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Yes, that could happen. She would honor your mother. An Altaeth, Khoth agreed.

So here we go then…

“Mom,” Jace said and stopped.

How the Hell was he going to tell her all of this? Was she going to be okay? Because she wasn’t fully human either? While he had been filtered to strain out all humanity, she was still a mix of both. But she wasn’t all human. She was an alien too. Suddenly, the mate-thing was secondary to this.

“Mom,” he began again and swallowed.

She looked at him curiously. Her head tilted to the side. Her expression went from indulgent and amused to concerned and serious. “Jace? What is it?”

Just get it out. Have to just say it. She has always been better with clear, upfront information, he reminded himself.

“Mom, we’re not–you, me and Dad–we’re not… fully human,” Jace finally got out.

She slowly blinked. Or maybe time slowed. The breeze stirred a piece of her hair. He watched her eyes slowly close then open again. Then time sped up again and she blinked rapidly.

“W-what?” Her voice was soft.

An uncertain smile was on her face.

Maybe that was a little too upfront and clear.

He reached over with his free hand and took one of hers in his. The three of them were all linked now. She couldn’t hear his or Khoth’s thoughts, but he felt something here. His mother. His Altaeth mother. At least partially.

Keep talking. You have to explain. Make it as simple as possible, he told himself.

“I think… I think you’ve always known that you and Dad were different. Are different,” Jace found himself saying.

Her expression took on something of wonder. “We aren’t… I mean, we’ve always had a sense of being… but that’s just our imagination! We’re normal people. Hard driving, sure. But we’re like other people.”

“Are you?” he pressed.

She went silent.

He licked his lips, recalling all she’d ever told him about her and his father. “When you met, it was like two puzzle pieces snicking into place. You knew he was the one for you immediately. There was no doubt. There was no thought. And you never were apart after that. Before you’d even said a word, you knew.”

His parents had told him the story of their meeting at War College during a mixer many times. He’d asked them to tell it again and again. Well, not recently, because, unlike when he was a child, he had stopped believing that such a connection with someone was in the cards for him. It had become painful to hear rather than aspirational. But now, he realized he had his own love.

I am yours forever, Khoth’s voice drifted over his mind like an invisible caress.

“We did. Saw him across a crowded room. And though I had no intention of even speaking to any of the flyboys, I had to speak to him. Actually, I don’t know if I said anything for long moments. Just stared into his eyes,” she whispered, her gaze going distant. “I felt he was the only one for me. I couldn’t exist without him.” But then she shook himself. “We were young! That couldn’t have been true. Could it?”

She lifted her eyes to his again and searched his face. He smiled and nodded.

“I think it was. Altaeth–”

“Altaeth?! What do they have to do with us?” she gasped, but then answered her own question, “Is that the part of us that’s–that’s not human?”

He nodded again. “I’m… I’m fully Altaeth. You and Dad are mixed. We’re descendants of the original crew of the Osiris. In fact, we’re descendants of the original Pilot.”

She blinked again and stared off into space. Speaking more to herself than to him, she said, “Of course. That’s why the Osiris reacted to us when it never did to anyone else. I think we were even drawn to Sunrise and the Osiris in the first place. Your father and I were both so driven once we’d found one another to—to discover something.”

“Yeah, I think that’s true. I think the Osiris has been calling to us for a long time,” Jace agreed.

She refocused on him. “You said you’re fully Altaeth. Is that what the Osiris did to you?”

He nodded. “Yes.” He tightened his hold on Khoth. “And Altaeth have mates. One and only people they are supposed to be with.”