Judging by the frequency with which she kept nudging Lianna awake, she guessed Miss Jamai wasn’t getting through to the Infirmary. Gita stayed with her, seated beside her on the lounge, sometimes running a cool cloth across her brow. Time drifted from the blackness closing like a porthole over her consciousness to the next time Jamai shook her. On one occasion she caught her in a less dignified pose, shrieking into the wall comm on her behalf before finally slamming her fist into the panel.

As the tunnel closed on her again, she seemed to be fumbling with a hand unit and tapping all the buttons on its face. The next thing she remembered was a light intruding on her tunnel vision. It grew in intensity, a supernova blasting from the bedroom alongside a howling of angry banshees. Both light and noise faded as another oddball strode into the living area.

Lianna couldn’t be sure if she was imagining this person or not. A plush mane of red curls adorned her head. This figure seemed statuesque, if a bit on the thin side. A tartan skirt swirled under a—a buffalo hide? —thrown across her shoulders. Her lips were thin, her face narrow, but there was mirth in her green eyes as she clasped Jamai. “An’ what’ll it be this time, Granny? A nip an’ a tuck, a lift o’ yer boobs?”

“Kate–!”

“Na, ye dinna need that. Perhaps if ye’d pass some o’ that joy onto others in yer Posse…”

“Kate, please…”

The stranger, this Kate, grinned with a shake of the head. “Fear not. Ye know I ken never refuse me Granny.” She tossed the buffalo robe onto a settee, and then her gaze fell on Gita. “An’ who’s the we’en, hmm?”

“This is Gita. She’s fine. Her mother is the one in need.”

“Aye?” Her eyes widened as they fixed on Lianna briefly. Somehow she didn’t question the obvious fact that they were not related by blood. They conferred in whispers by the settee. Lianna couldn’t distinguish their words and caught a few covert glances cast her way.

Then she winked at Gita, shooing her away. “Dinna worry, lass. We’ll have ye sorted ‘ere long.” Kate hovered beside Lianna as she rubbed her large hands together. She stood over her for an interminable time. “Granny, will ye take a look yonder?” Jamai glided to the other side of the lounge, both now emitting ‘ooos’. “If I’m not mistaken, grey matter is nae usually green an’ blobby—”

“It’ s all right. I’ve seen her medical reports. It’ll reabsorb into her body once her skull is repaired—”

“Heyyy…right here,” Lianna moaned, raising her right hand.

“Fair point. I just dinna wanna do anything wrong ‘ere.”

“Sorry, what ARE you going to—” Two large hands pressed to her scalp. At first the warmth emanating from her palms was soothing. Until a knifing pain lanced through her braincase, right where the plates of her skull seemed to join together. Lianna’s eyes rolled, and the tunnel rushed forward to blacken her universe.

Then Jamai was seated beside her, supporting her as she swayed. Dizziness swamped her, spinning fast as a neutron star. But the spell seemed to pass, as had the stabbing ache in her head. “Wha…? How did you…?”

“Kate’s a great healer,” Jamai smiled. “Thank you, sister.”

“What are bandmates for?” Kate shrugged, gathering the buffalo hide around her shoulders.

“Have you seen the others? How are they?”

“Well, they—wait, ye dinna nae?” A frown creased her mouth. “Granny, are ye okay?” She would only shrug and duck her head. Kate apparently was having none of that. Her fingertips brushed Jamai’s chin and raised her head. “Eyy,” Kate smiled. “Ye know ye kin tell me anything. I’ll always love ye.” Their eyes closed as their lips caressed.

And suddenly Lianna and Gita were both alert, though they might as well have been invisible. Kate’s arms closed around Jamai, her hands stroking her back. No sound came from them apart from their satisfied moans. One eye opened partway to glance at Lianna. Then Kate smiled and winked, without interrupting the kiss.

With a soft smack their lips finally parted, and Kate stepped back. “Ye should visit us sometime. Ye’re always welcome. The buffalo are everywhere. Sometimes we sleep amongst ‘em, an’ not a bluidy flintlock in sight.”

“I’ll think about it. I love you, Kate.” That seemed to be all Jamai—Granny? —which was it? —could say as Kate drifted back toward the bedroom, their fingers touching as they smiled across at each other. Their fingertips touched, then she whisked into the bedroom. Jamai seemed unfazed as a white hole howled from the other room, soon to fade.

“I must be sleepy,” Lianna yawned. “I could’ve swore…”

“Best not to think about it just yet,” Jamai smiled, stroking her temple. “And it’s okay to call me Granny.” The darkness closing in was more like a soft blanket this time. “Sleep, baby. I’ll take care of…”

Gita tried to sleep. Their hostess offered her a guest room, off to the side of the restroom, but she didn’t want to leave Mama Lianna’ side. And despite her promise of safety, she retained her human form. Granny spread a quilt over them as she lay across Mama Lianna’s back. Sleep came easily to a nagini. She did not fear for her defenses; she could easily overpower this human, should she attempt any trickery.

The living area was dark as space. Her eyes adapted to that easily enough. What was unexpected was the muffled sobs from the bedroom Miss Kate had disappeared into. Gita slipped off Mama Lianna’s back, making sure to keep the blanket tucked around her. She padded into a room with a dresser on the far wall, and a massive bed taking up the center of the chamber. Miss Granny clutched a book with an inner light shining into her face, which seemed much older now.

She showed little surprise when Gita plopped onto the bed beside her. “Hi, baby,” she smiled. “I didn’t mean to wake you. It’s okay, your mother only needs some rest.” Her hand stroked Gita’s cheek as the tears streamed down. “I’m sorry, it’s been so long since I’ve seen a healthy baby. I’ve been in a war zone for so long. I thought we were doing some good. When they finally deposed Bashir, I thought maybe we could finally have peace.” Her face twisted, both fists balling in her lap. “Then it started all over again. Of course the bastards in the army, and the militias–!” She closed her eyes, but her fists remained balled. “I-I’m just disappointed in the powers that be.”

Gita’s eyes nodded at the open tome in Granny’s lap. “Right. This is a book of remembrance I’ve been collecting. It records all the names of the babies we’ve taken care of. Not all of them made it. Your mother won’t tell you this, but humans are often very cruel to their children. At least we used to be, hundreds of…well.” Gita’s hands flowed softly. “No, I don’t understand it, either. That’s part of why I’m here.”

She turned over a blank page, rotating the back of her hand to face the page. A sensor built into the back of her hand glowed. A moment later a framed image scrolled across the page, complete with biographical information.

“I’m close to being done,” Granny said. Gita dabbed at her damp cheeks with her fingertips. “I’m collecting this so they’ll never be forgotten. None of them.” She flipped back several pages. “This one is very special. She opened so many minds that were closed. Her name was Hind…”

The scent of fresh brewed coffee, peppers and eggs teased the air. Lianna shifted the blanket off her shoulders and eased to a sitting position. Apart from a little fatigue, her mind and body felt sharp and alert. Her stomach gurgled, and…there seemed to be a weight on her bosom. Lianna pushed them apart, just a little. A small snout yawned, showing rows of needle teeth. Granny’s space bat blinked tiny black eyes at her, then licked its chops and nuzzled her right boob.

Instinct compelled her to cradle the little creature nestled to her as she stood to take a look around. The lounge she’d been sleeping on was set ten paces back from the entrance, facing a curved sofa, with a jade end-table set between them. She’d been in rooms like this in other space ports, though usually not this cozy. Following the wall from the entry one first encountered a guest room, across from her lounge, and then a common restroom. Several meters past that was a private bedroom, and to the rear a small kitchenette with a countertop, cutting area and cooking surfaces.

Granny was turning something in a black skillet, while Gita spooned ingredients into the mix as she directed. “Ms. Hadebe…” Lianna began, but she already had a hand up to correct her.

She ignored a flush of pain in her noggin as she drifted to the counter. The fragrance of peppers and eggs spiced with cumin called her back to childhood meals with Fayd in the maintenance section. “This is shakshuka,” she said. “Where did you…?”

“A widow in Palestine taught me how to prepare it,” Granny said, serving first a bowl for Gita, then another for Lianna.

“There’s no life in Palestine—”

“Only olive groves and mass graves. I’ve made several expeditions to the area over the years. I know.”

“But this is perfect. I don’t—”

“Another time, Doctor. Please.”

She passed a cup to Lianna. The milk was flavored with sahlab and cinnamon. “I was born not far from here,” Lianna started, “on one of Jupiter’s moons. My parents thought it’d be the neatest thing to have their own star baby.”

“The Jovian system is 156 weeks and two billion kilometers distant. To say you were born nearby would be a misnomer at best.”

“Astronomically speaking, it’s the closest thing to being next door neighbors as you can get. Pardon me for asking, but how did you get here?” Granny raised her gaze. “My android mate asked Cassie about you. She said you just appeared unannounced one day in the Slush Pit. Transit from Terra would take 70 days, even at one percent the speed of light. You can’t just decide to vacation on a distant planet. The orbital position of Terra in relation to Uranus would have to be projected precisely or you might overshoot the target by several billion kilometers.

“And your friend Kate just disappeared. Gita saw her march into your bedroom, and I’m pretty sure there’s no access to the rest of the station from there. So where did she go?”

“She teleported.”

Lianna blinked. Her host seemed to delight in her discomfort, smiling across her raised cup. She sipped and tried to explain. “Kate and I are able to travel point to point via wormhole transit. We’re agents of a sort, for beings who are able to fold space via contained quantum singularities.”

“Like a white hole.”

“Not quite. It doesn’t have the same gravitational aspects otherwise we’d never survive these transits. It’s how I transferred from Earth to this moon within a matter of minutes. Though I confess it’s the longest transit I’ve ever experienced.”

“Oh.”

“Sounds crazy, doesn’t it, baby?”

Lianna shrugged. “Trust me, it’s not the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

They continued their meal in silence for a few moments, until Granny said, “I notice you don’t apply a lot of makeup.”

Lianna shrugged. “It’s not a very practical concern in my line of work.”

“I meant no insult. You have a natural beauty. So many women in the cities on Earth are dolled up with rouge and powder, like they’re ghosts. Yours is an honest face, without all the ostentation.”

A different sort of warmth spread through Lianna’s chest. “Thanks. I meant what I said too, when I said you were gorgeous. You’re not a fan of cosmetics either, but gods, you’re beautiful.”

“I’ve been on a peace mission for a long, long time. It was never important to me.”

“Where’s my suit?”

“I sent it to Henri’s for cleaning. It’ll be returned by 0700 Station time. While we’re on the subject.” She set her bowl half-finished on the counter. She glided behind Lianna, peeling the blanket from her bare back. “What did this to you?” Her fingertips brushed the ridges gouged into her flesh. “They’re everywhere.”

Lianna shivered, shifting the blanket back over her shoulders and clutching it tighter to herself. “I-I’d like to contact my ship.”

“Of course, baby.” Together the three of them padded back to the living area. Lianna and Gita plopped onto the lounge as Granny plucked a handheld slab from the end table. She was gazing up at her host and the question just popped from her mouth. She pointed at Jamai’s chest and asked, “Are those real?”

“Sorry…?”

“I-I’m just wondering what it’d like for them to bud like in normal people.”

She smiled. “If you must know, I nurtured three strong sons with these. It was my youngest who arranged my passage to this outpost. He knew I needed someplace… quiet. He thought that would work for my well-being. Why would you ask such a thing? You’re not without endowments yourself.”

Lianna barely glanced at herself before she scoffed. “These? I was just trying to fit in. You wouldn’t have noticed me in my first year at the Academy. I was a skinny kid. I aced all my exams. I was able to apply a couple of years early. And the girls, all clustering together in the corridors, their chests all ballooned out and the boys flocking to them. I was still as flat as an ice cube.

“I liked it at first. I could concentrate on my studies. As the semester wore on, the isolation became intolerable. I didn’t think anyone knew I was from the Lost Ship, but I was alone, and everyone else was so gorgeous. So I lied. I told Professor Chronitis, my adopted dad, I needed an extravagant amount of credits for this upcoming seminar. He probed me a little, but he really loved me. He’d done everything for me after we were rescued from the Lost Ship.

“I had it done between semesters. When classes resumed, suddenly guys were stopping to stare at me, they were asking, ‘Where did you get those bazooms?’ Boys were asking me to the theater. Then it started to get creepy. All they wanted to do was stare and…I-I gave in to their demands, a couple of times. I couldn’t satisfy…they kept asking, what’s the matter with you?

“I completed the rest of my studies remotely. I only showed up in person for the final exams, and I usually sat in the back of the lecture hall. I thought these would help me fit in.”

“Why would you even have to have such a procedure? The budding of a woman is a natural part of—” Granny’s saucer clattered to the floor. Her hands suddenly clutched at her mouth. “Oh my god, I didn’t—how could I have been so stupid? And I’ve been blathering on about my children—baby, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to be so insensitive–!”

“It’s okay. Can I get ahold of my ship now?” She nodded, her eyes still haunted as she tapped her slab. She asked Lianna for the contact code for her ship which led to more beeping. Finally she handed it over to Lianna. “Just hit the flashing tab and it’ll come up.”

Lianna balanced the slab in her palm. She’d seen such things in museums behind cases. A numerical keyboard stared back at her, set in a touch-sensitive surface. “This is kind of quaint, isn’t it?”

“It’s served my needs for over 20 years.”

The flashing light she found in the upper left corner of the screen. Once she tapped that, a bubble filled the space between them. Gita giggled as an image resolved of the ship’s pilothouse. Ernie’s red android body swarmed into the foreground. “Miss Lianna! Where have you been?’

“We’re okay,” she smiled. “Say hi, baby.” She rotated the module to Gita, who signed a greeting. Then she set the module down on the end table. “Did you get the cargo stowed?”

“Yes! Never mind the cargo! What happened? Where are you?”

And he says he’s incapable of emotional excitability, she thought. “I was hurt but Miss Hadebe took me in for the night. We’re in…what room is this?”

“Suite 1263,” Jamai said, “in the private sector, Level One.”

“Tell Amba and Stavros I’ll be back later tonight, after my suit—”

“That may not be advisable,” Ernie interrupted. “Allow me to switch to an external view. That will explain things much better.” The image flickered seamlessly from the ship’s interior to a very crowded docking bay with even more fanatics clustered around the ship than last night. All Lianna could see was a sea of faces mingling suffocatingly tight together. “Stand by,” Ernie’s voice cut in. “Pastor Bienbouw is coming to make a speech.”

The congregants shifted to one side to allow a beefy specimen who towered over the rest to pass. He was dressed in a stiff white shirt, sealed with an equally stiff collar. His blonde hair was butched close to his scalp. A podium had been set up next to the ship’s dorsal fins, and behind this he stood with raised hands. The congregation became suddenly quiet, barely seeming to breathe.

“Rejoice, my brethren! The devil has been driven from our midst!”

“No he hasn’t, pal,” Lianna grumbled, “You’re still here.”

Though his voice was guttural, it seemed to carry across the bay. ‘‘We don’t know where Dr. Jensen has been taken. Nonetheless we can take solace in the fact that she has been driven into hiding. The last vestiges of alien trash have been driven from our solar system!” This was met with cheers and whoops. “Now we must be vigilant, patient, and allow Dr. Jensen to return to her ship. After all, she’s the only one who can pilot this wreck out of this station!” The congregation joined him in his chuckles.

“I want to thank our esteemed solicitor Mr. Hobson, for his service in delaying the deportation of countless brethren on account of Commander Stephensen’s spurious insinuations. For too long our liberties have been intruded on. Those days are over, I promise you.

“And our work is not yet done! We tried to build a more perfect society in Rhodesia, South Africa and in Zion. Each time our holy efforts were undermined by kaffirs and feminists and all the radicals, demanding we respect THEIR rights—”

Granny stiffened during that last harangue, her fists cracking in her lap. Gita, on the other hand, signed, ‘Rats?’ “He said ‘rights’,” Lianna signed back. “I know, he talks funny.”  The three of them had a giggle about that, at least.

Bienbouw raised his palms again, garnering the mob’s attention. “The Last Great War was not as we were promised. Paradise was given over to the perverted. The wall we’d labored so diligently to erode between church and state had been reinforced. Other faiths were allowed to flourish over the true gospel. Even our hopes for a greater world in the New Frontier had been dashed. We’ve seen with our own eyes the alien taint oozing from Dr. Jensen’s own hands!”

The congregation’s murmurs rose to ululations as the pastor raised one hand like a conductor. “That’s it,” Lianna grumbled. “Ernie, patch me into the ship’s amplifier.”

“Doing so now, Miss Lianna. Although may I advise it may not be wise to antagonize—”

But she was already leaning over Granny’s end-table. “HEY! SMART-ASS!”

Granny started. That certainly got the pastor’s attention, since he immediately swung to the perceived source of the offending noise, as did the stunned mob before him. “Before you stick your foot any deeper down your gullet, I just wanted you to know I’m alive and well, and I’m not going anywhere! I’m not gonna waste any more time reasoning with you. I’ve visited neutron stars that were less dense than you loons! If it’s the devil you’re looking for, I suggest you look in the fucking mirror!”

After that she severed communications with a touch of a button. That was singularly satisfying, almost as much as the high five she shared with Gita, or the wide-eyed gaze Granny regarded her with. “Child,” she whispered, “you’ve got balls!”

…Pressure was exquisite. Her throat seared from dozens of ruptures. She coughed another mouthful of blood as its throat muscles contracted, ridges of muscle grinding into her hips and thighs.  Her arms cramped as her suit was slowly shredded with her still inside it. Its mouth closed over her face as her hair was strained between its jagged jaws—

–and the scream died in her throat. She sat rigid on the edge of the lounge hyperventilating, dripping ice cold perspiration. Her blankets were soaked, clinging to her as she fought for composure. I haven’t had that nightmare for years, she thought.

The evening had passed easily. They spent a few hours playing cards. After dinner her suit was delivered as promised. She left it in its slipcover for now; she still needed to recover. She and Granny had tucked Gita into bed in the spare room, and then she did the same for Lianna, which worked out fine until now. “Baby? What’s the matter?” Granny called from her room.

“It’s fine,” Lianna called back. “Gita’s still asleep.”

“I was referring to you.”

“Oh.” She sat quietly for a moment, until her host spoke again. “Would you come in here, so I don’t have to shout across the apartment?”

Something in her tone seemed so familiar, so—family—that it brought a smile to Lianna. She cast off her damp blanket and padded into the bedroom. Sweet Mother Kali, her brown body was even more beautiful in her birthday suit. Lianna sat on the edge of the bed as Granny propped herself up on one elbow. “I had a nightmare is all,” she began.

But Granny abruptly tossed the covers off herself. “Oh my god, you’re frigid. And you’re wet all over. Wait here!” She dashed to her dresser. Suddenly a fluffy luxurious towel was tossed across her shoulders. She was very thorough, rubbing Lianna back and then front until every drop of sweat was scrubbed dry. “I-I’m sorry,” Lianna stammered. “I haven’t slept alone for so long…”

“Baby, what happened to you? What could’ve inspired such a vivid nightmare?”

“It wasn’t…it was real.” Granny stopped toweling her down for a moment. “You could sense what I was dreaming.”

She nodded. “How could you remember that so vividly?”

“I remember everything. I have hyperthymesia. I remember every hour of every day on the Naga Sentry. Every day of my life with precise accuracy.”

The bed creaked as Granny sat down beside her. “Tell me.”

Lianna wet her lips and leaned forward to make sure Gita was still tucked in. So far so good. She leaned back with Granny’s great hands gripping her shoulders. “I-I wasn’t looking for monsters. I just wanted to explore, without the dangers I’d been encountering. I thought it’d give the Professor fewer headaches,” she chuckled.

“There were stories in my parents’ journals about a planet with a sacred body of water. I set down a few kilometers from where my ship’s sensors pinpointed a cavern with a large body of water. I hadn’t known there was a mercenary army bivouacking there too. These were Blanchard Benzentine’s thugs, the Scourge of the Seven Empires. They got off a few shots, inflicted radiation burns to my right leg.” Her hand brushed a faded pink blemish spread across her upper thigh.

“I barely managed to shut a bulkhead door and deadlocked it behind me. And there it was, the Sacred Waters of Turin. There was nothing especially magical about it, besides the name but it cooled my wound. And then…you ever get those pinpricks on the back of your neck, like you know you’re not alone? The water surged in front of me, waves building till it was the size of a whale.

“Sweet Kali, if only that’s all it was. This was the mother of all monsters, a grey skinned squid full of tentacles twice as long as me and twice as thick. I was armed, sort of. The professor had given me a wrist mounted nullifier for self-defense. I didn’t know what it’d do against this monstrosity, but I had to do something. I raised my arm to take aim, and it threw its tentacles around my arms. And then my wrist gadget says, ‘tracking lens blocked—please remove obstruction.’

“Can you believe that? That thing was gonna kill me and it still thinks it’s in the lab! It was all over me in seconds, clutching my legs and shoulders, flowing down my throat. Its suckers were tearing into the inside of my throat. It wasn’t like Terran cephalopods. Its suckers bit right through my mother’s skinsuit, into my flesh.

“I-I think they were recording it. Gita’s mother told me she found a trove of data slats, covering dozens of travelers they fed to that creature, and,,. they were laughing about it. It lifted me like I was nothing, cinched its tentacles tight around my chest. Then it turned itself inside out. It was astonishing that anything that huge could regurgitate itself so easily.

“It had no beak. From the looks of it, Benzentine’s mercenaries had blasted its beak to pieces. There were only jagged nubs left around its mouth. Those jaws had opened to receive me. Gods, the stench of brine and raw flesh blasted from its throat. My soles slipped down its tongue. Its tentacles oozed up my torso as it forced me down. First my hips, then my hands, then its mouth closed around my chest. I was gonna die alone while they were back in their HQ, watching, pleasuring themselves over my…”

“Baby, stop. You don’t have to…”

“Let me finish. It had me, my hair was sliding through its mouth. And then my wrist gadget says, ‘Target acquired. Shall we respond?’ Oh hell yes, so I fired right down its throat. Blew a space-girl sized hole through the back of its head. It got the last word, though. It spit me out, but the force of the blast blew me across the pond into the retaining wall, head-first.

“I don’t remember much after that. I think it killed me. Ernie rescued me, Gita’s mother came and they ministered to me. I was in a coma for several weeks. I only had Stavros travelling with me at that time, and she contributed some of her amoebic fluid to heal some of my wounds. That’s where all those welts came from, and that’s part of how I acquired a little amniotic goo.”

“Please tell me that bastard was arrested for what he did.”

Lianna shook her head. “Not exactly. Gita’s mother had become extremely fond of me.” Lianna swallowed. Meanwhile Granny’s hands massaged her shoulders, “I didn’t want revenge, I didn’t…but she tracked the whole mercenary army, across several sectors, billions of kilometers, and she killed them all at once. She’s a goddess. She unleashed a demon horde on his soldiers, and then…

“She harvested their souls. She released her demon army from its servitude and bound Benzentine’s army to her service for the next thousand years.” She turned to stare into Granny’s shining eyes. “Why would she do that for me? I never dreamed anyone could care enough…” She was suddenly aware of her hands trembling in her lap. Then one of Granny’s hands pressed over both of hers, rubbing them gently. “I’m sorry. Can I stay here tonight?”

The request spilled out of her without a thought. Once spoken, she didn’t regret it. She barely knew this woman, but somehow all her instincts whispered that she could trust her. “Of course you can, baby,” Granny smiled. “Just lay down, you’ll be safe here.”

Hardly had the blanket covered them both before Lianna gasped, “Sweet Kali!”

“What? I’m sorry, is something–?”

“No, it’s just…gods, you’re so WARM. This is like bathing in a star.”

She sensed the smile in her reply. “Space is cold. You probably haven’t had a warm body to cuddle up to.”

Lianna was suddenly reminded of how tiny she was next to Granny as she spooned closer, her breasts smooshed across her back. Lianna’s hands, so very small, clutched the powerful arms draped around her waist. “Why are you so kind?”

“I know what its like to be alone,” Granny whispered. “I didn’t have an advocate to help me when I was your age. I never want anyone to feel that lonely…Oh. I guess you’re not the only one who couldn’t sleep.”

Lianna raised her head, brushing her hair out of her eyes while Gita peeked over the top of the mattress. Her trunk trailed a couple of meters behind her into the living area. “Hi, sweetie. Is something wrong?”

She didn’t sign anything this time, but clutched Lianna’s fingers. “You don’t want to sleep alone either, is that it?” she nodded enthusiastically. Lianna glanced back at Granny, who nodded.

“It’s a strange place. One night won’t matter.”

“Okay. Come on up, sweetie.” Lianna put her hands to her waist and lifted Gita onto the mattress beside her. The child wriggled up to Lianna’s shoulders while her lower body coiled once, twice, three times around her waist. Her scales stretched and contracted as she breathed, supple against Lianna’s bare skin. Her breath was warm and feather soft on her neck. Gita settled into Lianna’s arms while Granny snuggled close.