I can tell by the look on his face that the Presenting Ceremony means a lot to him. I imagine that keeping Cerastean traditions alive is important to all these alien men. I get it. When my parents left Vietnam before I was born, they upheld many traditions as a way to honor their past and remember family. We had a small altar at our house where we would gift our ancestors with fruit, wine, and incense. My mother always served boiled chicken and sticky rice during every Tet holiday – the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. Those traditions helped shape me and gave me a vast appreciation for my family’s many sacrifices.
“I will support whatever you want to do. We are already mated, so the ceremony is not necessary,” D’Annon says softly.
“You’re so sweet, D’Annon. But this would be for you as well as Sara. What doyouwant?” D’Annon glances at me briefly, looking like he would love to throttle me, but quickly turns his eyes back to Sara.
“We should do it. I kinda always wanted the whole white wedding thing,” Sara says, crossing the room to stand in front of D’Annon.
“Really? Are you sure?” I hear D’Annon whisper.
“Definitely.”
“You make me so happy,” D’Annon says, the tone in his voice scorching hot. To my shock, he picks Sara up, and she wraps her legs around his waist. I have to turn my back because they are kissing. Like,reallykissing. A panty-melting make-out session is happening less than six feet behind me.
“Alrighty then!” I chirp, feeling a blush of embarrassment stain my cheeks, my voice getting uncomfortably loud. “As soon as I have some options for dresses and stuff, I’ll message them to you, okay? I gotta go! Um… Yeah. I’ll see you guys later.”
They don’t respond as I hustle away. Clearly, they’re in their own world. I don’t know why I’m embarrassed. After growing up with my parents, you’d think I’d be numb to PDA. Maybe it’s because Sara seems sweet and innocent.
As I head toward the admin area of the ship, I glance at my watch and huff in irritation because I don’t have time to fit a meeting in with L’Corte like I had planned. Instead, I head directly to the Requisitions Office to meet Natasha. At least I’m already headed in the right direction.
As I pass the main lounge, a slouched figure sitting alone catches my eye. My feet swerve off my chosen path of their own volition and head towards that lonely form. As I get closer, I see it’s Krystal. For a brief period, Krystal casually dated L’Zaen, Ally’s mate, before those two got together. There was a bit of cattiness from a few women on board the ship because Krystal was dating several Cerasteans at once. I didn’t see the problem, since she seemed to be upfront with her potential suitors. The only thing that bothered me was I knew Ally had a crush on L’Zaen at the time. But that was an Ally problem. She should have womaned-up and made her feelings clear to him rather than pining away in silence. I told her at the time, but she didn’t want to listen to me. She was all worried about rejection. How many times did I warn her that if she went for it and he rejected her, she wouldn’t be any more single than she already was? At least she would know where she stood. I’d rather have to nurse a sore heart than live my life in limbo, just hanging onto hope, wondering if he feels the same. No thank you. Thankfully it all worked out for Ally, despite her trepidation.
I watch as Krystal dejectedly picks at her nails. She’s going to ruin her cuticles if I don’t intervene.
“You okay?” I ask, sitting down next to her on the long white sofa. Krystal whips her head up at me.
“What?”
“Are you okay?” I repeat. “You look like someone kicked your puppy.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Krystal says with a small jerky shrug.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you know D’Nithin, L’Zaen, and I all stopped dating last month. I’ve been dating D’Uhurn exclusively since then, but we’ve been taking it slow. Thing is… is that I really like him. I thought we had plenty of time to get to know one another. I didn’t want to rush into a lifelong commitment,” Krystal says with a tremor in her voice. “But now he’s leaving in like a week. What if he doesn’t come back? What if he gets hurt? He said I should go back home, make sure I’m safe, but I want to be here when he returns, you know? It made me realize I want to get more serious with him, but is that fair to spring on him right before he has to leave for war? I don’t know what to do. And since the announcement, I feel like he’s been avoiding me. Maybe he wants to break up? Is that why he wants me to go back to Earth?”
“Forget D’Uhurn for a moment. What doyouwant? Do you want to return to Earth or stay here?”
“I don’t know. I mean… I kinda want to stay here. My parents didn’t want me to join the Bride Program in the first place. Like, they were ready to disown me. My sister had to talk them down. I don’t want to go back home and have to listen to, ‘I told you so’. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but I don’t like spending much time around them. They’re not exactly supportive, you know? My sister’s awesome, so I guess I could stay with her for a while if I had to.”
“It’s tough when your parents don’t support you. I’m glad you have your sister,” I say, patting her shoulder. “If you do decide to stay, I’m starting this initiative to help the Cerasteans left behind on the ship. We’re going to go all Rosie the Riveter. We could use your help. I imagine it’d be better to be here and helping in some way. Certainly better than sitting at your sister’s house, not knowing what is happening. What do you think?”
“Really? That would be great.”
“Do you have a job on the ship right now?”
“Yeah, I help in the Navigation department. I’m just a glorified assistant, mostly just fetching things like a gopher, so it’s not very exciting.”
“Where does D’Uhurn work?” I ask, already formulating a plan.
“He’s in the Maintenance department. He’s kind of a jack of all trades there.”
“Okay. Let me see what I can do. I’m working with Rosie and L’Corte to finalize our plan to help the Cerasteans. Think about whatyouwant. Whether you stay or go back to Earth, you’ve got to do what is right for you. Let me know when you decide,” I say. “Also, you should tell D’Uhurn how you feel. But that’s just my opinion.”
“I don’t know... What happens if he doesn’t feel the same?”
“I’ve seen him look at you. I’m pretty sure he’s smitten. He’s probably under the delusion that he is doing the right thing. You have to decide if you’re willing to fight for him. A fight you don’t start is a fight you don’t win,” I say. Oh god no, I sound just like my mom. She says that all the time. I hide my shudder of horror from Krystal.
“You might be right. I need to think about this.”
