Page 12 of The Cyborg Way
Some odd little pieces of their lives suddenly sprang into place—such as how they could afford the apartment. Given the housing crisis on Earth, the two tiny bedrooms made it extraordinarilyvaluable despite its diminutive size, and her mother only worked part-time as a medical transcriptionist. Or had that been true?
“Did my mother work for you?” she demanded, and he looked slightly pained.
“I would not have put it in those terms. We had an arrangement—a mutually agreeable arrangement.”
“What kind of arrangement?”
“I don’t believe I intend to discuss that with you,” he said calmly.
She supposed it wasn’t really necessary. Her mother had been a very pretty woman. She looked at the stranger standing so arrogantly in what had been her home and knew that, despite their biological tie, they had no relationship. There was nothing to keep her here on Earth.
“Then I’ll take the trip to Mars,” she said, and he nodded.
“I will notify you about the arrangements.” He hesitated for a moment longer, but she could see that he had already reached the same conclusion that she had.
“Goodbye, Eleanor,” he said, and left.
She had never seen him again, but he had kept his promise. The next day she’d received all of the paperwork to complete the voyage as they had originally planned, bypassing the entire lengthy official process. He’d been generous as well, arranging for additional supplies to be provided for her once she arrived, including the small flock of chickens and their habitat. He had also deposited a large supply of credits in her account, although she rarely touched them. Even though she had accepted the supplies, it seemed wrong to take money from a man she didn’t know, even if they were related.
She’d been so lost in her memories, she’d forgotten that Levi was still standing there patiently holding her hand until he gave it a gentle squeeze.
She sighed. “Turns out I had a father I never knew I had. My mother kept it a secret from me my whole life, even though she continued to see him.”
Levi’s face darkened.
“I don’t understand how any man could not acknowledge his own child.”
“Apparently he wanted it that way.” She sighed again. “And I think perhaps my mother did as well.”
She had thought about it a lot on the long voyage to Mars, trying to understand why her mother had kept the secret. Despite her best attempts to move past it, the sense of betrayal still lingered. Eventually she’d decided that the arrangement had probably suited her mother just as well as it had suited him. Her mother had created a cozy little world for the two of them, and Ellie didn’t think she’d wanted anyone else to be part of it.
The fact that her mother had continued to see her father surprised her more, but apparently her mother had enjoyed seeing him. Despite her subtle attempts to discourage Ellie from having a relationship with a man, she’d always come home from her “job” smiling and happy. But whatever the reasons, it didn’t change the facts of her own life, and she lifted her chin defiantly.
“In other words, I’m the illegitimate daughter of a man who didn’t want me.”
Levi shook his head, his hand tightening around hers.
“I’m very sorry, sweetheart. I find such behavior incomprehensible. I was brought up in one of the state-run orphanages, and I always dreamed of having a family. I would never deny my child.”
His child.Her breath caught as she suddenly envisioned sharing a child with him. She was quite certain he would be a wonderful father.
“Now, of course, it’s too late,” he added.
Was it?Was there a reason why a cyborg couldn’t have a child? Before she could ask, he nodded thoughtfully.
“I think perhaps that is why I joined the military as soon as I was eligible—to find some type of family bond.”
“I understand,” she said softly. “And I guess now you have that with the other rangers?”
He looked surprised, then nodded thoughtfully.
“I suppose that’s true, although we were certainly never encouraged to think of ourselves as having those types of emotions.”
She turned her hand in his, not in an attempt to get free but to clasp his and tug him gently closer. “I told you before. As far as I’m concerned, you’re still a man.”
And then she went up on tiptoes and kissed him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
