Page 51 of Star Mates

“I didn’t know,” she stressed. She caressed her belly. “They were going to take my baby from me.”

“Rest assured, your baby will be safe. The unprovoked attack on Sparta ignited a war the Unarian’s are ill equipped to fight, even with the Kexian force behind them.”

Politics were the last thing on her mind. “Where can he be?” she achingly asked.

Willoughbee sighed. “I wish I knew.”

****

Lost.

The ugly word just reverberated through her head until she thought she’d go crazy. Emmarie lay in her bunk, the lights off, and the tears just ran down her cheeks to soak her pillow. She couldn’t show her sadness in front of others who’ve lost so much.

There’s that word again. Lost.

Gone.

Her life on Earth had been a place of contentment, of easiness and individualism. This new home of hers was harsh, it was full of conflict and pain, and sometimes it confused the hell out of her. Did she really think some songs, or some silly stories, could make a difference?

Pell was gone. He’d left behind a big, gaping hole that could never be filled, at least not with her. She held a part of him inside her, she carried his baby, and even though she loved the miracle she and Pell created together…she missed his arms around her, missed his taste, missed his warmth and gentle humor.

But she still couldn’t cry in front of anyone. What made her any better than those who lost family members, friends, and loved ones? But there in the dark, alone, she was free to let her self-pity emote itself, for the one person she lost.

She still hated that word.

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