Part 5

Chrissy pulled the shift from the replicator and handed it to her mom. "You're supposed to wear this."

Her mother struggled into the shift. "It's kind of revealing. Can't you get me something else to wear?"

As if it mattered; she'd been walking around naked in front of nearly a hundred people, most of them just as naked as she'd been. Chrissy shrugged. "It's what you get for now Mom." She hoped her mom wouldn't have a hissy fit over it. Chrissy had a plan to deal with her if she caused trouble; several plans actually, but she didn't like any of them very much and hoped they wouldn't be necessary.

"If that thing," she said, pointing to the replicator, "can make uniforms, it can make regular clothes." Chrissy ignored her mother's complaints, and gave shifts to her aunt and cousin. They didn't complain, but her aunt made a face.

"Aunt Heather, you can share a room with Megan. There is an empty one upstairs. That circle over there is an elevator. Just step on it and it will take you upstairs." Freddie came down as she pointed it out. "You come down the same way, just step off."

Her mom shot Freddie a nasty look. "What's he doing here?"

Chrissy gestured with an open palm. "This is Freddie, he's my...." She didn't know quite what call him.

Freddie smiled and took her hand. "Husband, I'm her husband. We're the closest thing to married that the Confederacy recognizes."

Her heart melted at his words. She hadn't been thinking of it that way, but it was true. She was married. The thought was so exhilarating that her mother's response cut into her heart like a knife. "How could you do that? You married a nigg...."

Crack. The sound of her palm on her mother's face echoed from the walls. She did it on instinct, without any conscious thought at all. It was as if her hand moved by itself, and she only watched it happen. The force of the blow rocked the older woman's head back sharply. "Shut up!"

Her mother put a hand up to her cheek, staring at Chrissy. She stared the same way Gina had before, like she couldn't believe what had happened. "You hit me."

Hitting her mom hadn't been in any of her plans. "Mother, you aren't in charge here. Apologize. Now."

"God, you sound just like your father. That bastard always tried to tell me what to do too, always trying to get me to do sick twisted things." Her mom folded her arms and set her face in her 'laying down the law look'. "That didn't work for him, the pervert, that's why he tried doing them with you girls. If Gina had done what I told her he'd be in jail where he belongs."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Chrissy screamed, punctuating each word with another slap. Her mom put up her hands to protect her face, so Chrissy punched her in the stomach. "Don't you talk bad about Daddy ever again." The breath whooshed out of the older woman, and she doubled over. Chrissy grabbed her hair in one fist and hammered on her back with the other until she fell to the floor. "Don't." Thump. "Talk." Thump. "About." Thump. "My daddy." Thump. "Ever." Thump. "Again!"

She kicked her mother, who writhed and twisted on the floor, until a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her away. "You don't want to do this Baby, you're better than that." She struggled to break free, but Freddie held her tight. He carried her into the bedroom, yelling over his shoulder as they went through the door. "Get her upstairs, now! Nobody comes down until we send for you." The door shut behind them, cutting off the sound from the other room.

By then Chrissy was crying uncontrollably, she just couldn't stop herself. Freddie carried her to the bed, and held her while sobs wracked her body. She clung to him, scared, her head on his chest. What had she done? He let her cry herself out before he said anything. "You want to talk about it?" She shook her head. He was silent for a moment. "Do you need to talk about it?"

She listened to his heart-beat while she thought about it. "Probably." He didn't say anything else, just waited for her to continue. "It started when I was about nine I guess. Mom and Dad started fighting a lot, and they divorced when I was ten. Mom and her lawyer tried to get me to say he touched me, that he touched me the way you touch me, but he never did, not even once." He moved his hand down her back, pulling her body tight against his. "They went into the courthouse for the hearing, Gina went in too, but Mom made the rest of us go with the social worker. I never saw him again."

"Never?"

She lifted her head, leaving a damp spot on the dark blue of his uniform jacket, "Not even a phone call or a letter. Gina said... Gina said the judge issued a restraining order against him, but she might just have wanted to make me feel better."

He pulled her to him and kissed her tenderly. "You miss him though. Did you ever call him? Write him?"

Chrissy laid her head on his shoulder. "Both. The first few times I called he was deployed, and then he'd been transferred to a different unit. He never answered any of the letters I sent." She clung to him and started crying again. "Mom says he just forgot all about us, forgot about me."

"That...." He stroked her hair a few times. "That doesn't sound right." He stared at the ceiling. It looked like he had something else to say so Chrissy snuggled a bit closer, enjoying the feel of his arms around her and the way he smelled. She felt safe with him, like she hadn't for a long time. "I just can't see it. Tell me Baby, you never heard anything at all? Nothing for your birthday or Christmas?"

"Nothing, not even a card."

"What about child support?"

"I guess he must have paid on time. I'm sure Mom would have complained if he hadn't"

Freddie gently kissed her forehead. "I don't believe it Baby. I know you love your mom, if you didn't you wouldn't have saved her, but I just don't believe it. Which is more likely? That your father never missed a payment but totally ignored his kids, or that your mom intercepted your mail?"

Chrissy felt hope surge inside of her. He was right, Mom wouldn't hesitate before doing something like that, not if she could stick it to Dad. "I wish I could know for sure."

Freddie was quiet for a bit, it took a moment for her to realize he was talking to the AI. "We could call your dad," he said finally. "We could call him right now. The AI says he's still awake."