Page 70 of What Makes an Alien a Dad?

“Almost there, Maya.” His voice sounded exaggeratingly upbeat, cheering for every tiny progress she made in his direction. “A little closer...”

The moment he could trust getting a good hold of her, he grabbed her around the middle, then hauled her onto the landing platform. His legs shook, sending him to the ground with his treasure in his arms.

“I’ve got you,” he exhaled. Relief flooded his muscles in a current so strong, he momentarily forgot how to breathe. “I’ve got you,” he repeated, letting the thought sink in.

He had her. She didn’t fall. She wasn’t lying on the hard stones far below. He had her in his arms.

“You’re crushing me,” she mumbled into the fur above his neckline.

“Sorry.” He laid her carefully across his lap, as if he were handling a precious, fragile jewel. Only Maya was much more precious to him than any jewels in the Universe. Somehow, she had become the most precious person in his life.

She gripped his hand with a groan. Another wave of pain must be rolling through her. He splayed a hand on her belly. It hardened under his palm with a contraction. She was in labor, and he had no equipment to monitor her condition, nothing to help her pain or to intervene if something went wrong.

“Kear,” she squeezed his hand harder, “I’m scared.”

He was scared, too. Terrified out of his wits. But he couldn’t tell her that. He was all she had, and she needed him.

“It’ll be fine, sweetheart.” By some miracle, his voice managed to hide his panic, coming out impressively strong and confident. “I’m here.”

But he was the only one here. The authorities, who he’d hoped would be right behind him, were still nowhere in sight. He feared he had no time to get her to the clinic on his own. The baby was coming, and he’d rather deliver her here on solid ground than in his aircraft on the way to the clinic, risking a crash.

Fear racked him. Cold paralyzing terror stilled his hands and impeded his thinking.

He tried to distance his mind from emotions and let the practical, calculating part of his brain do its job. It helped to view a patient as simply a body with a collection of organs for him to work on rather than a breathing, thinking, suffering being with a life to lose if he made a mistake. He’d often employed this mental tactic both during the war and in his clinic. It helped him keep a cool head and a steady hand when needed the most.

However, distancing wasn’t easy this time. So much hinged on this woman. Not just his career, but his heart and his own life.

In just a few months, Maya had become his everything. Losing her was unthinkable. What harmed her pained him. He’d much rather have his own insides cut open and rearranged than have Maya go through any pain at all.

But she needed him. There was no one else in the entire Universe who knew her better than him or who could help her more than he could.

“Kear?” Her dark-as-night eyes searched his. Her fingers trembled as she curled them into his shirt. “We need to go to the hospital.”

He drew in a long breath, calming his nerves for her sake. After gently laying her down on the fake grass of the landing platform, he ripped off his suit coat. Balling it into a bundle, he fitted it under her head instead of a pillow.

“Do you know why people rush to the hospital when they’re in labor, Maya?” He gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “They go there to find me, so that I can help them. Out of every person in existence, I am the one you want here right now.” He opened the cuffs of his sleeves, then rolled them up past his elbows. “You don’t need to rush anywhere. Because I’m already with you, and I’m not going anywhere.”

He cleaned his hands with the sanitary wipes he always carried with him. Sure, having his clinic’s state-of-the-art equipment made his job easier. But it was his skills that made any equipment useful.

His hands and his brain were the most important tools he needed.

Gently prodding her belly, he confirmed the position of the baby. Bending her legs for her, he moved her long skirt out of the way.

When she looked at him again, fear had eased from her expression, making space for trust. He gave her a reassuring smile.

“I’ve got you, my flower, and I’m not letting you go. I promise, I’ll keep you safe.”

She was no longer clinging to the ledge over the abyss. Her life was in his hands now. And he’d be damned if he let any harm happen to her.

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