Page 73 of Whoops-A-Mate From Outer Space
Eashai and I listened and responded as needed—him through an Army-approved voice modulator. Then it was time for the call to end.
“She is very close to a breakthrough,” Eashai said as I drove our beater car from the admin building back home. “I am glad she continued to look down the path I suggested, even when she thought the genes were unrelated.”
“Me too. It’s just a shame we won’t be able to celebrate with her properly once she does find those connections.”
“You might have that opportunity.”
I frowned. “Maybe, but you’re important too. It’s not fair that, after all the help you’ve provided, you won’t be able to meet her face-to-face.”
Eashai reached over and rested a hand on my leg. “It was something I understood from the start, and I do not regret my choices. Instead, I am happy that I have been able to provide this tiny bit of guidance to help a young woman start her career.”
I smiled as I pulled into the garage. I turned off the car, then leaned across the center console to kiss him.
“Why don’t you go get comfortable while I start dinner,” I suggested.
“We are having spaghetti?” he asked.
“As long as that’s still what you’re craving. The beef is defrosted, and I have other ingredients if you want something else.”
He chuckled and rubbed his round belly. “No, our little one is quite fond of his bapo’s spaghetti, as am I.”
I smiled. “And here I was worried you’d be sick of it since we’ve had it so often.”
“Perhaps after our son is born, but for now I wish to eat it regularly.”
I chuckled. “I’ll make sure we’re stocked up on all the ingredients then.”
We got out of the car and into the house. I watched him climb the stairs, then I turned to focus on dinner.
I was ready to plate when I realized that he’d never come back down.
“E?” I asked as I headed upstairs.
I stopped when I reached the top and spotted him. He stood in the doorway of our nursery, a wistful expression on his face.
It was the same look he had whenever he was thinking of his lost mate. I’d seen it less and less frequently over the months since we’d mated, but I knew that the sense of loss would forever be a part of him.
I walked over and slid my arms around him from behind, then I nosed aside his shirt so I could kiss the spot where his shoulder met his neck. “Talk to me,” I murmured into his skin.
“I was remembering when Tolai was a newborn,” he said softly. “Naqoi was radiant, and so happy that he’d been able to give me a child. I always hoped that I would bear one for him in return.”
I tightened my embrace around his middle, signalling that I was listening.
He reached down and laced his fingers with mine. “Sorry, my Gene. It is insensitive of me to voice such thoughts when we are so close to our own family.”
I shook my head against his shoulder, then used gentle pressure against his belly to turn him.
A long breath escaped as I spotted a tear trailing down his cheek. I reached up to wipe it away.
“It’s not insensitive, E,” I said softly. “That loss is part of you. You will always love and mourn him, I understand that. My role as your mate isn’t to feel threatened by that love, but to support you when the memories are overwhelming. I cannot and will never be a replacement for him. But I can be who is right in front of you: the man who fell in love with you as you are now.”
“Gene…”
I swallowed. It was time to voice something I’d been thinking for a while. “E?”
“Yes?”
“Remember when we were discussing baby names? You told me that, on Lyll, names are rarely chosen for the sake of meaning or popularity. Oftentimes, parents-to-be will choose, or create, a name based purely on how they like the sound.”
