Page 43 of My Christmas Alien Mate

"Haha," Galexor replied, but I could tell his father's praise pleased him.

I didn't know if all Scekyns were like Kzod and would allow their sons to follow their dreams, but I knew many human fathers who would have not been pleased for their sons to change profession from spacefarer to baker. Or leave their family to settle on a Class-D planet for a girl he had known for barely over a week. The trust between the three men was nothing short of amazing.

After dinner, we sat down by the coffee table. Galexor put a dish of our cookies and other treats out while I explained Spades to them. Adred and I partnered up, and Galexor partnered with Kzod.

After a few beers—both Kzod and Adred became instantly hooked on it—the game became more competitive. Still, we laughed more than anything else.

Four rounds later—Galexor and Kzod won three—we watched another Christmas movie and called it a night.

Glowing warmly, I laid down in bed next to Galexor with my head on his chest. It had been a long time since I had felt this comfortable and at home.

I remembered how much I had dreaded this Christmas more than anything because it was the first without my grandpa, and I thought about him often during the course of the evening, but not with as much sadness as before or as I thought I would have. For some reason, it felt as if he were here with us. Looking over my shoulder and enjoying my new family as much as me.

"Happy?" Galexor asked, brushing my hair with his fingers.

"Very. And you?"

"This was by far the nicest evening I have ever spent with my family. Thank you for that."

I lifted my head. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yes, really. We have, of course, spent a lot of time together before, but usually we talk about matters of the Galactic Union or how a new prototype works or about a new species that entered the Union."

"You never watched movies or played games?" I knew the question was silly since they didn't have movies per se, but grandpa and I had watched our fair share of documentaries together and enjoyed them.

"Never," Galexor confirmed. "We have spirit clubs, kind of like bars, where some games are played, but neither my father nor Adred would ever be caught dead in there. They're more for simple pilots like me."

"Even if you weren't your father's son, you wouldn't be asimplepilot," I contradicted, and he grinned.

"Anyway, thank you. I truly enjoyed tonight, and I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow."

Myplanhadbeento get up early and prepare breakfast, but it turned out, I had been more tired than I had realized, and the first lights of the sun already filtered into the room when I finally woke up. Alone.

I grabbed my bathrobe to see what Galexor was up to when I heard a muffled sound coming from the family room. Curious, I left the bedroom and found both Kzod and Adred standing there, in their pajamas and bathrobes—early gifts from Galexor and me—with their blasters in their hands, pointing them in circles through the room.

"What's going on? Where's Galexor?"

"Somebody is on the roof," Adred said with a dark face.

"The roof?"

Kzod nodded. "Does anybody know we're here?"

"Of course not." I shook my head.

Just then, a scratching sound came from the fireplace. Deep within the fireplace. Or more precisely, the flue.

"Oh, no." A dark, foreboding thought entered my mind even before I saw the blackened sack at the bottom of the fireplace. "No, no, no."

I rushed to the fireplace, which, thankfully and very unusually, wasn't burning. Black soot, however, was raining down the flue.

"Galexor?" I moved to my knees and tried to crane my neck up the fireplace's throat.

"Amber?" came a muffled reply.

"Are you… stuck?" I bit down hard on my lips to stop myself from laughing.

"Is my dad there?"

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