Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 84949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
I know he's right. I know he is. I just wish I could do more.
You are part of the solution. You are my mate, and you have a kind, giving heart. Do what you can, and I will be there to hold you if it is not enough.
For some reason, that's comforting. No matter what happens, I have Mhal and he has me.
Michael stirs in his bed, and his small hand squeezes mine. "Jenny?"
"It's me. How do you feel?"
"My stomach hurts."
"I know. The doctor's going to make you feel better." I smile at him. "I'm here now. Everything's going to be okay."
Somehow in my heart, I know it will. We're going to do this. We're going to take our planet back and fix things. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon.
We'll make this place a better home for everyone—drakoni and human.
Epilogue
Three Months Later
MHAL
My Jenny is so brave.
She remains calm when her water breaks, and when her belly contracts. She simply gets up from the chair where she sits, helping Michael read, and looks at me. "It's time to go to the doctor."
I am the one who is flustered. I am the one full of worry. I grab my picture books—Jenny is teaching me human words, too—and race around our living quarters. "Yes?" I say aloud. I am learning human words. I am not fond of them, and they feel grating coming out of my mouth, but Michael cannot connect minds with us. He gets scared if I am quiet for too long, and so I use words for him. "Yes doctor?"
"Yup," Jenny says, grimacing. "I need to change first. Michael, can you go visit Auntie Rachel for a bit? She and Jurik said they wanted to play a board game with you."
"Okay." The small boy gets up. He is still pale and thin from his sickness, which took a very long time to recover from. He is a smart boy, too, and I wish I could touch minds with him. I bet his is full of clever things. He pauses as he closes his book. "You…you're coming back, aren't you?"
His words are filtered through my mate's mind, and she shares them with me so I can follow along in the conversation. Her heart is full of affection for Michael, who has come to live with us now that his parents are gone. He will be our son, too. Right now she suspects he is afraid we will not come back from the clinic.
I move to the boy's side and put a hand on his head. His hair is soft, like Jenny's. "Michael…brave. Yes?"
He nods, his eyes big. I pick him up and hug him, a human signal of affection I am growing used to. Jenny likes to hug, too. A drakoni would rub noses, but Michael still gets scared when I am in battle-form, so we take small steps with him. I hug my human son and pat him on the back.
Maybe he could come with us? Jenny asks, her thoughts full of worry for Michael. If he stays in the other room? I think he'd rather be with you and me than with Rachel and Jurik, and their little Malliope has been fussy lately. They might not have the time for Michael.
So soft and giving, even in this moment. Jenny's belly clenches with a contraction and pain ripples through her thoughts. It makes me want to grab her and race to the clinic, but I know she wants us to be calm. So I pat Michael's back as he clings to me. "Michael…doctor? Yes?"
"Mhal wants to know if you want to go with us, Michael. Our baby's being born."
The boy nods, clinging to my neck.
It is settled, then. Our family will go together.
JENNY
Giving birth sucks. There's no better way to put it. Without a real hospital, Melina doesn't want to give me an epidural unless the pain becomes utterly unbearable, so I have to have my child naturally. Hot pain cramps up and down my belly and deep inside me, and I have to hold back cries of pain because I don't want to scare Michael, who sleeps on a cot a few beds over.
I hold Mhal's hand the entire time, my nails digging in as I scream inwardly, instead.
Share your pain with me, my mate soothes. I am here for you. Take my strength.
He talks me through every moment, and late in the night, my half-drakoni son is born. He's immediately handed off to Mhal, as Melina cleans me up. "You did amazing," the doctor tells me. "I'm impressed. Rachel cussed at me the entire time."
An angry wail splits the air, and Mhal's mind overflows with pure joy. He is very mad!
For some reason, that strikes me as funny. I chuckle, though the action hurts everything downstairs and then some. I fall back on the pillows, sweaty and exhausted. Well, sure. He just left my nice warm body for this hellhole.