Page 48 of Volunteer 4711

“You look as scared as the day you were dragged out of that farmhouse,” he says, offering me a glass of water.

I take a sip and then meet his sharp eyes. “It only just occurred to me that I don’t know much about being a wife.”

“Ask me anything, and I will answer honestly,” he says.

I relax a little. This is more the role I’m used to with him. Not him holding my hand or treating me like an equal, but him teaching me, guiding me through Silver life. I don’t know if I’ll always want this from him, but right now, I most certainly do.

“Am I your property?”

He hesitates to answer but then says, “Not in the way you might have been as a volunteer.”

“What’s the difference?”

“You have a higher status, and when I die, you are not tied to my estate as another good.”

“Do I still have a GC account?”

“Yes, but I have access to your money and control of it if I want.”

“You had that access before,” I say, brushing it aside. I’m not naïve enough to think I would have gained equality through marriage. I want to figure out what rights I might have earned besides the new name of ‘wife.’ “Can I still work?” I ask.

“Yes. However, some of your duties will change with your status. You can no longer do the laundry or enter the servants’ quarters.”

“You want me to stay here with you? There’s only one bed.”

“You are my wife.”

“I know, I just….” I trail off. “This is all so new and so fast.”

The look on his face tells me he’s deciding something; after a minute, he says, “Wife, how about you stop asking questions that are shots in the dark, and I tell you what I expect to happen?”

“Yes. That sounds more efficient.”

“You are my wife, meaning you no longer are a servant. I would be very happy for you to continue taking care of my personal correspondence and dressing me here if you so choose. I will still pay you the same salary, and you can choose to spend that money as you would like. If something were to happen to me, you inherit my wealth unless we have a son. I have no living male relatives. You can send messages just like before with your GC account, and I will not interfere.”

I sadly laugh. “You are my only contact in my GC account.”

“That will change,” he says. “You will be given a new wardrobe. You will sleep here with me. You will attend formal gatherings at my side and bear my children, if possible. Although, that’s something we must discuss with the doctor at a later time.”

“I don’t want to be sent away,” I interrupt.

“I would not send you away; that is why I married you. To keep you with me. Where did you get the notion I would send you away?”

“My friend told me that wives are sent back to the Home Planet when they have children.”

My Commander nods, understanding. “In other circumstances, yes, but we are different. You are different. I like being with you, and I think you like being with me too.”

“Yes, I do. But you have a house. I assumed that was what it was for.”

“If I had married someone else, yes, possibly. There are many versions of marriage.” He is quiet then and adds after a moment, “The other Water woman, she will have a marriage where I assume she will look forward to going to the Home Planet if she is able. But in my fleet, I let couples choose."

"Please don’t mention her. I don’t want to think about her today,” I say.

“I’ll say one last thing, she has my pity, and I think yours too.”

“Yes,” I reply. Then wanting to change the subject and my body suddenly taking over and thinking about his, I say, “You know, Water people’s anatomy is different.”

“I know,” he replies. “But we can make it work.”

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