Two unequal masses in free fall are connected by an inelastic string and rotating about each other. Describe their motion in terms of their masses M1 and M2….
Danette snorted and threw the textbook down on the bed.
“I fucking hate physics.”
Tom picked up the book and glanced at the page. 
“Apart from these being in free fall and me having my feet on the ground, sounds a bit like a rotational lift to me. Looked at from above we’re both rotating around a single point, closer to me than it is to you because I am heavier than you, but it’s the center of both the circles we make.”
“Don’t, Tom. I know it’s an equal pair of the formulae for centrifugal force, with both rotation rates equal although the mass part is different, which makes each one’s radius the only other variable. I just really, really cannot be bothered to work it out tonight!”
Tom smiled.
“What can you be bothered for?”
“Not that, ok, well, yes, that… but in a while, ok? I need to clear my head a bit. I’m not crawling into bed with you grumpy if I can avoid it, love.”
“I can read a calendar with the best of them. I know why you’re grumpy. I know that me knowing doesn’t help, though.”
“To hear the other girls at school talk, that puts you several steps up on most guys.”
“Hey, at least we’re the same species. With the differences it can be hard to keep track of a biology that isn’t a little instinctive.”
Danette giggled.
“Oh my God, can you imagine what it would be like if we were all the same? Every girl in school being hormonally grumpy at the same time? It’s the primates I’m really sorry for. They get it what, every month?”
“Lord above, if you were all in sync like that, the place would be burned and blackened rubble within a year.”
“Actually, the primates tend not to sync up unless they live together. Susan was griping about how she, her sisters and her mom are at each other’s throats for a few days every month. The rest of us, if we’re feeling it we know most of the other girls of the same species are too so we automatically watch ourselves.”
“Bet you Brandy is watching the calendar for a different reason. Mike’s all set up in his new apartment now. If they are sticking to their plans, well…”
“God, Tom, do not make me broody when I’m feeling like this.”
Coming up behind her, Tom wrapped Danette in a gentle hug and kissed the back of her neck.
“Would be a bit soon for us, I know, but there’s nothing to stop us getting plenty of practice beforehand, now, is there?”
Danette sighed and leaned back on him. She reached back between them and gently groped him. She sighed again as a mental image flashed through her mind of just unzipping him, lifting her skirts and bending forward…
“God, Tom, I don’t know how you do it but don’t change a thing.”
“Do what?”
“Switch me from being all grumpy and irritated to horny as hell in two seconds flat...”
“Isn’t that what they call a ‘mood swing’ love? I think I read that they happen sometimes…”
“Spoil that mood and you’re sleeping on the couch for a week…”
“Would there be something my beautiful mare wants, perhaps?”
“Yep, and it’s in my hands right now… unless you can think of somewhere better to put it?”
-----=====-----
Tom was right, Danette thought as she looked at the message on her phone. It was lunchtime at school and she’d just had a text from Brandy.
You up for being a bridesmaid? Call me when you can.
Danette instantly hit the “call” button on her phone’s screen.
“Bridesmaid, huh? Does this mean…?”
Yep. Got the positive test on the weekend. Danette was immediately struck by how happy Brandy sounded. It was like there was a giggle peeping around the corner of every other word. I’m going to leave it a few weeks to be safe while I quietly get my stuff mostly packed then I tell my folks and hopefully get my tail out the door before they work up too much of a head of steam.
“Congratulations, Brandy. On both counts.”
Thank you! I can’t believe it. I get to move in with the man I’ve always loved and I’m carrying his child. You have no idea how much we’ve wanted and waited for this. Mike’s turned into total mush, not the image of a big strong mechanic at all, and is like he wants to wrap me in bubblewrap. This time the giggle did escape and make its way down the phone. I told him that if he’d found a new kink I was up for it, at least until I got too big for it to be fun.
Danette snorted down the phone at her friend.
“So, what dates should I block out?”
Big day is 14th of next month. We’ll need to meet up a few times before to sort out details but Mike and I have it mostly all planned. We’re still looking at the budget for dresses and stuff but we can make do with whatever.
“Bet you my mom would help out. You want me to ask her?”
Would you? I didn’t want to ask but she makes such lovely dresses for you to dance in.
“Girlfriend, she’ll treat it as a dry run for making mine. You know she will.”
-----=====-----
Danette fumbled on the night-stand for her phone, frantically blinking the sleep from her eyes as she caught it up and swiped to accept the call.
Danette… I didn’t know who else to call. I’m in really deep shit…
“Brandy? I’m here. What’s up?”
Dropped the bomb on my folks this morning. Dad came home drunk tonight, he’s never done that before. He even hit mom. I’m locked in the bathroom. I’m hurt… he beat the shit outta me… Oh God, Danette... I’m bleeding… I think he killed my baby… Mike’s on a night shift and when he finds out he’ll kill my dad and be locked up for life and I’ll have nobody… 
Danette was already moving. Tom woke to see her tail vanishing through the bedroom door.
“MOM! DAD! I need you RIGHT NOW.”
Grabbing his robe off the floor, Tom stepped out into the hallway to see Clara and Charles emerging from their room. Charles was wearing only a pair of shorts and Clara an old robe. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to the fact that Danette was naked as the day she was born.
“Brandy’s hurt. Her dad came home drunk and beat her up. She’s hiding in the bathroom and thinks she’s losing her baby.”
Clara stood up ramrod-straight, instantly the center of everyone’s attention.
“Everybody, get dressed fast. Soon as you are, Charles, Danette, you’re with me in the truck. Tom, take my car and get out to Tolliver’s. Talk to the night shift manager and if he gives you any shit tell him he won’t like what he gets for supper for a while after I talk to his wife. Sit on Mike and keep him with you until we call you so he doesn’t do anything stupid. Keep her on the phone, Danette. We’re going over there now. Charles, you drive while I call 911.”
-----=====-----
The stocky feline who answered the door swayed on his feet as he looked at Charles. His face was scratched, his knuckles split and he seemed to be having difficulty focusing.
“Colin, seems like you should take off for a bit and sober up.”
“Man’s got to have respect in his own house, Charlie. Aint right, aint right at all…”
“Colin, what you done aint right neither. Now step aside. I aint asking again, Colin.”
The felines ears flattened and his hands started to come up but Charles didn’t wait to find out what he had in mind. Charles wasn’t a particularly large man for his species but as an equine he outmassed the cat by plenty. He wasn’t bulky but working a forge for his entire adult life had given him a wiry strength out of proportion to his apparent size. He clipped Colin with a haymaker that sent him crashing into the door frame and then sliding down it. Clara pulled Danette with her as she stepped past the two men, one out cold on the floor and the other shaking his right hand and flexing the fingers to ease the pain in his knuckles.
Clara tapped on the bathroom door. “Brandy? It’s Mrs Clarke. Can you open the door please?” There was no response. “Get her on the phone again, Danette, please.”
“I can’t, mom. She’s dropped the call and isn’t picking up.”
 Clara pressed her ear to the door and frowned. Straightening up, she pursed her lips and looked over her shoulder. “Charles? Break it in, if you would.”
Two powerful kicks from the wiry equine tore the lock out of the door frame and the door crashed open. Charles started to step towards the open door but stopped as his wife touched his shoulder.
“Go back to the door and wait for the ambulance, Charles. You’ve done your part. This is woman’s work now.”
-----=====------
Mike rushed ahead of Tom as the doors to the hospital slid open and strode up to the front desk.
“Brandy Carlson, they brought her in by ambulance a bit ago?”
“Are you family? Mr…” The nurse looked at the nametag on Mike’s overalls. “Mr. Harris?”
“I’m her fiancé and the father of the child she’s carrying.”
“Ah. When she arrived they took her straight up to OB/Gyn, second floor and on the right.”
Mike ignored the lift and took the stairs at a run. Turning into the department he saw the Clarkes sitting there in the waiting area. Charles stood up and came to meet him.
“They are working on her now, son. They’ll come out and tell us as soon as they know anything. Anne’s downstairs being checked out in the ER too.”
“Just keep her away from me.”
“Don’t you worry about Anne Carlson,” Carla’s voice was sharp. “She’s mine.”
Fifteen anxious minutes later they all looked up as a middle-aged raccoon woman in a set of scrubs emerged from the door at the far end of the room. Carla immediately stood up.
“Caroline Austin, you are a sight for sore eyes. I was hoping you were on tonight.”
“Hello, Carla, Danette. I’m glad I was too.” She looked up at the fretting bobcat. “I presume this is the anxious father-to-be?”
“Am I still that, doctor? Is the baby ok?”
“Yes, you still are.” Mike collapsed heavily into a chair as the doctor continued. “Brandy’s injuries are what in the medical business we call ‘extensive but routine’. There is a lot of soft tissue damage, she has two broken ribs and two claw marks in particular caused her to lose a moderate amount of blood. We were exceptionally careful stitching the two serious claw marks, my other colleague on emergency call tonight is actually a reconstructive and cosmetic surgeon on his day shifts. He elbowed me aside for that part and was right to do so, he is much better at that kind of careful repair than I am. In fact, Clara, I think he could probably give you a run for your money when it comes to fine and intricate needlework. I am confident that not the slightest scar will show. She will recover fully from all of this, given time and rest. For the moment, and I must emphasise that it is for the moment, we are cautiously optimistic about her pregnancy. There was some placental bleeding but that seems to be stabilised now. We will simply have to wait and see. If she does not miscarry within the next week then her pregnancy is likely to proceed normally and there are no other indications of concern at this point. Healing from these injures in addition to the stress that pregnancy puts on a woman’s body will take quite a lot out of her and you can expect her to be a little weak even after we release her from observation here.”  
“Oh thank God.” Mike lifted his head and his ears were plastered completely flat against his skull. “Thank God they are both going to be ok. She’s not going back to that house. When she gets out of here she’s coming home with me where she belongs. How soon can I see her, doc?”
“We have her sedated at the moment. You can sit with her if you wish but I guarantee she’s going to be out until the morning. You may want to actually rest in a proper bed the rest of the night and be alert when she does wake.”
Mike started to object but Charles shook his head. “Take the hint, son. She’ll thank you for looking after yourself too so you can be there when she does need you.”
“I guess so. Thank you for what you did tonight. I’ll not forget it.”
As Mike turned towards the stairs a Puma woman stepped out of the lifts. Mike’s fur was instantly standing on end, his stubby tail still managing to become a rigid bottlebrush rising behind him and his ears folding back against his skull, then Carla brushed past him and stepped up to the new arrival.
“Anne Carlson, you were such a silly girl in school and it seems all you managed was to grow into a stupid woman. You come with me, Anne, because we are going to have a talk…” As she bustled the other woman away from the group their voices became indistinct but occasionally a sharper phrase or two from Carla cut through, and as they did the puma woman seemed to shrink where she stood.
“…so tell me, what kind of mother…” “…if this is what they preach on that stupid TV church you watch…” “…what utter bullshit…” “…your daughter AND your grandchild…” “…you, me and Pastor Carrick…”
Charles winced. “Folks, we are leaving. Tom, you’ve got Carla’s keys. We’ll have to squeeze a bit in her ittybitty car but she’s already got the keys to the truck and I aint interrupting that to swap over. Mike, you want us to drop you on the way or crash at ours for the night? You’ll be welcome and we’ll drop you back bright and early so you can be there when Brandy wakes up.”
Mike smiled for the first time that night and put his arms around Tom and Danette’s shoulders. “I think I need my friends around me tonight, Mr Clarke. Thank you.”
-----=====-----
“Tom, Danette… Office. We have a letter.”
“A letter, Natasha? Or are you ‘Madame Ostrakova’ for this?”
“I think, a little of both. The letter is from the Nationals Committee.”
Tom and Danette looked at each other, each hoping the other couldn’t see the nervousness they were feeling. As it happened, neither of their hopes would be realised. The two, lovers and dance partners, were each more than capable of reading the other with a clarity few couples achieve before celebrating their silver wedding anniversary. A brief moment passed, during which they reached out and without saying a word clasped hands, and then, still holding tightly to each other, they stepped into the dance studio’s office.
“Here. I think you two should open this.”
Natasha passed a letter from her desk to the nearest of the two, Tom.
“Together, Danette?”
“Don’t be silly. We’d tear it to shreds trying to each do it one-handed. Open it and we’ll read it together.”
As they read the letter, neither of them could prevent an expression of acute disappointment from crossing their faces. As they read further, though, that look was replaced with one of determination.
I must inform you that your application for a place in this year’s national championships was not immediately successful. However, your standing in the rankings is such that I would urge you to prepare as if you had been selected to compete. While the committee is not in a position to inform you of your exact standing relative to the selection cutoff, we can tell you that on past years’ experience it is probable that sufficient selected couples will withdraw before the event that a place will be offered to you.
“We need ‘Rina, Tom. How soon before her bus gets here?”
“Did somebody take my name in vain?”
The bubbly Samoyed bounced through the door and then stopped sensing the mood in the room.
“We start working on routines for the nationals today, ‘Rina.”
Natasha had picked up the letter from where the couple had dropped it on her desk at Irina’s entrance. She finished reading it and laid it down.
“Probable, they say. This means you are certainly within the top five who are not yet selected. Maybe even the top three. It is a rare year when fewer than three couples withdraw after initial selection. Last year five withdrew. Two were injured, but only one in dance training. The other pair, one of them got into a motorcycle accident. One pair the lady was pregnant, one retired from dancing and the final pair withdrew for ‘personal reasons’. It was pretty ‘personal’ from what I hear. They, too, were lovers as well as partners and he cheated on her.”
Irina had headed straight for one of the filing cabinets in the office and pulled out a folder of printed pages.
“Ok, I pulled this from the committee website a while ago. We’ve got two set dances, two judges choices so we’ll have to prep at least five routines for those and a ‘free dance’. Not sure what I’m going to do for that one, it has to fit the rules of the allowed dances for the competition but other than that we are free to set whatever steps or music we wish. Let’s get upstairs, huddle up and start talking strategy… Oh, sorry, mom, I mean…”
Natasha waved her paw, trying not to smile.
“Go, go, I will make my own tea you undutiful whelp. If I am feeling kind I might even bring you some.”
-----=====-----
Three hours later, and many cups of tea, the three were still talking animatedly, making note after note and covering the apartment’s coffee table with discarded pages. They all looked up as somebody tapped on the doorframe. 
“Brandy! They let you out finally! Come in, take the weight off… “
Brandy smiled at Irina, and then at Tom and Danette, before taking the suggestion and settling down into an armchair.
“Yeah, sprung me this morning. Mike’s been moving all my stuff for me. He’ll be right up, he’s just parking the Frankentruck.”
Tom looked over at her. 
“How are you feeling, Brandy? I mean, you were pretty messed up.”
“Like a week old dishrag hung out to dry. But it’s getting better. Has to, I’ve got a wedding to go to in a couple of weeks. Mike said something about it all being paid for but it can’t happen if I’m not there. No idea what he was talking about…”
“Well…” said Mike from the doorway, “It would be difficult to hold a wedding with the bride in the body and fender shop.”
Brandy laughed.
“You asshole.”
“Your asshole.”
They shared a smile and then looked back at the other three as Danette spoke.
“Mom’s about finished your dress, Brandy. She was up in her sewing room last night cursing up a storm about having to wait until you were out for a final fitting. After what happened, I think she’s making a bit of a statement with it.”
“Now that, I don’t believe. Danette, I’ve never heard her cuss, not even once.”
“Oh, I have. Lots of times. But only in her sewing room when she’s working on something important.”
Mike nodded.
“She don’t need to curse, Brandy. Lord have mercy, that night in the hospital the way she reduced your mom to a blubbering wreck in two minutes flat… I don’t ever want to cross that woman. No offence, Danette, she’s your mom and all, but if she were on the warpath after me I’d be hiding out somewhere far away. Florida or Canada probably wouldn’t be far enough. Iceland, maybe.”
Danette giggled.
“You know how it goes, Mike. My dad’s the best farrier in the county, in horse country, which means he knows everyone. And that means my mom knows everyone’s wives. She hears any gossip before even the people gossiping about it do. I could never get away with jack as a kid. I put a hoof wrong and she’d hear about it before I even got home.”
“Means when she speaks, folks listen though, doesn’t it? When I’m on nights at Tolliver’s the shift manager’s been looking at me funny since that night.”
It was Tom’s turn to snort.
“She told me to threaten him with the consequences of her talking to his wife if he gave me any shit about finding you and dragging you off the job.”
“Ouch.”
Brandy looked thoughtful.
“It’s weird. The older ladies have been different towards me as well. I know some of that is that I’m going to be a mom too, but I think another part is knowing that Carla Clarke has my back.”
Danette threw up her hands and grimaced.
“Small town life. Gotta love it.”
Tom cleared his throat.
“I hate to drag us back to business but we were trying to come up with something for the free dance…”
Irina had a defocused look in her eyes.
“Hold that thought, Tom. I’ve got something. It’s just not ready to talk about yet…”
She was looking straight at Brandy and Mike. Brandy returned her gaze.
“You trying to make me nervous?”
Irina refocused and shook herself.
“Oh! No, it’s nothing like that. I’m gonna want to talk with you though, discuss my idea before I start working on it if that’s ok?”
“I trust you, ‘Rina. Whenever you want is cool.”
“Don’t say that until I’ve finished asking you. But if it works out, I hope you two remember that waltz routine we put together because I’m going to be just a little too busy to put in a lot of time working on it with you before the wedding!”
-----=====-----
“Oh my God. Mrs Clarke… This is so beautiful!”
Brandy was standing in Carla’s sewing room, eyes wide as she stared into the full length mirror.
“If you’re doing it right, girl, you only get married once. May as well do it properly. And my name is Carla, in case you’d forgotten.”
“It’s amazing. Mrs… Err… Carla… I never dreamed…”
“That’s how a wedding dress should be, dear. Now, I believe you were planning on only two bridesmaids?”
“Yeah. Danette and Sandy. Sandy was my second on the cheer squad. Its captain now that she’s a senior and I’ve graduated. They’ve both assured me they’ve got dresses that will suit.”
Carla smiled and raised her voice.
“Danette? You can both come up.”
Brandy’s jaw almost hit the floor for a second time as Danette and Sandy stepped into the room wearing matching dresses, cut to reflect the style of the wedding dress she was wearing but simpler, and in a shade that managed to perfectly offset the very different coloring of the two women.
Privately, Danette thought it would be horribly disrespectful to call the expression on her mother’s face a “shit-eating grin” but for the life of her she couldn’t think of a more proper or ladylike term for it.
“They weren’t getting themselves put back together in the hospital. I had their dresses finished weeks ago.”
Carla gestured at the three younger women.
“Stand together. I want to see all three dresses together properly. Hmmmm. Yes. That’ll do…”