Page 81 of What Makes an Alien a Dad?

“You didn’t think it would work?”

“At that stage, it shouldn’t have. But that’s when my lucky breakthrough happened. If I’d gone back and tried to recreate the results with a donor’s sperm, it would’ve delayed me by months, if not years.”

“So, you just kept going?”

He dropped his head, saying nothing.

A compassion for the baby fluttered inside me. I really wished she had parents, or at least a parent, who desperately wanted to have her from the very beginning and would love her with all their heart.

“How are you feeling about being a dad now, Kear?”

He adjusted the sphere meant to imitate a woman’s breast in his hand, lifting it a little higher for a better flow. He appeared to do all the right things, but he looked more like a doctor doing them than a father.

“I’m fine with it,” he said. “Why do you ask?”

“You’re holding the baby so far away from your chest, one could fly an aircraft between you and her.”

He took a critical look at their positions. “Her head is supported and her spine isn’t strained.”

“But don’t you wish to cuddle her?” My hands itched to touch her. My skin tingled with the urge to cuddle that fuzzy little bundle, to nuzzle her fur and kiss her chubby cheeks, even when I knew I wasn’t supposed to do any of those things. She wasn’t mine. But she was all his to love and cherish unconditionally.

“I do cuddle her.” He pointed at the harness crisscrossing his wide chest.

“But do you wish to do it? Do you like doing it? Or do you cuddle just because her teachers told you to?”

He looked down at his baby again. Oblivious to our discussion, she nursed peacefully, her pearly-gray eyelids fluttered closed.

“I am her parent,” he said slowly, as if needing to hear it out loud himself. “I feed her, clothe her, pay for her education...”

I drew in a breath, disheartened. This wasn’t what I hoped to hear. Baby Anika deserved so much more than being looked after purely out of obligation.

“But I also feel more protective of her than I’ve ever felt,” he continued. “It’s visceral, beyond any logic or my control. If anyone so much as looks at her the wrong way, I’d lift them on my horns and wring their neck without hesitation.”

“Wow...” I blinked, impressed by the fierce conviction in his voice. “That’s a start, I guess.”

Baby Anika drifted to sleep, the imitation nipple slipping out of her mouth. Kear put her into the motorized wagon with the bassinet, then we ate lunch.

By that point, I was too hungry to be picky about the food. He’d brought a lot of healthy options, of course. Some pieces tasted less blunt than others, but overall, it brought back memories of all the hospital lunches we used to share.

Slowly, the awkwardness melted away. We chatted like before. Kear caught me up-to-date on how everyone on his team was doing. I told him about places I’d visited in the past week.

“Ready for dessert?” He asked, taking out the familiar pink box from his basket.

“Did you...” I gasped in delight. “Did you get me some cupcakes from Earth Girl’s Desserts?”

He grinned.

“Well, they say these are the best cupcakes in this part of the Galaxy. They are also the only cupcakes in this part of the Galaxy, so...” He shrugged.

I grabbed one the moment he opened the box.

“Oh, so good.” I hummed around a mouthful of deliciousness with appreciation. “You’ve got to try it.”

I thrust my cupcake his way. He leaned closer and took a bite.

“It’s good.” He nodded. “Unbelievably sweet. But good.”

A drop of pink frosting clung to his beard.

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