Chapter 2
Delbert stretched as he set his books down at his usual table at the Benbow Inn. Since school had started back up, it seemed ever so slightly quite with Jim and Lizzy at school.
"Welcome in, Del." Amelia stepped up to his table and set a bowl of water down.
"You know me to well," He smiled up at her.
"I have to keep busy or my brain is going to melt." She winked, "But, also, Mrs. Dunwoody is going to need a refill soon so I have to go."
He nodded and pulled out his latest paper. Matt sat across from him.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"Listen, I'm sorry about last week," Matt shifted in his seat, "I know—"
"Don't worry about it," Delbert waived him off, "I was a little to harsh in what I said about Leland and I think we both just got a little out of line."
"Nah. You were right." Matt shrugged, "It's just...he's my brother. You know? I guess it hurts more than it should that he isn't being as good to Sarah and Jim as I imagined when I was growing up."
"I get it. Half of my siblingschoseto stay with our mother when Da took me and left."
Matt nodded, "Right…"
Delbert smiled and leaned forward, "What do you need?"
Matt winced, "That transparent, huh?"
"Oh yeah. What do you need?"
"Look," Matt nodded over to his sister-in-law, "Sarah's completely burnt out. Leland's still out on the ship and won't be back any time soon so I wanted to take her out tonight just so she can relax a bit. Would you mind watching Jim? Just for tonight?"
"No problem," Delbert shrugged, "But, you know you didn't need to butter me up to ask that, right?"
"Maybe not. But I did need to apologize."
Delbert huffed and held up one fist. Matt smiled back and hit the back of his fist against that of his best friend. They stayed like that for a moment before Matt coughed.
"I gotta get back to the kitchen before everything starts piling up again. Thanks again, Del."
"Don't mention it." Delbert waved him off and turned back to his work.
Two hours later the door of the Inn burst open and Jim and Lizzy dashed through. Without looking up, Delbert held out one arm and scooped Jim into his lap.
"Hey! Uncle Del!" He squealed, "Let go! I wanna go play!"
"So you have homework?"
"...Yeah…"
"Then you're going to want to finish it sooner so that we can have fun for longer," Delbert smiled and whispered, "You're going to hang with me tonight as a surprise for your mom. If you finish your homework early then we can play and watch holos until late."
Jim lit up, "Ok!"
He wiggled out of Delbert's lap and fished his homework out of his backpack. Lizzy pushed up another chair and got started on her homework. She and Jim whispered and giggled as they worked.
"Uncle Del?" Jim fixed him with his best puppy eyes, "Can we have a sleepover with Lizzy and Ms. Mia? Like when Mom watched Lizzy?"
Delbert looked over to where Amelia was serving another table. "We'll have to ask Ms. Mia but we'll see what we can do."
"Yes!" The children highfived and turned back to their homework, still giggling and whispering.
LLB
For hours after Sarah and Matt left, Delbert and Amelia entertained Jim and Lizzy. They played in the garden behind the Inn, Delbert taking turns swinging the children around by their wrists while Amelia played mock sword fights with them. They ate a diner of mixed up left overs from the fridge. Delbert chased them around on all fours, growling and snarling until Amelia leapt onto the sofa and declared that the floor was lava. Before they could watch any holos, Jim and Lizzy insisted that they needed to build a fort to watch them from. Delbert left Amelia to help with that while he made popcorn. And, of course, both Lizzy and Jim were deep asleep well before the holo was over.
They were both curled up in the fort. Though Lizzy was laying over Amelia's lap, her head was resting beside Jim's in Delbert's lap. He absentmindedly played with their hair as he watched the last of the holo.
"You're a Doppler. Aren't you."
He froze and couldn't bring himself to look at her, instead choosing to look down at the two eight-year-olds asleep in his lap, "I was. But I can't exactly change my name so...I guess."
Amelia was silent for a while.
"You said that you once jumped from a crows nest. That you were born on a ship."
He nodded.
"This was yours. Wasn't it."
She held out the knife and he could only nod. She put it away and looked down at her sister.
"I was supposed to bring you back with me but...I couldn't do it." He said, "I hated everything about being there and the last thing I wanted was to hurt someone. The Captain wasn't particularly happy with me."
"Was that when your father took you and left?"
He nodded again, "Not just me but two of my siblings as well. The Captain wouldn't let him take the youngests and the oldests chose to stay."
She nodded and shifted in her seat, "Who all knows?"
"Sarah and Matt. I don't think Leland does. Da and I certainly never said anything to him." He stroked Jim's hair gently, "And it didn't take your father long to figure it out."
"Papa knows?"
"Yeah," He turned his attention to Lizzy, "I understand if you'd rather I not be around your sister. I can't promise that I won't be around the Inn since I still have Jim but I can make an effort to—"
He stiffened as Amelia laid her head on his shoulder. He glanced down at her.
"It's fine, Del. I have no love for your family, Captain Doppler in particular, but you haven't really given me a reason not to trust you. If Papa trusted you enough to leave us here, and accepted your offer to help us, then I guess I can't really argue with that."
Delbert smiled and took a deep breath before resting his head on top of hers.
LLB
"That's just sad," Matt shook his head as he watched Delbert pace the garden.
"Well, excuse me. I thought I was never going to have to worry about this again after I finished high school." Delbert rounded on him.
"Then you chose academics." He grinned, "And now you need a date for a fancy dance."
Delbert groaned and sat on the bench, face buried in his hands.
"You could take Doria."
Delbert glared at him, "I'm not that desperate, Matt."
"You could takeme," He bat his eyelashes and leaned over Delbert's shoulder.
"I've seen you dance and I would honestly rather take my chances with my sister."
"What aboutmysister?"
"Lizzy!" Delbert jumped and fell off the bench, "Ow. How long have you been standing there?"
"Long enough to know that you need to take someone who can dance to take to the cotillion." She shrugged, "Papa wanted to make sure that all of us could be proper ladies so he made sure that all of us can dance properly. 'Liv may be the one who married a lord but Mama Mia is the better dancer."
Delbert stared at her for a moment before turning back to Matt, "Hey, Matt? You want—"
"Nope. Sorry, Del. That ship has sailed," Matt crossed his arms and went to stand with Lizzy, "I think our little lady here has the right idea. Ask Mia. I'm sure she could use a good time."
Delbert groaned again.
"What's wrong?" Lizzy tilted her head, "Don't you like Mia"
"Of course I do," He knelt in front of her, "But...this is kind of different and...I'm not sureshe'lllike it."
"But she likesyou. I'm sure she'd say yes."
"Fine." He stood back up, "I'll ask her once she finishes her shift."
"She finished her shift, like, five minutes ago while you were having a panic attack in the garden," Lizzy took his hand, "Come on. She should be done changing out of her work clothes by now."
Delbert choked and looked back to Matt for help. Matt just smiled and waved.
LLB
Delbert was trying to finish is work but found his mind kept returning to Mia and the cotillion. She had said yes but at what cost. He groaned again and dropped his head onto the table.
"Don't break the table, Del," Sarah said as she closed the blinds, "And be sure to lock the door when you go."
"Yes, Sarah."
She pat his head and went upstairs towards her room. Though she usually would have stayed and talked with him for a while, Leland had returned the day before and she was eager to spend some private time with her husband. He sighed and sat back up, turning his attention back to the books again. It wasn't long, however, before he heard footsteps on the stairs again.
"Sarah? Is every—"
Lizzy stood at the foot of the stairs.
"Lizzy? Everything ok?"
She shrugged.
"Still can't sleep?"
She nodded.
"Well, come on over."
She smiled and crawled into his lap.
"Don't worry." He assured her, "You'll get used to the sounds of the refinery eventually. It took me a while too."
She nuzzled back against his chest and looked down at the book, "What are you learning about now?"
"Supernovas and the life cycle of a star," He told her, "Right now, it's talking about how the death of one star can lead to the birth of another."
"Will you read to me from your books again?"
"You sure? It's not the most interesting think for a little one."
"I like it. What's a supernova?"
Delbert smiled and rest his head on top of hers while he read aloud from the textbook. He ended up staying far longer than he had intend, even after Lizzy fell asleep. He was careful to pack up his books and papers without waking her before carrying her up to room six of the Inn and tucking her into bed with her sister.
LLB
Amelia smiled and rest her cheek against Delbert's arm as they walked.
"I take it you had fun?" He smiled down at her.
She nodded, "I did. I don't usually enjoy going to things like this but I guess it must have been the company."
He laughed, "Or maybe it was the fact that we spent a good amount of it dodging people we didn't want to talk to? I apologize about the people we couldn't avoid. I know that my professors aren't exactly the most entertaining people to talk to."
"It was fine, Delbert." She shrugged, "Admittedly, they're not the type of conversations I'm used to having but it's not like they're conversations spacers don't have."
He smiled and rest his head on the top of hers. It was a rare clear night and they could see the stars from the Crescentia and beyond. A gentle breeze drifted over the plains as they walked.
"Sorry about the walk," He whispered, "It can't be comfortable in those shoes.
"It's fine, Del," She rolled her eyes, "To be honest, I'm really enjoying it. Maybe we can...do this again some time?"
He stumbled slightly. Catching himself, he looked back down at her for a moment. Her eyes were closed but she was worrying her lip between her teeth, eyebrows furrowed. He smiled and looked up at the Inn up the hill.
"I think I'd...like...that?"
"Delbert?" She leaned back and looked up, "What's wrong?"
He frowned up at the Inn, "What's the constable doing here this late?"
Amelia looked forward and frowned. She hoisted up her skirt and the two started running up the remainder of the hill. In the dinning hall, Sarah was hunched over the table, shoulder's shaking. Leland stood by the back window, just watching. The Constable, one of the only organic beings in the police force, stood by the door, hat over his chest. Delbert ran over to Sarah and dropped to his knees in front of her.
"Sarah? What happened?" He asked, heart racing, "Is someone hurt? Where's Jim?"
"Mattholemue Hawkins crashed his solar surfer in Crescent Canyon," The Constable explained, making Delbert and Amelia turn.
"I-Is he ok?" She asked.
Leland turned his glare down to Delbert, "He's dead."