by Desiree Hunt
It’s a good twenty minutes before I step out. I am scrubbed from head to toe, and I go with the drip-dry, air method as I pad naked over to the sink. It’s lined with a variety of products that I have no clue about—except that they are all obviously for men.
Looking in the mirror, I pull the top of my hair back and twist it into a quick, thick braid and then give myself a look-over in the mirror.
My brows furrow, and my hands goes to the soft skin of my belly. Looking down at myself, I rub at the blue on my skin. When I’d gotten into the shower, it had looked more like a shadow. Now, it seems to glow with a light of its own.
“Oh holy fuck! That boy’s given me a space STD! I’ll kill him!” I rub furiously at my skin, but it just glows brighter. If I have to be honest, it’s actually really pretty, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting to take a Brillo pad to my skin to scrub the sick off!
I take a deep breath and close my eyes, determined to slow things down and think things through.
Inventory time. Any itching?
…Nope.
Okay, pain? Burning? Discharge?
…Nope, nope and nope.
I open my eyes and stare at myself in the mirror. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on how you look at it—I don’t know that much about STD’s and can’t think of any other symptoms to inventory myself about.
With my mouth twisted sideways and the corner of my lip caught in my teeth, I rubbed at my belly. That damn glow just gets brighter and brighter.
“Okay, time to leave it alone… and to get some help. No way I’m going home with some space STD doing weird shit to my vajayjay.”
It takes me another five minutes of searching to find Volex’s closet. I don’t want to wear my tiny little robe from yesterday. I still don’t have any panties, and I am tired of showing off my girl parts to the entire world of Voltar. After a fruitless search, I put on his shirt from yesterday and wrap what looks like a belt around my waist to turn it into a short dress.
Checking myself out in the mirror, I actually look really cute! But, I want more coverage.
Grabbing my dress from the night before, I think about ripping the bottom half off and securing it with the belt to make a long skirt. But, holding it up in front of the mirror, I quickly nix that idea, deciding I would come off looking more like a bag lady than a woman who just slept with royalty.
“STD packing royalty,” I grumble. “They better have a cure.”
Finally, I find what looks to be a pair of long, tan shorts and pull them on. On me, they look like capris pants.
“Cute…” I say, admiring the look as I turn this way and that.
With that settled, I am out the door a half-minute later, but it takes me about an hour of wandering around to find the hospital. To my amazement, the architecture and grounds look even more beautiful in the early morning sunlight than they had at any other time I’ve seen them. The beauty of this world is breathtaking, and I feel a pang of regret that I’ll have to leave it.
But why do you have to leave it?
It’s a voice of challenge that I’d prefer to ignore, but the other half of my brain won’t let me.
…Because you’re from Earth. You don’t belong here.
I bite my lip again, aware that the other half my brain isn’t offering up much of a reasoned argument as to why I have to go. Nothing feels sure anymore. At home, at least, I have a place in the world. I’m part of a social order.
Here, I’m just the royal brat’s girl… I’m nobody.
That thought doesn’t sit well at all.
Rounding the corner into an open expanse sided with a high-walled front and large, clear doors, I recognize the hospital.
Putting a hand to my belly, I sigh a breath of relief.
Pushing through the doors, the receptionist smiles bright with recognition even though I am pretty sure I’ve never seen her before. It’s a different receptionist than last night.
“My lady!” she exclaims, giving me a happy nod.
“Hi!” I say, trying to match her enthusiasm, but I just sound awkward to my own ears. She doesn’t seem to notice, though, as her bright smile and happy eyes never falter with a lessoning joy. “Would it be okay if I saw Ivar?”
“Oh yes, my lady!”
A girl could get used to this!
I might be a nobody here, but I feel like a damn important nobody. The feeling of loving acceptance by Volex’s people has me smiling despite myself. The polite nods and gentle smiles on my way to the hospital weren’t lost on me. I hadn’t been ready to trust them yet, but this sweet girl drives home that my life here could be one that is full of smiles—those of my own and those of others—and it fills me with a warmth that I can only describe as happiness.
Chattering about how Ivar’s treatment is going, the girl leads me through a series of turns until we come to his room. There, she respectfully falls quiet, pushes open the door to his room for me, and then leaves as I step through.
Rekaia is there, as beautiful as ever, and she turns and looks at me through half-lidded eyes wearing a Mona Lisa smile. My own gaze drops to check her hands, looking for the glint of a blade, but to my surprise Rekaia takes the receptionist’s cue and walks out without so much as a word.
I turn to watch her go. I know I should feel bad for her—I did take her man, after all—but I just can’t muster it. I don’t trust her.
Turning my attention back to Ivar, I smile and am taken off guard to find my eyes filling with tears. “You’re doing better,” at least that’s what the girl had said. He’s still covered in mud up to his ears, but the mud’s not moving, the tubes are gone, and he’s no longer the color of old, grey chalk.
When he smiles at me, a tear escapes to fall down my cheek, and I quickly swipe it away.
“Come here,” he says, lifting his hand out of the primordial ooze in which he lies. His voice sounds good. It sounds strong.
Stifling my qualms, I step up to his “bed” and slip my fingers into his.
“They told me that you chased down the poisoner. He probably would have gotten away if not for you. You saved my life.”
My brow furrows, not understanding the connection.
“You caught the poisoner, and Mother interrogated him. Knowing what to treat for enabled the doctors to take care of me. I wouldn’t have made it otherwise. They’ve told me so.”
“The guards caught him,” I say, objecting to getting credit for something I didn’t do. I ran off to save myself. I literally ran for home.
“No,” Ivar says, shaking his head in the minutest way from side to side. “He was just some guy dressed in a waiter’s uniform, blending in with fifty other waiters dressed just like him. It was you, Aisha. Your bravery saved me. All my children and all my children’s children will exist because of you.”
My breath leaves me. Generations will exist because of me, an entire ruling lineage.
Oh holy fuck…
“Marry Volex or don’t marry Volex,” Ivar says. “You will always have a place of honor here on Voltar, no matter what.”
Marry him? He hasn’t even asked! I don’t even know him!
But even as I think it, I know it’s a lie. I do know him. He’s my other half. Okay… he’s my other half who gave me crotch rot, but still, he’s my other half.
I glance nervously back at the door, squeeze my eyes tight, and then blurt my confession to Ivar.
“I think Volex gave me something,” I lament barely above a whisper with my imploring gaze fixed on Ivar.
“A gift?”
“No, no, I mean, not that kind of something.” I tilt my head sideways, wishing fervently that the cupids had zapped me past some green planet that gave me special powers that enabled me to project my thoughts into his head. But, I’m not so lucky.
“I don’t understand.”
Swallowing hard and looking back at the door again, I lift my shirt and show Ivar my belly. The blue glow is now twice as strong as it was even only an hour ago.
Ivar gasps.
“Oh God! I knew it! I’m dying, aren’t I? He’s gone and killed me with his sex.”
“Aisha, no! You’re with child! This is wonderful!” In his excitement Ivar starts to sit up, but a wince of pain shows on his face and he stays put instead.
“Nooo,” I laugh. “This is some sort of space junk he’s given me from whoring around with every woman he’s ever seen. I just need a shot of penicillin or whatever so that it can get cleared up and I can get myself on my way back home.” I’m grinning like a fool who’s in denial after being told that the world’s going to end in twenty minutes. I mean, if what Ivar is saying is true, my world has ended. They’ll never let me go if I’ve got a baby in my belly. I’ll be locked into staying here for forever.
At some point—I’m not sure when—I stopped smiling and started hyperventilating instead.
“Aisha… Aisha! Sit, please sit!” Ivar tries to sit up again but I push him back down with a firm hand on his shoulder before stepping away from his bed. I wave my hands at him as a way of saying that I’ll be fine as I take a deep breath and hold it.
“Aisha,” Ivar says, keeping his voice calm and reassuring, “the blue glow of your belly is the glow of a royal growing inside of you.”
I shake my head as I wave my hands harder, doing my best to dismiss everything he’s saying, but my body knows the truth. Tears have now overflowed my eyes to run in rivulets down my face.
I can’t be pregnant. Oh God, please, no!
I crumple onto the floor, openly weeping, but the sound and then the sight of Ivar attempting to get out of bed has me stifling my grief with an iron grip.
“Ivar,” I fuss, “lie back down right now.” I say these words as I use the wall to push myself back up to my feet.
Stepping back over to the bed, I hold my hair back as I bend over and kiss Ivar’s forehead. “You rest. I am fine.” I say it all matter-o-fact. “I’m going to go. I haven’t had breakfast, and I have to talk to Volex… you know, work some stuff out.”
Ivar nods his head, his concern etched onto his face, but I don’t give him the chance to say anything more. We squeeze the fingers of each other’s hands in goodbye, and then just like that, I’m gone.
You can do this. Just breathe. It’s gonna be okay. I have no intentions of being tied to a life with Volex just because I’ve got a bun in the oven. No way, no how. I’ve gotta get my shit—okay, wait…I’ve got nothing. I’ve just gotta go! I’ve gotta find Brokk, and I’ve got to go.
My legs are moving with long purposeful strides by the time I reach the main corridor, and I’ve left the hospital in my dust before I realize that someone—with much, much shorter legs—is keeping pace right beside me.
I hit the breaks. “Rekaia…” It’s a hello and a what-the-hell-are-you-doing all in one.
“My apologies,” she says, her voice as smooth as liquid fire and her words just as dangerous. “I could not help but to overhear about your situation.”
I take a step closer, towering over her. She does not step back. “Couldn’t help?”
She shrugs, unapologetically, regardless of her initial greeting. “It is to your advantage in this case because I think we want the same thing.”
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?”
“To get you home.”
“This isn’t right,” I say as I stand before a portal looking into my very own apartment back on Earth. Home.
“This isn’t your place?” Rekaia asks from where she’s standing at the voyage chamber controls.
“It is, but—” I turn to face her with my hands crossed low over my tummy. “I haven’t talked to Volex yet. I haven’t said goodbye. I can’t just leave.” I’d been so certain of what I wanted to do—of what I needed to do—when Rekaia had offered this way home earlier. She’d been up all night searching through her family’s old records until she’d found the reference she was looking for. Her family were merchants with vast trade routes. “How can I take a father’s child from him?”
I can’t do it… Yet, I don’t want to be trapped in a world without choices.
Rekaia shrugs like it’s nothing to her either way. “Well, I’ll still have the location coordinates if you change your mind later.” Her hands move as if to close the portal down, but then she stops after she lifts her eyes. “Hey, what is that?” she asks, looking past me and into the portal.
I turn and look. “Mr. Cuddles!” The grey and white, long haired cat is up on his hind legs scratching wildly at my window with his front paws. It must have fallen closed after he scrambled out and the cupids abducted me.
Without even thinking about it, I step through the portal to get to him. I’m halfway across the room to the window before I realize what I’ve done.
Spinning around, my sight lands on the far wall. No portal. Moving like a blind person with their hands stretched out before them, waving back and forth, I walk forward trying to stumble onto where the portal might be. I know it’s gone, but I can’t accept it. But, no matter how hard I fling my arms, nothing changes.
I’m on Earth, and it’s early evening on the day after I was blipped away by the cherub. I’ve missed my test. Then I missed work without calling in, which means I’m fired. I’ve lost everything.
Mr. Cuddles’ scratching hasn’t ceased or even slowed down. Operating on automatic, I move to the window and lift it, and he squeezes in before I’ve even got the rim lifted to half his height.
Looking up at me with his huge yellow-green eyes, his mouth moves to meow. “Where the fuck have you been?”
I scream and fall back against my desk, but I’ve seen so much that I recover fast. I finger the spot where the cupid’s arrow hit me on the back of my head with his translator device.
Talking cat? Why the hell not?
“Mr. Cuddles! Where’d you learn language like that!” I chastise.
“Whoa, you understand me?”
“Yeah… And we’ve got some stuff to talk about.” Hey, I have to talk to someone. Who in the world—this world—would believe a talking cat.
Chapter 22
Running off-path to take the shortest route to the Celestial Mates headquarters, I vault over a tall hedge of purple, weeping grovers. My heart is racing, and my world is ending.
I can still hear Ivar’s words in my head. Aisha is pregnant…
In that instance, everything I thought I knew about my life changed. I went from being a man who could live with the selfishness of a child to a man who would do or give anything to live in the service of the woman I love and the children we would have.
Bursting through the Celestial Mates doors, I scream out as I stand in the middle of their lobby. “Aisha’s gone!”
Nothing happens. The world does not change shape and re-invent itself for the sake of my most precious needs. The open space is empty except for a bored looking Voltarian at the receptionist desk. There’s not a cupid in sight.
“You!” I say, pointing at the unimpressed girl, “get me Sirius now!”
She smacks her gum as she presses a button on her desk. Speaking slowly with no sense of urgency and with long pauses, she calls, “Sirius… …Sirius… …Sirius.”
Watching her, my head throbs ready to explode. My vision is turning dark at the edges, and my hearts have migrated to inside my brain. It takes all of my willpower not to scream and put hands on her, and for the first time in my life, I have to work not to kill someone.
My body moves as if to take a step toward her and my hands stiffen into claws, but she is saved when the air between us shimmers, then there is a pop and slight displacement of air.
Sirius hovers before me, just higher than eye level, out of reach.
“She’s gone Sirius. Help me get her back.”
The fat, little, old-baby bastard does a mid-air twirl and shifts position to a few feet over. There’s no way I’d be able to get my hands on him in an attempt to force him to my will, and even if I did, I’m pretty sure he’d just blip away so
mewhere else. “First you want her, then you don’t, and now you want her again!” he quips before his face tightens with accusation. “I heard about you going over my head to my superior, trying to send her home.”
“I was hasty—too hasty—and wrong.” I take a deep breath, forcing myself to calm. “You were right all along. You found my mate, and you brought us together. When we talked about you finding my soulmate, I didn’t understand what that would mean or how much that would change things. I thought it was a joke, something I could shrug off. I was wrong, and you were right, Sirius. But, now she’s gone. She went back to Earth. Please, Sirius, reunite us—bring her back or send me there. She’s pregnant, Sirius. Don’t let her face that alone. Let me have the chance to be with her.”
“Pregnant!” Sirius claps his hands, does a backflip, and then swoops in to pump my hand in congratulations. “Father-to-be!”
“So you’ll help me get her back?” The world is bright again and for the first time in an hour, a thousand pound weight lifts from my chest.
“Oh, no,” the fat little bald thing says with such a happy, positive vibe that it takes my brain a moment to connect with the sentiment of his words.
That darkness that’s been at the edges of my vision creeps in a little, and my hand tightens around his. But, as easy as a greased ball too big for my hand, the little guy’s hand slips from my grasp and he floats out of reach again.
“What do you mean, ‘No’?” I ask, keeping my voice at an even pitch though I lean into the question.
“We’ve united you,” Sirius says cheerily. “Our job is complete.”
I say nothing, but I’m still leaning in, waiting for an answer that actually gives an answer. The little guy’s face twists sideways in consternation at my bewilderment.
“We make introductions,” Sirius says. “The rest is up to you.”
“Then make introductions again,” I say, leaning in so much that I’m at risk of falling over. I want to leap at him and wrap my hands around his neck, but I know I’d miss and my chance to convince him to help would be over.