Adrian chatted with Samantha a little longer before ending the call.

Woken by Adrian’s voice, Gloria raised her head and asked smilingly, “Missing your wife and daughter?”

Adrian nodded. “I haven’t been able to stay home and keep Nova company since she was born. I feel kind of guilty about that.”

Gloria smiled and said, “You have to love Sam and Nova more from now on. You owe them a lot.”

“You too,” said Adrian in a soft voice. He then added, “Okay, that’s enough talk for now. Mya’s sleeping and you should too. We should be there at first light.”

“All right.” Gloria shut her eyes and went back to sleep.

Adrian had his eyes open through most of the night as he sat there and listened to the surrounding noises and sounds. Mya and Gloria slept soundly, using his thighs as their pillows. They did not so much as turn.

The next day, the ship blasted its horn at dawn to inform the passengers that they would be arriving at Bortuguesa’s port soon. Adrian woke up upon hearing the horn an