by Maia Starr
There was mumbling amongst the leaders as they looked at each other and confusion. Rizim turned to me and looked at me strangely. He crossed his arms over his chest; I could tell that he was amused and trying not to laugh.
“Commander. This is news to us. Do you wish to share the details of these crimes you allegedly you committed?” he said.
“Yes, Leader. I have mated with a human female, and she now carries my child. That is my crime. My crime is that I have fallen in love with the human, and she has fallen in love with me,” I said.
Rizim let out a soft laugh and quickly put his hand over his mouth. He turned away from the leaders. I gave him an annoyed look.
“Commander Nykon! You know the rules! Why did you say commit such a crime? This is unbelievable. You should be banished,” Leader Hirun said.
“I cannot explain my actions. The heart is a strange thing. I know the punishment. That is why I do not accept the honor you wish to give me. I hope that in exchange for my success in the war game battle that I shall be granted this one request. I wish to make the human female my wife and our child legitimate,” I said with a bow, trying to show respect.
Rizim turned back around and stared at attention to the leaders. I stood at attention as well. They were quiet. Then they stood up and huddled together, talking amongst each other.
“A human? You dirty dog,” Rizim whispered to me.
“Shut your trap,” I whispered back.
“After the warnings that you gave me, you did not follow your own,” he said.
“Quiet,” I whispered to him.
The leaders turned back around and faced us.
“Commander Nykon, in light of the fact that you played such a crucial role in the success of the war games plans, we will grant you this one request. But if another law is broken, you shall face the consequences. This is your one free pass. I hope you know what you are doing. But we will speak to the human female and make sure this is what she wants as well. We take such things seriously. It is up to her whether she will take you as a husband,” he said.
“I understand. Thank you. I humbly accept your offering,” I said with another battle.
“You are dismissed, both of you,” they said.
Rizim and I both walked out of the chambers. We were quiet as we walked side by side until we were a distance from the building.
“Are you going to tell me?” he said.
“There is nothing more to tell then what you heard in there,” I said.
“You are not going to tell me her name?” he stopped walking and looked at me.
“No,” I said as I continued to walk. He jogged catching up with me.
“It's the human from the treatment center isn't it? The one that was working on your injury.”
I smiled at him but said nothing.
“I knew it! Well, congratulations, you criminal. Or should I call you a hero? Which one do you prefer?” he asked.
“You can simply call me Commander, as always,” I said.
“Well let's get a drink to celebrate, Commander,” he said.
“Now that, I can do,” I said.
We laughed and made our way to the tavern. We deserve a good night of getting drunk and blabbing to anyone that would hear about our heroic deeds.
Chapter 20
Amber Lynne
I was nervous. Today Nykon had been summoned to the leaders. We knew it was in response to the games and the battle. But he was going to make it about something else. He was going to tell them that I was pregnant. I begged him to let me go with him, but he would not have it. He said he didn't want to subject me to any sort of verbal abuse by the leaders. They would be pissed off, of course. They would yell at me. He said there was no point. So he went alone.
I waited in my own living quarters. An hour had gone by since he’d left, and I was nervous as hell. I could not stop thinking about everything that could go wrong. We could be banished. He could be thrown into prison; so could I. I knew that I had to give up my seat on the voyage to Earth in about five months, but I willingly would now. It wasn't a punishment. I wanted to stay on Anvin. I wanted to be with Nykon. I wanted to have a family with him. Was that so hard to make happen?
It was already a complex situation because he had an ex-wife and a son, but it was made even more complicated because I was a human, and he was an alien. Our relationship was against the law in the Grantsion village. I knew this when I started messing around with the commander, but I could not stop myself. I guess being with him was worth all the punishment in the world.
But I never thought it through. I never realized that I would be giving up seeing Earth again, something that I did want. But now that I was pregnant, it could never happen. I was going to have an alien child, and there would be no place for that child on Earth. But here, it would be accepted and treated like a normal child. I would gladly sacrifice seeing Earth again for the happiness of my child. So it was something I was willing to do, no matter what.
However, none of it would matter if this meeting did not go well. How could I eat now? I wouldn't know until the commander showed up at my door. But if another hour went by, how could I know if he had been banished or not? I was getting very anxious.
Would soldiers show up at my door and arrest me? I did not know how this worked.
Another hour went by; I knew that something was wrong.
“Where is he? He should be back by now,” I said to myself.
Suddenly I heard a thump against my front door. It was odd. It was not exactly a knock. It was more like someone was fumbling against the door.
I walked to the door and opened it. Nykon was standing there. He had a silly grin on his face. I could tell that he was drunk.
“Nykon. What are you doing? Are you drunk?” I said.
“Just a little,” he smiled as he slowly walked into my home. I closed the door behind him.
“I have been waiting for you, worried sick. I did not know what happened. I thought maybe you were arrested and thrown in jail. Or maybe banished to the outlands. Instead, you were getting drunk?” I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the floor.
“No, not getting drunk. I was celebrating. There is a difference,” he said as he walked over to me he put his hands on my shoulders and rubbed them up and down. “I have great news,” he said.
“I hope so, considering you were celebrating,” I said.
“The leaders have spoken. They are going to grant my request to marry you,” he said with a big smile.
“Seriously! You are not lying to me?” I said.
“No, of course not. It is the truth,” he said.
“Oh! That is wonderful! I am so happy. I am so relieved. This is exactly what I hoped for. We can be married, and we can be a family. We are not in trouble?” I asked.
“Yes, I got into trouble. I was going to be punished. But I offered to decline the honors they were going to give me for being such a critical part of the victory that we had,” he said.
“What honors?” I asked.
“They were going to promote me, probably to captain. There was to be a big celebration to honor me and bestow awards on me; I said I wanted none of it if I could have the marriage to a human female, a criminal offense waived. They were not happy about it, but they officially agreed to it,” he said.
“Oh, Nykon. That is awful. You deserve those honors. You worked hard for it. You almost died for it. Maybe there is another way,” I said.
“Don't worry your pretty head about it, Amber. I will have other opportunities for promotion, and I am sure many other missions to get honors from. I am a skilled soldier; that is what I do. We are going to take this offer from the leaders, and that is that. Let us be married so that we can never be in trouble for our love for each other ever again,” he said.
“Love?” I said.
“Yes, love. I love you, Amber, the human female,” he said.
“I have never heard you say that. I like it. I love you too, Nykon, the alien,” I sai
d.
“Good. It is settled. We love one another. We will marry and have a family,” he said. “But there is one more thing,” he said.
“What?” I asked.
“They want to speak with you. The leaders,” he said.
“Me? Why? I don't understand. Why would they want to do that?” I asked.
“Because they want to make sure that you want this as well. They want to make sure that I am not forcing you to do this. Your rights are important to them. It is a very delicate situation,” he said.
“I understand. They can ask me as much as they want, and my answer will be the same. I want Nykon as my husband, and it is my choice,” I said.
“That is good. Are you practicing?” he teased me.
“Maybe I am,” I said.
“Now, what should we do? I wanted to make dinner. How do you feel about that?” I asked.
“It sounds perfect. Just like the first time we spent time together alone. I am going to take a shower, and I will join you in the kitchen,” he said.
“Yes, you will. I am going to put you to work. But I will get things started.” I placed a kiss on his cheek. He spanked me on the ass as he walked away. This was a joyous occasion. We were to celebrate. I went through the kitchen and pulled out lots of food to make. I wanted to make a feast worthy of this news. I was so incredibly happy. Everything turned out well. I was so close to being married to Nykon, and there was nothing that I wanted more.
I began to make dinner, and as I started to chop and cook, I found myself singing. I had not sung while cooking since I lived on Earth. It was a heavy moment for me. I was happy again. Everything was going to be fine.
Chapter 21
Commander Nykon Reev
“I have something that we need to discuss,” I said walking into my former home.
“What is it?” Keirin said.
“I am going to be married,” I said.
“What? It can't be. It can't be with the human,” she said in shock.
“Yes, it is true. I thought you should hear it from me before you hear it from others. The leaders have already granted it. Where to be married this week,” I said to her.
She was silent. I could tell the emotions running through her were complex.
“And your son?” she asked.
“Nothing will be different. He is my son. I love him. I will still spend as much time, if not more, with him as I do now. The only difference is he will have a new female in his life, a mother figure of sorts,” I said.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Because I love her, that is why. She makes me happy, and I make her happy,” I said.
“You risked being punished for her. I don't understand it,” she said.
“Just as I do not understand you cheating on me with another,” I said to her.
She was silent again. She could not respond to that. She was the one that I understand her choices.
“You should know that I am not doing this out of spite. I am not doing this to hurt you. This has nothing to do with you. I am only telling you because we share a child together. I thought you should know. I have moved on, just as you have. Let us be civil to each other and behave in a friendly manner for the sake of our son. We owe him that much,” I said.
“It is just a shock to me, that is all.”
“I understand. You should also know that she is pregnant. I am to have another child,” I said.
“What?” she said in shock.
“Yes, it is true. Again, I wanted you to know before someone else told you. I am going to have a family with this human. She will be my wife. Our son will be part of this family. Because of this, you will also be a part of it, whether you like it or not. I hope that you can make this easy for all of us. Do not confront her like you did last time,” I said.
“You know about that?” she asked.
“Yes, of course, I do. She told me. You frightened her. But you do not frighten me. Your threats mean nothing. I hope that you will learn to let go. You are with another now; just be happy,” I said to her.
“Yes, that is true. But Nykon, I didn't threaten her out of jealousy. I want you to know that. I did want you to find someone else; I assumed it would be a Zenkian female. But the reason I threatened her was because I thought you would get into trouble seeing a human; it is the law. I did not want to see our son suffer when his father was taken away from him. That is the only reason I said something to her,” she said.
“I understand. When you put it that way, I understand why you spoke up. But you do not have to be worried about that now. I will not be punished. It is all set. Everything will be fine. Now I want you to try to be friendly, or at least civil,” I said.
“I will try,” she said.
I hugged her. We had been through a lot together. She was my first love. If she had not broken my heart, perhaps she would still be my love, but that is not the way things turned out. Things turned out very differently. We were two different people now. There was a lot that had changed, and we were both happy. I was glad. Things weren't the way I had expected them to turn out, but after I met Amber, things drastically changed.
“I must go now. I will pick up our son tomorrow morning as scheduled,” I said.
“Do I tell him?” she asked.
“No, I will do that. I will introduce him to her. We have it all planned out. You don't need to do anything but have him ready in the morning. This is going to work. You have nothing to worry about,” I said.
I began to walk out.
“Nykon,” she said.
“Yes?” I asked stopping at the door.
“Congratulations. I am happy for you,” she said.
“Thank you, Keirin,” I said.
Then I walked out and closed the door behind me. I had just closed a chapter of my life. Now I could start the new chapter with the human female Amber. I was excited to see what was ahead of us. It was going to be a wild ride.
Chapter 22
Amber Lynne
“I am not going to pretend that keeping that secret from me did not hurt my feelings,” Gina said to me.
“I know. I am sorry. I wanted to tell you every day, but I could not. What we did was a crime,” I said to her.
“I guess I can understand that,” she said.
“Well, I guess this is it,” she said.
“I will miss you so much,” I said to her.
“I will miss you too. But I won't exactly miss this place,” she said looking around.
I laughed. Then we hugged. I held onto her tightly. I was going to miss having a best friend. Gina was everything to me, and she was the one that helped me get through everything, whether she knew it or not.
“Stay safe on Earth,” I said to her.
“I will. You stay safe on Anvin. Stay far away from the Waysaw city. You have spent more time there than is ever needed. And take care of this little one,” she said, putting her hand on my belly. I was very round at five months pregnant.
“I will. You can count on it,” I said.
She gave me one last hug and then walked onto the ramp of the ship. It was time. She was on the next voyage back to Earth. It was the same ship that I was supposed to be on, but my circumstances had changed. Now I was the wife of Commander Nykon, and we were on our way to having a child together. I watched her disappear up the ramp. Then I walked away from the port landing base area. I had a busy day ahead of me, and I was glad for it because I was very sad that Gina was leaving, but very happy that she was going home just as she wanted.
“Amber! Let's play!” Neton said as he grabbed my hand.
“Yes! Let's play,” I said as I grabbed his hand.
“Have fun with Amber,” Keirin said as she handed Neton to me. I smiled at her. It took some time, but she had finally accepted me as Nykon's wife. After a while, she was pleased that she had another babysitter. When she was busy, she would often leave Neton with me, and I was starting to think of myself as his stepmother. But I knew
it would be sometime before he would see me in that way. I hope to the arrival of his brother or sister would help with it.
“What do you want to do today?” I asked.
“Can we visit father?” he asked.
“Of course we can. Just a short visit because he's very busy with work, but after we visit him, we can go to the market and pick out what to cook for our dinner tonight with your father; how does that sound?” I asked him.