He snickers. “Right? I wasn’t sure I could go through with it, at first.”
“Why is that?”
“I mean, it was sort of embarrassing being on my hands and knees in front of the lab techs. To them, it was interesting research and just another day at the office. Me? I was keeping my eyes closed and thinking about you and hoping this was the reaction I’d get.”
“What about the egg?” I finally ask. That is the only melancholy part of this.
“It’ll pass on its own in a couple of days.” He cups my face in his hands, a gesture I love. “I mean it. We can adopt, if you want. I’m all for that. There have to be kids who need homes. What about those ishblane you were telling me about?”
I nod. “Yes.” Ishblane are a mutation in our race. Instead of green skin, they have pink. Instead of red manes, they have blue, and their eyes are usually blue.
They are still shunned in our society, although it wasn’t so long ago they were once killed. Now, there is social progress being made, since more are being born. I have always felt there should be no difference between them and non-mutated Pfahrn. Our parents raised us to treat ishblane with care and respect.
Others are not so fortunate.
It is not uncommon to find ishblane children available for adoption. It is impossible to tell until an egg is born if they will be ishblane or not.
It is also standard in mating contracts to have cancellation stipulations if an ishblane child is born. Both parties usually have to assert that they have never produced an ishblane child, and do not have ishblane children in their family.
“However, that is a discussion for the future,” I add. “Not for tonight.”
“I’ll prove to you I’m here for life,” he says. “Whatever it takes.”
I nuzzle my face against his. “I know, love. Give me time to accept this blessing first, please?”
“You better believe I will.”
As we finally fall asleep, I struggle not to allow my imagination to run wild and free and imagine us with three or four adopted children we will love strongly and fiercely.
Because that would be the nearest attainable perfection I could ever ask for in my existence.
The last thing I wish to do is jinx this fledgling thing we have together.
Thus…I will wait.
But I do not know how much longer I can continue to hold myself back.
Chapter Sixteen
Davies
No shit, best leaveever. Now our first time together falls to a close second place in my heart.
I really don’t want to get back on the ship, but I know if I quit right now, it’ll give Olarte an anxiety attack.
They need patience, and I love them.
So I get back on the fucking ship after hugging them and giving them one last kiss.
He egged me again last night, a little parting gift that’s already got me hard and horny. Can’t help it, it’s the way it’s pressing on things inside me.
That’s okay. It’s a little memento.
What I held back from them for now is that Dr. H’looder told me they are trying to work on a way to allow human mates to carry fertilized Pfahrn eggs. There might even be another human-Pfahrn couple we can work with to make it happen.
I don’t want to pressure Olarte or get their hopes up in case it can’t happen.
Right now, I’ll settle for them being able to accept that I’m really ready to move forward and do whatever we have to do to make this official. The idea of having to actually sign a contract still chafes me, because I shouldn’t need to do that to prove to them that I love them, or prove to a bunch of goddamned government wonks that I’m serious, but…
