“There’s a chance they will be. They might not. We’ll just have to see!”

“So if Julio gets to where I can’t catch him any more, or Clio eats like three kids, it might be your fault, huh?”

“Maybe. Or if they want to become writers, it might be your fault!”

“Oh!”

“Oh, what?”

“Writing...email...that hearing....”

“Oh, right. I’ll start on my part this morning. I bet Hleo already has the questions waiting in my email.” She looked at the clock. “I can start any time, but let’s have something to eat first, ok?”

“Sí, let’s. I’ll be around whenever you need my testimony, I guess you’d call it.”

“Thanks, Matt. I hope we can do this in one day. Two, at least. If you’ll get the high chairs moved, I’ll set up the grand feeding mess. Soong will come help, I imagine.”

It ended up taking two days to get through the “hearing,” though no one actually heard anything. The necessity for pauses to feed five people, two of whom were hungry fairly often and not at all inclined to be patient about waiting, plus the need for rest room breaks, fresh diapers, and short walks imposed a slow-motion discipline on their activities. Darcy had never attended hearings or trials back home, so the whole thing was a novel experience for her. Hleo, as the former Secretary to the Tribal Council, conducted this one. It helped that he was fluent in English, so he could translate questions for Matt and then translate his responses into Luvit for those at the moon base.