Chapter 14

At sixteen, Otterly had grown into quite the young woman. She looked like her mother had at that age, but that was the only similarity between the two women. Otterly always wore dresses that showed her figure, rather than the loose jeans and tee shirts her mother had worn. Otterly was a cheerleader at school, rather than a reclusive nerd.

The boys flocked around Otterly like birds at a grain spill. This afternoon Otterly was entertaining her first male visitor to her home. They were seated in the living room, at opposite ends of the couch.

“It’s staring at me.”

“No, he’s not.”

“What did your Dad mean when he said that he had just finished sharpening its teeth?”

“He didn’t sharpen his teeth.”

“That’s what he said.”

“He was acting like a father. He was trying to make you nervous.”

“He doesn’t make me nervous. That makes me nervous.”

“It’s just a dog.”

“It’s a metal dog that’s the size of a small pony with fangs that would scare a Piranha.”

“He’s not that big.”

“It’s staring at me.”

“No he’s not.”

“I’d feel a lot safer sitting right beside you.”

“Grrr!”

“Digit!”

“Okay! I’m moving back to the other end of the couch!”

Rover, seated on the floor at Otterly’s foot, looked up at the boy and then laid his head back against Otterly’s leg. She casually reached down and scratched Rover behind the ear.

Sherry entered the living room and then said, “There you are! Don’t you look comfortable sitting on opposite ends of the couch?”

“Hello, Mom.”

“Hello, Mrs. Cage.”

“Come here, Digit,” Sherry said while clapping her hands together.

The robotic dog, with tail wagging, went over to Sherry. She knelt down and hugged the dog. “You’re such a good boy.”

“Woof, woof!”

“Isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”

“He’s real cute, Mother.”

The boy said, “He’s not so cute.”

Shooting a quick glare over at the boy, Sherry turned her attention back to Digit and said, “I think the mean boy doesn’t like you. Are you going to bite him?”

“Woof, woof!”

“Okay! He’s cute in a scary way.”

“You’re just a big overgrown puppy, aren’t you?” Sherry asked.

Overgrown puppy is not how most people would describe Digit IV. He was the prototype for the current generation of robotic dog, that was being used by Marines as a reconnaissance platform. The version for the Marines had weapons built into it. The Marines loved their Mark 4s. They would send one out a few hundred yards in front of their position and it would report back any unusual activity that it observed. Marines were always stopping by the house to tell stories about how one of the robotic dogs had saved his life.

“Woof, woof.”

Sherry said, “You just sit right there and watch the nasty boy, Digit.”

“Tommy isn’t a nasty boy,” Otterly said earning a thankful look from Tommy.

“Digit thinks so and I trust Digit. I don’t trust a nasty boy who wants to do bad things to my baby girl,” Sherry said while looking at Tommy with suspicion.

“Mother!”

Tommy glanced at Digit, at Sherry, and then over at Otterly wondering if he had made a mistake coming over to her house. He had been hoping to spend a little quality time alone with Otterly, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen. At school, she was always surrounded by people. Her parents wouldn’t let her date yet.

“One day you’ll appreciate having Digit around,” Sherry said.

“Mother. I’m trying to entertain a guest,” Otterly said.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Sherry said, “And that’s why Digit is here. We taught him all about entertaining. He’ll make sure that none of that will happen here.”

Tommy asked, “What does that mean?”

“They taught the software in the house to recognize when a couple engages in sex, by using porno from the internet,” Otterly answered rolling her eyes.

“You’re kidding?” Tommy asked.

“She’s not kidding,” Sherry said. “So you better be good little boys and girls or Digit will tear off body parts from the bad little boy.”

Tommy crossed his legs protectively and stared at Digit. It was amazing how much bigger it grew in the last fifteen seconds.

“I got the message,” Tommy said wishing that the couch was just a little bit longer.

“Good,” Sherry said just before leaving the living room.

Embarrassed by her mother’s behavior, Otterly said, “Sorry about that.”

“He’s staring at me,” Tommy said.

“Yeah, he is.”

In the workshop behind the house, Sherry and Alex were taking a coffee break. Sherry sighed. Alex sighed.

“It’s hard being a parent,” Sherry said.

It was hard being a parent, and perhaps harder for the Cages than most couples. Upon learning that she was pregnant, the couple had agreed that they would both be awake when Otterly woke, returned from school, ate dinner, and went to bed. One of them would always be awake when Otterly was around. It meant that their normal work habits of sleeping when tired and working when awake, had undergone a major change. They took more frequent cat naps, and survived on less sleep overall. Fortunately, Secretary and Mary Poppins monitored the situation and assured that one of them would be awake. It had really impacted their old work habits.

Like all good parents, they attended all of the school events in which Otterly participated. They tried to take an interest in her extra-curricular activities. It seemed to them that Otterly was in every after school program that existed. They sat through plays, recitals, and sporting events.

Cheerleading was the hardest on them. They didn’t watch football and sitting on hard bleachers in the cold through two hours of the game was brain numbing. Other parents, shaking their heads in bewilderment, would watch the couple sitting on the bleachers bent over their computers trying to work despite all of the distractions surrounding them.

“Why couldn’t she look more like me?” Alex asked.

“Why couldn’t she act more like me?” Sherry asked.

“Why is she so much like your mother?”

“She’s the daughter my mother wanted.”

Sherry sighed. Alex sighed.

Sherry said, “She wants to date.”

“She’s too pretty and naive to date.”

“We could insist that Digit go on dates with her.”

“She’d hate us forever if we demanded that.”

“I know.”

Alex sighed. “Why couldn’t she look more like me?”

“I never did all of that after school stuff when I was her age,” Sherry said. “I couldn’t wait to get home and write programs on my computer. She doesn’t even turn her computer on except to do homework.”

“I know,” Alex said.

“She only has one pair of jeans and one tee shirt. She won’t wear them even when she has to mow the lawn,” Sherry said.

“Idiot neighbors,” Alex groused just on general terms.

It seemed that no matter where they lived, the neighbors insisted that someone watch the lawnmower. It kind of defeated the purpose of having an automated lawnmower when you had to sit outside and watch it mow the lawn. Fortunately, that was one of Otterly’s chores around the house. Unfortunately, she usually tried to get away with wearing her bathing suit and working on a tan, while watching the mower at work. That brought boys around, which in turn would cause the lawnmower to stop working. She’d end up sitting in the front yard, surrounded by boys watching the grass grow rather than getting cut.

Sherry sighed, “At least she makes good grades.”

“There is that,” Alex said.

Otterly was an honor student with a perfect grade point average. She didn’t even have to study hard to make good grades. She was a natural in mathematics, most likely a result of genetic gifts from her mother and father. She was well read; though preferring to lay back with a paper book, rather than an electronic book. She enjoyed history and biology. She even aced the required programming course despite hating every minute of it.