7. Betty
7
BETTY
W hen the shuttle arrived, two human males who had to be Chet and Benji greeted Zaneb.
“We thought an early dinner followed by a movie sounded good,” one of them said.
Zaneb gave him a blistering kiss. “Sure does,” he agreed once they broke apart. “I’m off now, so when were you thinking?”
The three of them walked off, discussing their plans as they strolled away, leaving the shuttle to the flight line workers to deal with.
“So, Chet and Benji,” I said, shaking my head.
“Had to be,” Proslo agreed just as a group of Mylos approached us.
“Doctor Proslo, we just heard your good news,” one of them said. “Congratulations to you both.”
“You have been truly star blessed,” a second one said.
“Thank you. This is my mate, Betty.”
A small round of hellos greeted me and I replied back with my own greeting, shifting my weight to my other foot.
“Let me carry Pumpkin,” Proslo said, and I hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
He gave a low, rumbling chuckle. “I am. He is one small feline in an enclosed carrier, not much trouble at all. You’ve been holding him the entire journey, however, so your arms must be tired.”
I held my hand out wordlessly and he grasped the backpack’s straps, adjusting them so they fit over his shoulders. “I believe this is how it is meant to be worn?”
“Yeah,” was all I could say, loving how cute he looked. This broad shouldered alien male, a sexy silvering fox of a man, peering down as if trying to see my orange cat over his shoulder as he presented his back to me for inspection was a sight I committed to memory.
“Excellent,” he beamed. “Now Pumpkin can get more used to my presence while having a better look around.”
“Uh huh.” I clutched my roses to my chest.
“I love your cat!” the second man exclaimed. “He looks a lot like my Felix!”
“You have a cat?” I asked him, only then hearing how stupid that sounded because hello, he’d just told me that he did.
“Three,” he replied proudly. “And a house rabbit. My mate Jim said he thought we should adopt a dachshund who’s looking for his final home in his old age, so I think we might have a dog soon too, because he’s right. We’re waiting to hear back though.”
Fuck me. The Mylos were certainly proving their reputation to be true thus far. Advanced tech - check. Kind to animals - check. Faithful romantics - check. I could go on and on, but there was no point. I knew every box would have a green check mark.
Proslo was checking that thing he had on his wrist. At first, I’d thought it was a watch but upon closer inspection, I could see it was some sort of embedded device. He looked at me and smiled again. “I was just checking to see where we should go. Our new quarters are as ready as they’ll be until your furniture arrives. It’s quite a convenient location. We are only two decks away from the main recreational deck and one away from our Med Bay.”
“How far to the shops, and is there a library?’”
“You can borrow absolutely any human book in print through the Fleet library,” he responded, “and read it on your tablet. When you go into library mode to read a book or periodical, the nanites adjust so it is the same to your eyes as reading print. If you wish to have a bound paper copy, you will have to order it through the Fleet Shop app unless one of the independent bookshops within the Fleet happens to carry it. If they do, it will show up in your search ahead of the listing in the app.”
“Indie bookstores?” Now I knew I was in heaven.
“Yes, there are a few, run by various mates. The Fleet’s online library is overseen by Xeranos with the help of several other mates, as is the rest of the Fleet Shop.” He palmed open an elevator door and spoke aloud, telling Xeranos where we wanted to go. The doors slid shut and the elevator began to move up.
“That all sounds great, and I can imagine we’d run out of space quickly if all my books were paperbacks and hardbacks. I tend to read mostly on the e-reader I got myself for Christmas last year. It’s not a big name brand or anything and reads epubs and pdfs.”
“Whatever those are, I’m sure Xeranos can link it up if you prefer it over a tablet.”
“I don’t have a Mylos tablet,” I pointed out.
“You’ll be issued one. Odds are that there’s one waiting for you already in our quarters.”
I was beginning to wonder if maybe they were a little too efficient. Then I gasped, throwing out a hand to steady myself as the elevator paused before suddenly moving sideways, startling me. I grabbed his arm, causing him to glance down in concern.
“I was not expecting that. The, um, going sideways thing. Elevators on Earth don’t do that.”
“Ah,” he simply replied.
I kept my hand where it was, liking the way his quiet strength helped me feel grounded. The elevator stopped again, this time the door opening to reveal what looked like a really nice apartment or hotel corridor. Polished floors that looked like terrazzo, hanging plants, quality ambient lighting, and absolutely gorgeous wood-look front doors. He brought us to a stop in front of one and pressed his palm onto a polished glass plate with what could be his name or a string of numbers for all I knew, seeing as it was in their alien alphabet. Something I needed to learn, that was for sure, or I’d never figure out which door was ours. It slid open, revealing a well appointed open plan L-shaped living and dining room area plus the kitchen. A small hallway led off of the living room and a quick look showed two bedrooms and a shared bathroom were there. Another door on the far wall of the dining room led to another bedroom, this one with an en suite jack and jill bathroom shared with another room that looked to be a study judging by the desk and what looked like a computer terminal in there.
I gave a shaky laugh. “Three bedrooms, huh? Guess they really are expecting us to pop out a couple of kids.”
He sat Pumpkin’s carrier down on the desk, opening it to let him out to explore. Pumpkin immediately ran under the desk hissing.
“I feel you are wanting to have a conversation about the possibility of young. Your profile said you’d planned to foster a child, maybe two, and hopefully adopt.”
I swallowed. “Yes. There are so many needy children out there. My best friend in elementary school and junior high was a foster kid who got adopted. It made a big impact on me.” He looked thoughtful, his mouth turning into the tiniest of frowns. “I don’t mind having a child with you as well, though, if that’s what you want,” I hurried to reassure him.
“But is that what you want?” he countered. “This is something we should both want, not something you should do to please me.”
I knew that. I really did, intellectually anyway. It was something that I’d have vehemently told someone else, in fact. But emotionally, when it came to wanting to ensure a happy ever after, even if I had to compromise on something like this? Yeah, that was a different matter, until it suddenly wasn’t. That the change for me was because he said so was something I needed to unpack later, but right now? All I felt was vindication. I hadn’t been wrong all those times.
“It’s your body, so really, in the end, how we have the young we both seem to desire is down to you.
And the lottery wins just kept coming. Damn, I should have bought a roll of scratch off cards this morning when I stopped for gas.
“Can I think about it, maybe consider us making a baby together once I graduate and settle into work? Even if everything went perfectly, pregnancy is a lot on the body and then there’s daycare and night feedings and I think it would be better to not also try to do school or start a new job at the same time.” I bit my lip. “That’ll put me past forty though.”
He made a dismissive gesture. “With our medicine, that’s not going to be an issue. And yes, you make very valid points. So, fostering first?”
I nodded. “I thought an older child maybe, possibly with a younger sibling.”
He beamed. “That sounds wonderful. Your profile also mentioned that you’d planned to apply as soon as you had your apartment set up.”
I swallowed. “Yes. I’ve wanted to be a mom for so long.”
He nodded slowly. “Once we have finished setting up our home, do you still wish to apply immediately? We could take the foster parent classes as soon as you’d like and after that, be matched with a needy child once a home visit is completed.”
“Really? You’d do that? Even though we just got together?”
“Yes. You seem to identify strongly with a need to nurture at least one child. I, too, have dreamed of parenting young. If this is what you wish, then I am all for it, as long as we also make time for ourselves.” He pursed his lips. “Perhaps after the wedding would be best? That can be as soon as you’d like as well.”
I snorted. “Well, I might have Googled Guam and elopement weddings,” I drawled. “Mrs. Titchmarsh had been quite keen on that location and I have to admit, it looks great.”
“An elopement?” he looked puzzled.
“It’s when a couple run off to get married without a big fancy thing. Just them, the justice of the peace, and a witness, who might be a friend or might be employed by the Justice of the Peace. According to the websites I found, you can pick a day, any day from as soon as the day after tomorrow, depending on the wedding package. Just some flowers and the Justice of the Peace on a public beach, fine. If we wanted a videographer and someone to play a guitar and a cake, then we might have to wait three weeks.”
“I could take a stand and have Xeranos take a vid using a tablet,” he said, looking thoughtful.
“And Mrs. Titchmarsh could be our witness,” I added.
“Do you wish a cake?”
I shook my head. “I say we find a local pastry place and hit it up, and go find some good street food.”
“Then pick your date.”
I stared at him open mouthed. “You’d really go the day after tomorrow?”
“I’d go right now if that’s what you wished.”
I thought about it for all of five seconds. After all, we were literally already married and only needed to consummate it for reasons of their biology. “I’d say we should skip the wedding since we’re already legal and all that, but then I think Mrs. Titchmarsh would find a way to come up here and give me a good what for, seeing as I promised I’d invite her to one. So, I kinda owe her that, even if it was at her own insistence.”
He chuckled and Pumpkin peered out from under the desk, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“We might be ‘legal’ as you put it, but do you feel married right now?”
I blinked. Guess I was a ceremony of some kind as well as a piece of paper kinda gal after all. “No. Let’s do it then.”
“Xeranos!” he called out.
“Hi, Dr. Proslo!” came the cheery response.
“My mate would like your assistance booking us an elopement package.”
“Oh, that sounds fun. Where to and when?”
“Guam, as soon as you can get us there, and by us, I also mean Mrs. Titchmarsh. Just a basic package, Proslo says you can make us a video if he brings a tablet and a stand.”
“Cake? Music? Flowers?”
“Just some flowers.”
“Soonest available, with a hotel stay of a week is four days from now and it includes wedding photos. That’s if a beach wedding is okay. If you want a chapel or a forest, you’re looking at two to four weeks. ”
“Beach, definitely. Do we have to stay a week starting the day of the wedding or can we go earlier?” I asked.
“You could go tomorrow if that’s your wish,” the AI quipped.
I looked at my new mate imploringly. He shrugged.
“Yes, do that,” I told him. Have us check in tomorrow, except for Mrs. Titchmarsh. She can arrive the day before and leave the day after.”
“I’ll contact Lechand and have him give her instructions on how to contact you via your tablet, so she can confirm.”
“So I do have a tablet?”
“Pinging your tablet now, so you can find it,” Xeranos said.
I followed the chiming sounds to the kitchen where I found the tablet sitting on the breakfast bar that divided it from the dining room.
I tapped the flashing icon, thinking that was how to silence it. Apparently it was. “Thanks, Xeranos!” I called out.
“Please, call me Xero. All my friends do. And I’ll send the wedding arrangement confirmations to your kunnarskyn and tablet.”
“Kunnarskyn?”
Proslo held up his arm, showing me his implant. “Ah. That’s like a mini tablet in your arm huh?”
“Among other things,” he said, nodding.
I blew out an excited breath. This was happening! I was getting married and going to Guam, which was exciting all by itself. I’d never been outside of my home state and look at me now. My life truly had changed on a dime.