Page 20 of Holiday with the Aliens

He wiggled out of her embrace and looked over at Dash. “Is that your boyfriend?”

“Lee, you need to get ready. Have you taken a shower?” May saved Ro from answering.

The boy jumped in place. “You can come with!” His eyes widened and he nodded. “Can they, Mom? Please?”

“Ro and Dash are tired, Lee. They need to sleep. I’m sure they’ll have time to hang out later.” Ro had no idea what Lee wanted them to do, but the fact that May was declining for them made her want to volunteer, despite the fact she was dead on her feet and Dash had to be just as tired, if not more.

“It’s the fair’s last day. Please, Mom. Uncle Richard doesn’t like the rides, and I haven’t seen Aunt Ro in forever! Please?” He said it with the kind of desperation that only a child could manage. “And we’re not leaving until noon, anyway.”

“We can take him,” Ro offered. “I haven’t been to a winter fair in forever.” And she’d been miserable the last time, but it would be worth it just to hang out with her nephew.

Lee jumped up and down in excitement as May relented. “Fine. But you have to tell your Uncle Richard.”

If she was a slightly better person, Ro would have offered, but she and Rich had never gotten along and now wasn’t the time to try and mend fences.

Lee took off running back upstairs to inform his uncle.

“Do you have a room for me?” Ro asked. “For us?”

“So itisan us?” May confirmed.

Ro shrugged. Sleep was starting to nip at her heels, and maybe she could manage an hour or two before it was time to leave with Lee.

“Yeah,” May said. “Your old room. Try not to wake the house with sex noises.”

“Ah, it’s good to be home.” Ro tugged at Dash’s arm. “Come on, let’s get some sleep before we go have fun.”

Dash nodded his head toward her sister. “Nice to meet you!” But Ro was already tugging him away and May was heading for the kitchen. A happy family reunion.

It was…good… to be home.

Dash couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on Earth for an extended length of time, and he didn’t think he’d ever been to a winter carnival. The winter sun hung fat in the sky, illuminating the frozen ground beneath their feet and sparkling as lazy snowflakes dropped from the sky. Vendors sold cocoa and hot cider along with more adult appropriate beverages and enough fried food to feed a circus troupe. He was pretty sure he’d won Lee’s loyalty for life when he bought him a fried snowflake shaped sweet and then won him a stuffed animal in a game.

Ro kept smiling, and good cheer swirled all around them. Holiday cheer and vacation fun were in the air, a heady mix that could get him drunk if he didn’t stay on his toes, but being besidehis mate kept him grounded, funneling the good cheer in and giving him energy without making him bounce off the walls.

Families gathered all around them, different configurations of people all out enjoying the winter day. Even the carnival employees seemed to be in a good mood from the genuine smiles they were giving out, though that could have come from the fact that they were about to pack up and leave.

With the child darting between them, Dash could almost make believe that this was his life with Ro. Him, his mate, and a little one to keep entertained. What more could he want? Even that seemed too much to hope for, though he wasn’t sure why. He’d never imagined having his own family, for some reason, and now that he was so close to grasping it, he was afraid that holding on too tight would make it slip through his fingers.

Instead, Ro laced their hands together and leaned against him. “If you need to go back and sleep, I can handle the kiddo. You have to be tired after last night.”

He was. Bone deep exhausted in a way that the good cheer around them was only beginning to touch. But he’d deal. He didn’t want to leave. He’d never flown that far or long before, and certainly not with a passenger, but it was worth it just to see Ro here now.

Lee was watching a juggler a few meters away from them. He seemed to like ranging out, but knew never to leave their sight. After a few minutes he came back and wrapped an arm around Ro’s waist. “I’m so glad you came, Aunt Ro. I wish you could be here every year.”

A pang of sadness stabbed at Dash, his mate’s distress, but nothing showed on her face. “I’m going to try and be here more often,” she said. “But it’s hard to get back from Mars. And I’m definitely going to call more. Maybe we can’t hang out in person, but that doesn’t mean we have to be strangers.”

“I get it,” he said in a tone older than his years. “Your work is important. Just like Grandpa’s was. It’s why I never got to meet him.”

That only intensified the sadness coming off of Ro. “How about you go try that game over there.” Dash pointed to where a bunch of people were lined up in front of a tossing game.

“Cool!” Lee went off running.

“It was bad enough when May said it,” said Ro once Lee was too far away to hear. “But to hear it from that kid?” She shook her head. “It would be easier if he just stabbed me.”

“I may not know the whole story, but it sounds like your dad wasn’t always there?” Dash waited for confirmation before continuing. “It’s not the same situation. He’s your nephew, not your child. And you’ve been in communication, even if you can’t get back every year. You haven’t abandoned them.”

“Mom said he died.” Ro was almost too quiet to hear over the sounds of the carnival around them. Dash leaned in closer, knowing she wouldn’t want to speak up. “When I was eighteen she said after he left that he died and that’s why he stopped sending messages and birthday presents. I had no reason not to believe her. She was my mom, right? But when I moved to Mars, guess who I ran into? Dad, new wife, three kids, all happy together, and they had no idea who I was. I actually talked to Dad and he said it would be better if I wasn’t introduced. Didn’t want to confuse anyone.”

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