by Alana Allen
“I’m right here, baby.” Max consoled her. She could tell he was unsure of what was happening just as much as she was.
Cal returned to the both of them with the towels. He lifted up her shirt to expose her belly glowing the same way both the men’s forearms were glowing before.
Kadyn stared at Max intently, fearful that if she looked down she would pass out. Cal opened her legs and spread them apart. His hands began to glow as Kadyn squeezed her eyes closed. There was still no pain, which confused her, but she grabbed Max’s hand tight. He placed his other hand around both of hers.
“Hold on, Kadyn. It’s almost over.”
Max had faith in Cal to help deliver the baby. He had been a human doctor for a number of years according to the telepathic exchange they had earlier. He was also considered an elder traveler. If there had ever been another case of a human/alien hybrid then he would be aware of it. He stared at Cal’s expression to gauge how well the process was going. Kadyn didn’t appear to be in pain but she was still breathing hard and complained of feeling pressure.
He looked down at her and felt his human heart explode. Figuratively, at least. Was this how human men looked at their women? He was in awe of how brave a human female was dealing with such a traumatic metamorphosis on her body. Could he have done the same? He compelling urge to protect her overcame him and he wanted to comfort her, but there was another feeling he couldn’t identify. He didn’t recognize it at first until he realized he had felt it before.
He touched her cheek and whispered in her ear.
“I love you.”
“Kadyn opened her eyes at the sound of his voice.
“I love you, too.”
“Max, I need your help.” Cal said interrupting them.
Max approached Cal’s side and looked worried. He touched Cal’s shoulder.
“What’s wrong?”
Cal’s expression bothered him.
“The baby. It doesn’t want me, it wants you.” Cal said.
“What do you mean?” Max asked.
“Your baby. He wants you.”
Max changed places with Cal, held out his hands and delivered a healthy baby boy. By all appearances he looked human.
Tears streamed down Max’s face as he held his son. He looked at Kadyn who smiled at him before drifting off into a deep sleep.
CHAPTER NINE
Kadyn’s eyes opened. She tried to focus on the popcorn ceiling of the bedroom. Her arms reached over her head and stretched as she yawned.
She was fully rested and felt great. Surprising to her, as she just gave birth to a baby only hours before. She expected to feel sore or some sort of pain. Even during delivery she only felt a deep pressure but nothing she would define as pain. It wasn’t like she was around babies a lot, but she knew enough general knowledge that she was aware that it was a woman’s lot in life to bear the pain of child birth.
Kadyn turned on her side facing her newborn. The baby was soundly sleeping in a make shift crib Max had made for him.
He heart swelled with pride. She and Max made that little angel. He was so beautiful. She couldn’t believe she could love anyone more as much as she loved her new family.
Tears formed at the base of her eyes. She wiped them away with a stroke of her hand.
Max peeked his head inside the room. She caught his gaze as he smiled. He opened the door and walked through, shutting it behind him. Her heart lightened as he walked over to her and planted a kiss on her lips.
She leaned in to him, putting her arm around his neck. He sat on the bed next to her breaking their kiss.
“How are you feeling?” He asked.
“Great, actually. No pain at all.” Kadyn said.
“We were discussing that earlier. We have a theory as to why you experienced no pain.”
Kadyn fixed her eyes on him waiting for his explanation. She was curious. Grabbing his hand, she held it.
“I can’t wait to hear this explanation.” She said.
“Because we are healers by nature, Cal and I believe the baby protected its host from any kind of pain.” Max stated.
“Host?” Kadyn mocked the word by repeating it.
“You know what I mean.” Max smiled.
Max picked up the baby and slipped into bed next to Kadyn. He placed the infant between them. His happiness was short lived before his demeanor turned sullen. She was unsure as to why he looked sad.
Kadyn caressed the baby’s cheek with her hand and then repeated the same action to Max.
“I love you Max.” She kissed him deep on the mouth, swirling her tongue between his lips until he opened them to receive her.
Max snuggled into Kadyn’s hair and took a deep breath. He savored the sweet smell of honey and vanilla and kissed her head. Since his time on this planet, he had not felt the depth of emotions his human body was capable of feeling until now. Kadyn had been the catalyst for understanding a deeper meaning to human life.
His actions felt like they were on auto pilot. The humanoid Max Collier was no longer here, but it seemed like parts of him were. He experienced these emotions without any real control over them. They simply existed.
He gazed into her eyes and took his hand in his own, careful not to wake the baby. His expression changed to sadness and he was sure Kadyn could sense it. There was no easy way to tell Kadyn that he had to return to his ship.
It wasn’t what he wanted but he had to answer for what he had done. The thought of leaving them tugged at his soul. They were his life now, but he had no idea how he could fix everything. The police were still after them. How could he leave her and their baby to fend for themselves?
He winced at his own predicament. He watched her as she snuggled with the baby. He had wanted to protect her since the beginning, but now he feared he may have caused more harm to her than he intended.
Max closed his eyes and turned on his back. Kadyn had fallen back to sleep. It broke his human heart to watch her with their son and know that soon he would not be with them. There would be no long nights making love to her. No more shared moments with each other.
He squeezed his eyes shut willing the future to change. He would alter a few things if he could. Unfortunately, he was just a sentient being and not the Creator of the universe. He rubbed his eyes alleviating what stress had built up and decided that he would wait to tell her later. Right now he wanted to enjoy being with them both before life pulled them apart.
CHAPTER TEN
Kadyn sat up, pulled the covers back and set her feet on the floor. She stretched her arms high above her head and looked over at baby Max. They finally came up with a name for their new love. Max wanted to name him after Cal for his help in delivering the child, but Kadyn fought for naming him after his father.
Baby Max lay sleeping soundly. She realized that Max wasn’t in the room and decided to look for him. She covered the child, placing a kiss on his nose before shutting the door quietly.
She checked the living room but there was no sign of Max. She looked in the bathroom and the kitchen with no luck. Curious, as he never let her out of his sight and now she couldn’t find him at all.
A small wind breezed through the open windows in the house chilling Kadyn. She pulled her robe closed and shivered the cold away. She noticed the front door was open and the screen door was left to allow air blow into the house while keeping insects out.
Her bare feet tip toed on the cold hardwood oak floors as she led herself toward the door. There were two voices speaking on the patio in a low, hushed tone.
“She doesn’t know does she?” The voice sounded like Cal’s. “Why haven’t you told her yet?”
Kadyn’s inner alarm bells were ringing as it became obvious he was referring to her. What had Max not told her yet? What was there to tell? She moved closer, hiding herself on the wall next to the front door.
“I promised her that I would never leave her.” Max answered.
“But you know you have to go. You know they won’t let y
ou stay, especially now because of what you have done.” Cal reasoned with his friend.
Kadyn felt she had heard enough. She opened the creaking screen door, stared them both in the eye and asked, “What have you done?”
“Kadyn.” Max was surprised to see her there. He paused as he realized she had heard everything he and Cal had been saying. How was he going to explain this to her?
Cal was able to point out to him things he did not think about on his own. He knew the truth was about to hurt Kadyn but he had no choice. His time was nearing the end and he had to go. Whether or not he could return now that he had fathered a half human child was another matter. How could he give her answers when he didn’t have all of them himself?
“What are you hiding from me, Max?” Her voice quivered as her eyes flooded with tears. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but he was running out of time. He had to get to the rendezvous point at a specific time in order to return to his people. He knew she wasn’t going to make this easy and he didn’t blame her. He had interfered in her life. She had loved him and gave birth to their child. Now he had to ask her to do the unimaginable and take care of their baby alone.
“I was going to tell you soon. I just wasn’t sure how.” Max began.
“You’re leaving us, aren’t you?” Kadyn took a step toward him. The lines on her face shifted making her look sad and desperate to understand.
“I don’t want to but yes, I have to leave.” Max replied. His human heart beat for her in successive waves of regret that he had to hurt her this way.
“I’m sor—” Max began to say when he stopped short at the sight of a police car pulling into the long dirt road heading toward them.
Cal and Kadyn noticed he was distracted. Their eyes turned and focused on the same thing he was looking at.
“Cops!” Cal raised his voice. “Get inside, now!”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Max grabbed Kadyn’s arm and pulled her inside. Kadyn rushed past him and headed to where baby Max was sleeping. She picked him up carefully and wrapped him in a blanket.
Max shut the front door and hid behind the wall peering out of the living room window. He saw the police car pull up to the driveway. A tall man got out of the car with his partner, both in uniform. They walked up to Cal who stood there watching him from his porch.
“Morning.” Cal greeted the men.
“Morning. Can we ask you a couple of questions?” The tall officer asked.
“You can try. Not sure I’ll have the answers you’re looking for though.” Cal responded.
Kadyn peeked her head around the corner and whispered to him, “What’s going on?”
He put his finger to his mouth as a signal to be quiet and then put his ear closer to the wall.
“We’re looking for two suspects, a man and a woman.” The shorter officer asked. “Seen anyone around here that meets that description lately?”
Max watched the interaction of the three men wondering if the officers had seen him and Kadyn walk into the house as they were driving up. Kadyn was holding the baby as he awoke from his nap and began to coo at her. She took him into the other room. Max waited to see if the officers heard them make any noise.
“Nope. Haven’t seen nobody around these parts. I own the land and walk it every day so I should know, but thanks for stopping by.” Cal motioned them to their car.
“Do you mind if we come inside?” The taller officer asked.
“What for?” Cal retorted.
“A glass of water sure would be appreciated.” The officer looked him in the eye waiting for his response.
“Sure. Come on in.” He heard Cal say.
Max grabbed the keys to Cal’s car and ran to the bedroom to get Kadyn and the baby. He led them to the back door of the house where Cal’s car was parked. Kadyn held the baby in her lap as Max buckled her seatbelt and then his own. He put the key in the ignition, put the gear in drive and sped out from behind the house onto the dirt road heading for the highway.
“What are we going to do now?” Kadyn asked. She held on to baby Max tight. Trees and brush were blowing by them fast as she looked behind them to see if the officers were following.
“We have to get to Shadow Rock canyon.” Max answered.
This was the rendezvous point of the meeting site. He knew this place well because this is where he was first deployed when he arrived on the planet. It was one of the landing sites that his kind had been using for years due to its hidden location behind the amber colored canyons. He used to see this place as a sanctuary. Some place he could come to await the return of his people. Now with every mile he sped toward it his heart filled with dread.
“Why? What’s there?” Kadyn asked.
He didn’t answer her and instead focused his attention on the rear view mirror where he saw red and blue lights flashing in the distance behind him. Should he make a run for it or lead them on a wild goose chase? His choices were limited. He couldn’t lead them to the drop spot where the space craft was meeting him and yet he still had to make the drop point on time.
“Where are you going?” Kadyn asked.
“I’m leading them away from the landing zone.” Max told her.
He stepped on the gas causing them to be pushed into their seats. He approached a fork in the road and headed left down a dirt road that veered far right away from the canyons.
“Kadyn, I have to leave you and the baby. I’ve committed what my people would consider a violation by mating with you and I must answer for my crime.”
Max stared straight ahead.
“Your crime?” Kadyn said. “Are you saying that we are a mistake?” Her voice cracked.
Max looked at her and placed a hand on her cheek. “No. Our love will never be a mistake.”
Kadyn leaned her head into his hand and closed her eyes. Tears filled her eyes as she looked down at the miracle in her arms and realized that soon they would only have each other.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Max drove up the ridge behind the mountains. He was familiar enough with this road that he knew about a cave up ahead. If he could just get enough space between him and the police car. He could hide in caves and the cops would drive past without noticing.
He maneuvered the twists and turns of the road as Kadyn held the baby tight. He saw the turnoff for the cave up ahead and turned right just after the corner. As he suspected the police didn’t see him and drove right by. He waited a few seconds and then backed out before heading back down the road in the opposite direction.
“Holy crap that was close!” Max said.
He kept his foot heavy on the pedal to rush back to the landing site. In the distance he heard police sirens getting louder. It was obvious that the cops had radioed for help and backup was on its way. He raced as fast as he could up Shadow Rock Canyon, knowing of that at this point he had no time left.
He found himself head-to-head with the police car as it came barreling toward him. He was familiar enough with human intuition to know that the cop would turn before he did. He pressed down on the gas pedal harder and kept steering will straight ahead. The police car veered to the left and crashed on the side of the road. There was no time to check to see if they were all right. Max continued on as Kadyn look back at the wreckage.
Max screeched the tires as he pulled up to the landing spot. He stopped the car and got out as Kadyn followed him. He raced up to the mountain top, looking for any sign of the spacecraft.
“We are going with you.” Kadyn declared.
Max turned around and looked at her with a stunned expression on his face. “You’d be willing to come with me?”
He had assumed that she wasn’t willing to leave her planet or her sister. It was a given to him that he had to leave, but he never thought that she would be willing to come with him, which is why he never asked her. The worried expression on his face lightened into a smile, as he acknowledged her words. He held his hand out for her to take and pulled her to him and kissed her.
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“We have to hurry.” He said.
“Wait, look!” Kadyn pointed down the canyon to the road below to the entrance of the park. Police cars were pulling up with their lights flashing and sirens blaring as they cut off the entrance to the park.
“They’re too late. See?”
Max pointed to the sky. There was an object hovering in the sky that looked like tiny reflective mirrors in the shape of one bigger object. Kadyn thought it must be some kind of camouflage. She held onto baby Max as he whimpered.