Here we go, Gerlinde thought.  A sinking feeling threatened her belly - the kind she had always got before taking a podium, stepping onto stage, marching a line of police, putting down her mess tin and marching that last, dire distance East.  This was a fatal moment.<br/><br/>Gerlinde nodded like the fall of a crop.  "I'll tell you again, more detail this time.  But you are going to be calm when I tell you."<br/><br/>Wrapping an arm about Lisle's middle, Gerlinde settled closer, practically sitting in the pet bed.  She tried to seem heavenly.<br/><br/>"Understand that.  You are going to be calm."<br/><br/>She watched for a reaction, tucking the blanket higher around Lisle, then slipping a hand below it.  The hand brushes Lisle's tummy.  Gerlidne felt the fatal moment stretched like the arch of an alley cat's back.