Page 52 of So I Married an Alien
Sylvia and her daughter, Izzy, are playing on the playground when I arrive.Izzy runs over, and it is probably the one bright point in my day when she skids to a halt in front of me, buzzing with questions.We begin our walk, and I answer her as best I can.
While Izzy is distracted by a dog coming the other way, Sylvia tips her head in my direction.“You seem sad today, Roth’kar.”
I can’t possibly express what I really feel with words, the bottomless pain I feel knowing what’s coming, so I simply nod.
“What happened?I thought things were going well with the wife?”
I stuff my lower hands in the pocket of my jeans, a habit I’ve picked up since living on Earth.My other pair of arms cross over my chest protectively.“She has asked me to leave.”
Sylvia’s taken aback.“Really?Why?That’s awful.”
“I made a mistake when this all began.I came here under false pretenses.I lied to her.”
There, I’ve said it.And knowing Amara now, knowing how she is always honest and trusting, I also understand why it cut her deep.
“I’m surprised to hear that.”Sylvia interrupts herself to call Izzy, who has now run off into the grass to investigate the duck pond.“That doesn’t sound like you.”
I shrug.“It is the truth.And now my wife wants nothing more to do with me.”
“Well, if you need somewhere to stay, we have a couch.”She sighs.“That’s so sad.You seemed like a good match.”
“We are,” I say firmly.“I believe that we would have been a very good pair.We complement each other well, and we have… a certain attraction to one another.”
Her brows draw together.“Then why does it sound like you’ve accepted that it’s over?”
“Because she has made that clear to me.”
And I don’t want to encroach on Amara further when she has already given me so much, and once we separate, she plans to give me more to help me get on my own two feet.It is the worst outcome, surely, but there’s nothing I can do to change it now that she’s made up her mind.
I have learned much about my wife in the last few days.I thought her sweet and soft, but she is also fierce to protect herself.
“So you’re just going to roll over?”Sylvia asks.
“Roll over?”
“You’re going to roll over like a dog and let it happen.”
“I willneverbe like a dog.”I cross my arms even tighter across my chest.
“Then don’t act like one,” Sylvia says as Izzy comes running back from examining the ducks.“She must care about you.”
“She did.”I feel certain about this.“But not anymore.”
“Surely she still does.Those feelings don’t just go away overnight.”
Little does she know about Amara.Her devotion and love are just as deep as her hurt.
Sylvia pats my arm.“Put up a fight.Don’t let her go.Figure out how to get through to her, or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t have a life without her,” I say, without realizing the words have left my lips.“She is the only thing in the world that has ever mattered to me.”
It’s true, now that I’ve said it aloud.Never have I cared for someone like Amara.Never have I wanted for someone’s happiness like Amara’s.And that is why, if she thinks she would be better without me, it’s my job to let her have that.
“What are you talking about?”says Izzy, taking her mother’s hand.
“Roth’kar’s wife.She’s mad at him.What do you think he should do to make it up to her?”
Izzy taps her chin.“Flowers are boring.You have to show you’re really sorry.”
