I was debating whether to mention Carol's birthday, when Carol mentioned it by saying, "It's my birthday a few days later. Mark was checking I didn't ...want to do something on the 9th. He's VERY considerate." We can easily change the date if you want?" offered Carina."Please do NOT do that, Carina! Then I'd have to call Mom to explain all over again. Mom's the sort of person who likes to know what's going on, why, with whom, how often, what their shoe sizes are, what they had for breakfast, etc.. We’ll just have to be extra quiet in bed.”It was soon evening and Xira fixed an interesting South African meal accompanied by a matching wine. Sirc told a bit about her troubles, the biggest one being employment. She had been a technical writer until artificial intelligence suddenly automated that work. That was her big skill and her employment from then on was sporadic. She didn’t know what to do. Seth said he’d sleep on it.They had all been naked, as was the indoor norm, so getting ready for. She had always worked with people who knew their stuff, all the raiders knew how to do something useful, to help with the day to day struggle to survive. As if anticipating her questions, Hope went on."I can pick pretty strong locks, as you saw. I can shoot, as you saw. I've been foraging all my life, so I know how to find food and gear."With a quirk of a smile, Hope got slowly to her feet and sauntered in front of Paige who looked up at her."I can also take a cock," Hope said breathily, hands. Unexpectedly, the foreman pulled his gun an' ordered my two men ta shuck their guns. They reluctantly laid their guns on the desk, at which point Washington picked them up an' put them in a desk drawer. The foreman holstered his gun an' they seemed ta relax. Abner Washington said, "Don't take it personal, men. That wuz jus' a precaution in case ya git too excited when I explain the operation around here."Eddy an' Bill looked at each other kinda funny, an' they both shrugged their shoulders. I.