June 6, 2440,
By the time the studio realized Matthew Johnathan Boone Marmaduke was in Shibuya, he was already downstairs changing clothes.
The first verified sighting had come less than an hour earlier when someone in Ikejiri posted that the High Lord of the V’ren and three green women had walked out of a manga shop carrying shopping bags and the newest volume of *The Grey Shogun*.
Someone on the sidewalk had asked about the book.
Matt had held it up.
“Replacing Kevin’s copy. D’Stan stole his.”
Then, because apparently the situation was not ridiculous enough, he had added:
“I autographed this one for him.”
He had nothing whatsoever to do with *The Grey Shogun*.
That had not stopped him.
The four of them crossed the street, stopped at the 7-Eleven, walked to Ikejiri-Ohashi Station, rode the train to Shibuya, and disappeared into the afternoon crowd before most of Tokyo media understood there was anything to follow.
Kaori Tanaka had watched the social feeds assemble the route backward from her dressing room.
She was still laughing when Matt came through the backstage door.
“You autographed Kevin’s manga.”
“He’ll treasure it.”
“You did not write the manga.”
“That makes my signature unusually rare.”
L’tani T’all, walking behind him, said, “D’Stan is going to steal this copy too.”
“She had better not.”
“She stole the first one.”
Matt looked at her. “She borrowed it without permission.”
“That is stealing.”
T’mari laughed.
T’monn said, “I believe the human legal definition favors L’tani.”
“Wonderful. My household has become a criminal tribunal over manga.”
Kaori folded her arms.
“You could have taken a car.”
“I did take transportation.”
“You took the train.”
“It goes to Shibuya.”
“You came out of a manga shop.”
“I wanted a book.”
“And nobody knows how you got into the manga shop.”
Matt smiled.
“I know.”
Kaori stared at him for another second.
“You enjoy being difficult.”
“Sometimes.”
“That has not changed.”
“No.”
Neither had the way she looked at him when she knew he was enjoying himself too much.
Twenty-four years earlier, she had been twenty-three and finishing her graduate degree at the Missouri School of Journalism.
Matt had been eighteen.
For fourteen months, the difference had mattered to almost everyone except them.
They had dated, slept together, eaten badly, studied in the same rooms, gone to parties, met each other’s friends, fought occasionally, made up enthusiastically, and always known Kaori’s graduation had a date attached to it.
She had spent seven years preparing to return to Japan and become the woman she intended to be.
More than once she had thought about staying.
Matt had been the one who told her not to.
A stage assistant approached.
“Ten minutes.”
Kaori nodded.
The wives disappeared toward their dressing room.
Matt did not.
He was already dressed.
Kaori looked him over.
The yukata was expensive enough that anyone who knew fabric would notice, but deliberately less formal than what his wives were about to wear. Medium green and grey, restrained patterning, dark obi, tabi boots.
“You are underdressed.”
“I am comfortable.”
“You always were.”
“I wear these at home.”
“I remember.”
Matt gave her a look.
She smiled.
“Your pages are wearing them now too?”
“Weekends at home, yes. I approved yukata as acceptable page attire.”
“What do they normally wear?”
“Barongs. Cotton or linen for ordinary duty. Khaki or black trousers, shorts, or skirts.”
Kaori’s smile returned.
“I heard about the boy in the skirt.”
“He likes the airflow.”
“And Scotland sent kilts.”
“Two merchants.”
“Black and khaki?”
“Yes.”
“You approved them?”
“Conditionally.”
Kaori waited.
“He had to either eat an entire haggis or learn the bagpipes.”
She stared.
“He chose bagpipes.”
Kaori closed her eyes.
Matt added, “Angelina wishes he had chosen the haggis.”
“I agree with Angelina.”
“Most of the house does.”
“And formal dress?”
“Piña barongs. My tailor in Boonville makes them.”
Kaori nodded toward the women’s dressing room.
“And today?”
“The shop sent its seamstress onto the ferry for the fittings.”
“I heard.”
“One of the V’ren pages has been making traditional cloth and clothing since she was little. The seamstress discovered that and apparently decided she had acquired free labor.”
“Assistant.”
“That sounds nicer.”
“She was thrilled.”
“So was the seamstress.”
“And now every page is getting a kimono.”
“Male and female.”
Kaori smiled.
“They heard S’ola had missed the other fashion calls.”
“That was part of it. Geranto and I have been spending money there for years. They decided they were welcoming the whole group.”
“How much money?”
“Enough that they know our measurements.”
“Thousands?”
“Several times a year.”
Kaori shook her head.
“Of course.”
T’mari reappeared first.
The kimono was soft red and pink, cherry blossoms moving across the silk. The fitting was exact.
L’tani T’all followed in deep blue and silver cranes.
T’monn wore white and gold.
Kaori stopped talking.
Matt did too.
T’mari caught him looking.
She smiled.
T’monn noticed.
“So much for discipline.”
“I am appreciating the tailoring.”
L’tani tilted her head.
“Is that what you call it?”
Matt looked at Kaori.
“Do you have somewhere else to be?”
“Unfortunately for you, no.”
The stage manager held up two fingers.
Two minutes.
T’mari stepped close to Matt as Kaori moved toward the curtain.
“Calvas sends his greeting to the Shogun,” she whispered into his ear.
Then she bit his earlobe hard enough to cover the words.
And because she wanted to.
Matt turned his head.
“You know they would be scandalized in this country if they saw you do that.”
“Are you telling me to be good?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes brightened.
“That expression does not reassure me.”
“It should not.”
Matt laughed under his breath.
The stage manager pointed.
He walked into the light.
***
Kaori waited for the applause to settle.
“High Lord of the V’ren,” she began in Japanese, “although I am told another title has followed you out of Kyoto.”
Matt smiled.
“Has it?”
“Shogun.”
“I neither claimed it nor denied it.”
“That sounds very much like encouragement.”
“It fits the mood sometimes.”
She tapped her closed fan against her notes.
“You have accumulated titles.”
“Mostly against my will.”
“Farmer. Engineer. Businessman. Freeholder. Director. High Lord. Apparently Shogun.”
“Farmer.”
Kaori smiled.
“I knew you were going to say that.”
“Then you wasted a question.”
“I am paid by the hour.”
“So that’s what journalism has become.”
“I learned from Doug Meyers.”
“That man is a corrupting influence.”
“He says the same about you.”
“He is correct.”
The audience laughed.
Kaori set the notes aside.
Matt saw it.
His eyes narrowed.
“You still do that.”
“Do what?”
“Put the notes away when you have decided to become dangerous.”
“You remember.”
“I survived fourteen months of it.”
The audience reacted.
Kaori did not let them have the story yet.
“Doug already got the marriage announcement.”
Matt leaned back.
“Yes.”
“You announced on his show that you had married T’mari.”
“Yes.”
“Mexico then spent several days making certain there was no remaining human being in the region who had somehow missed it.”
“That was not my fault.”
“You went on live television.”
“Doug made me.”
“Matthew, I know Doug.”
“Then you understand.”
“I understand that he cannot make you do anything.”
“That is hurtful.”
Kaori ignored him.
“So I am not going to ask whether you are married.”
“Thank you.”
“I am going to ask what, exactly, your household is.”
Matt looked at her.
“That is a much more dangerous question.”
“I know.”
She lifted her tablet.
“Let us start with what is already public.”
Matt sighed.
“On May twenty-second you filed notice with the Columbia board and council that you had married in the Freehold on May sixteenth.”
“Yes.”
“No objection was entered during the statutory period.”
“No.”
“Under Columbia law, the marriage therefore stands.”
“Yes.”
“And because Columbia recognizes the marriage, your Columbia citizenship passed to T’mari.”
“Yes.”
“So T’mari Th’ron Marmaduke is now a Columbia citizen through marriage.”
“Yes.”
Kaori looked toward the camera.
“That part is not rumor.”
“No.”
“Then May twenty-eighth.”
Matt’s expression changed very slightly.
Kaori noticed.
She always had.
“The V’ren Trust, through Captain W’ren Th’ron, confirmed two registered pregnancies on the same day.”
“Yes.”
“T’mari’s.”
“Yes.”
“Which was intentional.”
Matt smiled.
“Very.”
“And L’tani T’all’s.”
“Yes.”
“Which was not.”
“No.”
Kaori opened the V’ren Trust statement.
“The Trust said V’ren society has no living tradition of plural marriage.”
“That is correct.”
“But also no prohibition against it.”
“Correct.”
“Because the only surviving examples are extremely old myths and legends.”
“Mostly involving one woman with multiple men.”
Kaori looked at him.
“You have been studying.”
“I live with V’ren.”
“Fair.”
She continued reading.
“Because registered pregnancies existed for both women, existing V’ren law gave the Trust no legal basis to deny either bond.”
“Yes.”
“So under V’ren law, you are legally bonded to both T’mari and L’tani.”
“Yes.”
“The Trust then said it considered the matter private.”
Matt looked around the television studio.
“I have noticed that definition of private is struggling.”
The audience laughed.
Kaori continued.
“They also said something unusually personal.”
Matt knew what she meant.
She read from the statement.
“That High Lord Marmaduke has challenged many V’ren males to remember their duties as fathers, and that having heard him say all he ever wanted was to become a father, they believed he would be a good one in the eyes of both humans and V’ren.”
The room quieted.
Matt looked down for a moment.
Kaori knew better than to fill the silence immediately.
When he looked up again, she asked:
“Was that difficult to hear?”
“A little.”
“Why?”
“Because I meant it.”
Another silence.
Then Kaori closed the statement.
“So that gives me T’mari.”
“Yes.”
“And L’tani T’all.”
“Yes.”
She looked directly at him.
“T’monn.”
Matt smiled.
“There it is.”
“Is she your wife?”
“Yes.”
Kaori waited.
Matt waited back.
“Do I have paperwork?”
“Not yet.”
Her eyebrows rose.
“Not yet.”
“No.”
“That answer has a footnote.”
“Most answers involving me have footnotes.”
“Will I enjoy this one?”
“Probably.”
“Will T’monn?”
Matt glanced toward the wings.
“That remains under review.”
The audience laughed.
Kaori smiled.
“Then perhaps she should be here.”
Matt sighed.
“I knew you were going to do this.”
“You brought them.”
“I thought this interview was about me.”
“Doug got the announcement. I want the architecture.”
Matt stared at her.
“That is annoyingly good.”
“I have a degree.”
“You had that when I met you.”
“I had most of it.”
“You corrected everything I wrote.”
“It needed correction.”
“Debatable.”
“It was not.”
Kaori turned toward the producer.
“Bring them out.”
***
T’mari entered first.
Then L’tani T’all.
Then T’monn.
The audience drew a collective breath.
Formal kimono transformed the three women without making them look disguised. The garments had been made for their bodies, not forced onto them.
Kaori stood and bowed.
“You honor us.”
T’mari returned it.
“We had an excellent seamstress.”
“So I understand.”
L’tani smiled.
“She acquired one of our pages.”
“Assistant,” Kaori corrected.
“That is what the page calls it.”
T’monn added, “She has been making V’ren fabrics and clothing since childhood. Apparently the seamstress discovered this five minutes into the fitting.”
“And put her to work?”
“Yes.”
Matt said, “Japan understands labor utilization.”
Kaori ignored him.
“I also understand the shop is giving kimono to every diplomatic page.”
T’mari nodded.
“All of them.”
“Boys too?”
“Of course.”
Matt said, “They are now building a dangerously large wardrobe.”
Kaori looked at his yukata.
“Says the man dressed like this.”
“This is staying-home clothing.”
“Expensive staying-home clothing.”
“I like nice things.”
“I remember.”
T’mari slowly turned toward Kaori.
Matt saw it happen.
“No.”
Kaori smiled.
“I said nothing.”
“You did not have to.”
L’tani looked interested.
“This may be useful.”
“It will not.”
Kaori gestured for them to sit.
T’mari took the place nearest Matt.
Kaori looked at her.
“You have already been publicly identified as his wife.”
“Yes.”
“You were the first marriage recognized under his human legal systems.”
“Yes.”
“And your pregnancy was very intentional.”
T’mari smiled.
“Yes.”
“How intentional?”
Matt coughed.
Kaori looked at him.
“That question was not for you.”
T’mari’s smile widened.
“Very.”
The audience laughed.
Kaori continued.
“When L’tani’s pregnancy was confirmed and V’ren law recognized her bond to Matthew as well, did that change how you felt?”
“Yes.”
Matt glanced toward her.
T’mari kept her eyes on Kaori.
“I was afraid for her. Angry about some things. Jealous about others.”
L’tani nodded.
“She was.”
“You say that comfortably.”
“It is true.”
T’mari continued.
“We are not required to stop having feelings because they are inconvenient.”
Kaori smiled slightly.
“Do you consider L’tani a rival?”
“No.”
“Never?”
T’mari considered that.
“Sometimes I want Matthew entirely to myself.”
Matt said, “I am sitting here.”
“I know.”
“And sometimes L’tani does. Sometimes T’monn does. Sometimes he would like all three of us to leave him alone long enough to work.”
“Frequently.”
T’mari squeezed his hand.
“We disagree. We become jealous. We irritate one another. We also know where we belong.”
Kaori nodded.
“That sounds less idealized than most descriptions of plural households I have heard this month.”
“It is a household. Not propaganda.”
Matt looked at her with obvious approval.
L’tani noticed.
“You are doing the proud look.”
“I do not have a proud look.”
T’monn said, “You do.”
T’mari nodded.
Kaori smiled.
“He had one at eighteen.”
Matt closed his eyes.
“I have made several mistakes today.”
L’tani leaned toward Kaori.
“Was he charming at eighteen?”
Kaori laughed.
“Yes.”
Matt opened one eye.
“No.”
L’tani ignored him.
“Good-looking?”
“Yes.”
“Easy to live with?”
“As easy to be around then as he is now.”
T’mari looked at Matt.
“That seems suspicious.”
“It was a simpler time.”
Kaori laughed.
“We will return to that.”
Matt sighed.
“Of course we will.”
Kaori turned to L’tani.
“You are legally bonded to him because of a pregnancy neither of you intended.”
“Yes.”
“Does that bother you?”
“The pregnancy frightened me.”
“Not the same question.”
“No.”
L’tani thought for a moment.
“The pregnancy happened. Everything after it involved choices.”
Kaori waited.
“I chose to stay. I chose him. T’mari chose not to throw me out. T’monn chose to remain my mother while becoming part of this household in another way.”
She looked at Matt.
“And he chose to accept what had happened rather than pretend it had not.”
Kaori nodded.
“What do you want humans to understand about you?”
“That I am not an attachment to someone else’s marriage.”
Nothing defensive in it.
Just fact.
Kaori accepted that.
Then she turned toward T’monn.
“You were their mother long before Matthew entered this family.”
“I remain their mother.”
“And Matthew has just called you his wife.”
“Yes.”
“Is he correct?”
T’monn looked at him.
Matt smiled.
There it was.
The footnote.
“By V’ren law,” T’monn said carefully, “not yet.”
The audience went very quiet.
Kaori looked at Matt.
“You knew that.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you call her your wife?”
“Because under my law, she is.”
T’monn’s eyebrows rose.
Matt continued.
“In the CCA, a marriage publicly announced by one party and not disputed by the other when a reasonable opportunity to object exists is common-law marriage.”
Kaori stared at him.
“That is actually codified?”
“In the Freehold, Columbia, and a number of other polities.”
Kaori looked toward T’monn.
“You heard him call you his wife.”
“I did.”
“You had an opportunity to object.”
“Yes.”
“You did not.”
T’monn slowly turned toward Matt.
“You planned this.”
“Not the interview.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Matt smiled.
“I had Otis watching.”
The studio erupted.
T’monn stared.
“You had your lawyer witnessing the broadcast?”
“High Justice.”
“Your High Justice was waiting to witness whether I contradicted you on television.”
“Yes.”
L’tani began laughing.
T’mari covered her mouth.
Kaori put her fan over her face.
T’monn finally smiled.
“You clever man.”
Matt reached for her hand.
“W’ren will have the documents before we leave the studio.”
“And V’ren law?”
“Still requires conception.”
T’monn nodded.
“Yes.”
Kaori looked between them.
“So under Freehold law you are married now.”
“Yes,” Matt said.
T’monn answered at the same time.
“Apparently.”
“And under V’ren law?”
“Pending,” T’monn said.
L’tani leaned toward her microphone.
“Pregnancy.”
Matt pointed at her.
“Do not assist.”
“I am clarifying.”
The audience lost control.
Kaori laughed along with them.
When the room finally settled, she looked at Matt.
“Doug is going to be furious I got this.”
“He got the first marriage.”
“So this is mine.”
“Apparently.”
“Excellent.”
***
After the commercial, Kaori set the fan aside.
“One thing before we leave the subject.”
Matt looked wary.
“That phrase has never improved my life.”
“The internet has rediscovered that you and I dated.”
T’mari looked delighted.
L’tani sat forward.
T’monn settled comfortably, apparently prepared to enjoy herself.
Matt looked toward the ceiling.
“Wonderful.”
Kaori smiled.
“I was twenty-three.”
“You were.”
“You were eighteen.”
“Yes.”
“Five years younger.”
“Yes.”
“Did that bother you?”
“No.”
“It did not bother me either.”
She looked toward the audience.
“Eighteen-year-old Matthew Marmaduke was charming, good-looking, and about as easy to be around as he is now.”
T’mari murmured, “There is no accounting for taste.”
Matt squeezed her hand.
Kaori continued.
“We had a good time.”
L’tani looked ready to speak.
Matt pointed without looking at her.
“No.”
“I said nothing.”
“You were going to.”
“Probably.”
Kaori laughed.
“We dated for about fourteen months, through my final year at Mizzou.”
She paused.
“I thought about staying more than once.”
That quieted the room.
Matt looked at her.
Kaori continued.
“I had spent seven years preparing for the life I intended to build when I returned to Japan.”
“My parents had supported me going to America. They let me explore Western culture. They let me become someone who could move between both worlds without having to stop being Japanese.”
She glanced toward Matt.
“And when graduation came, I seriously considered not coming home.”
T’mari watched him now.
Kaori said:
“Matthew was the one who told me to go.”
Matt said nothing.
“He told me that if I did not come back to Japan and try to become the woman I had spent seven years preparing to become, I would regret it.”
She smiled faintly.
“And eventually I would resent him for being the reason I had not tried.”
Matt met her eyes.
“He was right about the first.”
The audience waited.
“I hoped he was wrong about the second.”
Matt smiled softly.
“You never had to find out.”
“No.”
Kaori looked at him for another moment.
“There were people who thought I should have stayed.”
“There still are.”
“People who thought I could have steadied you.”
“That was never your job.”
“And some who thought that because I left, you went to war.”
Matt’s face changed.
“And because you went to war, your sister died.”
“No.”
The answer came hard enough to stop the room.
Kaori waited.
Matt leaned forward.
“You do not get to carry that.”
No smile now.
“You went home because you had a life waiting for you. I told you to go because I knew what staying would cost you.”
He held her eyes.
“What I did afterward belonged to me.”
Kaori nodded.
“No one gets to put the war or my sister on you.”
“Thank you.”
“You knew that.”
“I did.”
“Good.”
Silence held for another moment.
Then Kaori smiled.
“And years later, you introduced me to my husband.”
“I did.”
“You already knew him.”
“Since we were teenagers.”
“A former K-pop idol.”
Matt shrugged.
“We all make mistakes when we’re young.”
Kaori laughed.
“He says much the same about you.”
“I like him.”
“He likes you.”
“I know.”
L’tani looked between them.
“So you introduced a former woman you slept with to the man she married.”
Matt winced.
“That is one way to phrase it.”
“It is accurate.”
T’monn said, “She has been living with him too long.”
“Yes,” Kaori said. “She has.”
L’tani smiled at her.
“I like you.”
“That seems to be spreading.”
Matt sighed.
Kaori looked back at him.
“I still have *The Time Machine*.”
He blinked.
“The graduation copy?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you would have lost that decades ago.”
“I never throw away stories.”
His expression softened.
“And I knew you were going to keep writing one.”
Matt was quiet.
Kaori smiled and rescued him before sentiment could settle too heavily.
“Doug will mock you if you cry.”
“That bastard cries at dog movies.”
“I know.”
“You two talk too much.”
“Doug and I are friends because of you.”
“That may be my greatest professional failure.”
***
Kaori glanced at the clock.
“We have time for one final subject.”
“You have said that before.”
“This one is real.”
“Proceed.”
“There is a medical conference at Mizzou in a few weeks.”
“Yes.”
“Doug tells me he has access.”
“He does.”
“Should I be offended?”
“No. You are invited.”
Kaori blinked.
“That was not in my briefing.”
“I just invited you.”
“On live television.”
“You have witnesses.”
She laughed.
“What kind of access?”
“More than a hundred V’ren. Broad journalistic access. Medical and patient privacy still apply.”
“Who else?”
“Doug.”
“Obviously.”
“And you.”
“No one else?”
“Not yet.”
Kaori closed her fan.
“I accept.”
“Good. While you are there, donate to the School of Journalism.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The price.”
“There is no price.”
“You just asked for money.”
“I suggested philanthropy.”
“You did not attend the journalism school.”
“I supported a journalism student for fourteen months.”
Kaori stared at him.
“You were eighteen. You could barely support yourself.”
“I provided emotional support.”
“Among other things.”
The audience roared.
T’mari leaned forward.
L’tani’s eyes lit up.
Matt knew disaster when he saw it.
“No.”
L’tani looked innocent.
“I have not spoken.”
“You are about to.”
She turned toward Kaori.
“Was he always a screamer?”
Matt closed his eyes.
“L’tani.”
Kaori opened her fan.
“I will tell everything I know in exchange for a private interview.”
“No.”
L’tani smiled.
“What if I kiss you?”
“No.”
Kaori peered over the fan.
“That depends how good the interview is.”
The studio exploded again.
Matt looked toward T’mari for help.
She was laughing.
T’monn was worse.
“You told them no question was prohibited,” T’mari reminded him.
“I was reckless.”
T’monn nodded.
“A tactical failure.”
Kaori turned toward the camera.
“For the first time in twenty-four years, ladies and gentlemen, I believe Matthew Marmaduke has finally lost control of the conversation.”
Matt sighed.
“Doug is never going to let me live this down.”
“No,” Kaori said.
“He absolutely will not.”
***
T’monn caught him in the hallway after the cameras went dark.
“You manipulated me.”
Matt stopped.
T’mari and L’tani stopped too.
Kaori, several steps behind them, wisely remained quiet.
Matt looked at T’monn.
“Legally?”
“Yes.”
“Then probably.”
“You knew that if you called me your wife in public and I did not object, your law would recognize it.”
“Yes.”
“And you had Otis waiting.”
“Yes.”
T’monn stared at him.
“You could have asked.”
“I already had.”
Her expression softened slightly.
“You asked whether I wanted to be your mate.”
“And you said yes.”
“Under V’ren law that still requires conception.”
“I know.”
“I am not pregnant.”
“I know.”
“At my age, that may take time.”
“I know that too.”
Matt took her hand.
“And I am not in a hurry to force the timing.”
T’monn watched him.
“I want it to happen at home.”
“Why?”
“Because if your full pheromone storm hits, I don’t want to be boarding a shuttle six hours later.”
T’mari laughed softly.
Matt continued.
“I want to be there. I want us safe, undistracted, and preferably with a day or two where nobody needs me for anything more complicated than food.”
L’tani said, “That is unrealistic.”
“Thank you.”
T’monn smiled.
“Our sex is already good.”
Matt grinned.
“It is.”
Kaori made a small choking sound behind them.
Matt looked back.
“You are off the clock.”
“I am trying very hard to remember that.”
T’monn squeezed his hand.
“And if I cannot become pregnant?”
“Then we deal with that if it happens.”
“And the V’ren bond?”
“Then V’ren law and I will have something to discuss.”
“You cannot negotiate with biology.”
“I can be extremely annoying.”
“That I believe.”
Matt’s smile faded.
“The only question that matters to me is whether you want another child.”
T’monn was quiet.
“I had not wanted one for a very long time.”
He waited.
“After L’tani was born, I thought that part of my life was finished. I was a mother. A widow. A survivor.”
Her eyes met his.
“Then you offered me something I had not expected.”
“A troublesome human?”
“That too.”
She smiled.
“A mate.”
Matt said nothing.
“Yes,” she said finally. “I want the possibility.”
“Then that is enough.”
T’monn nodded.
“So what am I now?”
Matt smiled.
“My wife.”
“Under human law.”
“Yes.”
“Under V’ren law?”
“Work in progress.”
T’monn considered him.
Then her grin appeared.
“Pikachu.”
Matt groaned.
“I choose you.”
T’mari burst out laughing.
L’tani followed.
Behind them, Kaori gave up entirely and leaned against the wall.
Matt looked at all four women.
“This day has been a disaster.”
T’mari kissed his cheek.
“You seem happy.”
“I did not say it was a bad disaster.”
