He let go of my hand. “That calls for another margarita.” He downed the rest of the one he had in one gulp, then poured himself another. “And another toast.”
I raised my glass. “To trying our best at being the best fathers for our children.”
“And to being the best husbands to each other.”
“Cheers!” said a couple at the next table, clinking their glasses at the same time before saluting us with them.
Mitch and I smiled. Our family was growing and our happiness was about to expand with the addition of another member.
“Okay, I definitely should have a taco now before I drink anymore, or I’ll get tipsy.”
I laughed. “So, this was a good venue choice?”
“It’s Taco Tuesday, so where else would we eat out at? Is there another taco place?”
I nodded. “There is Alvin’s Taqueria and a few others.”
Mitch stared at me for a brief moment. “I forgot for a second just how large this leisure ship is and how many people it serves. We’ll eat at Alvin’s next week then and bring Neal. We can tell him then about how he’s going to be a big brother.”
I froze, my hand halfway to the sour cream at his words. “Do you think he will be happy?”
Mitch smiled. “Someone else to watch Lilo and Stitch with? He’ll be ecstatic. You know he’ll want us to name her Lilo, don’t you?”
I groaned, imagining that conversation.
“I say we let him have it, give it to her as a middle name. Maybe.” He sighed. “I don't know.”
It was definitely a thought. I added the sour cream and took a bite of my taco. We had eight weeks or so to decide, which gave us plenty of time to think of names. It couldn’t be that hard, right? How hard could it be for two fathers and a big brother to choose a name for a small human girl? As Klora would say, it would be a piece of cake, surely.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN…
The storiesof the very first brides begins with Tellan, by Loretta Johns. These are all male-female pairings. Read on for an excerpt.
Commander Tellan gazed about the room one last time, making certain he had not left anything behind that he’d intended to bring back to the ship. There hadn’t been much, as most of his personal belongings were already onboard, with only travel essentials necessary for his shore leave having made the trip with him. Satisfied that he’d not forgotten anything of value, he padded silently to the vehicle outside, not wishing to disturb his sleeping parents.
His mother would make a tearful scene, as always, and his father would be as awkward as ever, torn between being the concerned parent and the experienced, albeit now retired, admiral of the Exploratory Fleet. He’d said his goodbyes the night before during the small family dinner. There was no need to drag things out. He gave a quick nod to the pilot, and the personal sized shuttle began the glide away from the house in stealth mode, engines on silent.
Once they’d reached the designated aerial lift zone, the shuttle’s engines came on at full throttle, and they began to climb higher. Now no longer skimming above the ground like an old fashioned hovercraft, it entered the airspace designated for long distance travel.
Tellan watched as the pilot informed the planetary AI of their desired destination.
Their request was instantaneously relayed to the transport AI who immediately sent their designated path to the shuttle. The pilot relaxed, his sole job now to keep an eye on the craft’s systems and watch for unexpected obstacles that might require his skill to avoid a collision.
Twenty-two minutes later, Tellan disembarked, a small grav pallet bearing his belongings already on its way to his ship.
The pallet was ferried along by one of his own crewmen who had met the shuttle.
This part of the passenger terminal was less busy than the civilian area, allowing good time to be made as he crossed the docks to where his own ship was berthed.
He paused for moment to admire her.Galactic Wonderwas a ship for exploration and first contact, built to be unintimidating yet fully capable of defending itself, especially against a less technologically superior force.
Such as these humans. Initial long-term observations show they tend to be reactionary in nature but their weapons capability easily countered by the light armament of the Explorer class starships. They are apparently also curious and hungry for knowledge, which hopefully will help temper their response when we reveal ourselves and attempt to open negotiations. I just hope I don’t let everyone down. The scouts’ reports on the genetic and cultural compatibilities looked especially promising.
Straightening his uniform shirt, he squared his shoulders and strode forward to his new command.
Tellan is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook.
The Scholarship Mate matching expanded to include males, and along came Braevan who matched with Chitose…
