Chocolate Rewards: The Sweetness of Two Worlds Colliding Together

by Burns, Rachel

  “Of course. I'll do anything that will help her.”

  “I can see that you love her, but I worry about her. I always will.”

  “Rokai. Wake up. It's time.” Amber shook his shoulder hard.

  Rokai jumped to his feet and quickly dressed. “Okay, tell me what you need.”

  “We have to go to the hospital. Wake my dad. He'll drive us.”

  Rokai left so fast to do her bidding that Amber had to smile. She slowly got and placed her hand on her back. She was having another contraction. “But it hasn't even been two minutes since the last time. Rokai!” she screamed out.

  Rokai took held of her, trying to get her to walk to the door.

  “I think something is wrong. This is going too quickly.”

  “Everything is going to be okay. I'm right here.” He picked up their bag and walked her out to the driveway. Her parents were waiting there. Rokai helped her into the back seat and moved in close to her. He moved her head so it was lying over his heart.

  Amber doubled over in pain. “Another one?” Emily asked. Her eyes moved from her daughter to her husband. “Get us there fast, Kulani.”

  He gave her a nod and sped to the hospital.

  As soon as one contraction was over Amber was only able to take a hasty breath before she once again had to scream in pain.

  Rokai hadn't believed that the ugly stone could have healing powers as Kulani had told him, but now he checked to make sure that it was in place.

  At the hospital nurses got Amber into a wheelchair and briskly took off with her. Rokai was told that he had to fill out papers.

  “Now? I don't have any time.”

  “We need proof of insurance.”

  “Insurance?”

  “Health insurance,” the nurse clarified.

  “She wants money.” Kulani explained, he took out his wallet but Rokai stopped him. “I'll pay for my wife. How much do you want, woman. Spit it out, my wife needs me.”

  Kulani couldn't help but smile. The nurse looked completely appalled. She stood there with her jaw hanging opening. Rokai pulled out a wad of money and laid it on the desk before he picked up the suitcase and ran after his wife.

  When they caught up with her, she was lying in a bed attached to a machine.

  “What's all this?” Rokai asked.

  “They are checking the contractions and listening to the baby's heartbeat. That's the noise we are hearing. Isn't it lovely?” she sighed.

  Rokai cuddled into the bed next to her, wrapping his arms around her like they always did. Amber buried her face in his chest as the next contraction hit. It was a pain so intense that she figured bones were breaking.

  Rokai held onto her tightly. It felt wrong to have so many people in here. This was a moment for just the two of them. He figured that Zufu would come and go to see if she could help. He knew that she regretted not being able to help her mistress.

  Amber was taking this on herself so her parents could meet their grandchild.

  “Are all of these people necessary?” he asked Emily.

  “I am. I'm the doctor. I need to check your wife over.” A man came in and went right to the printouts. “How many centimeters dilated is she?” he asked the nurse.

  “She just got here. We couldn't check yet.”

  The doctor washed his hands and put on plastic gloves. “Your baby seems to be in a hurry.”

  Rokai watched a strange man sit down at the end of the bed and move his wife's legs so they were opening open.

  “What are you doing?”

  First then did the doctor look up and notice Rokai size and skin color. He rolled away from Amber a little. “I am just checking to see how close she is. I'm not going to hurt her.” The doctor was talking down to Rokai, thinking that a man his size, and who had burned his skin in the sun so stupidly couldn't be smart.

  “Is that normal?” Rokai looked to Kulani for the truth.

  “Yes.” Kulani hadn't liked that back then either. “Would you rather have a female doctor? Surely that could be arranged.”

  Amber screamed out again.

  “Sorry folks. It's too late. The baby is coming now. What's her name?” the doctor asked Emily.

  “Amber.”

  “Okay Amber, this is the big moment. I can see blood. I need to look to see if everything is normal. Tell your husband to just hold onto you.” He tried to move her legs open but Amber wouldn't let him. She was having yet another contraction.

  Rokai let go of her and pushed the doctor to the side. “I can see the baby's head, precious one. You just have to push when you can. Give me your hands.” Rokai sat down between her legs and held her hands.

  Amber screamed out loudly again.

  Emily parents went to her and tried to help her.

  Rokai let go of her hands after the contraction. “The baby will be born soon. Hold onto your parents. I'll take our baby. The father is the first person to touch his child. The wife gives the child to the father.”

  Amber nodded and obeyed him.

  The doctor muttered words like 'highly unconventional, stupid nonsense' as he looked over Rokai's shoulder, ready to step in.

  Amber sat up and pushed when the next contraction came.

  “It's a boy. You gave me a son,” Rokai declared as he held the baby in his hands. He lifted the baby up so Amber could see him.

  “He's so pink.” Amber couldn't think of anything else to say.

  A nurse took the baby and cut the cord quickly before this odd family could do anything more bizarre. She wrapped him in a light blue blanket and gave him to Amber.

  Rokai followed them. He was spellbound looking at his child.

  “Is he healthy?” Amber asked, moving the blanket so her child wouldn't get cold.

  “He got all of his Apgar points. He seems to be very healthy,” the nurse answered. The doctor wanted to get close to Amber again and check her over.

  “Just leave,” Rokai told him.

  “Amber, do you want me to leave?”

  “Sure we would like a moment. I feel fine.”

  “I really can't leave you just yet. If something happens to you, your family could sue us. This is our insurance.”

  “Insurance.” Rokai repeated. “I have insurance.” He gave him some money and turned him to the door.

  “Fine, I'll just go file out the birth certificate.”

  The nurses slowly left too. Once they were alone Rokai got out the laser.

  Kulani and Emily were worried what he was up to.

  “This is going to heal me. It won't hurt me. We can go home then.”

  Rokai slowly moved the beam up her legs. Emily could hardly believe her eyes. Her daughter was healing right before her eyes. Two minutes later her daughter was sitting up and smiling.

  Rokai took the baby so Amber could get dressed, again. “Look it fits already.”

  “You look fantastic.” Rokai planted a lingering kiss on her lips.

  They both moved to leave. Kulani and Emily just followed them awestruck.

  They happily walked out of the hospital.

  “Don't you two want the birth certificate?” Kulani asked.

  Amber looked at Rokai. He shook his head. “We will register the baby when we get home.”

  The happy couple got back into the car with their baby in their arms.

  Kulani got the car seat that he had bought out of the trunk. All four of them worked on placing the baby in it. Kulani drove away wondering if they could get arrested for something like this. It just felt so wrong. He could see that his daughter and grandchild were healthy but still this wasn't how things were done.

  “What are you going to name the baby,” Emily asked. She wasn't worried about anything. She just wanted to be able to hold the baby.

  “I don't know. What would you suggest, Rokai?” Amber figured that the baby would need a name recognized by his people. An earth name wouldn't fit.

  “I think he should be named like his mother, after a stone.”


  Kulani nodded. “That would be a nice tradition.”

  “We could look up some names on the net. But I'm thinking Jasper or Garnet are the most manly.” Emily told them.

  “I like both of them. Which do you prefer?” Amber looked at her husband. He had moved heaven and earth to give her what she wanted. He should decide.

  Rokai thought about it for a moment. “I like Garnet.”

  “Me too. If we ever have another son we can name him Jasper.” Amber said.

  “No. No more children. That scared me. You were in too much pain. No one can ask that from someone else. We have one child. That's enough. He can take over the chocolate making when we have grown too old.”

  “Oh,” Amber gave a disappointed sigh. “I would have liked to have a daughter, too. That way I could have dressed her up in cute little dresses.”

  “Are you serious?” Rokai asked her. “Have you already forgotten the terrible pain that you were in?” He certainly hadn't.

  Amber thought before she answered. “Yes. I'm fine now. It was really over quickly.”

  “Women are crazy,” Rokai sighed.

  Kulani nodded along as he parked the car in the garage.

  Kulani and Emily stood outside of the spacecraft. Emily was holding Garnet, kissing his forehead often.

  “Don't cry, Emily.” Kulani also had tears in his eyes.

  “I hate goodbyes. It wouldn't be so bad if I could call them,” Emily told him.

  “I know,” he agreed.

  “We will be back in six months, mom. I'll bring him along. He'll be sitting up by then.” Amber reached for her baby.

  Both of her parents hugged him and kissed him several more times before they let him go.

  Kulani hugged Rokai for a second. “You be good to them.”

  “I will be.” Rokai took his son in his arms and brought him into the ship so Amber could say goodbye.

  Emily wrapped her arms around her daughter. She cried into her shoulder. “Six months is a long time, baby.”

  “I know, mom, but now you know that I am safe. The Red Barbarian is taking good care of me.”

  Both of her parents laughed for a moment, but this moment was too difficult to endure. A light joke couldn't take the pain away of watching a child leave them.

  Kulani hugged his little angel, too. “I love you. Take care of yourself and of my grandson. Eat right, get plenty of rest and don't forget us. Aloha, baby.”

  “Aloha, mom and dad.” Amber turned, knowing that Rokai would be there to take her into his arms.

  She was right. He supported her and brought her into the spacecraft. The doors closed and Amber appeared at the window. She waved goodbye to her parents.

  A second later they were gone, too small to see. Then the earth disappeared.

  Amber turned away from the window and went to her husband's lap. She cried there, knowing that his heartbeat would calm her down.

  “What does the word Aloha mean? The computer wasn't certain. It seemed to mean more than goodbye.”

  “It does mean more. It means may friendship and love be between us. My father is worried that I will forget them. How could I?”

  “He is a father. I know that they like to worry. I got up five times in the night to make sure Garnet was covered up. And just to make sure that he was still breathing,” Rokai admitted.

  “I do that constantly, too.”

  “We're parents now.”

  Chapter 10 Relocating

  Earth, Hilo, Hawaii

  Emily stood in the living room. Her eyes were on the TV. She wasn't blinking. “Kulani,” she cried out. She needed him to look at the TV and say that he saw the same thing that she thought she saw.

  “What's wrong?” he asked running into the room.

  “Look.” She pointed at the TV.

  “We have lost contact with our correspondent in Los Angeles. But before the connection was lost he told us he saw huge spaceships were dropping large objects into the ocean. Here we have the footage that we received before we lost contact. Let's look at this once.”

  The footage showed five spaceships holding up what looked like a crater and then it falling and them the screen went blank.

  “This just in. In Tokyo they were reporting the same occurrence.”

  Emily and Kulani watched TV all night. All around the world aliens were attacking the Earth. Nothing anyone did could stop them. At first they were causing tsunamis and then they were killing people from the air.

  ________

  Planet Lokiun

  Rokai woke up and looked at Emil, who had woken him. “Yes?”

  “Come quickly, master. I have important news.”

  Rokai stood and replaced the covers over his wife and son.

  Emil gave him his clothes and started to walk out of the house. “The Bougais are attaching the planet Earth. They are destroying it, killing everyone. King Aideyoung is sending fleets to rescue survivors but they won't be able to save everyone. They are only going to the big cities. Amber's parents won't be saved.”

  “I'll get them. Don't tell her where I am. Think of a lie. I don't want her to lose the baby.” Rokai ran for the spacecraft and immediately took off.

  Two years had past since Rokai had claimed Amber. Garnet was almost two and Amber was expecting their second child soon. The doctor figured that the baby would be born within the week.

  Earth Hilo, Hawaii

  Kulani and Emily stood outside of their house watching the bombs dropping. They had heard about what was going on on the mainland, but now the fight had moved in right in front of their house. They clung to each other, holding a picture of Amber, Rokai and one-year-old Garnet in their arms between them.

  Both of them watched a large bomb was being dropped into the ocean. It exploded in the water, pushing water towards the shore. A tsunami was coming there way.

  Emily closed her eyes and buried her head in Kulani's chest. “Thank you for being my husband and loving me all of these years. I never regretted marrying you.”

  Rokai landed in his in-law's front yard and called out for them. He found them and several others in the backyard. “We have to hurry. Come now.”

  “Rokai? Is Amber safe?” Kulani couldn't believe his eyes. This was the worst moment to visit

  “She's at home. Let me take you to her. Get on board now, everyone.”

  Some of the people were afraid to go with him, but Kulani and Emily followed him. Taking their example, several others also followed them into the spacecraft.

  Rokai landed further inland and got more people to come on board.

  He got eighty people to come with him. He darted between the ships and few off to the safety of outer space.

  When the people were able to understand what was happening they started to demand answers.

  “Kulani, I need my whole body to operate the ship. Calm them down, tell them they are safe now.”

  “I think we just got kidnapped by an alien. I want out of here,” one woman called out.

  Others started to agree with her but Kulani stepped forward. “This young man left his safe home, his wife and his child to help us. We should be thanking him and not demanding this of him. He is bringing us to safety. We need to give him room so he can do that.”

  “But he is one of the aliens,” someone called out.

  “There are many kinds of aliens. He is one of the good ones. I would know. He is my son-in-law. The father of my grandchild.”

  “Grandchildren,” Rokai corrected. “Amber is due any day.”

  Emily's hands moved to her heart. “Are you taking us to Amber?”

  “Yes, she will need to see you to believe that you survived.”

  His Majesty, King Aideyoung and Queen Melissa's Ship

  Several hours later their craft docked onto the King's ship. Thousands of humans were everywhere. People were trying to direct them which way to go. Rokai took hold of Kulani and Emily, taking one in each of his hands. He dragged them over to the doctor, who was giving pe
ople their translators.

  “Could you do my in-laws next? I need to get back to Amber.” Rokai slipped him a large box of chocolates.

  “Sure, Rokai,” the doctor eagerly took the bribe. He quickly gave them their translators.

  “Can you take my voice translator out, too? I hate those things.”

  Emily and Kulani were shocked to see what Rokai had had to have in his throat whenever they visited, which they did often.

  Rokai pulled them along again. He stopped at the King's throne room. Again he slipped a box of chocolates into the eager hands of a waiting man. The man nodded and motioned that they follow him.

  “Our son-in-law is a very important man.”

  “I just became the universe's only milk chocolate manufacturer. It seems to be more popular than dark chocolate.”

  “I like it better, too.” Emily smiled at Kulani, in a mischievous way. She was excited to be able to see her daughter and grandson. They had been wondering what things were like for Amber. Soon they would have another grandchild. The relief of having lived through all of that after she had seen death right in front of her was making her giddy.

  “I will of course help you in any way I can. I'm a good worker Rokai. You won't be sorry.”

  Rokai could hear that his father-in-law was very thankful. “You will be my right hand man. We have many workers. You will not have to do any hard work.”

  They stepped to the head of the line. The King and Queen smiled at him. “Rokai, I heard that you saved eighty people. You are a hero.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty. I would like to present Amber's mother and father, Emily and Kulani. They will be living with us.”

  “I am very pleased to meet both of you. You must be very proud of Rokai.”

  Queen Melissa smiled at them. “Tell them to give Amber my best wishes.”

  Rokai bowed down low as the King repeated his wife's words. “It will be an honor to give her the queen's greetings.” He pulled his in-laws away.