The offer was accepted, and Badd cleaned up the counters more than usual while wondering if Novoc even cared about kitchen hygeine.

"I hope so." Japanifornia had different opinions on child-rearing than the mandos. THe idea of Kay as a warrior, when she was so young and so fragile, felt disturbing to Badd. "Byrne never talked much about it...I'm sure he would, if I'd asked. I didn't ask about a lot of things I should have."

He was supposed to go first, not Byrne. That had been an unconscious certainty for him.

"So how do I start?"