Planetbound by DM Arnold (best contemporary novels TXT) 📕

Nyk held her and stroked her back until she began to drowse. He was roused by a sound coming from the other side of the apartment. He sat up, stood and walked into the nursery. Nicky was crying. Nyk picked him up, changed him and carried him into the bedroom. “Suki ... Suki ... korlyta?”

“Mmmph...”

“Nicky's hungry. Can you let down some milk and feed him?”

“I was sleeping. I haven't slept well in weeks.” She sat up and held Nicky to her right breast. “I can't keep my eyes open.”

“Lie down,” he said, taking the baby. “No, on your back.” Nyk placed Nicky face down on her stomach and she guided his face to her breast.

“Maybe you can sleep. I'll switch him in a few minutes.” Suki closed her eyes. Her breathing became deep and regular.

Nyk stroked Nicky's back as he nursed. He picked him up and held him upright, then lay him onto Suki's stomach. She jerked and fell back asleep. Nyk directed the infant to her left breast and stroked his back until his nursing became unenthusiastic. He picked Nicky up, carried him to the nursery and laid him in the crib.

Dawn's light roused Nyk. He went to the nursery and saw Nicky lying on his back, his eyes half-open. He changed the baby and brought him to the bedroom. “Good morning, Mom. Someone's looking for breakfast.”

Suki rubbed her eyes and sat against the headboard. Nyk handed her Nicky and she held the infant to her breast. She winced. “I'm getting sore. He sucks so hard...”

“Do you think you have enough milk to start expressing some for him? If you could do that, I'd feed him at night, and you can take the day shift.”

“I suppose we could try. I don't want to give him formula.” She stroked his hair. “Do mothers on your world nurse their babies?”

“Of course they do -- most do.”

“What of those who can't?”

“We have wet nurses.”

“Wet nurses? That sounds so archaic -- so primitive to me.”

“It's an important profession. Some women will spend ten or fifteen years of their lives as a wet nurse. They'll live with a family until the kid is weaned and move on. They use artificial hormones to start and maintain their milk production. Maternity hospitals always have wet nurses on staff, and most maintain milk banks. If a caregiver needs milk for an infant, it can be procured from there.”

“Don't you have formula?”

“We have nothing to make it from. Remember, there are no cows on Floran. We have no dairy products. We make a soy product that's considered satisfactory for older children, but infants deserve mothers' milk.”

She shifted Nicky to her other breast. “All right, we have a deal. I'll express and you feed him at night.” She handed the baby to Nyk.

“I'll take him down to visit with Grandma. Are you coming for breakfast?”

“Eventually.”

Nyk carried Nicky to the kitchen and set him in an infant seat on the table. “Yasuko, did you nurse Suki?”

She looked at him agape. “No ... yes ... for a short while. Why?”

“I'm not sure Suki's having the best time nursing Nicky. It's still early, though. I imagine it's like learning any new activity -- you get better at it with practice.”

“Nick, if she's having trouble nursing him, please tell her it's okay to use formula. She doesn't have to make a point or prove anything.”

“She wants to do the right thing, and she thinks that means nursing him. I was hoping you could give her some advice.”

“I'm not the one to advise on that topic, I'm afraid.”

Crying woke Nyk. He glanced at Suki, asleep beside him. He arose, headed for the nursery and changed Nicky. With the infant cradled in his left arm, he went to the apartment's kitchen, opened the refrigerator and grasped a nursing bottle three-fourths full. A blast in the microwave oven warmed it and he sat in a chair.

“Here you go, buddy. Mommy made this for you.” Nicky squirmed and pushed the nipple out of his mouth with his tongue. “I know, it's not the same. I'm sorry to spring this on you at such short notice...” Nyk traced Nicky's lips with the nipple and he grasped it and began nursing. “See? This way, Mommy will get her sleep and be in better shape to take care of you during the day.”

Nicky drained the bottle. Nyk held him against his shoulder and stroked his back, then cradled him in his arms until the baby began to drowse. He kissed Nicky's forehead and set him in the crib. Nyk walked into the bedroom, lay beside Suki and slipped his arm around her waist.

Nykkyo carried Nicky to the lower level kitchen and plopped him in the infant seat. “Good morning,” Yasuko said. “Has he been fed?”

“Yes -- Suki fed him. She said she will be down later.”

“Nick, do you think Sukiko's all right?”

“What do you mean?”

“She doesn't seem to be getting into the swing. I'm concerned for her.”

“It seems to me delivering a baby is at least as exhausting on someone as surgery. She's still sore, and her breasts ache from nursing him. I wouldn't expect her to be terribly chirpy yet.”

“If you say so. Where are you headed today?”

“George invited me to tag along to his office and see if there's anything I could do as a job. I'm not enthusiastic about it, but he seems to be keen.”

“George is delighted to have a young man in the house. He wanted a son, Nick -- someone to follow in his footsteps.”

“Sometimes sons have no desire to do so -- I had none to follow in my father's.”

George stepped into the kitchen. He sat and began reading his copy of the Wall Street Journal. Yasuko set a cup of coffee before him.

“Will you and Suki be all right today?” Nyk asked.

“Yes, we'll do fine.”

George gulped his coffee. “Come along, Nick.”

Nyk followed George out the door to the bus stop. The bus dropped him at the subway station. From there, he rode a train to downtown Manhattan.

“By the way, Nick -- My friend Fred told me he wishes to put that property on the market. His asking price is $750,000.”

Nyk pondered. “You thought it would be $500,000.”

“I'm not an expert in real estate -- that figure was a guess. He is including all the furnishings. Frankly -- I think the number is high.”

“Can I have some time to think about it?”

“I imagine -- Fred doesn't seem to be in a real hurry to move on this. Here's our stop.”

He followed George into an elevator. “Here we are,” George said, “88th floor.” He escorted Nyk into his office and introduced him to a number of associates.

A woman rapped on his door. “Excuse me, but this just came in.” She handed a piece of paper to him.

George looked at it. “Shit! We've been subpoenaed by the SEC. Marla, get to work putting together a list of all the deals in which we were lead underwriters -- and a list of subscribers for each one.”

“Counsel has a copy and they're studying it right now. There's a meeting at ten.”

“Ten. Start putting together that list -- I'd like to have it by then.”

“Including subscribers?”

“No, that can wait.” She turned and left his office. “I'm sorry, Nick, but we're under the microscope. I won't be able to give you much attention today.”

“I understand.”

George pressed an intercom button. “Marla, what's the name of our new intern?”

“Heather.”

“Could you ask Heather to take Nick to the trading department? Thanks.” He turned to Nyk. “Perhaps you'd enjoy seeing our trading area -- it's where the action is.”

A young woman stepped into George's office. Nyk followed her to an elevator.

Nyk used his house key to open the front door. “It's Nick, Yasuko,” he called out.

Suki's mother stepped from the rear of the house. “How was your day?”

“I didn't get much out of it. George was distracted by some sort of request from some regulators. I think his firm might be in some hot water.”

“George's firm is always in hot water with the regulators.”

“His office has a great view, though. How's our mom?”

“She spent most of the day upstairs, in bed. I hope the rest is doing her some good. I was holding dinner until you got home. I suppose it doesn't make sense to wait for George.”

“No -- he'll be late.”

“I fixed a tray for Sukiko. You and I can have a romantic dinner together.”

“Here you go buddy.” Nyk handed Nicky to Suki. “Breakfast time.” She held the baby to her breast as Nyk sat beside her.

“I wasn't ready for the rigors of parenthood. I knew a baby needed attention, but I never expected so much. I can't get anything done, because if I start something he interrupts me for food or a change or just some attention.”

“He's a newborn. As he gets older, he'll be more independent.”

“In twenty years.”

“Not twenty years.” Suki switched him to her other breast. “Are you still sore?”

“Yes...” She handed the infant to Nyk. “That should hold him 'til ... ten or so.”

“Are you coming down?”

“I don't know.”

“Do you want me to bring up a tray?”

“I don't care.”

Nyk carried Nicky down the stairs and plunked him into the infant seat. He felt Yasuko's hand on his shoulder. “There's something very appealing about seeing you cradle him so tenderly in your strong arms. Are you sure you haven't done this before? You look like a natural with him to me. Is Sukiko coming down?”

“I thought I'd take a tray up to her.”

“She's starting to worry me, Nick. I think she may have a case of the baby blues.”

“Baby blues?”

“Post-partum depression. As the days progress she seems less and less connected. She spends too much time upstairs, alone.”

“I think she needs more time to recover.”

“I know something about this condition, Nick. I hope you're right.” The telephone rang and Yasuko answered. “Yes, he's here. Nick -- it's for you.”

“For me?” He took the handset. “Hello?”

“Nykkyo Kyhana!”

Nyk rolled his eyes. “Hello Seymor.”

“Nyk, the agency oversight committee has been in a panic looking for you. The smart money says you're in hiding onworld looking for a way off. Then, I received a statement from your draw account and saw a one-way flight from Milwaukee to New York was charged. I wondered if you might already be offworld. It appears you are.”

“I'll pay back the charge.”

“Don't worry about it. Nyk, I'd like it if you'd come to the office tomorrow.”

“I'd rather not. I'm not having anything else to do with ... FloranCo, Seymor.”

“I'd like to talk with you. I take it you're not in a position to talk now.”

“That's right, Seymor.”

“Please come by to talk -- as friends, Nyk. No one else knows you're here.”

“Can we keep it that way?”

“They won't hear of it from me. I promise.”

“All right. I'll be there.”

Suki handed Nicky to Nyk. “Do you want me to bring you a tray again?”

“If you'd like.”

“Your mom's offered to care for him today -- to give you a break. She'll only bother you for feeding.”

“Where are you going?”

“Seymor wants to see me.”

“You're not going back to them.”

“No, korlyta. I am not.”

Nyk carried the infant to the kitchen. “How's she doing today?” Yasuko asked.

“About the same. I think you're right. There's more wrong with her than simple exhaustion. Something's changed -- she's lost the sparkle in her eyes. She's not the same Suki I came home to.”

Yasuko peered from the kitchen toward the living room. “I suffered terrible post- partum depression when Sukiko was born. Nick, I'm going to tell you something no one other than George knows -- not even Sukiko. I spent three months in an institution recovering from it.”

“You did recover.”

“I was so miserable. I'm worried, Nick. If her condition progresses like mine -- she'll get a lot worse before she gets better.”

George stepped into the kitchen and unfolded his