Page 3 of Rathgar

“You, human woman.” The words come out harsher than I intend. She freezes, tensing, like a cornered animal about to run. “What do you think you’re doing, letting your offspring run free like that?” I cross my arms. “Something could happen to them.”

“I’m sorry, sir, she simply got away from me, it was only a few seconds and—“

“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to your girl. She’s lucky she only found me and not one of our enemies. Or don’t you know what they do to children out there?” It’s for her own good. I’m not trying to be cruel, but she needs to know she’s not on Earth anymore. There’s a reason we fight as hard as we do. The world can be an unkind, dangerous place — especially for children. Why doesn’t she know that? Why doesn’t she seem to care?

The woman holds her child closer to her chest. She lets out an angry huff and finally cranes her head up to meet my eyes. How cute — this weak-willed human thinks she can challenge me. “I said I’m sorry. I don’t know how you take care of children here and I don’t care. But last time I checked, you’re not her father, so leave me alone. I won’t bother you again.” With a ‘hmph’, she turns on her heel and storms away, leaving me open-mouthed in the dust.

What just happened? And why did her fury ignite something inside me?

Maybe humans aren’t so dull after all. I almost smile.

HUG

JANIE

He had some nerve, telling me how to mother my own child when all he does is fight all day. There’s more to life than violence and glowering, not that he knows that or cares. I’m just grateful Lara’s husband Soren doesn’t treat her like that. I’d be having words with him if he did, and I would never have signed off on moving our entire family to this planet, food or no food.

I’m still thinking about our clash the next day while I’m at Lara and Soren’s place. Today’s the day I head off to the center, and to be honest, I’m kind of terrified. Not that I can show it. I have people counting on me here. Not least of all, Iris.

I know Lara will take good care of her, but I’m still nervous. What if they can’t find a match for me? What if he turns out to be mean and nasty like Rathgar — or worse? There are too many variables, but there’s nothing I can do now. It’s either successfully complete this surrogacy program or get shipped off back to Earth. And with Lara and Ray living on this planet, that’s out of the question.

Lara took a stand and put her fears aside to build a better life for us when she signed that contract. Now it’s time for me to do the same.

I walk back to the bathroom to check on Iris — I’m trying and mostly failing to potty train her — and instead see a bare butt sticking out of the cabinet under the sink.

So much for that idea.

She’s bent over, butt out, and when I crouch down to help her, she’s fast asleep on the pile of towels there. I cover my mouth against a surprised laugh — why does she have to be so cute? Poor thing must be exhausted. I pull her into my arms and close the cabinet, reminding myself to childproof the doors for next time. She wakes up on my shoulder and nuzzles into my neck.

I know she won’t be this little forever, but I live for these moments. She’s a handful on the best of days, but she’s my handful. My Iris. And I don’t know what I’d do without her.

“Mommy,” she whines when I put her back into her bed. “I don’t wanna.”

“Aren’t you tired? You fell asleep when going potty.”

“I don’t wanna.”

She’s lucky she’s so cute. “All right, we’ll go back into the living room. But if you fall asleep again, it’s back to bed with you.”

“Okay.”

Shaking my head, I lead her back into the living room and pull out the blocks we were playing with earlier. They’re soft foam shapes of all different colors. Iris loves stacking them up into wobbly piles which are inherently structurally unsound. She then screams with laughter when they topple over. It’s adorable, if a little loud.

Soren and Lara should be back any moment. They’re out with their child Ray for the morning, and when they come back I’m handing off Iris while I head over to the ISA center to uphold my end of the contract that will ensure that Iris and I can stay here. I gulp, watching Iris stack the blocks again and again. She’s so blissfully ignorant of what is to come. Little does she know her mommy’s about to go get knocked up by an alien.

The door opens and I turn around, expecting Soren and Lara. Instead, it’s the last person I want to see.

Rathgar looms in the doorway, all cold stares and tough muscles. The light catches the angles of his face and gleams on his gold skin.

I gasp despite myself, and my heart skips a beat or two. He’d be hot, if he weren’t such an asshole. The thought comes unbidden — where did that come from? Sure, he had a handsome, dominant aura about him. All the alphas did. But that didn’t mean I had to like it.

Besides, I’ve already been there, done that. I even have a kid to prove it.

He’d been nothing but rude to me ever since we met; I wasn’t about to start changing my tune now.

“Where’s Soren?” His eyes sweep the room and land on me. “I need to talk to him.”

“Oh, he’s not here right now. Him, Lara, and Ray are out for the morning. They should be back any minute, though. You can come back later?” I end on a hopeful note, praying he gets the hint.

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