“No, and I don't think she ever will. She’s throwing herself into the food and right now all she can focus on is feeding you. It's her way of saying thanks. Lily hasn’t stopped asking for you”
“Oh?” He had forgotten about the little girl. Netto ran his fingers through Rylie’s long shining hair. “Don't thank me. You never have to thank me.”
“But you kept your promise.”
Rylie cocked her head and grabbed his hands, squeezing them. “We owe you so much and it's her way. Ma will always feel indebted to you and Zeph, even when we can hold our part of the bargain in shipping the glass. The Montihan’s will always be indebted to you.”
“I don't care about the glass.”
Rylie smiled. “I know.”
The thick aroma of roasted food, fish, and lavender wafted over him. He glanced up at the house and Rylie looked with him. She threaded her fingers through his and she led him toward her home.
Soon it would only be her family's house, he would build Rylie her own mansion nearby.
Kepler was beautiful and untamed. He could give her this world and expand their homestead. Netto could help her run the business and make it thrive. The prospect lightened his heart as they stepped up onto the porch.
In the distance, he could hear the waves against the shore. That, with the sound of Rylie's steady heartbeat and the laughter inside, was what love meant to him.
They stopped at the door. His hand settled on the doorknob.
“Will they accept me?”
Rylie kissed the bare skin of his arm and nodded.
“They already have. They know. They knew before I said anything, I guess I was acting differently.”
The door flung open before he could respond. Lily was on the other side. She flew into his legs with a giggle and a scream. Rylie's laughter joined hers. He lifted the little girl up and let her peel his lips back to see his sharp, double layer of teeth.
“Ma said I could have teeth like yours someday!”
Rylie ruffled Lily's hair and kissed her cheek. It made him want to have children of his own. Their own.
“You can someday. When you're older and if you really want them,” Netto said.
“Will they be like yours?” Lily sweaty hands clobbered over his face.
“Just like mine.”
“Don’t encourage her. She’ll remember and won’t ever let it go. Older to her means tomorrow,” Rylie warned.
Lily squirmed in his arms, ignorant of her sister, clammy hands on his face.
“Wait until you see what I look like when I let my beast out,” Netto said to the little girl. “We’ll go swimming tomorrow. We’ll be monsters together.”
Rylie sighed and shot him a look, he responded with a knowing smile.
Netto carried Lily into the dining room as Rylie clung to his arm. Sheryl took the little girl away with an apology and this time when he sat at the table, he wasn't uncomfortable, he didn’t have to intimidate: he felt like he belonged.
He would protect the Montihans. He would protect Rylie and Lily, and everyone she cared about for the rest of his life. He wondered if he was the first Cyborg to have a family, to adopt a family. If he was, he was the luckiest man-made creation in the universe.
As the night continued, Netto reconnected with the ship and gave the EPED his answer. It wasn't as satisfactory as lighting them on fire, but it felt nice all the same.
He belonged to no one. But he belonged here. He was never meant to be a hunter, but a protector and a protector was what he would remain. His life in the stars was now a thing of the past. He kept one hand on Rylie's thigh.
“So you'll stay?” she asked him again, disbelief in her voice. It would be his first mission: to get Rylie to trust him and to banish her self-doubt.
“Yes.”
