“What was your name before?" I asked Rose.

She looked up and smiled.

“I supposed they won't care if I tell you now, will they?" she asked rhetorically.

“It was Ruth, Ruth Ann Marshall. I've decided that my husband's name was never really mine. That was my maiden name."

..th," I repeated, trying the name out. I'd have to remember it. "And you Fuji?" I asked watching her.

“What name did you have before your Masters named you?"

Fuji looked confused for a moment, like what I'd said made no sense.

“I had no name," she said simply.

“The owner of a female names her on my planet. If the male wishes the female to have a name, he gives her one. I was granted my own name to use by Master Stayne and his Brothers. It is the only name I have ever had."

Rose and I both sat and stared at Fuji.

"You never told me that," Rose said, almost accusingly.

Fuji sat and thought for a moment before she shifted and spoke. "Master Stayne and his Brothers demand that I speak honestly with my friends, because I wish to. I have never been given this directive before."

Rose and I started to speak at once and had to take turns. What Fuji had said made almost no sense. Either you spoke freely or your said what your Master demanded. It took us a while to understand that Fuji didn't feel she could talk, unless they gave her permission. Still it was impressive she wanted to talk to us.

“You are changing Fuji," Rose said with a smile.

“The girl I have known all this time would not have asked her Masters for anything."

Fuji just grinned at us. Kennedy and Hannah visited several times during my pregnancy. We had to be careful, because we could not walk and talk. Nu-reeh demanded we stay in the space she had made for me.

Since we couldn't Leave the ever present cameras the girls didn't say much. We knew that the cameras didn't transmit sound, but it was unnerving to be watched. Although Tosu had no issue speaking freely to me here, my daughters were wary. I appreciated their caution.

I used the pad in secret every day. My family and I continued to learn about the world, so we would be knowledgeable when we left. ALL of us were bent on escape from slavery.

At some point my stomach finally grew to what I considered acceptable size. The little boy in my womb was active and playful. He liked to kick and stretch. My bladder must have fascinated him, because he pummeled it all the time. I shuddered to think how active he would be when he came out.

The contractions started one morning after breakfast as Rose, Fuji, and I sat talking. No one was in the rooms, besides us, so I didn't give it much thought. The men would arrive for Lunch and I would just tell them then. For now I just paced and breathed through the steadily increasing cramps.

We didn't panic until I sat on the Lacquered pot to pee and my water broke about mid morning.

“This is your third," Rose said worriedly.