Now that we’ve been here several months, most of the junk is cleared out and everything looks a bit more open. We’ve been covering everything with bright shades of paint, something that puzzles the va Sithai brothers. Why paint when everything is a perfectly serviceable gray? But the bright, cheerful shades make Alice happy, and after she commented on how much she liked the pale yellow of the rec room, Kaspar has been painting right alongside the rest of us. Jade had the brilliant idea of painting “windows” onto the walls, and now as we walk down the hall, we see “windows” with pastoral scenes painted onto them, courtesy of Jade’s handiwork. There are trees and birds and flowers and hillsides, and Alice giggles at the ridiculousness of each one, but it makes her smile, and customizing the place makes everything feel a bit more like it’s ours. Of course, now there’s a faint smell of paint in every room, but I’m told that will fade soon enough.
Alice heads for our terrarium, a worried look on her face. “I came in this morning after breakfast to give her her food, and she didn’t eat it. She went and hid in the corner. Either she’s sick, or she’s giving birth.”
I chew on my lip, considering, as Alice leads me through the beds of plants to the back of the terrarium. Even with most of the plants still young, the terrarium has quickly become one of the most popular spots in our new home. The ceiling has been painted a bright blue to mimic the sky, with a yellow “sun” on the wall. The plant beds are laid out in raised up rows, with vegetables on one side of the terrarium and flowers on the other. It’s the biggest room in the station other than the cargo bay, and a fine mist automatically sprays out several times a day to keep the plants moist. The air here is always slightly humid, but we like it. There’re a few seats scattered near some of the beds and a rolling cart full of gardening tools for us to use. Adiron bought a gardening bot for us, but Jade, Alice and I prefer to garden with our hands. I think I just kinda like playing with the dirt and touching the plants, but I’m not going to tell the others that. They’ll probably think it’s childish of me, but I’m just fascinated with the fact that these green, wonderful-smelling things can come to life from dirt, and we can help them along. I love sinking my hands in the dirt…and so does Sterre. The big carinoux loves to dig holes, which drives me crazy.
But…she lives here, too.
And as if to show us exactly where Sterre is hiding today, there are huge, muddy footprints all over the nice clean terrarium floors that lead to one corner of the chamber.
“I’ll clean it up later,” Alice says quickly, as if reading my thoughts. “I’m just worried about Sterre right now.”
I give her hand a squeeze. “It’s fine. Let’s see what’s going on with her.”
We’ve had several false alarms with Sterre over the last month. Alice is convinced the carinoux is about to give birth at any moment, commenting that she looks “ready to pop.” I’m not sure I’m so convinced. Jade looks ready to pop and she’s not even halfway through her pregnancy. Alice has a tiny little rounded belly while Jade has a great big one. I’m not sure that the size of a belly has anything to do with how far along one is. Not that I’m an expert. The other day, Alice was positive that Sterre was about to birth a kitten and it turned out she just had gas. “Are you sure she’s not gassy again?”
“I have a nose,” Alice retorts. “I’d smell it if she had gas again.”
“I’m just asking,” I say, wincing as my sister steps onto one of the dirt beds in the terrarium and nearly crushes one of the plants. We have cuttings and seeds generously shared with us from Sophie, and a few smaller plants that Matty and his brothers have picked up on supply runs, but everything in the terrarium is still a little fragile and could be easily crushed underfoot. I know Alice is worried about Sterre, but if she steps on the pretty blooming Phoenix Flower plant that Milly sent to us from Risda III, I’m going to pitch a fit.
We pick our way to the back of the terrarium to where Sterre is hiding. I try not to notice how many plants Sterre has smushed or dug up. She lives here, too. She’s my sister, and as long as she doesn’t touch my flowers (which are protected by little wire cages) I’m okay with it. Mostly.