Page 5 of Lorran
“And grieving Wyn got pushed around by people. You just existed. I can’t even remember the last time you worked on a painting,” Sonia said.
“I got pushed around byyou,” she retorted, because focusing on that was easier than poking at her lack of creative mojo.
“And I’m a dick. I know. I go on my tangents—”
“Rants.”
“But this isn’t about me. It’s about you doing the things you want to do, the way you want to do them. I’m so damn proud!” Sonia positively radiated happiness, sitting cross-legged on the bed. “So, what do we need to do? Oh my God, have you told your mom?”
“I literally just found out, so no.”
“You have to call Alana right now.” Wyn rolled her eyes, but Sonia said, “Don’t. Your momma is scary when she’s upset, and this will upset her.”
She had a point. The first Thanksgiving in college, Wyn brought Sonia home, since she had no place to go. Her parents welcomed Sonia without reservation and considered her to be another daughter. This covered all the good stuff like hugs and unconditional support, but also the bad stuff like judging life choices and speaking their minds.
“Fine, but let’s do dinner first. Mom will not let this go with a quick, ‘Hey, guess what? I married an alien and I’m moving. See ya.’ It’ll take hours.”
And Alana would insist on helping Wyn with the arrangements. She wishedthe arrangementsdidn’t sound so much like planning a funeral, but she had no idea what they would entail. Packing, certainly. Selling unneeded stuff like her vehicle. Transferring the utilities to Sonia’s name. Banking was supposed to work off-planet, but she needed to double-check.
Okay, there was a fair amount to be done.
“Let’s splurge my alien booty money on pizza,” Wyn said.
“We are not calling it that.”
“Booty. Money.” Wyn reached for her comm and pulled up the food delivery app. “The usual? BBQ Chicken with red onions for me. Sausage and mushroom for you. Done. Are we done talking?”
Sonia frowned. “You weren’t going to tell me.”
Wyn shrugged. “Eventually.”
“That’s really shitty.”
“I know. I was working myself up to it.” Never mind that it took hermonthsto work up the nerve to volunteer for testing. “I was definitely going to tell you before the military showed up on my birthday and hauled my butt off-planet.”
“Yeah, probably five minutes before the knock on the door,” Sonia muttered. “Fuck, I’m going to miss you.”
“Hard same. You’re my best friend. I can’t imagine not talking to you every day or arguing about who used the last of the coffee creamer.”
“I can’t believe you’re smiling. How can you be happy? You don’t know this alien or what he’s like, just that he’s willing to pump you full of alien babies.” Sonia sounded incredulous.
Wyn touched her face and discovered that she was, indeed, smiling. “It’s just…look, I’m glad the will-it-happen-or-won’t-it is over. And it’s scary, and this Lorran Rhew is a stranger—”
“Who might be a giant dick bag.”
“Who might be amazing,” Wyn said in a gracious tone, “or a giant dick bag. I can’t control that. You know those year-long galaxy cruises? Travel the stars on a luxury star liner. See the best sights in the universe. Be pampered like a rich fuck and never have to do your own laundry? I feel like I’m about to go on that trip. It’ll be a year of inspiration and plenty of time to work on my art.” Her stomach fluttered from excitement and nerves. It was amazing and terrifying.
“If you want to travel, those ships hire all the time. And the cabins are way too small for a studio. And it’s not a year, it’s for life.”
“Drawing or watercolors, and I know that.” Wyn liked the messy spontaneity of watercolor, but she loved drawing with charcoal and how it got under her nails.
“What if this alien is a giant dick bag? They’re bigger than us. Stronger. And you’ll be all alone.”
“Then I’ll get a divorce. I’m not without my rights.” Wyn grabbed the much-scrawled upon pamphlet and waved it at Sonia. The counselor at the volunteer center made sure Wyn understood her options if her match turned out to be less than amazing. But Wyn refused to believe that her Lorran Rhew was anything short of perfect. He was her alien, and he would cherish her. That’s what they said about the Mahdfel. Okay, on the network they said a lot of nasty things about the aliens, but there were just as many people singing their praises. “The divorce rate is really low too.”
“You know why that is, don’t you?” Sonia asked.
“Because everyone is blissed out on alien wang and living happily ever after?”
