Epilogue
The wedding was simple. Her fathers walked with her down the pathway that ran through the middle of the forest biome where she, Mace, and Xaber had gone on their first date together.
Friends and well-wishers were lined up on either side, smiling at her as she passed. She knew every face, and it stunned her to see them all here. When she’d arrived on Defiance, she had nothing but a single bag of possessions and not a single friend. Oh, how times had changed.
Xaber and Mace had gone all out for the occasion. Both wore dark blue suits with silky white shirts, all perfectly tailored to their large builds. They looked like sin wrapped in silk, and she couldn’t wait to tell them so.
They watched as she approached with wide smiles and eyes that gleamed with possessive pride.
“You look incredible,” Mace said.
“Stunning,” Xaber agreed.
“I’m happy for you.” Javid kissed her on the cheek before letting go of her arm. “Love you.”
“May you and your males be blessed with laughter, joy, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting,” Elias said and kissed her as well.
Then they both stepped back, and the ceremony began.
Before she knew it, she was speaking her vows. Like the rest of the ceremony, the words were simple and heartfelt. None of them wanted a long, flowery performance. It wasn’t who they were.
“I do,” she said.
She was the last to speak. The moment she was done Xaber pulled her close and kissed her. Mace growled but waited until his batch-brother was done before claiming a kiss of his own.
She had tears in her eyes as she smiled up at him and then over at Xaber. “Hello, husbands.”
“Hello, wife,” they said at almost the same time.
The officiant, a Pheran female with a soft voice and kind smile, nodded to them and raised her voice. “I now pronounce you husbands and wife. Congratulations!”
“I didn’t know this place existed,” she heard Rain exclaim to another guest. “It’s beautiful. And such a perfect place for a wedding.”
Tish was wandering around, greeting the guests and basking in the wonder of it all.
“This is where they brought me for our first date,” she told Rain. “But your club was our second choice.”
Rain laughed, her tone low and husky. “It’s not my club. I just run the place. You’ll meet the owners soon. They’re on their way here. Pity they didn’t arrive in time for the wedding. From what I have heard, they do love a good party.”
The group had moved to a different area of the bio-dome for the reception. The wide, open area mimicked the biomes but was mostly made up of holograms. Safer for the plants that way, and it allowed room for the guests, the food, and the bar.
It was a beautiful area with trees, grass, and a multitude of flowers. A small fountain sprayed actual water into the air to splash down into a pond, complete with aquatic flowers and some holographic fish.
It was far more than she’d envisioned when they first talked about getting married.
As soon as their friends heard, they all started offering to help.
Flek had insisted on paying for the catering as a wedding gift.
They’d thought he’d bring his pizzas, which would have been fine.
Instead, he’d hired the talented cooks at the Nova Club to prepare a sumptuous array of appetizers and snacks.
The crew from the Quantum Forge were present too.
Some were running the bar, which had been Rain’s contribution to the festivities.
Others were simply there as guests, including Or’yn, Mace’s friend from the security team.
Grotta stood off to one side, chatting with Thrash.
The two of them were probably discussing ways to get his ship to fly even faster.
She’d discovered that the cyborg was something of a speed demon.
Flek stood near the bar, greeting everyone with enthusiasm.
“This doesn’t feel real,” Xaber murmured the next time they had a moment alone. “When did we meet so many beings?”
“Not only met them but became friends with them,” Mace said.
In the months since they’d returned to Defiance, so much had changed.
She still picked up shifts at Grotta’s shop, but now she was a registered employee.
Her fathers worked there, too. Retirement hadn’t suited them, but they didn’t like the idea of running their own place again.
Grotta had welcomed the idea of reliable, experienced workers she didn’t have to babysit.
The money from Hamish’s bounty had been enough to buy out her contract and still have enough left over to keep them in pizza and repair parts for at least a year.
More than that, they’d finally started connecting to the denizens of their new home. Flek had introduced them to other beings, particularly the cyborgs who ran the Nova Club.
They were all here today, mingling with the other guests when they weren’t chasing after their young children.
A small, blue-skinned toddler had raced past her a few minutes ago, whipped cream on her face and the squashed remains of a desert in both hands.
“Mya! I said no. You’re not allowed any more sugar today!” A slightly harried cyborg called out as he sprinted after his errant offspring while his wife and what had to be his clone looked on and laughed.
“I take it back. I don’t know everyone here,” Xaber commented.
Tish looked up, curious who he could be talking about. It wasn’t hard to spot the strangers. A human female with dark hair and delicate features was walking toward them, flanked by two human males. All three of them wore understated but exceptionally well-made clothing.
She instinctively looked down at her own dress, which, while beautiful, could not compare to the one the new arrival wore.
Still, she decided, it was her wedding dress, and that made it special.
She’d worked on the design for hours, tweaking the fabricator until it got the lace details perfect and created the fabric in the exact shade of blue she wanted.
When she looked up again, she noticed something else. Everyone stopped talking as the three strangers passed by. It was subtle, but it told her that whoever they were, they must be important.
The woman reached them and smiled. “Congratulations to all three of you. I hope you don’t mind that we crashed your party. My name is Tianna Watson-Astor. These are my husbands, Royan and Owen. I’ve heard a lot about you, and this seemed like a good time introduce myself.”
Astor. Holy nukes and novas.
Tish laughed and gestured around them. “I don’t think you can crash a party anywhere on this station. You own Defiance. I’m Tish by the way. And these are my husbands, Mace and Xaber.” It was the first time she’d said those words aloud, and it made her smile.
“It’s really nice to meet you.”
Royan nodded. “Nice party, too.”
Owen grinned. “That’s high praise. Royan is a connoisseur of parties of all kinds.”
Royan raised his hands. “Hey! I’m reformed now!”
Tianna, a woman with a fortune greater than some planetary governments, rolled her eyes.
“Don’t mind them. And for the record, I don’t own this station.
I paid for it, but it belongs to everyone who lives here.
This place is a proper community, intended to support the beings who call it home.
” She leaned in and lowered her voice. “A mutual friend tells me that you three would be solid additions to my community initiative. I’m here to extend an invitation. ”
“To what,” Tish asked, eager but also wary.
Tianna nodded. “That’s a good question. This isn’t the place for a long discussion, but I can tell you this.
Defiance Station exists because the station that used to be here was destroyed by dangerous forces.
Those forces still exist. I’m preparing for the day we’ll have to defend this place and everything we’re building here.
From time to time, I may need someone removed from the station.
A bounty is a neat, legal way to move them along. ”
Mace grinned. “Trash removal. I like it.”
“Exactly.”
Tianna tapped a bracelet on her wrist and a tiny hologram of what Tish swore was a little green fairy appeared in the air. “Yes?”
“Send them the information package, Tink.”
The fairy twirled in the air, curtsied in her direction, and then vanished in a cloud of glitter.
“What was that?” Xaber asked.
“My AI assistant has a flair for the dramatic.”
Royan snorted. “You can say that again.”
“That packet will be on all your comms. Read through it at your leisure. There’s no rush. After all, you have a wedding to celebrate. Congratulations again.”
Tianna smiled and moved away with her two husbands in tow. After a few steps, Royan turned back and winked at her. “Welcome to Defiance Station. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.”
Xaber placed a possessive arm around her shoulders and stared at the other male until he was out of earshot. “Flirty bastard.”
“He’s married,” Tish pointed out with a laugh.
Mace leaned down and growled in her ear. “So are you.”
“Yes, I am. To two of the sexiest cyborgs in the galaxy. Why would I flirt with a mere human when I have the two of you?”
“Good answer,” Xaber said.
Mace gave her a heated kiss. “How much longer until we can take you home and get you out of that gorgeous dress?”
“First, we celebrate with our friends and family. Then we get naked.”
“You have yourself a deal, mechanic,” Xaber said with a laugh.
They wandered back into the crowd. They’d found more than friendship here on Defiance. They’d found love and a place to call home.
***
Thank you for reading Her Cyborg Bounty Hunters.
I hope you enjoyed Tish, Xaber, and Mace’s story.