Page 17 of So I Married an Alien
ChapterSeven
Amara
It wasobvious by the drooping of his antennae that Roth’kar didn’t know what to do with the tailor’s question.Do you have any color preferences?I remembered his empty bag and how he came to me with nothing but the clothes he was wearing.
It was as if the question made no sense.
There are so many things I want to know about him, but Roth’kar isn’t the most forthcoming about himself.Maybe I just need to get him in the right environment and he’ll open up a little.
I want to get to know my new husband better.
It’s more than a few blocks to the park, but eventually we make it.There’s a sand pit where some little kids are playing, and a jungle gym next to it.I loop my hand around Roth’kar’s arm again, and this time, he gently lays his hand on top of mine.
“I like this walking,” he says.He isn’t looking at me, but his cheeks are a tinge darker purple.
This brings a smile to my face.He enjoys me holding his arm, I think.That’s a good step.
The children on the playground catch his attention, and Roth’kar flinches when one of them screams.
“Are they injured?”He looks prepared to leap into action should one of the children be hurt, but I hold him back, trying not to laugh.
“It’s okay.They’re fine.That’s just how children play.”
“Humanchildren,” he says, still giving the playground a wary look, as if he might need to catch a falling Earthling at any moment.“I have never seen a Karthinian child behave that way.”
I wonder what growing up on his spaceship was like if this is how he feels about kids playing.
“Did you ever run around and play with your friends?”
Roth’kar’s antennae curl down, though his expression betrays nothing.
“I did not.”He turns toward the trees ahead.“Do they have names, these different sorts of trees?”
So he wants to change the subject.What was his childhood like that he avoids talking about it?Guess I’m going to play amateur arborist.
I tip my head and study the branches overhead.“I don’t know all the names, but I can tell you that there are two kinds.”
I explain the difference between deciduous and coniferous trees, and he pulls off a leaf.He rubs it as we walk, absorbing the texture of it.
“Marvelous,” Roth’kar says after I’ve been quiet for a while.“There is so much life here.So many varieties.”
Then, out in front of us, a squirrel shoots across the path.Roth’kar leaps back, nearly pulling me down to the ground, and he lets out a sharp cry.
“What is it?!”I search for the source of his alarm.
The squirrel sprints up the tree, and he points at it.“That… thatthing!” He clutches his chest like he’s trying to stop his heart from escaping.“What was that?”
“A squirrel?”I peer up at it as it scurries away into the tree.“It can’t hurt you.”
“It can bite,” Roth’kar points out.“Like you said.And what if it came back with others?What if you were swarmed by them?”He shivers.“It moves so quick, it would be over before it even started.”
I stand there, gaping at the direction his imagination has taken.
“I promise the squirrel won’t return with his friends.”I take his arm once more and urge him to follow me down the path.
“You don’t know that.”
Roth’kar’s grip is a little more forceful now as we continue.Joggers and cyclists stare as they pass us, but he seems unaffected.Aliens still aren’t common on Earth, and a little girl points and shouts, “Mom!Alien!”as she goes by.
