Page 39 of His Little Turquoise
“How about you make an exception,” she suggests.
I chuckle as I rise and adjust her so she’s propped on my hip.
She wraps her arms around me and plasters her chest to me, hiding. I’ll allow that for now. With my free hand, I tuck her three dolls into a pack and settle it on my shoulder. She can hold Pokey.
“Nice to meet you, Mia. I’m Riand. I handle transportation to and from the starship.” He grabs the duffle I left sitting on the coffee table and swings it up over his shoulder.
“Hi,” Mia whispers against my neck. She’s being very shy. Maybe she’s always shy. She certainly was when I first met her. But more likely this is a result of her exposed chest.
I follow Riand to the elevator and enter, hugging Mia close.
“Is the pod like a space ship?” she asks timidly.
“Yep. It’s kind of cool. It will quickly take us to the mothership where we will get you entered into their system and get all the bureaucratic part sorted out. Then we’ll visit the doctor and work on getting cleared for the trip home.”
Her eyes are wide as we get off the elevator on the top floor and head for the stairs that take us the rest of the way to the roof. The pod sits on a pad sort of like a helicopter, and I hold Mia close as I duck to enter the enclosed space.
“How is this thing going to take us to outer space? It doesn’t even have rockets under it,” Mia asks as I lower her into a seat specifically designed for Little girls.
“Our technology is far more advanced, Little one. We don’t need rockets. It will take off a bit like a helicopter and then move at a very rapid speed toward the starship. We’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” I reach for one of the shoulder straps and tuck her arm into it before doing the same on the other side. After fastening the two shoulder straps between her breasts, I lift another strap up between her legs and secure it firmly to the other section, giving it a tug to make sure it’s tight.
Mia hugs Pokey to her front with a death grip.
“No reason to be afraid, Baby girl,” I assure her as I sit in the seat next to her and fasten my seatbelt.
Riand settles in the seat in front of us at the controls, makes several checks and adjustments, and then we lift off.
Mia gasps as she turns to look out the window. “I can’t believe it. We’re leaving Earth. Will I ever be back?” She glances at me.
I set a hand on her thigh and give it a squeeze. “No, Baby girl. You’ll see Earth from outer space right now as we leave, but you won’t see it again in person. Only pictures.”
She doesn’t say another thing as she watches us grow farther and farther from her home planet.
I feel her grief. This is huge. No matter what kind of life each Little girl led on Earth before she was claimed by one of us, they each grieve in their own way. It’s the only home she’s ever known, and until tonight, she never dreamed she would ever leave the surface except perhaps to fly to another location.
We are already much higher than an airplane ascends, and her eyes are wide as saucers as she watches. They are glistening with unshed tears too. She’s trying to be brave.
Twenty minutes later, we land on a large arm of the mothership and Riand drives the pod into the interior where we can safely disembark.
Mia is still quiet as I unfasten her buckles and lift her into my arms. I settle her on my hip again and pat her bottom when she wraps her arms around my neck, keeping Pokey between us.
After gathering up our belongings, I head for processing. Jefared lifts his gaze and smiles as we approach. He stands a moment later. “Surgient. Good to see you. That didn’t take long,” he teases me. “You just left this afternoon. You never even had a chance to sleep a single night on Earth. This must be Mia.”
Mia buries her head against my neck, and I rub her back as I respond. “I knew Mia was mine as soon as I saw her. I didn’t need any more time.”
Jefared smiles. “Please. Have a seat. Let’s get Mia entered into the system. Dankin is waiting for you in the clinic.”
As I sit, she burrows into me, her small arm wrapped tightly around my neck, her face still buried.
“Do you have her ID?”
“Yes.” I reach down to open my pack and pull out her small pink purse to extract her ID and hand it to Jefared.
“Perfect. I’m sure you already did a full medical exam. Did you find anything of concern?” Jefared asks.
“Nope.” I rub her back again. Her heart is racing. She’s nervous and stressed. I can’t blame her. Every single Little girlI’ve received from this very room over the past two years was at least as unnerved as mine.
“Do you have any medical conditions or allergies we should know about, Mia?” Jefared asks.
