Free Her Brother's Keeper - eARC by Mike Kupari

frontier. He was home every night, Annie could ride her horse to her heart’s content, and Eleanor was free to pursue her passion for rocks.
    There was only the issue of paying for it all. Interstellar travel wasn’t prohibitively expensive, but it wasn’t cheap, either. Neither was purchasing a homestead and having a home built on it. Nonetheless, between his thoroughly mediocre colonial marshal’s pay and Ellie’s mining profits, they were on track to pay off their loans on time and still have some money to send Annie to a good school, provided nothing unforeseen happened. Marcus worried still. If his military career had taught him anything, it was that unforeseen shit liked to happen at the worst possible time.
    His brooding was interrupted by an electronic chirp from his earpiece. Who would be calling so early? Without his eyepiece on he couldn’t see the caller identifier. “Marshal Winchester,” he said professionally, slowing to a walk.
    “Dad!” It was Annie. “Where are you?” She sounded upset.
    “I went for a run, honey,” Marcus said, suddenly worried. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s Mom. I think she’s sick.”
    “Sick how?”
    “Sick like she’s in the washroom throwing up. I can hear her.”
    “Well, go see if she needs help. She might just have a bug. I’ll come straight home.”
    “Okay, Dad. I just wanted to tell you.”
    “Annie, what in the hell are you doing up at this hour?”
    Marcus’ daughter laughed nervously. “I, uh, haven’t been to bed yet, Dad. Liam and Sandra were running a space combat sim, so I joined their session.”
    Marcus chuckled to himself. Eleanor worried when Annie would get so absorbed in her machines, but at least in a multiplayer game she was interacting with her friends. Winchester Ranch was a long way from the nearest real town. Annie was home-schooled through a distance learning program. The few friends she had were scattered all over the Terraformed Zone. “Okay, honey. Just unplug for a while and see if your mom needs anything. I’ll be back shortly.”
    “Okay, Dad. Love you, bye.” Annie disconnected before Marcus could say anything else. Concerned for his wife, he headed for home at a brisk pace.
    * * *
    Hot and sweating, Marcus quickly strode through the front door of his home. Annie was sitting in the dimly lit kitchen, absentmindedly eating cereal as she focused on whatever was displayed on her headset. She was so absorbed in it she didn’t notice her father until Marcus tapped her on the shoulder.
    “Oh shit!” she said, dropping her spoon in a splash of milk. She pulled off the headset. “Dad! You scared the hell out of me.”
    Marcus laughed and shook his head. “I thought you were going to help your mom?”
    “I did!” she protested. “All she wanted was water. She said she just has an upset stomach.”
    “I see,” Marcus said. “I’ll go talk to her.”
    “Dad…I think she’s upset about something. I don’t know what, but she looked really worried.”
    “Okay. Thank you, honey. Maybe get some sleep, hey?”
    “I have to feed Sparkles first. She gets grouchy and kicks her stall door if I don’t bring her breakfast at the crack of dawn.”
    “Sure. Where’s your mom?”
    “She’s in your room.”
    Kissing his daughter on the top of the head, Marcus made his way to his bedroom. He gently knocked on the door before opening it. The lights were on, but dimmed. His wife was sitting on the bed, nursing a cup of water. Annie had been right; she really did look upset.
    “Ellie?” Marcus asked softly. “What’s wrong, baby? Annie said you were sick.”
    Eleanor Winchester sniffled and quickly wiped her eyes with a tissue. She was a proud woman who didn’t like to be seen crying. She took a deep breath, and looked Marcus in the eyes. “I’m pregnant.”
    It took a moment for her words to register with her husband. “You’re what?” he asked.
    “Marcus, I’m pregnant. We’re going