Once Upon a Pet Show (A Redpoint One Romance) (30 page)

"Or too giving for their own good," Daisy said
even as the baby on Penny's back woke up and chittered.

"Oh no," Damien heard Vallory whisper.
Responding to the same tension he could feel weighting down the
very air of the room.

Eddie glared at Zane alone. "Well? Are you
staying or not?"

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE ROOM WENT silent, the question hanging in the air. Even
Arthur turned to Zane, waiting.

Zane froze, staring at the three woman, his
face a canvas of shock. His gaze slowly slid to the side to take in
the rest of the room. Taking in the furniture, the wall hangings,
the geometric patterned floor rug in front of the couch. Of Siggy
sitting in front of his igloo doghouse with one ear straight up,
and the other seeming to have a seizure, to judge by the way it
twitched.

A roaring laughter split the room. His face
filled with mirth, Zane nearly doubled over as the laughter
consumed him. Through laughter and watering eyes, he demanded, "You
did this all for me?"

Which caused the women to shift nervously, but
Velda answered with a firm, "Yes. You belong here."

The laughter diminished as Zane started
shaking his head at Arthur. "I forgot what a helpful nuisance they
are."

"A kind way of putting it," Damien mumbled.
Rachel elbowed him.

"They belong to the station as much as any of
us do," Arthur said, smiling himself. "But, they are right. You do
belong here. The question is, do you want to stay?"

The laughter stopped. With a smile still in
place, Zane shook his head at the women. "I believe you are the
voice of the station, at least in this matter. Yes, I do want to
stay. So much is the same here, yet I see positive changes, and it
pleases me."

A slow pleased smile spread across Eddie's
face. "Really? You'll stay?"

"I don't see how I can do anything
else."

"Good, then give me a few weeks, and I'll find
some good deals," Daisy said, giving the couch a sad smile. "It'll
be much better next time."

"Oh no, ladies. If I stay, we bring in the
people to do this area up right. That includes decor." Zane raised
an eyebrow at Arthur. "Time to settle our people into the rooms
they deserve."

"You'll have our help," Rachel said, raising
her hand.

"And ours," Eddie said.

"Also time to talk about restructuring the
maintenance department," Arthur said. "If you are staying, then I
need to step aside."

Tish sucked in her breath, going rigid. Rachel
squeaked an incomprehensible objection. Vallory backed into Damien,
hugging the arm he wrapped around her middle. Damien held her
tight, not believing the words he'd just heard. Arthur stepping
down? After so many years? Didn't the man know how good of a job
he'd done all this time? Keeping an understaffed department humming
along, no matter what obstacles rose in the way?

"You will do no such thing," Zane said,
voicing the same outrage Damien felt. "You earned your position and
I will not take it from you."

"I also saw what you can do with this station
and the bots since your return. Can still do, even after so many
years away." Arthur shook his head, taking a step back. "Things I
still cannot do. You have a stronger connection than I. That makes
you the best head of the department."

"And I've seen that you've grown tremendously
in your connection to the station since last we met." Zane shook
his head again. "Don't discount yourself. Nothing in your abilities
compromise your ability to run the department."

"Zane is right," Velda said, her face stern.
"The station wants you as much as anyone else."

"I'm not as good as he is. Zane is the logical
leader," Arthur said just as sternly.

"You're a great leader," Tish countered.
Damien added his opinion, as well.

"No, that's not the point," Zane said,
suddenly sounding weary. "This is what happened before. My
connection at the cost of others, including my life. The station
allows you access to all areas, accepts you as leader. Even better,
unlike during my time, it's allowed responsibilities to split among
several people, such as Tish."

He smiled at Arthur. "I think it learned its
lesson with me when I left. Too much responsibility on only one
person. This is the way it should be. I may be staying but I don't
want it to become dependent on me again. For all our sakes. You
take lead and I'll take backup for what you are too busy for, such
as this project. I have no desire for the position I once
held."

Arthur still didn't look convinced, but he did
say, "It would be nice to have experienced help with the more
difficult projects."

"Then consider it done. I have my first
project," Zane said, gesturing to the room.

"Absolutely. Give our people the options of
larger apartments they can really build a life in instead of
feeling transitory." Tish grinned at Arthur. "Not that it's been my
problem. The station gave me a different apartment than Arthur
assigned."

"The station spoils you," Arthur said severely
at her.

"And I work hard for it." She stuck her tongue
out at him. "Which reminds me. Rachel, time to make that list I was
talking about. Zane will need it, and I want to see how much I need
to fix in this area. Come on, bots. Time to get to
work."

The group dispersed, with the Naughty
Knitter's Club converging on Zane to laugh, hug, and kiss
him.

Damien didn't join in. He had his own little
slice of life to deal with, one that was currently warm and snuggly
on his arm.

"What was the "oh no" for a few minutes ago?"
Damien asked as the conversation on the other side of the room
started up. Rachel and Tish came out of the back of the apartment
and headed out the door, a line of five bots trailing behind
them.

Vallory shook her head, turning to look down
at where Penny lay at her feet, the baby wide awake and in the
process of climbing off her back. "Upside-down" No response from
either daubpup. "Bossy?"

At the last word, the baby chittered, looking
straight up at Vallory. Even Penny yipped.

Vallory closed her eyes as if in pain. Damien
had seen the look before, but not associated with animals. "Oh, let
me guess. The baby just decided what its name is?"

"Yes. Bossy. Somehow appropriate for a new
baby of the biggest troublemaker in my group." Vallory opened her
eyes, laughter dancing in them. "Very appropriate, and a little
scary."

"Great. You have a baby named, and I still
have nothing for my bot. Even if it is a silly name for a baby,"
Damien said, with a glare down at the bot hovering over the floor
near his feet.

"Hey, I already have one named Frumpmuffin.
Bossy isn't that bad. Your bot may not be named yet, but at least
it hasn't decided on a name like "Gertrude," "Tempertantrum," or
"Buffy"…" Vallory froze as his bot whistled excitedly. She stared
down at it. "What did that mean?"

Damien covered his eyes with a hand, groaning.
Letting his hand drop, he repeated, "Gertrude." No response at all.
He glared at Vallory and she struggled to keep from bursting out
laughing. Oh, he knew which name it responded to. The one out of
the bunch that was the worst. Through gritted teeth, he repeated,
"Buffy."

The bot chirped and whistled, both eyestalks
bobbing.

***

The expression on
Damien's face was priceless. Vallory knew she would remember it for
the rest of her life.

She burst out laughing, even though it made
him scowl all the more. "I'm sorry, but it's great. We both have
named babies."

"My bot is not a baby." He scowled down at it.
"You couldn't pick a different name?"

"Everything okay, Damien?" Arthur called out
from the living room where he and Zane were now sitting down and
talking. The Naughty Knitter's Club and Siggy had joined in, as if
they had every right to poke their noses into the business of the
maintenance crew.

"Oh, I'm fine. My bot decided on a brilliant
new name," Damien said, frowning fiercely at Vallory. Which only
set her off laughing again.

"Oh, don't keep us in suspense," Daisy said
with a friendly smile from where she sat in one of the ugly brown
chairs. "What is it?"

"Buffy."

A round of surprised expressions as the bot
chirped and whistled in response to the name didn't help Vallory's
laughter any. Then the entire room burst out laughing.

"Thanks for support." Damien grabbed her hand
and took the two steps needed to drag her away from the door and
off to the side.

She wiped the tears from her eyes. "What a
group we are. Daubpups, bots, and us."

"I think it makes a wonderful
family."

The words brought a sudden stop to the
laughter. She stared up at him, searching his face for the truth.
"Is that what you want?"

He let go of her arm, and even took a step
back. Such a small distance, but much too far for her liking. "Only
if you want it. If you want to stay here."

"What a silly question. I thought we were way
past this." Vallory took a step forward to close the gap. "It isn't
if I want it. I've already said I do. The question is, do you want
it? With your complete heart and soul, willing to do everything you
can to make it work? It does take two, after all."

"I do want it." His eyebrows pressed together,
creating sharp worry lines between them. "But, I do
worry."

"We all worry about things." Vallory nibbled
at her bottom lip, wondering just how much she should push. No, she
had to. This meant too much. "What is it?"

"Do you think you could settle in one place?
Not getting up and moving all the time?"

"I'm not a nomad." She frowned at him. "When
have I given that impression?"

The frown remained. What would it take to get
it to go away. "You said as much to Shay. The day we
met."

"Ah." Now it made sense. Her smile returned.
"You mean the big man trying to flirt with me when all I wanted was
the temperature of the daubpup enclosure fixed? The man I'm
completely not interested in, and never will be? He didn't exactly
take clues easily."

The frowning eased. A bit of humor returned to
his face as he nodded. "Yes, he was persistent."

"Okay, I admit, I've had to move around as
part of my job, but that's because as a xenobiologists go, I'm
pretty small potatoes. Not many full-time regular jobs for someone
like me." She smiled down at the daubpups. "Until now, that
is."

Her attention snapped back to Damien when his
warm hand took hers into it. "Then you might be happy staying here?
With maybe vacations to other places?"

"I grew up in only one place. A small town on
Hydrai, which I've missed terribly. I want that back." Time to be
bold, and that was something Vallory rarely had trouble with. Hard
this time just because it meant so much. Harder because if she did
this wrong, she could blow it all.

The thought of losing him, this chance, caused
a physical pain in her chest. She wrapped her arms around him,
laying her head on his chest and into the crook of his neck. "You
better get these apartments fixed, because we need a place of our
own. The pet show is almost over and then I'll be homeless. I don't
think I would like that."

He pulled her away from his chest, but still
held her tight. His bright eyes captivated her. She couldn't look
away, as if he had hypnotized her. "You are not homeless. You never
will be while you are with me."

"You better mean that forever," Vallory
whispered. "I'm like Zane. I know I belong here, but it won't be
home without you."

"It's a promise." His arms tightened around
her, and he said sternly, "I love you, Vallory Schist. Just get
used to the idea."

She poked him in the middle of his chest with
a finger. "I love you, Damien Lysander, but don't get to acting
like you're my boss."