Page 71 of Alien's Eternal Mate

Arael greeted me at the door, her lavender gaze filled with an intensity I had never seen before.

“Arael? I’m sorry I am so late--”

“We’re having a child, Gro.”

She put her hand against her flat belly and smiled.

“A baby?”

My legs gave out and I collapsed into a sitting position on the floor.

“A baby,” I repeated.

Arael crouched down beside me, worry lining her face.

“Are you upset?”

I took her hands and tugged until she sat in my lap.

“No, I’m not upset. Surprised, yes. Floored by the new responsibility, yes. But upset? No. This is a happy occasion. Perhaps the happiest of my entire life.”

Arael grabbed me around the neck and head, kissing me harder than ever. I kissed her back, and soon forgot all about matters of state.

EIGHTEEN

CARTER

Masari young gestate at roughly the same rate as human children. Actually, most sapient species in the galaxy tended to have a nine month in-womb cycle. Those who believe the Precursors sowed the seeds for life in the galaxy pointed to this as proof of their fath.

I had never given the theory much creed, in my old life. Now that I expected a child of my own, I found that the distinctions between human and alien mattered less and less every day.

I soon discovered many other parallels between humans and aliens. Namely, the hormonal fluctuations of the pregnant female. Arael had come a long way from the simpering, cringing, abused woman she had been when we first ‘met.’

But now the pendulum swung in the extreme, opposite direction. Arael snapped at me for what seemed minor offenses and oversights. I didn’t want to make her more stressed, so I tended to keep quiet when she reacted in a volatile way.

This turned out to be a good survival strategy.

One day, some eight months into Arael’s pregnancy, I sat in a meeting with Pageus, Nikor, and Zey. Lo appeared in the doorway, his eyes filled with worry.

“What is it, Lo?”

I had made Lo my personal messenger. The Sages and Engineers worked tirelessly on long-distance communication, but until then I needed a good old fashioned runner. Lo fit the bill well, and I thought it a good way to get the caste-bearing members of Masari society to get used to one of the former Shunned.

“Your life mate requests that you bring back some Lempu fruit when you return home this evening.”

“Thank you, Lo--”

“Additionally, she would like to remind you that you are the chief, and you can choose to come home at a time well before midnight if you wish.”

I smiled, noticing the amusement on the faces of my fellow leaders.

“Yes, thank you, Lo--”

“Furthermore,” Lo said, swallowing hard “your life mate wants to remind you that you promised to rub her feet during the final phases of her pregnancy, and yet you have failed to do so a single night this week.”

Zey clapped a hand over his mouth to stifle laughter. Nikor and Pageus were more composed, but I could see the laughter in their eyes even if I could not hear it coming out of their mouths.

“Thank you, Lo,” I said, putting a firm note of finality into my tone. “Please tell my lifemate I will see her later…before midnight, and with Lempu fruit and foot massages in tow.”

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