When Aziz woke up in the morning, he certainly wasn’t happy, but he wasn’t despondent either. He’d feared he would find it hard to get out of bed knowing he’d lost the love of his life in too short a time. There’d surely still be grieving to do, but he had a life to live as well and he planned on living it.

  He dressed and came out of the bedroom into the common room of the house. Marianne was already there, checking her messages. This brought him the realization that he needed to do this now as well. And triggered his first wave of grief of the day. Rania had always been the gatekeeper, letting only the necessary parts of the rest of the world into their lives. He needed to do that for himself now.

  He frowned as he looked, “I have to go to a hearing at the council at 10 this morning. Do you think I’m ready to ride Pascal on my own or should I leave early enough so I can walk?”

  “Neither, you’re riding behind me, just like for the previous meeting.”

  “Were you summoned too?”

  “No, but I’ll testify on your behalf anyway.”

  “Thank you, for coming and for supporting me.”

  “Don’t thank me until you see how much I piss off our dear council president this time.”

  Aziz laughed.

  They completed the required morning chores for her farm before saddling up the horse. He had no problem keeping his hand under control. Physically, at least. He could not help but remember his accident last time they rode together. He wondered whether she was thinking about it. He was fairly certain that Rania would’ve discussed the incident with her.

  He wasn’t ready to seriously consider anything yet, but he had to admit to himself that he was interested. And Rania had almost ordered him to do it. He worked hard the rest of the trip to keep his hands in control.

  ++++++

  The sergeant-at-arms recognized both of them this time. He questioned Marianne as to why she was here, “The summons was only for Aziz today.”

  “I’m going to testify on his behalf if there’s any question about him keeping his farm.”

  The officer suppressed a smirk. “Wait here and I’ll announce the pair of you to the council.”

  He disappeared through the door into the chambers. They could hear some raised voices through the door. A moment later, the sergeant-at-arms escorted the pair of them into the chambers.

  Aziz and Marianne sat in the same pair of chairs as a month ago. That hearing was the result of Marianne saving Aziz’s life by killing the creature at the cliff. This time, it was Aziz in the hot seat, with Marianne in a supporting role.

  Once they were seated, Renee spoke, “You’re here, M. Gharbi, for the second time in the short time you have been on Dorado, which does not bode well for your contributions, current and future, to the Nouveau Gaul Plateau. Today, we need to understand the deceit and dishonesty that you and your wife perpetrated on the colony by hiding her medical condition. From our understanding, we need to determine the future of your time on the planet.”

  Aziz tried to maintain a stoic appearance, but he clenched his fists in his lap as she spoke.

  She continued, “We are interested in how you can defend the deception and the freeloading that your wife committed against every citizen of this colony.”

  That was more than Aziz could stand to hear. He was about to shout at her when Marianne patted his arm, signaling that he needed to wait to respond.

  “Do you wish to speak to these charges, M. Gharbi?”

  He took a deep breath and stood to speak. “Rania and I had come with a dream of running our own farm on this world. A dream shared by many of my fellow citizens, whether they have been here for five years or a month. My wife refused to surrender that dream just because she had become a victim of the risks of the travel here. Even though that dream had to be adapted to be my farm instead of our farm.”

  Aziz saw three members of the council nodding their head in agreement.

  “And I resent the assertion that Rania ever freeloaded. She worked to help make Marianne and I more productive. Every single day until her body finally failed her two days ago. Does no one else on this planet ever take two days off when they’re sick? We worked with every ounce of strength we had and met every one of the goals set for us, all while helping Marianne be more productive than she's been since her husband was taken from her.”

  Renee was not going to let him take the upper hand that easily. “Are we to believe that you are superhuman and will be able to do all the work expected of two settlers?”

  “I'm not superhuman, no. But I’ll work as hard as I need to. I’ll continue to meet every one of the deadlines that are reasonably placed in front of me. I have no choice.”

  “And tell me, M. Gharbi, do you expect to meet the reproductive goals of every other new settlement family through sheer effort?”

  “Obviously not,” Aziz said, dropping his eyes.

  Marianne raises her hand.

  “You have no official role here, Madame Laurent. Your presence was not universally approved. I advise you to stay quiet.”

  Aziz saw George Clements raise his hand. Renee glanced at him, but looked away, taking no official notice. Jean Martin, at the other end of the council table raised his hand. Renee rolled her eyes. “The President recognizes Councilor Martin.”

  “Madame Laurent, as the only citizen of the colony to have witnessed the work done by the Gharbis, can you share your insights into what M. Gharbi can be expected to be able to accomplish running his own farm by himself? I note, as one of the few settlers to run a farm on your own thus far, you have a particular expertise to understand the demands of such an arrangement.”

  “Thank you, Councilor Martin,” Marianne said as she stood to address the council. “Aziz may not be superhuman, but he’s damned close with his work effort and drive. I think I work hard trying to run the farm by myself while raising two children, but Aziz puts me to shame with his efforts. And I can confirm that Rania never freeloaded for a minute in her life. As Aziz has stated, he has met every task deadline given to him. I have a question for the council. What percentage of the new settlers can make that claim?”

  Bang, bang, bang. “You may answer the questions put to you by members of the council, but you have no standing to ask the council questions, especially irrelevant questions.”

  “You’re the one who brought up carrying his fair load, comparing him to the other new settlers.”

  Bang, bang, bang. “One more outburst from you and you will be found in contempt of the council!”

  Michelle Ouellette raised her hand. Renee sighed, then said, “The President recognizes Councilor Ouellette.”

  “I think the question was very relevant and pertinent to these proceedings,” she said, “How many of the new settlers have met every deadline as M. Gharbi has?”

  Renee looked at Jacques Piton, who clicked on his screen a few times. He whispered to Renee, who turned to Michelle Ouellette and said, “Less than half the settlers have successfully met every deadline.”

  Georges Clements raised his hand again. This time, Renee relented. “The President recognizes Councilor Clements,” she said with a sigh.

  “Marianne, could you tell the council how often Aziz has required help from other settlers to achieve this admirable record?”

  “I would be glad to, Councilor. I’m aware of three occasions when he required some assistance. Twice, I was able to provide that assistance. In each of those cases, he insisted on providing more of his time to assist me with my farm than I provided to him. The third case was building the fence around the perimeter of his farm. As some of you know, that can only be done by two people. Part of this required a third in his farm’s circumstances. I stayed watch on the cliff edge with my rifle while Eleanor Marceau helped him erect the fence. He’s already arranged to spend an afternoon at her farm next week to offset the time she spent helping him. I also accompanied him to his farm yesterday afternoon while he accomplished his tasks that were due by the end of the day. I was concerned about his resilience to work an hour after losing the love of his life. I should not have been concerned. And any one on the council who doubts that was emotionally devastating, does not know Aziz as I do.”

  “Thank you for your answer, Marianne,” Georges said.

  “Nothing has been said to address the lack of potential offspring. That’s one of the fundamental requirements for all the settlers. Growing our population is a fundamental need for the colony. Are either of you capable of addressing that?” Renee asked, sounding close to losing her cool.

  “Not every settler’s able to bear children,” Marianne said, “Where are your children, Renee?”

  Bang, bang, bang. “Strike that answer and Marianne is fined 100 credits for contempt of the council.”

  “Objection.”

  Renee turned towards Georges with daggers in her eyes. “The citizen was warned not to speak with being asked. A fine is warranted.”

  “Secretary, would you repeat the last sentence before Madame Laurent spoke?” he asked.

  An automated voice read the final sentence,

  “That sounds like a question that was directed to the citizen. And everything she said was directly related to the question that had been asked. I fail to see where a fine is justified,” Georges stated.

  By this point, Renee had completely lost it. She glared at Marianne and spit out, “You’ll regret this, bitch. You’ll regret ever coming here. I’ll make that my personal mission.”

  Immediately after she started talking, Jacques Piton started coughing loudly.

  Renee regrouped a bit and stated, “The transcript appears to have been unable to clearly understand that last bit. Please strike that statement from the transcript.”

  “Objection!”

  This time it was Jean Martin.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “What is your objection?”

  “The transcript on my screen seems clear.”

  “The President rules that the transcript is illegible, so it shall be stricken.”

  “I call for a vote on the point,” said Michelle.

  “Alright. All councilors in favor of striking the comment, please vote accordingly. Now all councilors opposed to striking the comment, please vote accordingly. The vote being two to three, the statement is not stricken from the transcript.”

  She glared at Marianne again, shaking a finger at her as she did.

  “The witnesses are dismissed.”

  Aziz and Marianne got up and were escorted out of the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms. Once they’re outside and the door shut, he said, “Be careful Marianne. I’ve never seen her this angry.”

  “Thank you for your advice,” she said, then shook his hand and went outside to the horse. Marianne and Aziz rode off, back to her house. She dropped him off at his house site. “I’m going to go to Eleanor’s and help her bring the kids back to the house. I’ll see you there at dinner time I assume.”

  “Do you need any help with anything before then?”

  “I think I'm fine for today.”

  ++++++

  Aziz is exhausted by the time he admits he’s done for the day and heads back to Marianne’s house. For all his bravado this morning, he understood he's working himself even harder right now to hide from the grief. He knew he could keep that at bay for only so long before it’d catch up to him.

  Marianne was already cooking dinner when he arrived. “Food will be ready in about five minutes. Wash your hands and come help get Pierre to the table.”

  He nodded and did as instructed. He was trying hard to bond with Pierre. He wasn’t quite sure what more to do with Genevieve, both because she was a girl and because she was only one.

  He remembered to check his messages while Marianne was bringing food to the table.

  He frowned. “They cut me to half rations and my house is now scheduled to be completed last,” he told Marianne.

  Marianne’s first reaction was to shake her head. “Just after you got the site all ready, too.” She paused then added. “The rations actually make sense, there are only half as many of you now. And you were probably one of the last houses anyway. There’s still plenty of room here for you. And this slows down the demand on you a bit, which has to be welcome, despite your drive. Seems like Georges outmaneuvered Renee on this one.”

  Over dinner, he suggested, “Marianne, you should move back into your room. Bring the mattress out into the corner over there and I’ll sleep in this room. I’ll forever appreciate that you gave us your room for the last month, but there are no longer the same issues.”

  She frowned, but nodded her head. “I’ll pull the mattress out when I’m putting Genevieve to bed. Can you grab whatever you need out of the bedroom. We’ll need to figure out how to give you some space to store things. But for tonight, just bring what you need before morning.”

  Near the end of dinner, Genevieve asked, “Is Aunt Rania coming back? I miss her.”

  The question brought tears to Aziz’s eyes. It reminded him how much he missed his late wife, but it also made him proud of her. Genevieve really did grow attached to her.

  “I’m sorry,” Marianne said to her daughter, “She can never come back. She is gone forever. We all miss her.”

  Genevieve thought briefly about that answer. “Is this how Poppa went away before I was born?”

  “Yes, mon petit papillon, it is.”

  “Are you going to go away too?”

  “I hope not for a very, very long time. Hopefully not before you and Pierre are each all grown up with kids of your own.”

  “Everybody leaves me!” Pierre cried and jumped down from his chair before he ran into his room, slamming his door.

  “Look after her,” Marianne instructed Aziz as she ran after Pierre to talk to her despondent son.

  Aziz could hear voices from Pierre’s room, but couldn’t make out what was being said. He’d no idea how he’d handle a conversation like that, how Marianne can be doing that right now.

  A few minutes after Pierre’s abrupt departure, Genevieve began to get restless. Aziz walked over and picked her up, before sitting back in his own chair. She seemed content just holding on to him, so he relaxed with her resting against his chest. His next memory was Marianne lifting her off his chest as she said, “Let me get her off to bed. You look like you should probably do the same.”

  “I’m sorry. I guess I fell asleep.”

  “It’s fine. Genevieve seemed completely comfortable on you.”

  ++++++

  As arranged earlier, Aziz helped Marianne with her early chores before heading over to Eleanor’s place. It was his first time over there. It was also his first time riding Pascal anywhere by himself, so good practice.

  Now alone, Eleanor grilled Aziz as they worked. “How are you really doing?”

  “I’m okay. The work keeps me company. And Marianne. And I am getting close to Pierre and Genevieve. The day before she died, Rania told me to be a father to them.”

  “You can’t hide from it forever by just working.”

  “I know, but it gives me time. Some nights, after the kids go to bed, I cry. Marianne will hold me while the tears come out.”

  Eleanor gave him a surprised look. “My Mar? Giving you hugs so you feel better? She would barely do that for Andre, as far as I can tell.”

  “She cries sometimes, too. I’m not sure if it’s for Rania or Andre. I don’t think she ever let herself properly grieve for him. And she really did care for Rania.”

  “You’re right there. She didn’t let herself grieve. She channeled it all into anger. Anger always came easily to her. Don’t ever tell her I told you about this, but she and Andre used to have huge knockdown arguments. There was some physicality, but I’m not sure who I worried about hurting the other one more.”

  Aziz chuckled. “Andre must have been tougher than me. I wouldn’t stand a chance against her.”

  Eleanor chuckled now. “No, you wouldn’t last a round with her. She was tough before the brigade, but that put a real hard shell on her. That was a painful two years. Has she talked about it at all?”

  “She defended her record in the brigade in the council meeting about killing the creature last month. It sounded intense.”

  “More than intense. Most of the brigades got easy patrols. Just reminding people that there was a power in place again. Our district was supposed to have already been pacified. Ha! The locals seemed not to have been told. That was pretty much non-stop frontline fighting for almost the full two years. I think it was close to being pacified when we timed out. If not for Mar and me, I’m not sure any of us would have made it home. I know Mar saved my life more times than I can count. And I saved hers at least as many. She had a tendency to rush into situations before she thought.”

  “She still does, doesn’t she?”

  “Yes, she does. I would say impulsiveness, anger, and strength are the three characteristics most obvious with her. But she’s also a soft and caring person once you get through that shell.”

  “Rania saw that inside her almost immediately. And Marianne let her in. I can see it now, but she doesn’t let me in.”

  “She holds you while you are crying. That’s pretty in, if you ask me.”

  “She’s always tense when she holds me, even when she’s crying. She won’t let herself go.” He laughed to himself. “I’m sure whatever Rania told her is hard on her.”

  “What did Rania tell her?”

  “The night before she died, Rania gave me all sorts of, I don’t know, commands, I guess. Things like working hard and providing Pierre and Genevieve with a father. But she also told me things about Marianne. Things that surprised me.”

  “Like?”

  Aziz shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not sure I should say.”

  “I swear I’ll never tell a soul. I look at it as part of my duty to take care of Mar, so if this is about her, I feel I should know, for her sake.”

  “Hmmmm. I guess so? Rania told me it was okay if Marianne and me became involved. But it was more than just her blessing. She wasn’t insisting on it, but she was encouraging it.”

  “HA! She thought you and Marianne - ” Eleanor erupted into a loud laugh. “You had me worried.”

  Aziz took offense at her reaction. “It wasn’t me saying it, it was Rania. And she was never wrong about things like that. I swear she could see straight into a person’s soul. It was her real gift.” Aziz started to cry.

  “I’m sorry to besmirch her memory. But I have a real hard time swallowing that. I think you know how much she hated you, even before she ever met you. Just from when she saw your names. And I don’t think she’s even allowed herself a minute to think about another man.”

  “I was afraid of living with her because we both knew she hated us, or as Rania would insist on saying, what we represented to her. But Rania always insisted she would accept us once she got to know us, which was true. Marianne trusted Rania, that was clear. Trusted her to understand her better than she allowed herself to understand herself. I don’t know what Rania told her, but from what she said to me, I assume it was something to bless and encourage a relationship between us. I know Rania told me Marianne’s interested in me as a man. I assume she said that to Marianne, too. I think she’s struggling with that assessment. If it had no basis in truth, Marianne would have quickly ignored it as wishful thinking of a dying wife. But I’m pretty sure she’s still trying to come to grips with it, which means it resonated with her. It’s not what she wants to be true, but she can feel the truth in it.”

  “I guess we’ll see. I’ll watch for signs of it next time I see Mar. I owe you a big apology if Rania was right.”

  “If you come over, spend time with Pierre. He's having problems coping with Rania’s death. He’s lumping it together with losing his father. Too much loss for a young boy like that to have to handle.”

  “I’ll try to come over soon and play with him, show him that he can still have me in his life. Thanks for letting me know. How is Genevieve doing with it?”

  “She doesn’t really understand what death means. Every other day or so, she asks if Rania is coming back, which tends to set Pierre off. She misses her, but I think she will be fine. She’s bonding to me now, much more than before. Or than Pierre is. I think he’s afraid to grow attached to anyone else right now.”

  They worked quietly together for the rest of their time. When the task was done, he said goodbye. Claire and Martin had gone over to their farm to do some work, so he said goodbye to Henri and the boys, mounted Pascal, and set off to Marianne’s.

  ++++++

  On the ride back, Aziz thought about his conversation with Eleanor. Out of all his thinking about what Rania told him that last night, the one he had not seriously pondered was her comments about Marianne and him. It seemed improper for him to have those thoughts when Rania had died less than a week ago. But when would it be proper? He could not deny he had feelings right now that wanted to be released.

  Could Rania really be right? Did Marianne really desire him, too? Eleanor, who knows Marianne better than anyone, openly laughed at the idea. Maybe it was just the wishful hopes of a dying wife, wanting to believe that he would live happily ever after, even without her.

  When he arrived and went into the house, he saw Marianne. He wanted to hug her, to hold her. He'd never admitted this to himself before, but he wanted her. He knew it would be inappropriate right now. And he could not risk alienating her if Rania was wrong about her desire. Better to hold it in himself. Maybe something would tell him when the time was right.

  He cooked dinner tonight, using some of his precious harissa spice. It would always tie him back to his roots. And to Rania. She was the one who insisted that they used some of their precious weight limit for the spice. And they had brought seeds for the plants that went into harissa, hoping they could long term supply themselves. They had also planned on introducing their children to the spicing, although they'd never have lived on Earth. His eyes teared up at the thought.

  Dinner turned out well and all four of them ate hungrily. He may never have his own children, but Pierre and Genevieve were growing up with a taste for Tunisian foods. He could live with that. He and Rania would never have children of their own, but these two would be their legacy.

  He cleaned up after dinner while Marianne got the children into bed. Since Rania’s death, he’d done all the after dinner cleaning and she’d done all the bed time work, a task that Rania provided almost to the end. Marianne came out and sat at the table as he finished the cleaning.

  “Are you okay tonight? You seemed off when you got back from Eleanor’s. And I saw you tearing up while you were cooking dinner.”

  “I'm okay. It doesn’t seem like you to ask. I thought you believed everyone should be stoic.”

  “One of the things Rania asked me to do was help you through this month or so. I know I never let myself grieve properly for Andre. I’m the worst for that decision. I don’t want you to do the same thing.”

  “Eleanor said you diverted all your emotions into anger. I don’t think I could do that. I don’t hold anger like you do.”

  Marianne chuckled. “You talked about me, did you? I was wondering what you two would talk about. But, yeah I channeled it into anger. Anger at the planet. Anger at the beast. Anger at the council. Anger is not healthy. I’m glad you won’t do that. What else did she say?”

  Aziz blushed. He then tried to quickly shift away from the answer that popped into his mind. “We talked about my grieving. And I warned her about Pierre’s issues. She said she’d try to come over soon and play with him, to show him she’s still around.”

  “Thank you for telling her that. It would help him for her to be back in his life more right now. And he will let you in soon as well. Thank you for trying so hard with him. Rania was right about them needing more of a father in their life. At least a second parent. I guess she was right about lots of things, wasn’t she.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, what else did she tell you?”

  “I don’t think I’m ready to talk about the rest of it right now.”

  Aziz nodded.

  “But you avoided saying what you were crying about earlier. It’s healthier to talk about it.”

  “I was thinking about the spicing I used for dinner.”

  “Harissa, right?”

  “Yeah, harissa. Rania and I brought it, planning to use it to teach our children about our traditions back on Earth. But, of course, we don’t have any children. That’s what I was thinking about.”

  “But you’re teaching Pierre and Genevieve to eat Tunisian food and flavors, so you’re passing it on the next generation.”

  “I know. And each of them will carry part of Rania with them forever. They’re what we have for a legacy. And I appreciate you letting me, letting us, intrude into your family like this.”

  “We are family now, Aziz. Rania said it herself.”

  They sat for a minute in silence, looking at each other, trying to decide where to take this.

  “I think I should probably go to bed and let you get some sleep. You work too hard.”

  “Nothing much more than you have been doing yourself for the last year plus. But thank you. We both need the rest. Good night. Sleep well.”

  “You too.”

  Marianne headed off to bed. As soon as her door was closed, Aziz stripped down to his briefs, collapsing onto the air mattress in the corner of the room. He was asleep almost the moment his head touched the pillow.