5
“Are you?” she asks.
I nod. “Yes.”
“I wish you well,” she says standing. “And I really hope I see you again, Sophie.”
“Thank you. Me too.”
She gives me a sudden quick hug, her slight arms holding tight.
Then she is called by Ca-Tain.
I leave the facility, stepping out in the bright day. I feel lighter, happier than ever before, and I have to share that.
So I walk past the vehz and turn right toward the tech factory and Ba-Daden. It only takes a few minutes to get there and when I do I am faced with a security guard standing at the gate.
He stares at me as though he’s never seen a female before. Perhaps he hasn’t. He wears a white tunic and a white hat to keep the suns’ heat from his head.
“Hello,” I say, “I’ve come to see my mate, Ba-Daden.”
His curious gaze travels down my body and back up again.
I frown. “Can you help me?”
“You are…?”
“What?” I frown. “I am what?”
“Beautiful.”
“Oh…I thank you.” Heat floods my cheeks.
“I’d heard that you Earth women are beautiful…but you are…the first I have seen.” He blows out a breath. “Ba-Daden is a lucky man.”
“And he knows it.” I smile. “Could I see him please?”
“I will call him.” He pulls a thread from his pocket and taps the screen.
I walk away, excitement bubbling inside of me. The news doesn’t feel quite real until I have told Ba-Daden. Then it will be real. Then we can celebrate, start planning. Tell our friends our happy news.
Will it be a boy or a girl? Will we have a son or a daughter?
Rachel and Mel and Tammy will be so thrilled for us.
My heart squeezes at the thought of Tammy, of not being able to tell her.
But I will soon. I have faith that between us we will get her back to the Civilized Tundra and her mate El-Frankin. With a bit of luck she too will be pregnant within the year.
“My love.” Ba-Daden is striding toward me. “Are you sick? Is there a big problem? Is it the atmosphere?”
“No, no.” I walk to meet him, desperate for his arms around me. “Nothing like that.”
“Then what?” He scoops me close.
Instantly I feel safe and warm, protected and adored.
“It’s what I suspected.”
He swallows and his horns glisten. I see his tail lift and quiver at the end. Anticipation is easy to spot in my mate. “I hardly dare hope,” he whispers.
“You should.” I go on tiptoes and brush my lips over his. “Because it’s true…I am with child. You are going to be a father.”
He snaps me close and kisses me with gusto.
The rest of the world fades, the guard staring at us, the suns heating us, the problems we face, it is just us…us and the child we have created.
“You have made me so happy. I never thought that I would be again…but you, Sophie, are my world and I promise to never let you down and always be here for you and our children.”
“I know.” And I did. His words are more than words; they are reality.
All my dreams have come true light years from Earth.
I kiss him again and then pull back. “I will see you when you have finished your work.”
“Yes, go and rest, do nothing, feet up, care for our child inside you.” He gently touches my stomach. “For you both are the most precious things in all the Universe to me.”
I smile, content even though I have a mission to complete.
A mission that includes getting Queen Visha on board with our plan to go behind the king’s back and find a rebel alien’s brother so we can exchange him for Tammy.