Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“High five and a hug,” he corrected and wrapped his arms around me. I gave him snuggles and kissed his forehead, which made him smile big at me.
I really wanted to give them to him. Brothers and sisters with his and his and his daddy’s curls and his daddy’s eyes. The kids didn’t need to look a bit like me. In fact, I’d be tickled pink if they were mirror images of Ollie.
I made a big production of tucking him in snugly and then told him to have awesome dreams.
“I’m glad you’re here, Tanya. I’m glad Daddo was able to get you before anyone else did.”
“Me, too, Ollie.”
“Do you miss your home?” he asked.
“Not even a bit.”
He gave me a beaming smile.
“Will you marry my Daddo if he asks?”
Whoa. Talk about being put on the spot.
“I like him a lot, Ollie. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.” I tried to hide my emotions behind a smile.
“You’ll say yes.” He gave me a knowing smile.
“Maybe,” I winked.
“You will. You’re gonna be my new momma. I like that you said momma when you talked about Chili’s mother because I didn’t want to say my old mommy and my new mommy. Now I can say my mommy and my momma. So, everyone will always know who I’m talking about without me having to explain.”
His words made me want to burst into tears. Tears of joy. And his lips moved a little different than what I’d heard and I really wanted to know what the language sounded like and what the nuance of difference was between Mommy and Momma.
He was getting way ahead of himself. And it hurt my heart because this sweet, motherless, intelligent little boy wanted me to be his momma and I was all-in for that. All. In. I was falling for Zane and his son and wanted nothing more than to take care of both of them.
“Think Chili is gonna be okay in the storage room?” Ollie’s face went serious.
“Oh.” I waved my hand. “Of course. Your daddy wouldn’t put him there if not.”
“But he’s gonna get lonely. He’d be much happier sleeping with me. I read up on them today and they need to be with their colony or they get panicked. And he’s so little.”
“Yikes. Did you tell your dad that?”
“I did, but Daddo is being stubborn.”
I shrugged. “Daddo’s the boss.”
“We’ll get him out of fuschilla prison before morning meal,” Ollie told me matter-of-factly.
“It’s a plan. Goodnight sweet boy.”
He smiled a beaming smile at me with dimples. So much like his daddy.
“All tucked in snug as a bug in a rug?”
He tilted his head at me with a surprised look.
“What I just said to you all rhymes in my language, making it fun to say. Does it rhyme in yours?”
“Nnooooo….”
“Oh. Well… never mind. Have a good sleep.”
He giggled. “I will. I’d like to learn your language, Tanya.”
“I’d like to learn yours, too.”
“If anyone can help us figure it out, it’s Daddo. He can figure anything out.”
“I believe that, Ollie.”
He snuggled in and closed his eyes.
I climbed backwards down the treehouse ladder and turned the light off.
The ceiling over Ollie’s treehouse retracted, revealing a gorgeous star-filled sky. I blinked in surprise. Would the way this sky looked continue to surprise me each night? It was as if a rainbow had leaked into a sky where if we just stretched and got up on our tippy toes, we could actually touch the colorful stars.
I wandered out to the lounge, my heart racing because I knew I should get geared up to kick things into high gear. I hated the idea of trying to trick Zane into marrying me by seducing him because he seemed so determined to take things slow. And I had never tried to push something with anyone before. But he clearly liked me and evidence was glaringly obvious that he didn’t know he had to bed me in 20 more hours, max, otherwise… lose that opportunity because I’d be dead.
I hated the desperation I was feeling. I wanted to just jump ahead to the ‘after’ part. The afterglow of knowing I was safe, that I was his. That my adventure, my life on this beautiful new planet wasn't about to end.
He was on the big comfy red velvety sofa, a bottle in his left hand, his right arm thrown over the back of it. He took a swig of the bottle and blew his hair out of his eyes, looking conflicted about something.
Was it about me? My heart flared.
He spotted me and smiled. The smile looked genuine. But it bothered me that he’d looked so fraught with stress just a second earlier.
I’d been in a secret state of ongoing stress since I got here. What was Zane wrestling with? Was it to do with me? Was it feelings about his deceased wife?