"No basil," he says, "and actually all of the ingredients are a little off from what you can get on Earth, but I hope I kept the spirit of your recipe."
"You have a recipe?" Raiska whispers to me, putting a hand on my knee.
I nod. "I was telling Kula about how I make grilled cheese."
"Why would one 'grill' cheese?" Raiska asks.
"Eat it and find out," Kula says, sliding the plate toward Raiska.
Raiska and I both pick one up. The bread looks perfectly browned, and just the right thickness. The cheese is whiter than I'm used to, but it's just the right consistency. I see orange fruit inside, and yellow herbs.
Kula sticks his chest out. "I know the colors aren't what you are used to, but the closest thing to tomatoes on Lakria are orange, and my basil substitute is yellow."
We both take a bite at the same time. The bread is nice and crispy, and the melted cheese hits my tongue with a nice salty bite to it. The cheese is a little bit off from what I'm used to, but its stronger flavor gives something special to the sandwich. Then the acid of the orange tomato thing hits me. It's a little bit tangier than a tomato, with an almost smoky aftertaste. Finally the herbs kick in. The best word I can find to describe them are fresh and light. Basil is fresh and light, but this is fresh and light in a completely different way.
My eyes widen as I chew, and as all the flavors come together to form a whole greater than the sum of their parts. I shoot Kula a thumbs-up even before I swallow.
Raiska swallows and drops his sandwich onto his plate. He looks down in confusion, his entire face scrunching up.
I put a hand on his forearm and whisper into his ear. "It's okay if you don't like it. It's probably an acquired taste."
"No," he says, shaking his head. He looks up seriously at me, and then toward Kula. He picks the sandwich up and points to the big bite mark in it. "This here is the most delicious thing I've ever eaten, brother. I finally understand what it is you do. I was only humoring you, even up until a few hours ago, at respecting your profession. I thought it was truly ridiculous."
"Thanks," Kula says, scoffing.
"But now!" Raiska says, standing up from his chair and waving the grilled cheese sandwich in his hand like some kind of Baptist Evangelical waving his Bible, using it to show people "the light." "Now! Now I understand you, brother. Now I truly respect you. I am not just kissing your asshole either!"
"It was your Muru's recipe," Kula says, puffing out his chest. "I can't take full credit."
Raiska sniffs the sandwich, and then takes another monster bite out of it. He closes his eyes as he chews. He finally sits back down.
The smug grin on Kula's face looks like it will never be wiped away. It’s like it’s a permanent part of his face as his six-dimensional scar.
I point to the sandwich and nod. "It is really good, Kula."
My endorsement sounds weak after Raiska's, but that can't be helped.
"Eat, Muru," Raiska says. "Kula, you will cook real food for my Muru until the baby comes out. I don't want your child to have some kind of advantage over mine."
I lean back and eat as the two brothers argue. Ellie and I give each other knowing looks. Ellie pours me a glass of fizzy water, and we toast each other as our alien men argue with each other about whose kid is going to be smarter, faster, and stronger.
Several months later, after Kula's son is born, and just before I start to get too pregnant to safely travel, we make a trip to Earth.
The council had Raiska and his brother Uskon act as the face of first contact with Earth. It was recommended I stay back on Lakria while Raiska made his trips and appearances on Earth. They thought it was shocking enough for humanity to see an alien for the first time, but they thought an alien with his human lover who he had knocked up would be a bit too shocking for the very initial stages of first contact.
Raiska made those first steps long enough ago now though. There are now thousands of aliens living on Earth—the first immigration wave. Millions more will follow in the coming years, but now that humanity has had time to adapt, I've been given permission to be seen in public with Raiska.
I had already been given a chance to go back and see my family. To assure them I was alive and safe.
This is our first trip back to Earth together though. We teleport in to my parents’ backyard in Pittsburgh. Most of our extended family is going to be there, and most of my close friends who were able to make it.
We teleport into the back garden. It's a small, fenced-off yard, and we appear behind a large tree.
"I didn't want to scare them with the higher-dimensional light," Raiska says.
Raiska couldn't teleport during the Breeding Games because the Ulkar were blocking his ability to do so. Now that he can, it's really changed everything. We never have to drive anywhere, and we can take vacations all over the galaxy with no travel time. It's the first time we've teleported on Earth though, and it somehow feels more impressive to teleport from New York City to Pittsburgh than it does to teleport hundreds or thousands of light-years in an instant.
"How do I look?" Raiska asks.
"You always look good, Muru," I say, smiling up at him.
He's wearing a button-up shirt and a tie. It's a huge shirt, but it still can barely contain his biceps and chest. His body doesn't look like it's built to wear clothes...or pants.
"I told you it was fine if you wore your kilt," I say, straightening his tie.
"No," he says. "I want to show your family that I am not some kind of barbarian."
"They won't think that."
"It took me over an hour-and-half to get this tie on right. And I was using YouTube tutorials. I am a barbarian, Annabelle."
I hug him. He's warm through the thin white fabric, and I bury my face in his warmth. "You're my barbarian then, and I wouldn't have you any other way."
We walk arm and arm through the backyard.
My annoying uncle Chaz and my less annoying cousin Chuck are sitting on the back porch. My uncle does a double take and tips back in his chair. He starts to fall, but his son grabs hold of the lawnchair and steps his shoe down on the metal bar that runs along the bottom, keeping my uncle from toppling back over.
"Dad!" Chuck says. "That's a Valittu!"
Uncle Chaz takes a big sip of his beer. "Yeah. Sure is."
"Hey," I say, waving. "Is everyone else inside?"
"You—you—you're...having an alien baby?" Chuck points to my stomach. "Sorry, Annabelle, it's just, like, woah."
I nod. "Half human. Not totally alien."
Uncle Chaz reaches into the cooler and holds up a beer. "You want a beer, Mr. Alien? It's a Bud Light."
Raiska reaches out and takes the can of beer. "Thank you for this gift." He nods his head down and inspects the can. "Do I shake it before opening?"
Uncle Chaz gets a big shit-eating grin on his face. "You sure could."
I kick Chaz in the shin. "Don't fuck with my Muru." I look back over at Raiska. The can looks like a tiny little thimble in his massive hands. "Do not shake it. It will explode all over your shirt."
Chaz smiles wide. "Sorry, just thought it would be funny is all."
The door opens, and my parents run out.
"My God!" My mom says, throwing her arms up. "You look ready to burst!"
"It's only been four months," my father says, eyeing Raiska nervously.
They've met before. We were allowed to have contact with my parents, provided we weren't seen together in public. My father seems to have a very odd relationship to Raiska. He's always been one of those over-protective dads that threatened to pull a shotgun on my dates, even though he never owned a shotgun. I get the feeling he wants to do that to Raiska, but is intimidated by the fact that Raiska is twice his size, can lift a car up over his head, and is one of the most powerful beings on Earth.
Still, to my dad's credit, he doesn't exactly back down. He still gives Raiska a hard time.
"Valittu seed is stronger," Raiska says.
My parents shudder, and I glare up at Raiska. I hiss to him. "What did we say about using the word seed."
"Apologies," Raiska says, clearing his throat. "The gestation period is much shorter when the egg is fertilized by a Valittu."
My father sighs. "That somehow sounds even worse."
Uncle Chaz is stifling a laugh. He pulls another beer out of the cooler and hands it to my Dad. "Why don't yinz toast each other or something. Yinz can't exactly fight each other. Well you could, but..."
Chaz starts chuckling.
"You think I'd lose?" my Dad asks.
Raiska raises an eyebrow. "I prefer drinking together, father-in-law."
"You haven't married her yet," my dad says, jabbing a finger at Raiska.
"Come on, Dad," I say, "that's not fair. You know we wanted to have it done on Earth so the whole family could be there. We weren't allowed to be seen here until just now."
Raiska holds his can of beer up.
"Open it first," I whisper to him.
He reaches his finger beneath the tab, then pinches it with his thumb and index finger. He rips the tab off and throws it back into the cooler. Chaz gives him a confused look.
My dad pops the tab like a normal human male.
The two men clink their cans together and take a sip.
"Really Chaz," my dad says scrunching up his face, "Bud Light?"
Chaz shrugs and takes a big swig of beer. "Tastes fine to me."
Chuck nods in agreement.
We go inside, and suddenly everyone is gathering around us. While my parents did meet Raiska already, the rest of my family has not. Even though there are a few thousand aliens on Earth now, few have ever seen one in person. It's a lot like spotting a celebrity used to be. If you saw some no-name celebrity in person, you used to tell everyone you knew about it as if it were some kind of exciting story. Now everyone in my family was getting to not only see an alien in person, but a Valittu.
"What kind of weapon does he have?" One of the little cousins is asking her mom.
"I don't know," she hisses. "Don't be rude."
"Annabelle," he asks me. "What kind of weapon does he have."
"A scythe," I say.
Even the adults seem impressed by that.
Chaz has crept in behind us, and he cracks open another Bud Light. "That six-dimensional stuff is all a conspiracy. I saw Uskon's daggers on TV. They just looked white. Probably just some kind of plasma torch."
His wife, Sally, who is on her third or fourth glass of wine, lets out a loud and annoyed scoff. "You and your conspiracies, Chaz!"
"I was right all along about the aliens, wasn't I?"
"A broken clock is right twice a day, isn't it?"
Raiska bursts into laughter.
Everyone stops talking and looks up at him. It's a strange sight to see an alien bigger than an NBA star wearing human clothes and laughing his ass off. He doubles over, and his horns almost knock the wine out of Sally's hands.
"What's so funny?" I ask. "Raiska, are you okay."
He looks up with tears in his eyes. "A clock. A human clock is a 12-base system that runs twice per day. If a clock were broken—" he laughs harder, then gasps for breath, "if a clock were broken, meaning the hands did not move, it would still accurately tell the time twice per day. This is the funniest human expression I've ever heard."
"It's probably the only one you've ever found funny," I mutter. "Or even understood."
Raiska still makes a habit of butchering expressions—either saying them with the wrong words, or using them in wildly inappropriate situations.
"Well, anyway," Chaz says, "maybe Raiska can prove this broken clock right again today. I have a theory that the Council wants us to think there's more stuff out there we don't know about. Stuff we can't know about, and that's why they are making up all this bullshit—" he looks at all the little kids listening to him, "bullcrap about higher dimensions that we aren't smart enough to see or what not. Just between you and me, Raiska, let me know I've figured it all out."
He taps a finger to his head twice, to emphasize that this brilliant insight came out of his brain.
Raiska looks at me. We know each other well enough now that we can read a lot in each other's facial expressions. He's asking me for permission. I grant it with a nod and devilish smirk.
"Stand back, everyone," Raiska says. "Uncle Chaz, your television could not properly display my brother Uskon's dual daggers, as they exist on six dimensions, while your television screens can only display two dimensions. It's mathematically and physically impossible for any pre-contact human technology to show higher-dimensional colors. However, you can see these colors with your naked eye if you are viewing a six-dimensional object in person."
Raiska looks around to make sure no one is near him, and he reaches out his hand.
He summons his scythe. It surges with six-dimensional color, and those impossible colors bathe the room.
Everyone stares in amazed wonder. Uncle Chaz and Cousin Chuck's mouths hang wide open.
Raiska tucks the scythe away and grins. "The higher dimensions are real, little humans."
Kula and Ellie arrive later. It helps when Kula gets here, because it takes more than half the pressure off of Raiska. Everyone is fascinated to see an alien operate a charcoal grill. The half-alien baby is a big hit too, though Ellie is mostly trying to keep him covered. She’s very protective of her baby.
My brother Jake and his girlfriend Ellen arrived late, and they finally get a chance to sit down and talk to us.
"So..." Ellen asks, "how did you two meet?"
I try to think of the best way to start. I've forbidden Raiska from every saying "The Breeding Games" aloud, so I'm not worried he'll say that.
"We met at the library," Raiska says.
"So...at work?" Ellen says. "Were you looking for a book, Raiska?"
Raiska shakes his head and smiles.
Oh, God, I didn't forbid him from saying "Fertile Prize." I speak over him just in case he would be dumb enough to say that out loud.
"No, no," I say. "He was...."
"I was looking for Annabelle," he says. "The Ulkar were after her. It was my mission to protect her."
My brother laughs and puts an arm around Ellen. "If the Ulkar ever come for you, babe, I'll protect the shit out of you."
Raiska shakes his head. "The Ulkar have ascended. The likelihood of Ellen being targeted is less than .0001%."
Ellen scoffs and hits Jake playfully on his arm. "That's why he's saying he'd 'protect the shit out of me,' because he knows it's never going to happen. That must have been so romantic, Annabelle, having such a big... strong..."
"Woah, now," Jake says, putting a hand on Ellen's thigh. "Let's keep our eyes on the prize."
Raiska cocks his head at Jake. "Annabelle already told you about being the fertile prize?"
Dammit.
"The what?" Jake says, looking at me, and then his eyes fall down to my belly. He starts laughing. "Is that why the Ulkar targeted you? Because you're..."
He gets a grossed out look on his face and stops laughing. "Alright, scratch that, let's never talk about that again."
"Agreed!" I say, and then I look at Raiska. "Add 'fertile prize' to the list of things you never say out loud."
"What other words are on the list?" Ellen asks, licking her lips as she looks up at Raiska.
Twenty-Six
Happily Ever After
Our daughter was born on Lakria.
I knew the chances of anything bad happening on Earth were low, but the medical technology on Lakria is so much more advanced than on Earth.
We end up spending most of our time on Lakria too. There's a permanent gate opened now between Thrace and New York City, and even though I'm fully authorized to use it whenever I'd like, it's not like New York City is within spitting distance of Pittsburgh. I have to rely on Raiska to teleport me for visits. Still, we do spend a lot of time on Earth, but Lakria ended up being more comfortable for
both of us.
Thrace especially is a city where no one bats an eye at a human and a Valittu together. Even though people on Earth know about aliens now, interrracial relationships—and hybrid babies—like ours are still exceedingly rare. Whenever we try to do normal things on Earth like grocery shopping, going to museums, or anything that people do as part of day-to-day life, we are gawked at. Whispered about. Pointed at.
On Lakria we can be ourselves. It's less draining, and the view cannot be beat.
We sit together on the beach. It's the same beach we landed on when we first came together to this world. The view is the same as it was, but I've never grown tired of it. Our daughter Liliana runs through the blac sand toward the crystal-clear water.
She's five now, and she's playing with another boy around her age. They are splashing water on each other. An hour ago they were building sandcastles together. Thirty minutes before that they were being too shy to even look at each other.
"This is developing quickly," Raiska says.
I smile. "It's so cute."
"If that boy tries anything," Raiska says, "I will fetch my plasma rifle."
I roll my eyes. "You sound like my Dad."
"Your Dad has a plasma rifle?"
"They are five years old, Raiska. Let them be kids. They are just playing together."
"Our daughter will be very beautiful, Muru, I have to be ready to protect her from boys."
I imagine him being as protective of Liliana as he was of me, and I start to worry for her. I needed him to be protective of me, because I had Philos and those little goblin things coming after me. I don't think that a nice little orange-skinned alien boy with a tail who likes building sandcastles is on the same level. There's such a thing as being too overbearing, especially with daughters. Still, I love my dad even when he's doing that, and I'm sure Liliana will come to appreciate where Raiska's heart is.
"I will teach her to climb," Raiska says.
"You already did."
The Breeding Prize: A Scifi Alien Romance (The Breeding Games Book 2) Page 15