"What's the first thing you're going to do when we get to Etheria?" Alara asked.
Ethan smiled wistfully as his gaze found a particularly bright point of light, one that he'd been told was actually the Immortals' galaxy—Etheria.
"I'm going to find my son," he decided. It was bittersweet to think of Atton being so far away, but the distance didn't seem so vast when he considered they had quantum jump drives that could travel from one side of the universe to another in the blink of an eye.
"Ethan..."
"Yeah?"
"I have something to tell you."
He turned from stargazing to look at her. "What is it?"
"I'm pregnant."
Ethan blinked; then his eyes flew wide and he shook his head. "How... I mean... we've only been together again for a month!"
"And before that, we were together for years."
"But you died!"
"I know."
Ethan gaped at her. He remembered losing his wife, and now he realized that in that moment he'd lost his wife and their unborn baby.
"Omnius cloned me with the fetus," Alara explained.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"Because we were barely getting by as it was, and I was looking for the right moment. Then it was time for Trinity's Choosing Ceremony, and I thought if we went to Etheria—the one on Avilon—maybe it wouldn't be such a problem anymore. I kept trying to convince you to go, but it didn't work."
Ethan pulled Alara into a hug. "I'm so sorry," he whispered beside her ear.
"It's okay. You didn't know."
Trinity stirred on the other side of him. "Mom?" she asked, sounding confused.
"I'm right here, darling," Alara said, leaning around Ethan to speak to her. "You're going to have a little brother!" she exclaimed.
"I am?"
"It's a boy?" Ethan burst out. "Wait—Trinity doesn't know yet?"
"I didn't think it would be right to tell her without telling you first. And after you... well, after I thought you cheated on me, I was too distracted. I think telling her without you around would have meant admitting to myself that we were over."
Ethan stroked Alara's cheek. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that." Then something occurred to him. "Wait a minute—we've been here for a month already! You could have told me weeks ago."
"We've both been so busy, and I wanted to wait until I could tell you and Trinity together. Can you forgive me?" Alara whispered, pressing her forehead to his. Her lips were tantalizing close.
"Hmmm..."
"What's his name?" Trinity asked, interrupting them before they could kiss again.
"We don't have a name yet, sweetheart," Alara replied.
"What about... Lucien," Ethan suggested.
"Why Lucien?" Alara asked.
"Because it means light, and I think we've all had enough of the darkness. We spent years hiding from the Sythians in Dark Space, and then years hiding from Omnius in the Null Zone, but this life and this world are going to be different. They're going to be full of light, and Lucien will be one of the first to be born into it. That's his birthright—an unending kingdom of light."
Alara nodded. "Lucien it is."
"Now I have two sons that I'm waiting to see," he said, patting Alara's stomach. He couldn't feel her showing yet, so at least he knew she hadn't waited too long to tell him. "I'll see you soon, Lucien," he said.
Looking back up to the stars, he found that bright point of light once more and nodded to it. See you soon, Atton.
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OTHER BOOKS BY
JASPER SCOTT
Suggested reading order
Occupation Earth
Occupation Earth (Book 1)
Coming January 2020
Scott Standalones
No sequels, no cliffhangers
Under Darkness
Into the Unknown
In Time For Revenge
Rogue Star
Rogue Star: Frozen Earth
Rogue Star (Book 2): New Worlds
Broken Worlds
Broken Worlds: The Awakening (Book 1)
Broken Worlds: The Revenants (Book 2)
Broken Worlds: Civil War (Book 3)
New Frontiers Series (Loosely-tied Prequels to Dark Space)
Excelsior (Book 1)
Mindscape (Book 2)
Exodus (Book 3)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasper Scott is the USA Today best-selling author of more than 20 sci-fi novels with over 16,000 total reviews on Amazon and an average of 4.4 stars out of 5.0.
With over a million books sold, Jasper's work has been translated into various languages and published around the world. Join the author's mailing list to get two FREE books: https://files.jaspertscott.com/mailinglist.html
Jasper writes fast-paced books with unexpected twists and flawed characters. His latest project is a series of unrelated standalone sci-fi novels; no sequels and no cliffhangers, with two novels currently published, and four more planned. Previous works include four other best-selling series, among others, his breakout success--Dark Space, a 9-book-long, USA Today bestselling epic with more than 12,000 reviews on Amazon.
Jasper was born and raised in Canada by South African parents, with a British cultural heritage on his mother's side and German on his father's, to which he has now added Latin culture with his wonderful wife. He now lives in an exotic locale with his wife, their two kids, and two chihuahuas.
Dark Space- The Complete Series Page 221