Oden (24 page)

He grabs hold of my hips, still pumping, before he finds his own release, and my name on his lips leaves me feeling content.

For the first time in over a year, I can breathe without a heavy weight resting over my chest. For the first time in over a year, I can see a future that doesn’t look bleak and depressing.

I see Marduke and me together. I see what is coming for us. And it fills me with hope.

Everything is going to work out. We’re going to get through this, and maybe that happily ever after isn’t out of reach after all.

Chapter 17

Marduke

One year later

“I’m not sure about this,” Mattie mumbles. I know she’s not happy. She wanted to catch a flight to New Zealand, but I told her this was safer, quicker, and a lot easier. “What if someone sees this? They will freak out!”

“No one is going to see this. It’s been parked in your backyard for the past year, and it’s invisible!” I explain for perhaps the fiftieth time this week. My personal spaceship is small, only half the size of the house, and it’s made for quick transport. It has the feature of stealth, however there are no weapons. It’s purely made for travelling.

“I want to go on the ship!” Logan yells and Hannah quickly covers his mouth up.

“What did we say about keeping this a secret?” I ask Logan calmly.

“But you said I couldn’t tell anyone else. No one else is here with us,” he points out.

“Yelling it isn’t allowed, either,” Mattie reprimands. Immediately Logan looks distressed. He’s terrified of disappointing Mattie. I’m not sure he’s even aware of the hold she has over him. He absolutely dotes over her, and the thought of disappointing her upsets him greatly.

“But once we’re on the spaceship, you can yell as loudly as you want,” I say, picking him up and throwing him over my shoulder, getting a laugh out of him and a roll of the eyes from Mattie.

“Can we hurry up? I want to see this baby already!” Hannah whines.

“Fine, whatever!” While Mattie gives up arguing and reaches down to grab hold of her bag, I put Logan down and take the bag off her, reaching down and grabbing my own, too.

“How do you find the front door to this thing?” Hannah asks.

“Oh, right.” I place Mattie’s bag back down, which she then picks back up herself. I reach around to my back pocket to take out the monit, flashing the light over Hannah and Logan, and then over Mattie who winces at me as I do it. I quickly move the light over myself and materialize in the spaceship.

I grab hold of Mattie’s hand, feeling her pulse beating rapidly in her wrist. I know she doesn’t like the memories tied up with this form of transport.

“It’ll be over before you know it,” I whisper, then move over to the controls and start it up.

Logan unknowingly helps Mattie the entire trip by insisting she sing songs with him, and Hannah even joins in.

When we arrive over Lisa and Hank’s property, I thankfully have a wide open space to land. They are living deep in the country. Mattie told me it is over an hour drive to the local supermarket for them to get food supplies.

I land us to the side of their house, feeling some nerves starting up. I haven’t seen Lisa since I ensured her and her family boarded a plane back to New Zealand. At that point, she was not happy with me at all. Furthermore, I haven’t seen Hank since we were on Roth and he had no idea who I really was. I’m unsure of what reception I’ll be getting.

However, when we are all off the ship, Hank rushes out and gives Mattie a huge hug. He hugs Hannah then, introducing himself afterwards, and then he grabs hold of Logan and throws him over his back and proceeds to run around like a lunatic with way too much energy. Logan is loving it. Hope and Marie run out soon after he’s put down and chase him.

“What drugs is that guy on?” Hannah asks, only to receive a light-hearted slap on the shoulder from Mattie.

“Hank is high on life. Leave him alone.”

“Mattie?” Lisa moves slowly to the front door, appearing exhausted.

“Lisa!” Mattie and Hannah rush towards her. Within the blink of an eye, Hannah has the sleeping baby in her arms while Mattie is sitting Lisa down in a chair out on the deck.

I move hesitantly over to them, listening in as they chat amicably about everything.

“She’s gorgeous! Did you choose a name yet?”

“Yes, Angel because that is what she is to us.”

“Beautiful.” Mattie smiles at her and hugs her close. “It’s so good to see you. I see that Hank hasn’t lost any of his enthusiasm.”

She laughs, watching as Hank purposely falls over and all three kids leap over him.

“I don’t know where he finds all that energy. I’m exhausted as soon as I wake up,” she complains.

“Perhaps you’re having too many late night activities,” Hannah blurts out. Mattie leans over and hits her again. “Hey! You can’t do that when I’m holding Angel!” Hannah hisses.

The girls catch up, ignoring my presence. As soon as they begin talking about the birthing experience, I quickly make a beeline towards Hank. I take one last glance at Mattie to make sure she is all right with everything before turning back to Hank.

Mattie admitted she was worried about how she would feel seeing Lisa with her baby. I know I feel a pang every time I see a father with his child. It’s an experience I want to have with Mattie, but one she’s adamant she isn’t ready for.

When the girls scream at Hank, bringing me back to the present, I decide that I might as well test the waters with him now.

“Hey, man, how are you doing?” he asks me before I can greet him first. He reaches out his hand and we shake.

“Good, congratulations on your girl,” I say, grateful that he doesn’t appear angry and isn’t currently yelling or trying to kill me.

“Thanks. Best thing in the world. I was there in the room when Lisa gave birth, and wow, it was amazing. As soon as she started to come out—”

“I left the girls because they were talking about this, please don’t scar me,” I beg half-heartedly.

He laughs, clapping his hand over my shoulder. “All right, man, but you have to promise me that, when you and Mattie have a kid, you don’t miss out on that. It was amazing, life changing, fucking awesome.”

My smile fades as I look back over at Mattie. We have both have made huge progress over our grief, but I think having a baby is going to be a gigantic step for her. She’s not slipped up once with her birth control. Sometimes I can’t help myself, lost in the moment, but no matter what, Mattie is ready and responsible.

“Maybe one day.” I cough in an attempt to dispel the wistfulness in my voice.

“No,
definitely
one day,” Hank demands, winking when I glance at him.

“Why are you so okay with this? You know what I am, right?” Mattie said that Lisa had told Hank everything, but with the way he’s acting, maybe he doesn’t know it all.

“Listen, if Mattie had called up Lisa and said she was dating a guy and he was an alien, then I’d be worried, sure. But I already know you. I saw what you did for her, how you risked your life, and how much you love her. Do I wish you weren’t what you are? Sure. But it can’t be changed. And from what I saw of Mattie back in Sydney when we were waiting for my flight to New Zealand, she was a mess. She was so broken I hated leaving her. If I hadn’t known she was heading towards Hannah and Logan, I would have dragged her on that plane with me and forced her to stay with us. But look at her now. She’s smiling and happy. Lisa said she noticed the change in her over the phone immediately once you’d come back for her. So as long as you continue to make her happy, I’m willing to overlook your alien-ness.”

I nod, hating the way he describes Mattie’s pain to me, but relieved that she’s happier now.

“I consider it my job to keep her happy,” I admit.

“It is, and if you start slacking off on that job, then I will come all the way over to Victoria and kick your ass. Just know, if you hurt her, I won’t hesitate to kill you,” he says seriously.

I nod in agreement, grateful Mattie has such a good friend to look out for her.

“I might need your help killing someone else.”

“Really?” Hank’s eyes narrow as he gives me his full attention.

“Yeah, a kid has been hanging around Hannah, and I don’t like it. He tried to sneak into her room the other night, and I chased him out of the house with his pants around his feet. Hannah tried to hit me because she was so angry with me, but the kid is persistent. I don’t like it.”

“What does Mattie think?”

“At first she was with me, but now she thinks Hannah is old enough to make her own choices and that I should leave this Bray-douche-den kid alone.”

“Bray-douche-den?” Hank asks, laughing.

“It’s what Mattie first started calling him. Hannah has managed to get her to stop, but I’ve kept the name alive.”

“I think you’re doing the right thing. If he’s sneaking into her room, then they are hiding what they’re doing from you. And if they’re hiding that, what else are they hiding?”

I growl, my hands fisting. I suddenly have the urge to speak to Bray-douche-den and find out exactly what his intensions are with Hannah.

“Why does it matter what he and Hannah do anyway? She’s Mattie’s sister, not yours,” he points out.

“I love her, too. She is like a sister to me, and if anyone hurts her, then Mattie hurts. It’s easier to just protect them both, you know?”

Hank nods, his approval obvious. “Then I say beat the fucker.”

“What does fucker mean?” Logan asks, surprising us both. We turn around and find not only Logan, but Hope and Marie behind us, all gazing at us in confusion.

“Shit, forgot about the kids,” Hank grumbles.

“Shit?” Hope questions, and before she can say anything more that will definitely get Hank and me into trouble, he leans down and charges at her, hooking both her and Marie with each arm and picking them up.

While they cry in delight as he runs around with them like this, I decide distraction might be the right idea. I grab Logan and flip him upside-down, holding his legs up so he’s not close to the ground, and circle him around me. He screams in-between giggles, and I laugh along with him as I throw him up in the air and catch him.

He’s getting bigger these days, packing on the weight as he does, but I’m still able to do this. It saddens me a little to realise one day I won’t.

The girls go inside with the baby, and I stay out with Hank until we’re summoned back in because dinner is ready.

With the three kids, there is no break in loud talking all through dinner, and then we all sit outside, huddled in blankets, watching the sun set.

Lisa is cuddled with Angel. Hank has both girls wrapped around him, and to my left Logan and Hannah share a blanket. Everyone has fallen asleep except Mattie and me. I hold her close to me, my chin resting atop of her head as I watch the natural beauty that is Earth’s sun disappear from view.

“Angel’s adorable, isn’t she?” Mattie whispers.

“She is.”

“It makes me wonder… I just wish I got to hold Riley. I wonder what he would have been like.” Her voice wavers, but the tears don’t come. “Would he have had your green eyes? Your dimples? How would our skin tones have mixed? Would he have enjoyed playing sports? Maybe he would have played basketball, like me.”

“I wonder all of that, too. Maybe one day we’ll have the chance to hold our next baby in our arms, when we are both ready,” I say, holding my breath, waiting to see what her reaction will be.

She’s quiet for a while, and I know she will be able to feel how tense I am under her. I worry I’ve pushed her too far, but then she finally speaks up.

“Yes, when we’re ready, I think I would like to give that a try.”

“Really?” I squeak. This is the closest to an agreement I have ever received on the topic.

“Yes. Not now, and maybe not anytime soon, but eventually I think I’d like that. I know we’ll never get our time with Riley, but I’m not opposed to trying again. Just know that I am going to be the moodiest bitch when I’m pregnant, and I’ll probably be crying every other minute,” she warns.

“You? Moody?” I ask sarcastically and receive an elbow in my ribs for my joke.

“Watch it, or we won’t be having a child. Not because we’re not ready, but because you will be sleeping out on the couch.”

“We haven’t had sex on the couch yet. That might be fun,” I tease and she elbows me again.

“Don’t talk like that when we’re surrounded by family.”

I smile, grateful we’ve just had a conversation that involved future talk of a baby and Riley, and there were no tears or falling into depression.

“Fine, but when I get you alone, I’m going to talk so dirty to you that you will be begging me to do that thing I did the other night where—”

“Let’s get back in the house!” She sits up, pushing the blanket off us and checking on Hannah and Logan to make sure the blanket over them is still wrapped tightly and they are in fact asleep.

I watch her ass sticking out in the air, teasing me. She bends even lower to roll our blanket over them so they are doubled up. The air isn’t cold, but it might be soon. We’ll have to wake them all up soon, but not right now.

As soon as her hand lets go of the blanket, I wrap my arms around her middle and pick her up. She yelps, but manages to keep in anything louder that might wake the others up.

I run us back to the house, back towards our guest room, and all the stress and worry I’ve felt about coming here ebbs away. I’m accepted and welcome here.

My future with Mattie looks bright, and that is more than I could ever ask for. Everything is going to work out for us. As long as we have each other, we can face anything and survive it.