Page 55 of Alien's Love Child

"That's because I've been traveling." My throat tightens as he traces the scar on my face with tiny fingers. No fear in those eyes, just curiosity. "Looking for you and your mom."

"Did the bad guys hurt you?" He pokes at my chest where the worst of the scarring lies beneath my shirt. "Is that why you got lost?"

“Nah, nothing can hurt me,” I say firmly. Jesse makes a small sound behind us, but I keep my eyes on Leo. "But I'm better now."

"I get lost sometimes too." He nods sagely. "But Mommy always finds me. She's good at finding things."

A laugh bubbles up, surprising me. It feels foreign, like something Tyren wouldn't do, but right. "She found me too, didn't she?"

"Uh-huh." Leo settles against my chest, already growing heavy with sleep. "Can you tell me a story? About space?"

I look to Jesse, who nods, wiping at her eyes. "One story," she says. "Then breakfast."

"So there I was, facing down three space pirates," I say, settling Leo onto my lap as Jesse rummages through my sparse kitchen cabinets. "Their ship was twice the size of mine."

Leo's eyes widen. "Were you scared?"

"Never." I tap his nose. "Want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I had a secret weapon." I lean in close, lowering my voice. "My ship might've been smaller, but it was faster. And smarter."

"Ships can't be smart," Leo giggles.

"Oh yeah?" The sound of Jesse opening and closing cabinets punctuates our conversation. "This one was. See, while the pirates were busy trying to catch me, I flew straight into an asteroid field."

"That's dangerous!" Leo clutches his stuffed animal tighter.

"Very. But I knew something they didn't." I create a makeshift asteroid field with my hands. "The rocks weren't random. They moved in patterns, like a dance."

From the kitchen, Jesse snorts. "Is this the Carina Belt story?"

"You know it?"

"You told it to me that night in the galley." She peers around the corner, brandishing a spatula. "Though I remember more cursing and less dancing asteroids."

"This is the kid-friendly version." I wink at her before turning back to Leo. "So there I was, weaving through the asteroids. The pirates followed, thinking they had me cornered."

"Did they catch you?"

"Nope. Because right when they thought they had me..." I pause for dramatic effect. "I cut my engines."

Leo gasps. "But you'd crash!"

"That's what the pirates thought too. But remember - I knew the dance." I demonstrate with my hands. "My ship drifted right between two massive rocks, quiet as space itself. And those pirates? They flew right past me, straight into the biggest asteroid in the belt."

"Boom?" Leo asks hopefully.

"More like crunch." I make a crushing motion with my hands. "Their ships got stuck between the rocks like sandwich filling."

"You're embellishing," Jesse calls out. "I've seen the report. Only one ship got caught."

"Am I telling this story or are you?"

"Sorry, sorry." She waves the spatula in surrender. "Continue your tall tale."

Leo tugs on my sleeve. "What happened next?"

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