Page 19 of My Monster, My Choice

“See that? Even more perfect,” Dori says.

“Isn’t he?” I can’t help the glow in my eyes.

She has a small smirk like she knew this would happen all along but of course she didn’t. I’m glad that like attracts like. That my clan, my people, all have open minds. That they don’t discriminate and aren’t small minded. Of course, most of us have been on the receiving end of people believing our kids were cursed, or worse, contagious, so we’re conscious of it. But I’m glad that for once I can let my guard down. That I don’t have to fight and claw my way through life because it seems like I have to defend every person I love. Before I learned how to fight, I lost loved ones. My fiancé and my brothers. Carlton, I lost by death, both brothers I had taken by circumstance. After my marriage, my new husband didn’t allow me to reach out to them.

I never want to go back there again. I never want to lose anyone, not again. So, I’ve been unconsciously fighting through life and now, in this annexed land called Eden, I can stop and breathe for just a moment.

I can love without reservation.

And I’m going to love hard and love long.

“That’s it, Dori,” one of the Adroki males says. “You want to come inside and tell us where to put all the furniture?”

“Don’t feel like you have to decide right away,” Elex says. “You can have them move something to one spot and have them move it across the room if you want to see how it looks there.”

“Oh, I couldn’t!” Dori says, eyes huge.

“We’re a lot stronger than humans,” Elex says. “Look at them. They’ve hardly broken a sweat.” He indicates the movers with a chin nod. The goofy aliens take a step apart from each other and begin to pose like bodybuilders in a competition.

“It’s no problem,” the first mover says to her, scowling at the guys behind him and making them sober up. “Really.”

“Well, if you’re sure.” Then she winks at me and I’m sure she’s going to have them re-arrange stuff just so she can watch them move. It’s not hard to stare at the muscles that flex so easily.

Next to me, Elex growls. He looks adorably jealous, glaring at the movers who still pose, their chests various shades of purple gleaming with a hint of sweat.

“Come on, handsome,” I say, winking at him. “I’ll let you move my furniture around.”

Just like that, his expression clears.

We ignore the sniggers behind us as we head to my house.

As soon as we enter, we can hear Kenny and his friends upstairs putting things away. They must’ve escaped from Dori’s back door and headed to our house. Elex and I pop our heads in to check on them.

“Mum, we gonna goback outta theirs houses too,” Kenny says, his speech slurred with excitement. “All day, back and forth.”

“Yah, we’s gonna spend an hour putting away his toys and then we gonna go do mine, then we gonna go do Suz’s,” Irene says.

“We have big plans,” Susie says.

“Okay, but you remember the rules. A grownup has to know where the three of you are so make sure you say hi when you pop into someone’s house.”

“Oh, yeah, I tole them, mum. An’ is so polite!” he agrees. His mood is so great, he pops up and kisses me, then hugs Elex around the waist.

“Me and Elex will be in the kitchen putting away stuff,” I say.

As Elex and I head out, Kenny calls out again. “Mum, you gotta biiig bed. We don’ even need the third room and bed forpap—for Elex. He’s can share your big one.”

I freeze in place and look back over my shoulder. My son is grinning huge, then goes back to opening a box like nothing is wrong. The other kids cheer when they see the contents.

Elex nudges me with a tentacle. “Let him have his moment, beautiful.”

Acceptance. Both Elex and my son. I’m not sure how my life changed so drastically in a short week, but I consider myself the luckiest woman on the planet.

Next to my daughter, at least. Who seems to have found her own happily-ever-after. I have six months to catch up. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if she came home to find we were also a happy couple?

We work companionably in the kitchen, me sneaking peeks at his muscled biceps as he works. He breaks down the boxes and says he’ll return them to the moving trucks but will keep a couple large ones for Kenny. The thought makes me smile. It doesn’t matter how much technology people have—how much freedom, how many toys—kids will be kids. A cardboard box inspires imagination and is the finest toy around.

The fact that Elex realizes that is even more amazing. He’s the perfect man.

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