, indicating the end of their meeting. "I'll talk with you soon."

"Why can't we come?" Clarisse asked as she watched Lisa pack her bag. Roy was sitting next to her and pulling things out of Lisa's bag.
"Because it's work and no one is going to look after you when I'm in meetings," Lisa explained. She realized what Roy was doing so she pulled the bag a little further away from him.
"Daddy can come with us," the little girl suggested, determined to get Lisa to take them with her.
"Daddy is going to be busy here," she answered her little girl. She could see a familiar determined look on Clarisse's face and knew it was going to be tough to dissuade her.
"Please mommy," Clarisse begged.
"Please mommy," Roy seconded, not really understanding but loved mimicking his older sister.
"Are you going to help me with this?" Lisa finally said and looked at Rick. She saw him merely shrug his shoulders in response.
"Risse, I promise we'll do something together when I get back," Lisa tried to bargain with her daughter.
"But we want to come with you," Clarisse insisted with a slight pout. "Please …"
"Please," was all Roy could say, still not understanding what was going on.
"Kids, let me talk to mommy," Rick finally interceded. He watched the two little ones scramble off the bed and out their room.
"Rick, it's not going to happen," Lisa tried to cut him off before he started. She knew he was a pushover when it came to the kids.
"The kids just want to be with you, I see no harm," he persisted.
"Who's going to watch them while I'm working? It's not like I'm going on a vacation. And I'm not going to ask Exedore to babysit even if he is very fond of them. They're quite a handful and you know it."
"Then let me come with you," he suggested. "We can put Max in charge. It's about time we train him for command duties."
"You wanted to go all this time didn't you?" she eyed him carefully.
Rick smiled his innocent smile in reply.
Lisa had to admit that it was a good opportunity to give Max some experience with command and she did miss the kids terribly when she had to travel even if it was between ships in the fleet.
"Besides, I think it would be a great educational opportunity for the kids to meet the Zentraedis," he added. "It will teach them tolerance and appreciation of difference."
"Do you think they're ready?" Lisa asked with a look of apprehension. "They're still too young."
"They'll be fine."

Upon their arrival on Breetai's ship, they were greeted by Exedore and Breetai. Clarisse was fairly enthusiastic about meeting the towering Breetai but Roy was astounded by his size, hiding behind Lisa's leg as he stared at the giant before him.
"Say hi to Uncle Breetai, Roy," Lisa encouraged as she picked him up. But instead of doing as she asked, Roy buried his face in Lisa's shoulder.
"Look, Roy, it's Uncle Breetai," Clarisse encouraged her brother as well.
"Perhaps he needs some time to warm up to him," Rick suggested, hoping Breetai wasn't offended.
"Yes, you've had a long trip," Breetai agreed and showed he understood. "We can try this again later."
After they were shown to their quarters, Lisa still couldn't pry Roy off her shoulder.
"Come on Roy," Rick said, trying to help but unsuccessfully. "You're a big boy aren't you? It's just us now." He finally managed to get a hold of the boy to pull him away only to have him start crying loudly.
"It's okay," Lisa tried to soothe the wailing boy. "Mommy's here." She took Roy back into her arms.
"Should I tell Exedore to cancel the meeting?" he suggested, seeing that Roy was not easily parted from Lisa. He wondered if he had overestimated Roy's readiness to meet Breetai in person.
"No, we can't delay any more. You'll just have to go in my place."
Rick knew it was the only choice so he did as he was told. He hoped that when he returned, Roy was back to his usual self.

Rick returned to their temporary quarters to a more relaxed domestic atmosphere. He saw that Roy was playing with Clarisse and Lisa was preparing dinner.
"Daddy!" Roy called out first for once and flung his arms open to be lifted up.
"Hi daddy!" Clarisse greeted next, wanting to be lifted up as well.
"You're back," Lisa greeted and wiped her hands on her apron. "How did the meeting go?"
"Long and lots of things to do," Rick replied with a tired look. "I don't know how you do it."
"Well, I guess you were right," she said with a smile. "This experience would do us all good. You can learn to handle more command duties." She gave him a quick kiss.
"Well, I know how to delegate. I will assign them all back to you," he teased.
"See, you're already becoming a pro," she chuckled. "Oh, and by the way, I outrank you so you can't assign anything to me." She gave him a playful smile before going to set the table for dinner.

Lisa checked her watch one more time as she waited for Rick to arrive. She had hoped that he would take a day off so they could spend the whole day together but knew well enough that it was lucky to get even half a day off during this busy period. With a new ship on the fleet, they needed to recruit and train more officers. She was grateful to her crew who took on the task without complaint as it was. She checked the picnic basket she packed that morning one more time before opening the bay doors to wait for Rick inside.
An hour later, Rick arrived and entered the same way Lisa did in a rush. He didn't want to keep her waiting but realized too late he was at the wrong location. When he got in, he was amazed by what he saw and stood in awe.
"Rick, you're finally here," Lisa greeted with a hint of impatience in her voice. "What took you so long?" She realized belatedly that he wasn't that late but wished he hadn't been an hour tardy.
"I got lost," he stammered an apology. "I thought it was Bay 48A not 48B." Being on a huge ship, it took him that long to go from one end to the other when he realized the error.
"I specifically told Louie which one," she said, confident she gave precise direction.
"I guess he missed that tiny detail, he just wrote down Bay 48," he said, showing her Louie's scribbled note. He didn't realize there were two bays until he got to level 48.
"Well, you're here now," she echoed words she said a long time ago when he was likewise late for a picnic. Those were different times but she made a mental note that picnics were always going to be this way for them. "So, what do you think?" Gauging from his reaction, she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"This is …" he trailed off, still stunned by what he saw in front of him.
Before them was an artificial beach complete with white sands and random waves lapping the shoreline a few steps away from where they stood. Strewn about were faux sea shells to complete the effect.
"Amazing what we can accomplish huh?"
"Yeah," he managed to say, kneeling down to scoop some sand and let the grains run through his fingers.
"Last one in is baby-sitting for a month," she challenged him as she started to strip down to her bathing suit.
"Not fair!" he objected to her challenge. "I don't have my trunks on and you had a head start." He didn't really mind baby-sitting the kids even when they're on duty but his competitive nature made him want to beat her into the waters nonetheless.
"I won't tell if you won't," she suggested seductively.
Rick quickly stripped down to his shorts and chased Lisa into the waters. He plunged into the arriving waves beside her. The water was slightly salty but suitably cold. He emerged above the water line and looked around him to find her. He had a momentary sense of panic when he didn't see her anywhere but was quickly relieved when she finally emerged slightly to his left.
"What?" she inquired, seeing the panicked look on his face.
"I almost forgot that you are a very good swimmer," he said, a smile returning to his face for her benefit.
"When did you see me swim?" she wondered aloud.
"Remember when you rescued me from drowning when we were trying to escape the soldiers on Breetai's ship?"
"That was so long ago and I remember you were unconscious then to notice," she joked.
"Well considering you got both of us out of the water then, I'd say you'd have to be a good swimmer," he justified his statement regarding her swimming skills. "This reminds me, I don't think I properly thanked you for that." He swam closer to her and leaned forward to kiss her.
They swam side by side for a while before deciding to lounge by the beach. Rick gobbled up all the sandwiches that Lisa handed to him.
"Slow down Rick," she tried to warn him. "You might get heartburn."
"I'm just hungry after that workout. You must've been on the swim team huh? I had to work hard to keep up."
"No, if I were, it would be an unfair advantage," she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "I just love the beach."
"What made you love the beach," he asked, wanting to know more.
"My mother used to take me to the beach until she passed away." There was a hint of sadness as she explained it to him. Even after all those years, she still felt the pain of losing her mother at such a young age.
"Was that the last time you went to one?" he ventured to ask, trying to be sensitive to her feelings.
"No," she assured him, knowing he was trying to see if this was causing her to be sad. "My father took me a few times when he could after that and I went to one near the academy. That's how I met the developer of this beach-themed water park. Jared owned a small resort that we frequented during our academy days."
"We?" Rick already guessed who she meant.
"Rick, I had some friends at the academy and took some furloughs," she teased, taking care not to mention Karl's name knowing about his lingering jealousy towards Karl.
"It seems like everyone who loved you took you to a beach except for me," he said with obvious disappointment in himself for not knowing such a significant thing in her life.
"You didn't know and I can't expect you to know about that," she said, hoping to dispel his disappointment. "Besides, that's why I brought you here. Happy Birthday, Rick!" She kissed him to drive home her point. She was initially concerned when he didn't kiss her back but after a few seconds, she felt him respond and deepen their kiss.
"We should bring the kids next time," he said when he finally pulled away from her embrace. His mood was lightening as she continued to nibble at his ear. "We'll make it a family tradition."
"Sure," she agreed absently, still busy trailing kisses along his neck.
"And maybe next time you can wear a one-piece suit," he suggested.
"Why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Lisa did a quick check , wondering why he would make such a suggestion.
"Nothing really, I actually love it," he started to explain. "But I'll have to gouge out any man's eyes who dare to stare at you in that."
Lisa laughed at Rick and thought that was more a reaction she expected from her father during her academy days. Karl might have, too, but wasn't the type to act violently.
"Maybe we can have an officers only day?" he suggested, knowing that it would limit the audience to people they know and are too respectful to ogle their commanding officer.
"I can't promise anything," she answered frankly. "But I'll do my best to help you avoid a court martial for what you intend to do. I didn't know you felt that way." She was amused by his show of protectiveness.
"Don't get me wrong, I really love seeing you in this," he assured her and ran his fingers over her bare midsection. "But I just don't think I'll ever be ready to share your beautiful figure with any man, even if he just looks."
"In that case, I want you in a body suit," she declared teasingly. "I'm not ready to let women see your bare chest either." She ran her fingers down his chest sending wonderful sensations through his entire body.
"We're the only ones here, right?" he asked, looking around to confirm. "Do you think we can …" He whispered the rest in her ear.
Lisa's eyes widened and darkened as he told her his plan. She was shaking her head as she felt her face heat up, hoping it would dissuade him. She instead suggested that they head home.
"It's my birthday," he reminded her, wanting to get his way. "I get one wish and this is it."
"You get a birthday wish only if you blow out candles on your birthday cake," she countered. "And I didn't have room in the picnic basket for your cake." She was relieved about that now intending to bring one earlier.
"That's easily amended," he said with a wicked smile and a matching sparkle in his eyes. He pulled out his mobile phone and drew a cake with a lit candle. He showed her proudly and promptly blew it out virtually with a soft blow and swipe of his hand. His grin was so wide that Lisa couldn't refuse any longer.