"Was I thinking aloud and fell out of touch?"

"Lost in Love" - Air Supply

Vaira managed to cope with Star's pregnancy in her own unique way. Suria told everyone that the Lecurelan gestation period was quite normally eleven Earth-type months, instead of the human nine - almost forty-eight seven-day weeks instead of forty. Since Vaira had carried Roca and Racho for more or less the Earth-normal time period, I wasn't too surprised when she announced that she had become pregnant (by Star, not me!) and would be having a child as well, to be born around the same time as Star's. I didn't care, as long as that made her happy and therefore kept her from making Star miserable.

Eleven months is a long time to do anything, let alone be pregnant. Star went right on doing the things he always did, like it was no big deal to him. Personally, I couldn't imagine how he coped. Having another person growing inside you? The responsibility? The very idea scared the shit out of me.

Both Suria and Vaira were cool toward me for a while. Suria - who gave a fuck? Vaira? Well, I still wanted to see the twins.

After Vaira got herself pregnant, she seemed to forgive me for standing up to her. Even though we didn't go back to having sex alone, just the two of us, I was again welcome to visit the house. Even before her new baby began to "show," she got fully into the part of the pregnant lady - dragging Xintaie and me along while she shopped for maternity clothes and vitamins, and what with the fuss she was making, it was easy to forget that anything unusual was going on with Star.

Slowly, the months passed and the babies developed. I continued to spend time with Star and Vaira together, but the times that togetherness became sex declined as the babies grew. Roca and Racho were both walking and talking now, two little bundles of energy who often needed extraction from the treetops by me, or Kareinon and a ladder.

I think the boys were the main reason that Vai was glad to have my company. The kids behaved better when I was around, knowing they couldn't put much over on me, and if they tried it, I'd catch them anyway. There was no keeping secrets from their little ears or inquisitive telepathic brains, and the twins seemed excited that new brothers or sisters were on the way.

I had been curious about how Star would cope with the appearance of the natural weight gain of pregnancy, but I needn't have wondered. Suria had an answer for everything, and this was no exception. Looking back, I'm sure she didn't want Star's public image to change, on Earth or on Lecurela. Though I could sense the baby inside him, there was never an obvious outward sign of its existence. Star carried the extra weight and girth in an alternate dimension of space - there but not there. I could see it, if I looked just right, but no outsider could.

Suria supposedly reported directly to Relias, Star's regent and the current ruler of Lecurela, about everything concerning Star, but I wondered if she'd told him about the latest developments. Suria had gone out of her way to support Star in other royally unapproved decisions. The palace had planned for Star to marry someone they chose for him, but not until one day far in the future, and in any case, Vaira did not fill the bill. Star said Relias had been mucho pissed at Suria for allowing him to marry Vaira, so maybe Suria now knew better than to tell them everything. I was willing to bet that hearing about Star's pregnancy would send Relias into a royal snit. I had no fond memories of my dear "uncle," and that was almost enough incentive for me to tell him all about it myself.

Since the two babies were due to be born at around the same time, it would be easy to let everyone think Vaira had delivered both of them. That was indeed the plan as far as Earth people were concerned.

I tried not to hover over Star in a parody of the classic father-to-be, but I wanted to. He and Vaira seemed to be always together, and she was obviously pretending that nothing at all was out of the ordinary. She was the pregnant one, and that was as it should be. Star seemed quite willing to go along with her fantasy, so there was little I could do to indulge my own feelings.

And I was feeling rather neglected, spending more time away from, than with, the happy couple. Thus, I was amazed when Star announced a desire for me to accompany him to Mars.

A very long time ago, thousands of years before the project was conceived that would one day culminate in the births of Star and myself, the planet Mars had boasted a thriving civilization. Its people had a history of being proud and stubborn, but in their planet's later years, far from being warlike, the citizens of Mars had enjoyed art in its myriad forms, including music and dance.

After hearing that the vampire called Ravin had come from Mars, I had requested and been granted some history books from the Martian government. I had to take time to learn the language, but the old pictures alone were fascinating: flying machines much like the balloons of Earth, warriors armed with strange weapons and mounted on odd winged beasts, nobles seated at round tables in great domed glass houses, the men stern and proud, the beautiful women with hair arranged in many tiny loops and braids.

All the figures were thin and willowy, making them look taller and more frail than the people of Earth, but their kinship with Terrans was unmistakable. It was only the lighter gravity of Mars which caused the obvious physical modifications in form.

I soon learned that the people of Mars had avoided the younger civilization of Earth and its truly warlike citizens for many centuries. Space travel, once commonplace for them, had fallen away as their population decreased. However, the need to send Ravin to Earth had led to the Martian's discovery of Star. As future ruler of the Federation, he was now invited to be a guest of the Martian government while they asked his expert opinion about the state of things on their dying planet.

You need to remember that the main accomplishment of the major powers of Earth in the 1950s and early '60s was getting into a race to see who could make the most ICBMs - Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles - with which they then threatened to blow one another to extinction.

In 1961, on a slightly more peaceful note, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited Earth, remaining away from the surface of his pretty blue home for a resounding 108 minutes. With President Kennedy's push, John Glenn soon followed Gagarin's example.

The Soviets kept the lead in the "space race" though, even sending a woman, Valentina Tereshkova, to spend almost three days in orbit inside one of their desperately complicated and flimsy spacecraft.

Even after Kennedy's assassination, it was clear that America would not rest until they bested the Russians and put a man on the moon. Could Mars be far behind?

That's what the Martians were worried about, and they were right to worry, in my opinion. After all my reading, I was very interested in their situation and pleased that Star wanted my company on the visit. He and I hadn't been alone in a long time either, and I looked forward to it, though I had no hopes that it would mean any change in our relationship. More babies meant a stronger connection between Star and Vaira, and the fact that one of them was part mine didn't change that. She would continue to be first in his affections.

Never having been much into pain, I'd almost given up wishing that I could turn back the clock and somehow meet Star before Vaira did. Deep down, I knew that wouldn't have made much difference between us anyhow. Even if I'd thrown myself at him, he would have refused me. Star was straight.

* * *

Winter was in full swing when we left Colorado-Christmas over, but still with snow up to here and plenty of chilly days ahead. Vai was safe and secure with a pantry full of supplies as well as guardsmen like Mephic and the lady guard he seemed sweet on for company, and Kareinon, of course. Somewhere along the line, the big guy had gone from bodyguard to nanny. He did talk, by the way, but not much and not often, and mainly to the kids.

Besides, Star could return home in a snap, and promised to "call" Vaira every day. She was busy with her latest craze, quilting, and seemed content to have us both out of her hair for a day or two.

Standing ready on the porch, I fixed my sight on Mars. No more than a rusty pinprick in the clear evening sky, it was clearly visible. The closer you looked, the redder it became, much of the planet's precious oxygen locked into the soil as its atmosphere disintegrated. Long shrouded in mystery and legend by the people of Earth, I was curious to learn the facts about Mars.

One thing I had never understood-how could Terrans think Martians were little green men, when their planet was red?

Star and I jumped.