Epilogue
EPILOGUE
JOSIE: 2 YEARS LATER
I’m sitting in my backyard, my belly round with some form of alien hammer offspring that, in ultrasounds, looks like a regular baby. Because it’s a girl, my hammer men say that she won’t look like a hammer at all—more human than anything. It’s a relief.
My daughter, Ava, sits at the table with me, looking at my five men, who are grilling up some barbecue for us with their friend, Dorian, an alien who’s apparently been living in America for quite some time. Not only that, but he teaches at my daughter’s college. He’s different than my hammers. He’s a spoon shifter. How that works, I don’t know.
“So, are you going to marry any one of those guys? I know you’ve been with them for a while, but jeez.”
She’s been away at college and refused to come here for some time. She wanted to grow up, she said, and grieve her dad without seeing her mom move on. Though she knew how bad I’d had it, she still loved my ex-husband since he was a doting father. It was the only good thing about him.
“Plus, how do they know Professor Harrison? Who, by the way, is the hottest professor on campus? I’ve been crushing on him for ages.” She seems so giddy it makes me uncomfortable.
I don't really know how to explain to my daughter that the man she's talking about is an alien. He definitely is a hot hunk of beef with thick, muscled arms, legs, and abs for days, so I get the draw to him, but the fact that my daughter is so attracted to him and the way he looks at her makes me go all mama bear.
“He’s known my guys for quite some time.”
Of course, my hammers told me of Dorian’s interest in my daughter when she arrived yesterday. No man, alien, or spoon is good enough for my daughter—even if he's a nice alien who told me he just wants to find someone who likes to cuddle.
“Having a baby at forty? That's a big thing, Mom.”
“Well, let's just say I finally found my five true loves. They make me want to give them the world.”
“Five men, Mom. You are dating five men. Do you even know who’s the father?”
“They're all the father, dear.”
And they are. From what I'm told by the guys, after they all knotted in me one after the other one night, their DNA mixed, and therefore, the baby is a part of all of them. It's some weird alien shit, if you ask me. But it makes us all happy.
“I hope I find someone—or someones—who love me the way these guys seem to love you,” Ava sighs.
“I hope one day you find someone to love you and make you happy.”
“Someone who likes ice cream and cuddling.”
“Did someone say ice cream?” Dorian has entered the conversation. I purse my lips and watch as my daughter smiles up at the alien man she has no idea wants to spoon her. I’ll have to remind him that he is a teacher at her school and to keep away from my daughter once again.
They stir up a conversation about rocky-road ice cream, of all things. I place my hand on my belly and feel something like a hammer slamming against me. I gasp just as my water breaks.
“Oh my God!”
“What's wrong?” my hammers ask all at once.
“I think it’s hammer time!”