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absurd urge to curtsey in return. “Thank you, Betra,” I said. “This is nice of you. But what’s the occasion?”
     
    He chuckled. “I felt bad that you two missed out on shore leave. It was a nice one, which I’m sure you’ve heard all about. I thought you deserved something special to make up for it.”
     
    Aw, what a sweetie. I got a lump in my throat over Betra’s gesture. Darn hormones were making me emotional again. “This is so nice of you, Betra,” I said. My voice had a catch in it.
     
    “Indeed it is.” Oses gave Betra a rare smile, one that had no sign of his usual feral personality. It had sincere warmth in it.
     
    The Imdiko blushed. He was saved further embarrassment by the food service worker stepping away from my sitting room’s table, now set for dinner.
     
    “Will there be anything else, Liaison Betra?” the younger man asked.
     
    “No, thank you. It looks wonderful. Your handheld, please?” Betra pulled his portable computer from his belt.
     
    The other Imdiko did likewise, and the two men tapped their handhelds together. The food service worker’s eyes widened at whatever appeared on his screen, and he bowed deeply to Betra. “Thank you, Liaison. Let me know if I can be of further service to you.”
     
    He left, his smile as wide as his face. I guess Betra is a good tipper.
     
    Betra swept his hand towards the table. “Have a seat, my friends.”
     
    We gathered around the table. It wasn’t that big, and our plates crowded against each other and the floral centerpiece that had apparently been brought in with the food. A spray of pink and white flowers sent a lovely perfume in my direction. The man from the kitchen had also placed my few seating cushions around the low table, rather than have us crunch together on the lounger. It was still a cozy situation with us rubbing knees as we all sat crosslegged on our pillows. I’m not complaining. I love being close to my guys.
     
    Betra further impressed us by taking a bottle of leshella out of a cooling cylinder and pouring everyone a glass. “It’s safe for the baby,” he reminded me.
     
    “Isn’t it also expensive?” I asked, admiring the deep sapphire of the beverage before taking a sip. Delicious.
     
    The Imdiko shrugged as he plucked a morsel of pilchok off my plate to feed to me. “This isn’t just because you missed out on shore leave. I’ve wanted to celebrate a lot of things. You two have understandably not been up for it, but things are getting better.”
     
    Oses eyed his massive ronka steak drowning in a thick red sauce with undisguised appreciation. “What are we celebrating, exactly?”
     
    Betra took a bite of his own braised ronka strips tossed in a bed of herbs and greens. After chewing and swallowing, he replied, “Everything. Getting you and Shalia back alive. The two of you getting past the trauma of your imprisonment. You and I finding common ground to explore our relationship options. Shalia’s little girl. Shalia’s birthday. I mean, it feels like there is a lot to be happy about and I am. I hope it’s not too soon?”
     
    “Not for me,” I said. “I’m feeling good about a lot of things.” I took another bite of pilchok, this time from Oses.
     
    Oses nodded. “I’m a bit frustrated by not being able to resume my duties yet, but yes, overall I would say things are much better. I think Feru is going to push for another trial separation from Shalia soon though, this time for two days. I’m not looking forward to it.”
     
    “We’ll just have to make tonight an extra special celebration then,” I said, giving him a wicked look.
     
    He answered with a growl and “Let me get my strength up,” before shoving a huge chunk of ronka in his mouth.
     
    The dinner that followed was romantic all right. The two men made sure of that. They fed me, petted me, kissed me, made sure of my every comfort. The compliments were copious with my various attributes lauded: beauty (yeah right),