I flushed. “Just the clothes I still have in the closet in my old room and um, you can go ahead and donate the sleeping bag and stuff. There’s a little bit of food in the fridge you can also send up.” I hated wasting food, having grown up with having to stretch things the last few days of the month. I didn’t give a rat’s ass if they thought it was weird that I wanted half a package of Awesome Value baloney and a few pieces of bread sent up. “Anything else, just donate if it's usable.” I knew the plastic tumblers and plates and cutlery were and no doubt Jolar had much better ones already. No need to add my mismatched junk and add weight to their payload.
“Noted,” Quandar said. “I’ll have someone get right on it.”
Jolar held out his hand to Neal, who jumped down off of my lap and ran over to him to take it. I immediately felt bereft, a feeling that did not go away until Neal grinned over at me.
“Come on, Papa,” he said. My heart swelled then, as Jolar reached his other hand out to me. I got up and took it, feeling as if they both saw me and not just the too-pale, chubby, awkward carrot top everyone else did. Jolar twined his fingers with mine and gave them a reassuring squeeze. His hand was slightly sweaty and I knew then that he, too, felt nervous. That made everything feel even better. I gave his hand a squeeze back, letting him know we’d be okay. We’d get to know each other and together, we’d build something beautiful.
CHAPTER9
JOLAR
“Wow,it looks like an old school flying saucer on the outside, but the inside is definitely more BSG,” Mitchell said as we entered the shuttle.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but he seemed very impressed.
I let go of his hand to see to Neal, only for Targel to wave me away.
“I’ve got him,” he said, grinning. “You help your mate figure out the straps.”
I turned to face Mitchell, who was still looking around at everything while wearing an expression of absolute awe.
“Where do I sit?” he whispered to me.
“Anywhere but there,” I replied, pointing to the pilot’s seat. “How about here, next to me?” I gestured to a seat that was next to the one I planned to occupy, next to Neal.
“Can I watch more Scooby Doo?” Neal asked Targel.
“Sure thing, buddy. How about you watch a couple of episodes, and then we can turn the viewscreens back on so we can show your new dad what it looks like when we leave Earth and join the Fleet.”
Neal bounced in his seat. “Yeah!” He looked over at Mitchell. “Our ships are super duper big! And Earth looks all blue with white swirls that look like frosting! It’s super cool!”
Mitchell took the seat I’d pointed to. “That would be amazing! I never dreamed I’d be riding in one of these babies and getting to see Earth from space. I feel like I’m in a sci-fi movie!”
Neal wrinkled his nose. “But Scooby first.” He clutched Stitch to his chest as if to defend himself in case Mitchell became angry and decided to punish him.
Mitchell nodded, pursing his lips. “Good solid choice for in-flight entertainment. The TV show or one of the movies?”
“The show, the one without the puppy,” Neal informed him.
“Oh, good. Because those are the best ones,” Mitchell said as I leaned over him, my hands deftly adjusting the straps and fastening him in. He lowered his voice. “He looked scared of me just now. Did I say something wrong??”
“Neal has trouble asserting himself. His mother punished him if he asked for anything or if she thought he disagreed with her.”
Mitchell looked incredibly sad. “I understand.”
My heart clenched. I had a terrible feeling that he did indeed understand and why. I gave him a small smile. “He’s usually okay once he gets to know you and finds out you won’t hurt him like that. I’m certain he is already halfway there.”
Mitchell nodded, some of the tension bleeding from the set of his shoulders. “I won’t. Hurt him, I mean, because I wouldnever.”
I believed him. The universe would not have matched me with such a monster. In time, I hoped he’d share about who’d hurt him and let me help him finish healing. For now, all I could do was let him know that I believed him in this, so I gave him a simple nod of acceptance and took my seat between him and Neal. I fastened myself in, absently listening to Neal talk to Xeranos as he asked the AI for his favorite episode.
“Yeah, the one where the scuba man says he wants to take them down to Davy Jones’s locker!” Neal said. I sank back against the cushions of my seat as the viewscreen before us flickered to life as the engines engaged.
About half way through the first episode, Mitchell angled his seat towards me. “Hey,” he said. “Um, I was just wondering how the college thing was going to work.”
I shrugged. “The Fleet Education Officer will arrange to meet with you, once our bond has been completed, and discuss your goals. Then a program will be worked out for you.”
He looked puzzled. “So, I won’t be shuttling down to class a couple times a week? Is there a college up there?”
