Page 107 of All You Need is Alien Love
There’s so much for me to learn and so little time! Five years is going to be here and gone before we know it.
“The guest of honor is almost here. I think you might want to put that away for now.”
I heave a dramatic sigh and close the book, tucking it back into my pocket. Concentrating in here was kind of hard anyway.
Moments later, the door to Vardox’s Cantina opens and we all scream “Surprise!” as Nirblob rolls in on his roller skates.
He comes to a slow rolling stop in the entryway, taking in the sight around him.
So many members of the community have shown up to celebrate the secret hero of Operation CHAOS that it brings a tear to my eye.
I’m awfully emotional these days—and I’m not even the one gestating embryos!
Seriously, life is really fucking awesome at the moment.
After finding out about our future triplets—eek—Kai and I spent a romantic Christmas together before jetting off on our honeymoon to the stars. I sigh dreamily just remembering both epic experiences.
Now that we’re back and have returned to our usual routine at the office, we finally had time to put together this party for Nirblob. It was long overdue but the timing makes the surprise all that more effective.
I grin as I watch a group of patrons lift him up in the air, cheering. Nirblob seems a bit overwhelmed at first but soon gets into the spirit of things and is dancing on the bar top before long.
Using her booming captain’s voice, Ellie eventually calls out to get everyone’s attention. “Good evening, everyone. On behalf of the Alliance, my husband and I would like to thank each and every one of you who helped us keep Earth safe during the attempted invasion.”
Everyone cheers.
“But,” Ellie continues, “there are few who were as integral to our success as our very own Nirblob.” She turns to him with a grin. “Your brilliant mind saved the day. Moving forward, the Alliance would like to offer you a position as a senior member of our R and D department.”
The look of wonder on Nirblob’s face is evident. “You would offer such an illustrious position to me?”
Ellie nods. “You’ve shown a true flair for invention and demonstrated your deep loyalty to Earth and the Alliance. We’d like to officially make you part of the team.”
My Martian-like friend turns his gaze on me. “But what about Vardox’s Cantina?”
I reach out and grab a passing Chewy, safely returned from his own intergalactic travels. “I was thinking my old buddy here could take over the bar for a while.”
Chewy gawks at me. “What the hell are you talking about, kid?”
“This is an ideal job for you.” I count off the reasons on my fingers. “You’ve got the perfect surly temperament for a bartender. You don’t put up with anyone’s shit. You’ve got connections throughout the entire extraterrestrial community here on Earth and beyond. And you’ve been a bit adrift now that you don’t need to be my bodyguard anymore.” I lean in and whisper. “Besides, a bar is an ideal place for you to stay abreast of all the latest rumors about what’s going on in the universe, good or bad, that we need to know about.”
Chewy strokes his furry chin. “You make some good points. I’ve tended bar before so it would be a piece of cake for me to jump back into it.”
I blink a few times. “You have?”
He snickers. “Kid, I’ve got stories fromlongbefore you were ever born.”
I beam. “So you’ll take the job?”
“I’m willing to try it out for a while if Nirblob’s in agreement.”
The two of them wander off a bit and start talking animatedly. When I see them shaking hands, I can tell the plan Kai and I came up with is going to work out. After everything that went down, he and I spent a lot of time strategizing how to keep Earth safe in the future. We plan to raise our kids here, but being rather unique for a whole lot of reasons, they could become targets down the line. Now is the time to start planning for ways to keep our family safe—and it seemed like a no-brainer to me that Nirblob’s talents were being wasted at the bar.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s done an amazing job turning this into the central hub of extraterrestrial community here on Earth. But now it’s time for him to move on to bigger and better things with that enormous brain of his.
Roxy and Lu-Ren come to join me and Kai, drinks in hand. They sit on the loveseat opposite ours.
“Did Zamir decide to come?” Kai asks, hesitantly looking around the crowded bar.
Roxy shakes her head. “He’s sticking by Wilder’s side until he’s stable enough to be transported to the intergalactic medical station.”
