"No—until this morning, I didn't understand how you really felt." Bain smiled. "I'll call her after Mass."
"Why wait?" Cortin returned the smile. "Call now, so we'll all know. It's a good time to move—nice weather, and the children'll have time to make friends before school starts. And if they do come, I'd like to have them here when Blackfeather arrives—I have a feeling I'm going to need the kind of atmosphere only children can create."
"Besides which," Bain said, "your secret's out, to us—you just plain like children." He went to the phone, dialed, and moments later was speaking to his sister-in-law. He explained the new family structure and his part in the first one being formed, then went into the advantages for the children even if she chose not to marry into the group—then he grinned, giving the group around him the thumbs-up, and began discussing logistic details.
"Good!" Cortin exclaimed. "Sis, Mike—we'll need a playground, and the third floor set up for children, and—a nanny, do you think, or—"
"Next weekend be okay?" Bain interrupted to ask.
"The sooner the better," Cortin said. If they could move in that quickly, it might not be a bad idea to invite that reporter for the week around the Brothers' attack on the convent. If she'd never been to a fresh raid scene, she could only have a rough, second-hand idea of the suffering a raid caused. Seeing that might jar her enough to let her really look at what Enforcement did, and why—including the necessity for Inquisitors and the methods it took to stop the terrorists. Cortin wasn't sure it would, but with Blackfeather's reputation for honesty, it seemed to be worth the gamble. "If they'll need help, fly out with whoever you need."
Bain spoke into the phone again, then hung up and turned to the rest. "Two of us will be more than enough, she says. Who wants to be the other?"
Pritchett raised his hand quickly. "I've always been good with kids."
"I would also like to go," Chang said.
Cortin shook her head. "Sorry, Sis. Even if you weren't pregnant, it'd be too dangerous. I know you're no more worried about yourself than any other Strike Team officer would be, but with you at the top of the Brothers' wipe list, if they tried for you, the Bains would get caught in the crossfire."