... 
Bill and Marsha prepare to be reunited with their son, Perry
Bill Thompson closed his personal phone and put it back into his pocket. He walked over to Liz’s desk. “Liz, Marsha and I are going over to our daughter’s house for a while. I’ll have my phone with me.”
“Okay, Bill. Don’t forget your news conference this afternoon.”
“I won’t.” Bill looked at Liz and thought. “Perhaps you should call me about an hour before. Just so I won’t forget.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Liz replied. “I’ll also send you an updated issues sheet with the call. It’s my job to take care of these things.”
“I’m glad.” Bill smiled at Liz and turned to go.
A cool breeze swept across Bill’s face as he left the campaign headquarters. He walked to the curb where Marsha was waiting in the car, and got in.
“Did you get the same story from Penna that I did?” Marsha glanced at Bill as she drove the car out into traffic.
“She called me after she talked with you. I was on another call when she tried the first time.”
“And what did she tell you?” Marsha persisted with her question.
Bill hesitated. “I feel strange saying it. … She told me that her Nenmaran family was at her house, and Barmeth and Kaggla were there. … And that even Peggy and Helen met them on their way to Peggy’s doctor’s appointment.”
“That’s pretty much what she told me too,” Marsha replied, “except for one other odd detail.”
“Which was?”
“A small child is with her, also from Nenmar—and this child got there some way other than Barmeth’s spaceship.”
“A Nenmaran child?”
“Yes.”
“Part of Penna’s family?”
“Her niece, as I understood her.” Marsha shrugged as she drove. “Why all this now? They could have done this years ago.”
“I didn’t think Barmeth had permission from his own people to do this,” Bill replied. “At least that was my understanding of it.”
“We’re not talking about what’s really on our minds, you know.”
“You did get in touch with Susan, too, didn’t you?”
“Yes, she’s coming and will meet us there.” Marsha looked at Bill. “You’re not answering my question.”
Bill felt numb and unfocused. “I know. Penna’s Nenmaran family consists of Perry, her father.”
Marsha feigned a sigh of relief. “Finally, we’re getting to the point.”
“I’ve longed for this day all these years, and now … now … I’m concerned about what we’ll see.”
“For heaven’s sake, Bill! We’re about to be reunited with our son. I can’t wait to wrap my arms around him. I don’t care if he’s grown antennae or something—I just want to see him again.”
“I’d gotten used to his being gone.” Bill looked out the side window, away from Marsha. “We spent many years believing Perry was dead. I got closure when Penna came, but now I … I’m not sure I have room for him.”
“Bill!”
“This is so sudden. If we’d had some time to prepare mentally for Perry’s return, it would be different. I won’t be able to do him justice when I see him—that’s what bothers me.”
“It’s not like it’s a fleeting moment. We’ll have the rest of our lives to become reacquainted.”
“You really think so?” Bill looked at Marsha the way he used to look at Stan Desslin at the County Board meetings. “How would you feel if Perry disliked Earth because he’d been away for so long and everything here is now unfamiliar to him? Suppose he presses on Barmeth to take him back to Nenmar? On the other hand, the rest of Perry’s Nenmaran family has never seen Earth. What if they decided they liked the things here? Remember the trouble Penna had in becoming a US citizen—generating records that never existed and making them appear as if they’d been there all the time? These people will look more like Penna than Penna, and there’ll be no way you can hide the fact that they are aliens. Space aliens, Marsha.”
“Be quiet!” Marsha scowled at Bill. “Just be quiet. If you talk like that in front of Perry, I swear Bill, I’ll slap you.”
“If I don’t talk this way, Susan will.”
“Damn Susan!”
“That’s enough, Marsha. You won’t speak of our daughter that way.”
“Why not? She’s been nothing but an ugly little embarrassment for us, all over the university—over all these years. Even now, she’s a maverick and social outcast.”
“Her principles are sound. She cares little for bullshit. And that’s worthy of respect.”
“She doesn’t know the meaning of the word.”
“If you mean she should have been kowtowing to Klein, I don’t count that as respect. I despise toadyism, and I’m proud of Susan’s honest approach to life.”
“Proud of Susan?” Marsha sneered and shook her head. “The best I can do is to tolerate her.”
“I’m proud of Perry, too.”
“But you’re nervous about seeing him—I’m elated with anticipation.”
“Only within the context of the bigger picture.”
“So I’m a small thinker, then.”
Bill shook his head. “No, Marsha, I didn’t say that.”
“Okay. So I guess we’re both just keyed up in different ways, as always.”
“Yes, as always.”
They shared a chuckle and then tension between them subsided.
Bill stared out the window the rest of the way, wondering about Perry.
* * *
“The shadows don’t move here,” Nennef observed. He leaned back in his chair at Penna’s great table and looked around her loft.
“It’s very much as you said, my love,” Jenna replied. “I remember wondering about your descriptions of the Earth’s sun moving so slowly that you couldn’t see it move.”
Nennef chuckled. “I do remember saying that, now.”
The human man at the other end of the table spoke to Barmeth in unintelligible words.
“What language is he speaking in?” Nennef asked Penna, nodding toward the other human man.
“English, my father.” Penna gazed in adoration at Nennef. “I was able to do so well here because you had taught me well. Remember how we used to speak English with each other all the time? I loved doing that with you so much.”
“You speak Nenmaran in a little bit of a strange manner.” Nennef searched for the words. “It’s sort of as different as the way people from that province on the other side of Nenmar speak.”
“But we can understand you perfectly,” Jenna interjected. “I love talking with those people from the other side. They speak and groundmark a little differently than we do, but they’re a pleasure to talk with. Many of them have bought my pellar fur products.”
Nennef stood up and looked around at the outside from Penna’s loft. “There’s something about this place—as if it were an opening to another world.”
“It is,” Penna replied, “in a way, of sorts.”
“How so?” Nennef asked.
“Wait a moment.” Penna held up her hand, instructing Nennef to stay put. She returned with an object in her hands, and held it out to Nennef. “Remember this?”
“Yes.” Nennef reached out and touched his old telescope. He chuckled. “It must have gotten a little beat up.”
“Only on the outside.” Penna emitted a human giggle. “I’ve used it myself. The stars are so still and beautiful from here.”
Nennef held up the telescope and looked through it. “It isn’t damaged at all.” He sighed and looked around at the outside, clutching the telescope to his side.
“That’s the tree, my father.” Penna pointed to the right of the Lazy L spaceship.
“What tree?” Jenna asked.
“The tree that Dad last held onto before he was taken from here by the Cosmic Storm.”
“Are we really at that place now?” Jenna asked.
Penna smiled. “Dad, doesn’t that field look familiar to you? From all I’ve been told, it should.”
Nennef gazed in the direction Penna was pointing. None of the trees looked familiar. He shook his head. “I don’t know. There are so many other trees that must have grown up since then.”
“I’m sure there are, but suppose we go down and look at it more closely,” Penna suggested.
“Yes, let’s.” Nennef nodded, and moved toward the stairs.
Penna and Jenna followed him.
“Where are you going, my sister?” Sennef asked.
“To the very spot where Dad was last on Earth,” Penna replied. “Come on with us.” Penna then spoke in the strange Earth language, and the two other human men, and Barmeth and Kaggla, also followed.
Still clutching the telescope, Nennef walked straight toward the area Penna had pointed out.
Penna ran out in front of him and stood next to one of the trees.
“So it’s that one?” Nennef asked.
“The very same one,” Penna confirmed.
“You seem so sure. This all happened before you were even born. How do you know with such certainty?”
“Because someone who was here at the time told me with such certainty.” Penna chuckled. “It was Alan Renquist who told me.”
“Who?”
“Alan. He was your best friend.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because he told me himself. Both he and his wife, Gayle, told me the same thing.”
Nennef felt dizzy and looked for a dry place on the ground to sit down. The telescope landed on the ground hard enough to make an audible sound. Nennef found himself sitting with his legs stretched out, the telescope lying next to him.
“Are you alright, my love?” Jenna’s face appeared in Nennef’s view.
Kaggla’s face appeared next to Jenna. “He’ll be okay,” she reassured Jenna. “He’s concentrating his energies on his feelings from a time that was very troubling for him.”
Nennef looked at the tree. “I recognize it now.” He studied it further. “Did the Cosmic Storm scar the tree that badly?”
“No,” Penna answered, “the Cosmic Storm had nothing to do with the scars in the tree bark. Don’t you recognized those as bullet holes.”
“As what?”
“From guns.”
“That’s right,” Nennef surmised. “Those scars in the bark are too fresh to have been done back then.” He looked up at Penna. “Was there a battle here since then?”
“Alan and Gayle taught me how to shoot guns here,” Penna.
“Why do you want to shoot guns?” Nennef asked. “They’re loud and dangerous.”
“To protect yourself from people who would hurt you,” Penna explained.
“You didn’t learn that on Nenmar.
“That’s true, I learned it here on Earth.”
“From Alan?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t recall Alan having a gun, or having any interest in guns.” Nennef shook his head. “I’m beginning to remember clearly now, and this just doesn’t make sense.”
“Alan and Gayle armed themselves for protection after Alan was accused of murdering you when you disappeared from here.”
“Then my disappearance was more traumatic for him than for me.” Nennef looked down and shook his head. “Poor Alan.” He looked up at Penna. “Who was the awful person that accused Alan, of all people, of killing me?”
“Your mother, and my grandmother, Marsha.”
“My mother!” A flash of recollection burst into Nennef’s consciousness. “Once she decides you’re bad, you’re in for a miserable time if she has any control over you at all. Is Alan still in prison?”
“He never went to jail—he was acquitted, but that further enraged your mother, and also your sister. Remember Susan?”
“Susan.” Nennef chuckled, as more memories came to life. “Now there’s a lawless one.”
“Between Marsha and Susan,” Penna continued, “Alan and Gayle had to almost live like soldiers in an enemy territory.”
“Did they lose their teaching jobs? They were teachers, I think.”
“No, but only because your father restrained both Marsha and Susan.”
Nennef pulled himself to his feet, still clutching the telescope which gave him a feeling of security. “I suppose Alan probably has hated me for some time now.”
“Quite the contrary. He would jump at the chance to see you again.”
“Perhaps I might have a chance to do that.”
“You will definitely have a chance to do that.” Penna walked over and hugged Nennef.
A soothing and reassuring feeling came over Nennef, as if flowing from Penna’s affection. “I never imagined that my happy and playful little Nenmaran daughter would so completely conquer life’s difficulties.” He held Penna out from him by the shoulder with his free hand, and smiled at her. “In some wonderful way, you make me feel whole.”
Penna hugged Nennef again. “I’ve always loved you dearly, and I always will—because you are a source of strength for me, whether or not you realize it.”
The telescope dropped to the ground as Nennef reciprocated Penna’s embrace.
“Don’t worry about it, my father. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“I know this is a special time for you two,” Lissel interjected, “but I don’t like being this close to the tree line. Even though there are several of us together, it might take all of us to fight off any Earth-pellims that might come out.”
Nennef and Penna relaxed their grip on each other and looked at Lissel.
“She has a point,” Jenna said. “Rennil and little Merref could be in danger here.”
Kaggla shook her head in a reassuring way. “Not from pellims. They exist only on Nenmar.”
“That’s a point in Earth’s favor,” Jenna declared.
“I agree,” Lissel added. She then looked up and emitted a short shriek. Merref woke up in her arms and began crying. “What are those creatures in the sky?” She covered Merref in a protective way and pulled Rennil in close to her, as the creatures seemed to argue among themselves in angry voices.
“They’re called ‘birds,’” Kaggla replied.
“‘Canada geese,’ is the name for that kind of bird,” Penna added.
“Look at how they flap their arms,” Sennef observed. He stared in amazement as he followed their flight.
“I had forgotten,” Nennef mused, as he watched the birds disappear beyond the opposite tree line. “Canada geese,” he repeated. “I remember Canada geese.”
* * *
“Over there, Marsha. Park next to that car with the military sticker on it.”
Marsha pulled up next to the other car and shut off the engine. “I would say we should go up to the door, but it appears there is a gathering down by the Lazy L spaceship.”
“I agree completely,” Bill replied.
Marsha smirked at Bill and shook her head, as they walked toward the people at the tree line. “Do you feel any different yet?”
“How different should I feel? Perry’s been an independent adult for the past 30-plus years. We both should remember to honor that space that is rightfully his.”
“We both should give him the love he needs from us, and that has been denied him for all this time.”
“Just keep in mind that he might not share with you the same idea of what best expresses love.”
“I’m going to love him the only way I know how.” Marsha’s eyes wondered to a flock of Canada geese flying across the Rosser’s field. She felt no special emotion because of the geese—they were just there. Only Perry mattered.
“I can see that several of those people are alien,” Bill observed.
“Well, we knew that Perry’s Nenmaran family was coming,” Marsha reminded him, “so why is that a surprise.”
“It’s not,” Bill replied. “I was only stating a neutral fact. I see Lyle and Ricky there as well, but where’s Perry?”
“Let’s hope he’s one of the people there.” Marsha strained her eyes in search of her son.
Penna came running toward them. “He’s here! Look, down with the others.” She pointed with excitement and surety.
“Which one?” Marsha asked. “Take me straight to him.”
Penna took Marsha by the hand and led her to one of the Nenmaran men. She took the man’s hand and put it in Marsha’s. “This is my father, and your son. Be patient as you speak to him—his English is greatly deteriorated.”
Marsha embraced the human man in Nenmaran clothes. She held him and held him, feeling his breathing and hers. A floral scent emanated from him. Almost ambrosial, Marsha thought. She released her embrace and leaned back to look at him. “It is you. You look so healthy. You’ve aged less than Susan. Can you understand me, Perry?”
“‘Pirry,’” the man muttered. “My … name … us … ‘Pirry.’”
“Perry,” Marsha corrected him. “You are my son, Perry.”
Perry nodded, but did not speak any more.
“Try speaking to him in Nenmaran,” Bill suggested.
“That’s an excellent suggestion,” Penna agreed. “This will give you a chance to use Nenmaran with other native speakers.”
“I’ll make mistakes with them, and sound silly,” Marsha objected. “They will laugh at my expense when I’m not around.”
“Not these people,” Barmeth assured her. “Go ahead—Bill and Penna are right.”
Marsha ran through in her head Nenmaran grammatical constructions. “Perry, it’s so good to have you back.” The words seemed so incorrect, and Marsha cringed at the thought of embarrassing herself and making a poor first impression.
The Nenmarans turned toward Marsha, alert and waiting for more words from her in their language.
“As you taught Penna how to speak and write English, so has Penna taught us how to speak and write Nenmaran. I only hope I’ve been as good a student as Penna has.”
“I understand you clearly,” the younger Nenmaran man replied.
Marsha felt as if her face glowed with delight. “And I can understand you, too. What is your name?”
“I’m Sennef—your grandson.” In a spontaneous movement, Sennef stepped forward and embraced Marsha.
“If I didn’t see Penna behind you, I’d think it was Penna hugging me.”
“Hadn’t my sister told you that she and I are identical?” Sennef asked.
“She had,” Marsha confirmed, “and quite often. But I never appreciated the degree to which you two are alike until just now.”
“They are alike,” the younger Nenmaran woman added. “I’ve known both of them for a long time.”
“Who are you?” Marsha asked. “I want so much to meet all of you, but you must forgive me for caring first about my son.” She put her arm around Perry and they hugged each other as she talked.
“You have absolutely no need to apologize,” the older Nenmaran woman said. “If you did not wish to possess him as his mother, it would be as if you had banished him—that would be so tragic. You will never be whole unless you allow yourself to completely be his mother.”
All my life I’ve been criticized for being too domineering, Marsha thought, now this alien woman is telling me to be more involved, somehow. “I’ve just tried to do what is best for my children.” The statement seemed lame, and Marsha stopped short as if to throw herself on their mercy for crimes she did not understand.
The younger woman stepped up to Marsha, and offered her the newborn child in her arms. “This is your great grandson, Merref.”
“My great grandson?” Marsha let go of Perry, took the child in her arms and cuddled him. “Merref was his name, you said?”
“Yes, Merref.”
“You never told me your name.”
“I’m Lissel, Sennef’s wife. I bore him Merref whom you’re holding, and … .” Lissel motioned to the young Nenmaran girl to come join them. “ … this is Rennil, his older sister.”
The girl pointed to Marsha. “You are my human relative. But you never told us your name.”
Marsha felt as if she had been rude again. “I’m sorry. My name is Marsha. If I’m following okay who everyone is, you must be my great grand niece.”
“I think that’s right,” Rennil replied. She looked up at Lissel for confirmation.
“That’s right,” the older Nenmaran woman confirmed. “Rennil’s father is Sennef, your grandson. And you don’t need to apologize for anything. From living with your son all these years, and meeting you now, I can see where he got his perspectives on some things—but none of that makes him wrong or bad or anything like that. I certainly didn’t see it that way because I possessed Nennef as my husband. I’m Penna’s mother, Jenna. She might have told you about me.”
“Now I know who you are, and Penna did tell me some things about you. But who is Nennef, and what part of the family is he? Do you have two husbands?”
Jenna chuckled. “No. ‘Nennef’ is Perry’s Nenmaran name. Nennef is your son—you’re standing next to him right now.”
“I remember now.” Marsha glanced at Perry and then her eyes drifted away as she thought. “All these things Penna has been talking about these past few years are falling into place now.”
Another flock of geese flew overhead, and Merref began to cry.
“Let me have him back for a little while,” Lissel said. She held out her hands for the baby.
Marsha handed him back to her, and then stood aghast as Lissel lifted her shirt baring her breasts. “Decent women don’t do that in public!” Marsha heard herself blurting.
“But we’re not in public, my grandmother.” Penna seemed quick to defend Lissel. “We’re on private property with trees all around to screen us.”
“Penna, there are men present.” Marsha felt herself scowling at Penna.
“What do men have to do with it?” Jenna asked. “Nennef knows that I appreciate and love him very much, but this is basically between Lissel and her child. What is it about this that’s bothering you? Please know that I’m not criticizing you—I’m just trying to understand your concerns.”
Marsha felt cornered. I don’t want to jeopardize my relationship with Perry’s wife’s family… but this girl didn’t even ask if it was okay to feed her baby here … she at least could have been more discreet about it … . Marsha glanced over at Lissel, who was feeding her baby in the open with the same calmness as if she were drinking a cup of coffee. Her breasts are small, appropriate for her petite frame but very alien in appearance … such large areolas … . Marsha felt catty and felt guilty about that. … but they match her huge eyes … all of their huge eyes … well, when Bill loses the election because of these people, we then can retire to the mountains and live in peace.
Concerned that she had soured the moment, Marsha struggled to find something friendly to say. “Lissel, if you feed Merref every time he gets upset, you’ll unintentionally train him that eating will solve his problems—then you would have to worry about his getting fat.”
Lissel replied with a blank look, as if she had missed the point.
“It will take a little time for all of you to get used to your various ways of doing things,” Kaggla said in Nenmaran. “May I suggest that those of you from Nenmar, including you, Nennef, stay at Penna’s house until Penna can show you the things humans consider proper to do on Earth. You can then go out on your own more as you learn how to get along here.”
Marsha nodded with the others. “That’s a good idea, Kaggla. I feel good about that.”
© Copyright 2003 by Mark Caldwell Walker
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© Mark Caldwell Walker