by T. J. Quinn
Luciana was crouching behind a chair, clearly hiding from him.
“Luciana, what on Earth are you doing here? Sandra must be about to lose her mind looking for you,” he said, crouching in front of her.
Her blue eyes were filled with tears when she looked at him. “I just wanted to be with you, and I left her a note,” she mumbled, as the first tear rolled down her cheek.
“A note? You can write?” he asked, probably too surprised, judging for her protest.
“Of course, I can write, and read and do a lot of other things,” she assured him.
He sighed. “Yes, like sneaking inside other people’s pods,” he scolded her, in a soft tone.
She cried harder. “I just didn’t want you to leave,” she sobbed.
“Why? You barely know me,” he asked, intrigued by the girl’s behavior.
She didn’t answer right away, she simply threw herself into his arms. “Please, don’t take me back, please, I promise I will be good. I just want to be with you,” she begged, hiding her face in the crook of his neck, her little arms wrapped around his muscular neck.
“Your mother won’t like this, sweetheart,” he warned her, as gently as possible.
“Yes, she will. I’ll convince her she could come join us if she wants to,” she suggested, holding him tighter.
“We’ll have to discuss this with her when we get to the cabin,” he said, as he carried her to the front of the pod.
“Thank you, that’s all I want,” she assured him, wiping the tears from her face.
He snorted but didn’t say anything as he sat her down next to him, wishing he could contact the ranch immediately. But the pod communication system wasn’t able to link to their system. He would have to wait until he was at the cabin.
“You do realize your mother will be mad at you, don’t you?” he asked, her as he took over the pod controls.
She nodded. “I know, but I’m sure she will understand, once I explain it to her,” she replied, with a unrepentant smile.
He wished he was that convinced. He just hoped she wouldn’t think he had convinced the girl to come with him. “Let’s hope you’re right.”
She spent the rest of the journey asking questions about the pod and how to fly it, and for a moment he had the nasty feeling she would be flying one of those sooner than anyone would like.
He landed the pod a few yards away from the cabin, making sure he activated the camouflage button before he left it with Luciana right behind him. To his surprise, the little girl had brought her own backpack.
Sighing, he guided her to the cabin.
“Oh, I love to come here,” she said, smiling. “It’s a fabulous place, but mamma doesn’t bring me as much as I would like,” she added.
“Why not?” he asked, as he opened the door with the code Sandra had given him.
“She says it’s too risky. No idea why, though.”
They entered the cabin, and Jarcor was assaulted by a million memories from the days he had spent there with Sabrina. No matter where he looked, he could see images of them making love, cooking together, chatting or just staring at the fireplace, in each other’s arms. He couldn’t remember a happier period in his whole life.
His mind was so lost in his memories that when he looked towards the kitchen and saw Sabrina standing there, with her mouth opened, he didn’t realize she wasn’t a mirage.
“Luciana? What are you doing here?” her words finally broke the spell and he scowled.
So, she had been hiding there all the time.
“Mamma!” the little girl ran into her mother’s arms, thrilled to see her there. “I thought you were in New York,” she said, hugging her tight.
“Yes, Sabrina. You were supposed to be in New York,” he repeated, with a scornful grimace.
She threw him a lethal look before she turned to look at her daughter. “You haven’t answered my question, Luciana. What are you doing here with Jarcor?” she asked again, with a frown.
The little girl slid down from her mother’s arms and held her hands behind her back. “Jarcor needed to come here to work on some project, and I wanted to come with him,” she explained.
“Did you ask me for permission? Or did you ask Sandra?” Sabrina asked, deepening her frown.
“No. I knew you would say no and I just couldn’t let him walk away from me,” the girl tried to explain.
Sabrina looked at Jarcor, leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. “How could you bring her, just like that? You had no right,” she started scolding him, but he interrupted her.
“You’re assuming way too much here, darling. She hid inside the flying pod. When I realized she was in it, we were almost here,” he explained in a cold tone before he straightened up and walked to the door. “You seem to have a lot to discuss, I’ll go out for a walk.”
He left the cabin, and a thick silence filled the room for a few moments.
“Why did you do that?” Sabrina asked her daughter.
The little girl looked at her, struggling to find the words. “Mamma, I couldn’t let him leave me,” she repeated.
“What do you mean with that? You don’t even know him,” Sabrina protested.
“I know who he is, mamma.” The certainty on the little girl’s words stole her mother’s breath for a few seconds. “The first moment I saw him, I knew who he was. I have his eyes,” she added. “Besides, when I saw him in person, I could feel this special connection between us, like nothing I had ever felt before.”
Sabrina looked at her daughter, wishing she had the means to fully understand her. Her intelligence, especially the emotional one, was nothing like the one of a child. Sometimes, she had the feeling Luciana was the adult, and she was the child.
Now, she had discovered who her father was, and she wasn’t willing to let him walk out of her life. And she had no idea how to handle that situation. Lucas had no idea Luciana was his daughter, and she wasn’t sure how he would react to the news.
She let out a deep sigh. “Did you realize he’s not aware of it?” she asked her daughter.
“Yes, of course. I thought about telling him, but I decided you should be the one to do it,” she replied, with a naughty grin.
“That’s why you decided to come here with him?”
“No, since I thought you were in New York. I just didn’t want him to leave me. He might not come back,” she explained, her last words barely audible.
Sabrina kneeled in front of her daughter and pulled her into her arms. “I’ll tell him all about you,” she promised.
“Why didn’t you tell him when you found out I was coming?” Luciana asked, and Sabrina was able to detect a hint of pain in her words.
“I had no way to get in touch with him. We met right after he escaped the army, the first time, and we only had a few weeks together before the soldiers found him and took him back,” she explained. “He managed to escape again. Then when he left this planet and found Arcadia. But I only found out about this when I met Bretdon, and he told me the whole story.”
“Will you tell him now?” Luciana asked, unable to hide how anxious she was.
Sabrina sighed and nodded as she jumped to her feet. “Yes, I will. Right after we call your granny and tell her you’re here with Lucas and me,” she said, walking to the small studio where she had all the communication devices installed.
“Why do you call him Lucas?” Luciana asked, curious.
“It’s his first name. I always called him Lucas.”
“Is that the reason my name is Luciana?” the girl quickly deduced.
Sabrina chuckled. Her daughter would never cease to amaze her. “Yes, that’s the reason.”
Chapter Ten
She quickly contacted Sandra. Fortunately, the woman hadn’t started looking for Luciana, assuming she was wandering around the ranch as she usually did before breakfast.
“Hi, sweetheart, how are you? I didn’t expect to hear from you,” she greeted Sabrina.
&
nbsp; “Hi, Sandra. I left New York yesterday and decided to come and check on the cabin before I headed back to the ranch,” she lied a little more. “And this morning I received some unexpected visitors.”
“Oh, darling, that’s my fault. Jarcor needed a place with a landline so that he could work on his upgrades and I didn’t think you would mind, “ she explained.
“Of course, I don’t mind,” she said, not willing to worry the woman that had been like a mother to her. “But, he didn’t come alone. Luciana sneaked in his pod and came with him,” she informed the older woman.
“What? How could she do that?” Sandra was in shock.
Luciana stepped closer to the camera. “Hi, granny. I’m sorry I misbehaved. It wasn’t my intention to worry you,” she said, putting on her best angelical expression. Like every child in the world, Luciana was an expert manipulating the adults in her life.
“Why did you go with Jarcor?” Sandra asked, stunned.
“I like him very much, and I wanted to spend more time with him before he left the planet,” she defended herself.
Sandra looked at Sabrina, and she nodded. Her friend knew Luciana’s father was a cyborg. She had never told her the details of her relationship or his name, but she had to tell her Luciana was a special baby. After all, her pregnancy had lasted less than a usual one, and her baby developed at an incredible pace.
Now she knew Jarcor was the one.
Sandra sighed. “Well, blood is certainly thicker than water, my dear,” she said, with a smile.
“Yes, so it seems. She recognized him immediately,” she told her, with a deep sigh.
“Does he know?” Sandra asked.
“Not yet, I’ll tell him in a while.”
“He’s the reason behind your sudden trip to New York.” It wasn’t a question. Sandra was a very perceptive woman, and she knew Sabrina very well.
She nodded. “I wasn’t ready to see him again,” she confessed.
“Well, you’ll have to be ready now. Take your time and do things as best as you can.”
Sabrina nodded. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Good. Now that Luciana is with you, I’ll go back to the caves. Contact me there.”
“I will. Have a safe trip back home.”
“Goodbye, granny. I love you,” Luciana waved goodbye.
“Goodbye, my sweet angel. Be a good girl.”
They ended the video conference, and Sabrina turned to look at her daughter. “Now, I’ll get you something to eat, and I will go talk to Lucas. I want you to promise me you’ll stay here, in the house, while I talk to him,” she warned her.
“Why? I should be there when he finds out I’m his daughter,” Luciana protested.
“No, and that’s final. This won’t be an easy chat, and he will need time to assimilate the things I’ll tell him. Having you there will only make things harder for him, can you understand that baby?” she explained.
Luciana crossed her arms over her chest, clearly not pleased with the situation. “I wanted to be the one telling him,” she protested.
Sabrina sighed. “Sweetheart, that wouldn’t be fair for Lucas. Let me do this, alright? We’ll come back here as soon as possible,” she promised.
“Alright, just don’t be long.”
“We won’t.”
They went to the kitchen, and she quickly warmed up a couple of muffins and made a glass of chocolate milk, before she left the cabin to find Jarcor.
He wasn’t very far. She found him sitting on a rock, looking at the small stream that ran, not now from the cabin.
“Your daughter is quite special,” he said, with a scowl, without turning to look at her.
She took a seat in a rock next to his. “Yes, she is. But that was expected, considering who her father is,” she replied, looking straight at him.
Startled, he turned his face to look at her. “What do you mean?”
Sabrina made a considerable effort not to wring her hands, not willing to let him know just how nervous she was. As she had suspected, he affected her exactly the same way he had the first day they met and her heart was drumming so hard inside her chest, she was sure he could hear it. “I’m sure you’ve noticed she’s not like any other child you might have known,” she started.
“I’m afraid I never had contact with children so I wouldn’t know,” he interrupted her.
“Believe me, Luciana is very different. I guess because her father is different too,” she assured him.
Jarcor felt his heart skip a beat before it jumped into a frantic rhythm. “Why don’t you cut the chase and tell me whatever it is you want to tell me?” he asked, with a stern tone.
“You should have guessed it by now, Lucas, she has,” she protested, rubbing her eyes for a moment, trying to keep her self-control. “Luciana is your daughter.”
Yes, he should have known it by now. He should have recognized the girl’s blue eyes, he should have made his calculations, especially since a few of his friends had been able to have children with their women and breeding naturally for a cyborg was no longer considered impossible.
But he guessed he hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up, in case he was fooling himself. “Why didn’t you tell me?” the moment the words came out of his mouth, he knew they weren’t fair. She hadn’t had means to let him know anything. He had probably been on the run by the time she was giving birth to their child. “No, please, don’t answer that. I know why.”
He had a daughter. Luciana was his. The thoughts swirled in his mind at a sickening speed, and he had to struggle to pull himself together and not make a fool of himself in front of her.
She sighed. “I tried to find you, discreetly, using some of my father’s connections in the military world, but no one knew anything about you. Some even thought I was delusional, that you were dead,” she explained, remembering the hard times she had faced after he had left. “Did you know there’s a grave with your name on it?” she asked him, with a painful grimace.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, surprised.
“One of the people I contacted told me you were dead. He even gave me the address to the cemetery where you were buried,” she replied, remembering the searing pain she had experienced that day. It had taken her a few minutes to realize the date of death didn’t make sense. “According to your grave, you died over a year before we met.”
He shook his head. “I can’t believe they went that far to hide the fact they had turned me into a cyborg,” he muttered, his words oozing all the resentment he felt for the government.
“Yes, after that, I stopped asking. It was only when we met Bretdon that we knew the truth.”
He let out a deep sigh. “Why didn’t you wait for me?”
“I… I… had some business…”
“Don’t even try to lie to me. Cyborgs are able to detect a lie a mile away. Your whole body gives you away,” he warned her.
“I wasn’t ready to face you, to have this conversation,” she admitted, still not sure what to think about Lucas’ reaction to the news. If she could call that a reaction. Lucas’ expression never changed, and she had no idea how he felt about the fact they had a daughter together.
“That’s understandable, I guess,” he sighed. “Had you talked about me with Luciana?” he asked, curious.
“No, not really. Whenever she asked about her father, I would tell her you lived in a faraway country, and you didn’t know you had a child,” she replied, trying to sound as neutral as he was. “I told her we had broken up before I realized I was pregnant and that I hadn’t been able to inform you she was born.”
“And yet, you told me she knew I was her father?” he asked, amazed.
“I don’t even pretend to understand the way Luciana’s mind works, not to mention her instincts and the way she sees the world,” she replied. “She told me she had known the moment she saw you and that she had confirmed it the moment you arrived at the ranch. She came along with you because she wasn’t ready to lose you.�
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“I knew she was special, in fact, last night, I was able to hear her through the private channels cyborgs have. At the moment, I thought I was hallucinating, since I had no idea she was part cyborg, but now it all makes sense,” he explained, rubbing his face.
“Can she hear you as well?” she asked with a frown.
“No, I’m sure she can’t. I don’t think she has noticed she has been broadcasting to me,” he calmed her fears.
“Good,” she jumped to her feet, suddenly too restless to stay still. “I know that this probably wasn’t in your plans, and I fully understand you, but when it comes to my daughter’s feelings, I willing to do pretty much anything,” she told him, in a stern tone. “She’s very excited about you, and I guess she has idolized you. Bear with her. Don’t hurt her feelings, at least, while you’re here. When the time comes for you to go back to your own life, we’ll find the way to explain things to her,”
He got up and stood in front of her, with a deep frown. “Wait a minute. You’re assuming way too much here,” he grumbled.
“Well, excuse me, but you don’t look exactly excited about having a daughter,” she replied, in a sarcastic tone. “What the hell am I supposed to think?”
“When I was just human, having children wasn’t part of my plans. I was a soldier committed to his work, and I didn’t think it was fair to bring a child into my life if I wasn’t going to be there most of the time,” he started explaining.
“I guess it makes sense, but life does not always go according to plans.”
“I’m well aware of that,” he replied, with a cold tone. “When they turned me into a cyborg I was told I would never have children, that cyborgs weren’t able to breed naturally. When that was proven wrong, I didn’t think it would happen to me,” he continued, omitting he didn’t have anyone in his life he would even consider forming a family with. “Only a few cyborgs have been able to have children, and we still don’t even know what makes them different. Why some are able to breed, and others aren’t.”
She nodded, but he could tell she hadn’t changed her mind.
“I’m still having trouble to believe I really have a daughter, Sabrina. I do not doubt your word, I know she is my daughter. I just can’t believe such miracle has happened to me,” he explained, doing his best to tell her how he felt. Not an easy task, considering he had spent his whole life hiding his feelings from the rest of the world. “I want to be a part of Luciana’s life. I have no idea how we’ll do that, but now that I know she exists, I don’t want to lose her, either.”