26. Epilogue
Chapter twenty-six
Epilogue
Talia
T alia twirled and danced in the small kitchen, listening to her favorite music while she flipped pancakes, wearing bike shorts and a loose t-shirt. Happy. She was so happy. She was living with the man that she loved, and in his new body he was an artist just like her, in their new home and talking about starting a family soon. She had her best friend back, her mom was acting like her mom again, and for some reason her dad had lost some of his bite.
She didn’t remember anything after Bill’s house. It was all an empty picture in her mind. But when she woke up, there was no longer any danger. She had her family, and Estrellas in a very attractive new body of his own, by her side. Peace was the only way to describe it. She was lucky and grateful and was not about to question that, not after everything she had just gone through.
She heard Estrellas before she felt him. His deep voice hummed along with the music as she felt his strong warm arms wrap around her waist.
He kissed her cheek. “Yum, smells good babe.”His deep sultry voice flooded her core with warmth.
“Your favorite, blueberry!” She smiled and turned in his arms so that she could plant a sensuous kiss on his full soft lips. As she pulled away, she saw the desire in his eyes.
He tugged her back into his arms and returned the kiss, deepening it. He rubbed a hand against her ass and pulled her tighter as his tongue searched for hers. She welcomed him. She slid a hand underneath his shirt and ran her fingers lightly up his toned back, feeling him shiver under her touch. He groaned against her mouth as their kiss gained intensity. She wrapped one leg around him to press against him tighter. He responded by clenching one hand more firmly on the roundness of her ass, and the other started to massage her breasts eliciting a gasp of delight.
Just as she started to reach down the front of his pants, a loud screech from the fire alarm broke the spell of their desire. Estrellas hurriedly reached for the pan where the pancakes were burning while Talia laughed. He dumped the pan in the sink and turned the water on, backing away quickly to block his face from the heat, then turned the burner off.
She covered her hand over her mouth and chuckled. “Well, there goes breakfast.”
He turned the water off and returned her smile, and she stared into his perfect honey brown eyes, breathing him in. Pine and fresh scent lingered on his skin from his morning shower, his curls were still damp, and she lovingly tucked a strand behind his ear.
She saw an instant desire response in his body and heat flooded between her legs.
“Hmmm.” He practically growled. “Who needs breakfast?” He scooped her up into his arms, with her laughing as he rushed her to the bedroom.
Estrellas
So what if they started their new life together on one little white lie? So, this body was stolen. That was a small price to pay. He was happy, she was happy, and that’s all that mattered.
Stathos-2 had discovered that it wasn’t true love, but a deep desire to belong to a specific place that severed the hive mind connection. Estrellas took comfort in knowing that his love for Talia was genuine even if his hive mind was still intact. But his connection faded the further the mothership got.
Stathos-1 and Stathos-2 had systematically gone through their brothers and sisters on the mothership, assigning those that wanted to stay on Earth a human body. So what if a few thousand human souls were displaced? His family was an endangered species and the humans had billions, it seemed harmless enough to him.
The rest of the Stathos’s chose to move on and continue to explore the cosmos.The explorers eventually found a new planet to call home, planet Meraiis, and sent word to their brothers and sisters on Earth that they would settle there and no longer interfere with the affairs of others.
His kind would multiply, he was sure of it. He would take Talia’s powerful last name when they married, and he knew Talia was pregnant before she did. They would name their daughter, Isabel Garcia, and raise her to follow in the political footsteps of her grandfather, The Speaker of the house. She would become the first female president someday; he was sure of it. She would be the fresh start Earth needed; she would begin the healing.
Sure, the alien offspring would be born with a few extra abilities and maybe it was selfish to live their own lives for their own pleasure rather than the greater good. After all, Earth was slowly dying, and their kind could probably save it. But why did that responsibility fall to his brothers and sisters?
That was the next generation’s problem.