Chapter 3

"My crotch itches like fuck," Branwyn told me when I awoke the following morning. "I bet it's my new virginity. I hope you're going to relieve me of it very soon."

I grinned and shook my head. "Nope. That's Dad's."

"Bastard," she said and turned over to face away from me. I grinned and snuggled up behind her, reaching over her to lightly fondle one boob. I kissed the side of her neck and saw her mouth curl into a smile.

"Unless you're going to feed me your mighty meaty, fuck off."

I didn't say anything, just snuggled up closer, laying my boner along the crease of her bum cheeks. I moved my hand slowly down onto her tummy, and continued to kiss her. She moaned and I felt her push her hips back against me.

"Are you horny yet?" I whispered.

"Yes. No. Yes. Fuck off. Now you're just being a sod."

I grinned. "Yes. And?"

She surprised me by wrenching herself free of me and storming out of the room. I looked after her in shock.

"Fuck," I said aloud. I knew I had really upset her now.

I climbed out of bed to follow her.

"Branny," I said softly, when I found her on the couch in the sitting area.

"Don't tease me Llew. I couldn't stand it."

"Why? What's up?"

She just shook her head. "You've made me a virgin again. Well, sort of. You've told me this one is for Dad, but..."

"Do you want to change that?" I asked gently.

She looked at me hard. "No. I don't. I really like the idea. I really do. But I want you to do something for me."

"If I can."

"You can. I don't want you to have sex with me until you can make me a virgin again. I want my first time with you to be a bit more special."

"All right, if you're sure?"

"Yes. Very. Will you do that for me?"

"Yes. All right."

"Good. I'm going to get dressed."

In all the hullabaloo over the last couple of days, and the fact that almost everyone was showing a lot of flesh, I'd not really noticed that Branwyn was still naked. As in fact so was I. Standing, I pulled her upright, and then into my arms. "You are very beautiful, sister mine, and it will be an honour and a privilege to have your virginity when you can give it to me."

She blushed and buried her face in my chest.

"Come on," I said softly. "Shower and dress." I looked up. "Time, please, AI."

"Oh eight thirteen."

"Bugger, we are very late today." I grinned at Branwyn.

She smiled back and walked calmly towards the bathroom. I watched her, my eyes taking in her new shape and figure, just drinking in the sight of her. When she got to the door she turned and looked at me, a gentle smile on her face. For a few moments more I continued to look at her and she just stood there letting me look. She looked so stunningly beautiful, and sexy, that I felt my cock start to stir. Her smile broadened and she blew me a kiss before turning and going into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later we were all sat around the breakfast table, all having our favourite breakfasts. The new food selection allowed us all to have exactly what we wanted.

I had pink grapefruit, followed by toast and Marmite, along with a huge mug of strong Kenyan tea. Mum had her black coffee, with a fruit yoghurt and muesli, while Huw and Roger both had a full cooked English breakfast. Branwyn and Siân both had plain yoghurts along with an apple and a banana each.

"I've been told that we can't use the sleep trainer until tomorrow. Something to do with the changes we've all had done to us. I don't know what you guys are going to do..."

"Contact from Lieutenant Paul Simpson for Lieutenant Llewelyn Carter. Do you wish to take it?" I smiled as I noticed that the two 'lieutenant's had been pronounced differently.

"Yes please AI. Lootenant Simpson, how can I help?"

"Leftenant Carter. I'm told you need an extra concubine. We currently have four to spare. Can you please make your way to the medical bay to choose one."

"Right now?"

"If you would, please."

The connection broke.

"Oh wow." I think that was Siân, but I wasn't sure, I was too busy with my own thoughts. I wasn't quite ready for a sixth concubine just yet, but I may not get another chance for a while. And given that I'd been told that unowned concubines could get recycled, I felt it was my duty to go and get one, just to ensure someone didn't end up dead.

There were four women waiting for me when I got to the medical bay, along with a marine Private I didn't recognise.

"Hi," I nodded, "I'm Llew Carter. I've come for another concubine."

He indicated the four women. "Take your pick."

I looked at them. There were two younger girls, probably still teenagers, a slightly older woman somewhere in her mid to late twenties, and an even older obese woman, probably in her early forties. "Er. How?"

"The same way you picked your previous ones."

"Um. Well, that was a bit of a cock up. I just ended up with my family. So..."

"Oh," the private grinned. "I heard about you. You're famous. Or infamous. Danny Black likes you for some reason."

"Is he around?"

"Do you want to see him?"

"If it's possible."

There was a pause while the private communed with the AI. "He's on his way. About two minutes."

"Okay. Well how do I choose?"

He passed me a small device. "It's a card reader," he told me, "it will scan their CAP cards. After that just talk to them, and maybe take one for a test drive."

"Test drive?"

"Fuck 'em. Make 'em suck you. See what they'll be like. Make sure they're compatible."

"Oh." It suddenly dawned on me what was happening in the fish and chip restaurant in Newport. "Oh," I said again.

I went over to the oldest woman. She said nothing, just handed me her CAP card. It took me a few seconds to work out how the reader worked, but I was surprised to see she was only thirty three, with a CAP of 5.9. "Um," I asked the private, "how do I get this to give me more information?"

The private, whose name I still didn't know, showed me.

"What's your name please?" I asked the woman.

"Janine. Janine Miller."

Janine wasn't unattractive exactly, if you only looked at her face, but if I took her she was going to need a lot of work in the medical tube to improve her saggy boobs, flabby waist and huge amounts of cellulite. Her hair was a funny pale brown colour that I only realised after examining it closely was a mix of brown and grey. Her much darker pubic bush was sprawling and straggly, but not actually ugly. The whole effect though was rather unappealing.

"Okay Janine, why should I take you?"

"I've got two young sons that I will do anything to protect," she told me softly. I looked at her scores again. She had a scarily low sex drive score, just 1.8, but had a mothering score of 8.9. I frowned, that was almost contradictory. She had above average intelligence at 6.6 and a pretty average aggression at 5.2, but when I dug into that I discovered that it would only be in defence of her children.

I showed her her sex drive score. "Why is that?" I asked softly.

She lowered her head and I could see tears in her eyes. "I promise," she whispered, "I'll do anything you want me to."

"I'm sure you would," I told her gently, "but I need to know what this means."

"I, I, I'm scared of sex. It hurts."

"If it hurts, you're doing it wrong, or your man is."

"It hurts," she whispered, tears now flowing freely.

"Okay. I'm going to talk to the others now. Don't go away. What you need is someone who can help you through it. You just need your confidence building up. With the rest of your scores, I believe you could actually become a sponsor in your own right. If you wanted that." I knew this was true, I just didn't know whether I could do it, or wanted to for that matter. Maybe if Roger had been a sponsor in his own right, he and Imogen between them could do it. I sighed and moved onto the next.

"Stacy Fields," she told me calmly handing me her CAP card. She had spoken so quietly that I think I only heard her because of my augmented hearing.

I smiled. "Hello Stacy. Sell yourself. Why should I take you?"

Her voice firmed up a little, but was still very quiet. "Because I can do anything. I'm reasonably smart, I'm flexible, I'm easy to get along with, and when I make friends I stay friends through thick and thin."

I nodded. I'd been examining her as she spoke. She wasn't the prettiest girl in the world, very petite, but she had a nice figure and lovely red hair. She had obviously shaved her pubes recently, but just long enough ago that she was showing an obvious stubble. She had beautiful tiny, pert, breasts, but was showing a small roll of fat around her waist and belly. Nothing particularly bad, yet. I looked at her CAP card in the reader.

"Twenty five years old, CAP of six point naught," I said. I grinned at her. "That you?"

She smiled shyly and nodded. I looked down again. She had a sex drive of 7.5, that was good. A mothering score of 7.7, not as good as Janine, but excellent none-the-less. Even a loyalty score of 7.4.

"Hold on a mo," I passed her her card back and went back to Janine, taking her card again. Her loyalty score was 5.0, but again when I drilled down I discovered that as far as her children went she had a loyalty score of 9.3. She would be loyal to anyone but only so long as they kept her children safe. That was not so good, I smiled and passed it back.

I went back to Stacy. Looking at her sub scores I soon realised that she was essentially shy, but that once she got to know someone, she could open up to someone she liked. Her essential shyness also explained her lack of aggression at 2.6. It also meant that it would probably be impossible for her to ever get a cap of 6.5 or better.

"Hello son," came a voice behind me.

I turned. "Oh hi Danny, how's it hanging?"

"Good. You?"

"Uh. I got to pick another concubine and I don't really know what I'm doing."

"That's okay, almost no one does at first. You're probably going to be better than most as you've only got to pick one, all your others are just fine." He grinned at me. "They are just fine aren't they?"

I laughed. "Branny definitely wants to see you again."

Danny just smiled. "My missus'd probably have something to say about that."

I smiled. "I need to ask you some advice in a bit. About our mutual concubine situation."

"Perverts," muttered the Private, but with a smile in his eyes.

"Just ignore old Cyrus here. He's just jealous. He ain't got no sisters, an' he's too young for daughters, and his mom was a thousand miles away when he was collected."

"Fuck off," Cyrus said genially.

Danny laughed, and I turned back to the four women. I handed Stacy's card back to her. "Don't go away."

The next girl was a very pretty blonde. She shoved her CAP card at me. "I'm Riley and I'm sixteen," she told me. "You've got to take me. I'm the youngest. I'll last longest."

"You'll also probably have less experience," I told her calmly. Her attitude had already put me off. Everything on her card showed below average scores. Some of that may have been down to her age and inexperience, both mothering and sex scores were 4.6 but it all combined to give a CAP of only 4.7. Her highest score, I noted, was her loyalty at 5.0. About all she had going for her were her looks, and I could change those in the medical pods if I wanted to. I frowned and shook my head. "I don't think so."

She scowled at me, and her face became surprisingly ugly. I decided to have a bit of fun with her. Putting my hand to her completely shaven pudenda, I felt only smooth skin, no stubble. She didn't even flinch, just moved her feet fractionally apart to make it easier for me to touch her.

"Have you shaved, or are you depilated?"

"I was waxed four days ago."

My eyebrows went up. "Doesn't that hurt?"

"A bit, but you get used to it."

"Are you a virgin?"

She blushed. "No."

"How many different men?"

She paused. At first I thought it was because she didn't want to answer, then I realised she was counting. "Nine," she said eventually.

I nodded. "Would you do anything?" I was still lightly stroking her vulva.

She nodded, then asked, "Like what?"

"Oral sex on another woman? Anal sex? Two or three men at a time?"

"I guess."

"What turns you on?"

"Dunno. Never thought about it."

"Would you be happy if you became pregnant tomorrow?"

She shrugged again. "I guess."

I gave another sigh, although I felt she'd been telling me the truth, I also felt there was something hidden. "I've been lightly masturbating you for well over a minute. You are still dry. I really don't think you could cope." I handed her her CAP card back. "You need to rethink your position. And fast."

I turned to the last girl, a stunningly beautiful brunette, easily more beautiful than either of my sisters had been before their enhancements. Possible even one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. Like Stacy, her boobs were firm and pert, but they were larger, possibly as big as a D cup. She had smooth satiny skin, greeny brown eyes, her hair was a rich mahogany brown that fell in waves almost to her waist. Her pubic bush was the same colour, and attractively trimmed and shaped. I felt a slight stirring in my loins as I looked at her, and sternly repressed my body's reactions.

"Well," I said slowly, "You won't need much in the way of body enhancements."

She just preened and looked smug.

"So. What's your name?" I asked, taking her card.

"Amber. Amber Speed."

"Okay Amber Speed," I looked at her card, "why should I take you?"

"You've just said it. I'm beautiful."

"Did you hear what I asked your friend here?" I indicated Riley.

"She's not my friend. I only met her yesterday."

"Okay, but did you hear what I asked her?"

"No. I already know you're going to take me. I'm too beautiful not to take."

She had higher sex and mothering scores than Riley, but at 5.5 and 4.8 they were nothing to write home about. She had a decent moral courage at 6.0 and 5.0 determination. Her overall CAP was lower though, with an intelligence at 3.1, and a loyalty of 3.6, it gave her a combined total of 4.5, just lower than Riley's. Her I could do without. I thought I'd better check though.

She had a nice pubic bush. I slid my hand into it, unlike Riley she flinched a little, then relaxed. "How many men have you had?"

"Two. I'm a one man woman."

I shook my head. Even I could see she was lying. "How many men have you had sexual intercourse with?"

"Two. I told you.

"I don't take liars." I handed her her card back and turned away.

"Alright, six," I heard her sob behind me. "But it wasn't my fault. They got me drunk."

"So you were raped?"

"Yes."

I looked at her. "No. You weren't. You may have been drunk, but you enjoyed it."

"How do you know. You weren't there."

I frowned. How did I know? "AI," I asked internally. "Could the changes made to my sight and hearing make me able to tell when someone is telling the truth?"

"It is possible," the AI conceded after a moment. "In combination with some natural empathy you have. If you like, an investigation can be started?"

"Please."

All that was inside my head. Meanwhile I just continued to look at Amber.

"Okay. You're right," she said sullenly. "I did enjoy it. They did get me drunk, and technically it was rape because I didn't want to do it, but they tricked me into it. I didn't mean to do it. It just sorta happened, and I couldn't," she paused for just a moment. "Once it started I didn't want it to stop. But it only happened the once, an' I've never done it since. Well, not till we got up here anyway."

"Uh huh. Would you do anything?" I reached out to her pussy again, and began to lightly stroke it.

"Yes."

"Anal sex?"

She shuddered but squared her shoulders and looked at me defiantly. "Yes."

"Oral sex on another woman?"

She blanched, but her yes was just as firm. I admired her courage, the idea of doing those things scared her, but in spite of her fear she was determined to do whatever was necessary.

"An orgy with two or three other men?"

"Yes." That 'yes' had less stress, it truly wouldn't bother her, though I suspected it wouldn't be her choice of activities.

"What about becoming pregnant tomorrow?"

"Yes," her answer that time was a touch less certain, possibly, I guess, because she'd never thought about it before.

"What turns you on?"

"Big dicks?"

"You sound uncertain. Are you?"

She frowned. "I've never had one. It just turns me on. The idea of one."

"A twelve inch dick?"

"Yeah."

"Do you like that idea? A twelve inch dick just here?" My fingers strayed down from her clit to her labia and she wriggled as I slipped one finger, then two, between her suddenly slick labia.

I knew she did like that idea because her pussy, which until now had been mostly dry, was suddenly slick with moisture, and her breathing became a little ragged.

"A fat, hard twelve inch cock pushing deep inside," I whispered slipping a third finger inside her hot and wet pussy.

She closed her eyes and gave a ragged sigh, her crotch sodden with her arousal. The very idea really did turn her on.

I turned to Danny and Cyrus. "Gent's, do either of you have a twelve inch or bigger dick?"

They both blushed, but only Cyrus nodded. "Amber here wants to know what a twelve incher feels like, would you care to enlighten her?"

Cyrus glanced at Danny, who motioned him on. He nodded, grinning. "My pleasure."

Amber proved to be a size queen. She took Cyrus' mighty schlong inside her with hardly a murmur, but then shook and moaned and squealed her delight, coming four or five times on the huge piece of man-meat inside her.

"Fuck but that's one fine piece of ass," moaned Cyrus a few minutes later.

"Is she actually that good?" I asked, amused.

"Fuck yeah, her snatch is alive and gobblin', it's fuckin' amazin'. I've never had a Limey broad before, but if they're all like that, I only want Limey's."

Both Danny and I laughed. Cyrus, I guessed, wasn't really serious, he was just taken with the moment.

"Oh god, give me more like that," gasped Amber. "That was heaven."

"Danny?" I asked with a grin.

He just shook his head. "My missus," he explained.

"But she isn't your missus any more."

"No. But we still live together and behave as man and wife. An' I still love her."

"Would she really be upset?"

"I've never put it to the test."

"Hmm." I left it for now, but I was fairly certain that she wouldn't object. If she was a sponsor in her own right, then she'd be intelligent enough to know the ways of this new world.

I looked at a ragged and gasping Amber, still sitting on Cyrus' cock, her arms and legs wrapped tightly around him and a look of satiated happiness on her face. "Sorry lass, I don't have a twelve incher."

She looked disappointed. "Just grow it."

"I shook my head. "Sorry."

"Are you going to take her?" asked Cyrus.

"No."

Cyrus looked to the ceiling. "AI. I still have a free spot, can I have her?"

"Yes."

"Amber," said Cyrus, "Will you become my concubine?"

She nodded, a wide grin on her face.

"You'll need to speak up for the AI to hear you," Danny told her.

"Yes please. I would love to become your concubine. Just so long as I keep getting more of this wonderful dick," she told him.

"It is so registered," intoned the ship's AI. "Concubine Amber Speed is now the sole property of volunteer Cyrus Temple."

I smiled at them as they hugged, then turned back to the others. Looking at Riley I could see that she was a little aroused, but Stacy was almost dripping with lust. Janine couldn't quite manage to hide the fact that she was revolted. It had to be Stacy.

"Stacy. I want you to be my final concubine, but before I ask you formally, I need to tell you a little bit more about the rest of my concubines."

She looked puzzled and nodded.

"I have three females and two males. The males are my father and my younger brother, the females are my mother and my two sisters. Can you be comfortable with that?"

Out of the corners of my eyes I saw both Riley and Janine look at me in astonishment. Stacey's face showed no less surprise, but her horniness didn't disappear.

"Definitely."

"Do you have any problems with incest?"

"I've never done it, I've never thought about it, but no, I guess not." She shrugged and continued. "After all, it won't actually be me who's committing incest."

"Could you, do you think?"

She frowned for a moment and then shrugged. "Dunno. It can't happen just yet. My Dad's dead, my real Dad that is, and I have no brothers. I don't yet have any sons, but maybe in fourteen years I'll be able to make love to a son." She shrugged again. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it."

"It doesn't look like you're worried by the prospect?"

"I'm not."

I smiled. "Will you be my final concubine?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Sure?"

"Yes. I Stacy Fields will become the concubine of," she paused, confused, and I suddenly realised I hadn't introduced myself.

"Oh. Sorry, I'm Llewelyn Carter."

Stacy grinned, and made a valiant attempt at pronouncing my name.

"It is so registered," pronounced the AI. "Concubine Stacy Fields is now the sole property of volunteer Llewelyn Carter."

I glanced around to see that Riley was still staring hungrily at me. She was horny. The penny suddenly dropped.

"Hold on a sec," I told Stacy, "I want to confirm an idea I've just had."

She nodded.

I turned to Riley. "Now you're horny. How many of your men were your family?"

She blushed. "Only one. My older brother. For a year and a bit. He took my cherry, but I loved him."

"He took it?" I asked, surprise in my voice.

"I gave it to him."

"Uh huh. What happened when you were collected?"

She shrugged. "He wasn't there when I got picked."

"Could he have picked you? Would he have picked you?"

She frowned and dropped her head. "He could. His CAP was seven point naught. Probably wouldn't have picked me though."

"Oh?"

"He had a girlfriend, and she hated me. He loved her far more than me."

I frowned. "Did she know about you and your brother then?"

She shook her head. "Dunno. Don't think so."

"Anybody else?"

She shook her head.

"You like the idea of incest?"

She paused for a while, thinking. "Yeah, I guess I do." She shrugged. "I had a good experience of it, but I know it isn't always like that. It's not for everyone."

I nodded and turned back to Stacy.

"Have you had your medical checkup yet?"

"No. I was supposed to be having it now, but then something happened and they all stopped."

I looked at the technician. "Now?"

He nodded and indicated a medical pod. I saw that Amber was getting into another. She saw me looking her way and smiled and gave me a thumbs up. "Thank you," she called. I nodded.

While the two women were in the med tubes, Cyrus took the other two off. "Don't they get their medical checks?"

"Not at this time. We've a bit of a backlog so they end up at the back of the queue because they have no sponsor."

"But Janine is a mother with two children. Doesn't that entitle her to a slot?"

The technician shook his head. "It just puts her higher up her queue. The only way she can get ahead now is to find a sponsor."

"Ah okay. Danny, about that advice."

"Now?"

"Well, as soon as convenient."

"I'll come over after my shift. It'll be about nine this evening."

"Thank you. Look, can you bring your missus as well, you're both in incestuous relationships and it might be good to get the woman's angle as well."

He stared at me for a moment.

I frowned slightly. "You did tell me you'd got your sister and your daughter, and I'm sure you also told me your ex-wife got her sister and your son?""

"He nodded." That's right," he said slowly. "An' now we're sharing a pod." He nodded suddenly. "Okay, but this had better not be anything..."

I interrupted him. "It's not. I just want advice. Maybe I should meet you in the green refectory on my own?"

He relaxed. "That might be better. All right then, twenty one hundred in the green refectory."

"Thanks Danny. I really need this."

He nodded, smiled and left. I wondered if I'd damaged my friendship with him.

"What happened to the girls' sponsor?" I asked the medical technician, once I was alone and waiting for Stacy.

"He died."

"Oh? Why?"

He frowned. "Look. I'm not a nurse. I was a volunteer porter at Lennox Hill hospital in New York. I got chosen as a concubine by one of the nurses who was picked as a volunteer. I really don't know much about what happens in the tubes, so I don't know why he died. I just know that according to the tube's AI he died as soon as he went unconscious."

"Is there going to be a postmortem?"

"There's been one, but I don't have access to it."

"That was quick."

He shrugged. "The tube did it as soon as it saw the man was dead."

I nodded. "AI? Is the postmortem report available?"

"Negative. Only available to cleared personnel."

"AI. I am Lieutenant Llewelyn Carter, Confederacy Intelligence. I am cleared for everything."

There was a brief pause.

"Acknowledged. The postmortem report is available."

"Summarise please."

"Volunteer Frank Hicks died of cancer. His body had twenty-three different cancers, some at highly advanced stages. Almost every organ in his body was affected to some degree, and it is expected that he was in some pain or discomfort for much of the time. According to the human oncologist who was consulted, Frank Hicks should not have been alive. It is believed that his body would have died the next time he slept, regardless of when it was. Had he survived for two more minutes in the medical tube, there would have been time to inject appropriate nanites to stabilise him long enough for him to be completely cured."

"Oh shit," I murmured. "I guess that means that he needed to have been in the medical pod yesterday to have survived? So that he didn't have a sleep last night?"

There was a pause. "The conjecture is sound."

"In retrospect then, all medical checks should be done as fast as possible, regardless of the circumstances, and should take priority over body changes, and even over medical issues unless the medical issue is known to be urgent and life threatening."

There was another, longer, pause. "That is correct."

"So why wasn't he done earlier?"

"Higher priority occupants."

"But the tubes are empty now, so why have those other two concubines been taken away?"

"Because they are unowned, they do not have the right to a medical check."

"Except," I argued, "that Janine is the mother of two young sons, and Riley is young and attractive, and will easily catch the eye of a male."

"She didn't catch your eye," came the AI's rejoinder.

"True, Stacy caught my eye, and I only have one slot. If I'd had two, then maybe I'd have taken her as well."

There was a pause. "Understood."

I frowned and sat back to wait for Stacy, but before she was out, Riley and Janine returned with Cyrus. "They've just been called back," he said, puzzled.

I shrugged. "Don't knock it." His puzzled look told me that the Briticism may have been lost on him.

"Can I have something to wear please?" Stacy asked me shyly a few minutes later. "I know you don't have to give me anything, but..."

I nodded. This was no time to cause unneeded distress. "AI, please produce a shift for Stacy. Ensure it is long enough that it reaches at least four inches below the line of the crotch."

The ding a few moments later from the replicator behind me signalled the clothing was ready. I removed it and gave it to her. "We'll sort out something better later."

She slipped it on, its additional length actually looked odd, but that was perhaps because every other shift I'd seen until now was half an inch short of the crotch line.

As we walked back, Stacy slowly told me a little about herself. An only child, she had been brought up in West London by a widowed mother and a step-father who had treated her from the very first as if she was his own, so she'd had a happy, though slightly lonely childhood. She'd gone to Reading University to study drama, but had dropped out during the second year as she could no longer afford the fees. Instead she had gone to live with a boyfriend in Windsor, but when he'd dumped her she'd managed to find a flat, sharing with three other girls, and had got a job working in Waitrose.

"Ah. You brought up loads of food didn't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. We were all told to bring six things we thought we wouldn't be able to do without."

"What did you bring?"

"Cheese and mushroom pizza, raspberry ripple ice cream, jammy dodger biscuits, Cadburys creme eggs, custard doughnuts and clotted cream."

I had to laugh. Turning, I gently patted her tummy. "Sweet and sugary things. That's why you're just starting to put on a bit of weight here."

She blushed and nodded.

Putting my arm loosely around her shoulder, I pulled her against me. "That's okay. I think you're pretty."

She blushed again and leaned against me as we walked. I found it more intimate in its own way than I had when holding my naked sisters or mother.