"I'd like to make Belphebe an auxiliary, too," Shea said slowly.
"There, I am afraid the Board might raise its collective eyebrow," Chalmers said regretfully. "The implication of nepotism is too strong to be ignored, especially since she has no academic credentials in this universe. Besides, I am afraid American universities are not yet ready to have both husband and wife employed at the same institution. I shall feel rather guilty accepting the good lady's hospitality, now."
"Oh, she probably would have said 'no,' anyway," Shea sighed. "I suppose it doesn't matter—we know she's on our side."
With Chalmers ensconced in the guest room, Shea and Belphebe sat down to evaluate the situation.
"I was really amazed," Shea told her after summarizing the afternoon's events. "I never thought I'd begin to see the advantages of the settled life."
Belphebe smiled, and snuggled a little closer. "I, too, am amazed to find that my hunger for the chase has become only a fleeting notion. Yet in its place has grown a yearning for children."
"If I can support them." Shea nodded. "But Doc has me thinking that, if I succeed in setting up the experiment with his help, it will give me enough credit so that I just might stand a chance at the directorship, and a full professorship."
Belphebe looked up at him with glowing eyes. "Surely the professorship, even without being director!
And would you not then earn enough to feed and clothe children?"
"I guess so," Shea said slowly, marvelling. "I never particularly liked the little blighters before. Of course, I didn't dislike them, either—but since I married you, I've begun to think babies look downright cute."
Belphebe smiled. "I have always had a fondness for infants, myself."
She smiled up at him, her eyelids heavy, her lips close, so close. Shea couldn't resist a temptation like that, nor had she intended him to.
That night, as they were drifting off to sleep, Shea suddenly found himself wondering just why Florimel had been so willing to have Chalmers visit his home world, and the Sheas. But he dismissed the thought as unworthy, kissed the red hair in glorious disarray on the pillow beside him, and fell asleep.