Page 25 of My Monster, My Choice

“None whatsoever,” Jaire says.

“Maybe she went back home.” Anya shrugs. “She wasn’t there the last time Jaire and I made a visit, but things might have settled down enough by now.” Then she turns to us. “I think Tera’s going to be so surprised to find you and Elex together. I can hardly wait.”

Elex pulls me close and presses a kiss to my hair. From a few feet away, we can hear Kenny.

“Ohs, they kiss all da time now.” A little giggle.

“Let’s go grab the chairs,” Jaire says to Elex, looking across the field. A group of humans are heading over, Dori in the group.

As the two men leave, Anya turns to me. “I can’t wait for Jaire’s mom to get here. We call hermaman. She’s going to love you and Dori so much. I’m glad you had a friend all these years.”

I smile softly. “Me too. The other parents of Kenny’s friends are pretty great too. We’re all a bunch of misfits who happened to find each other.”

“Just like me and the girls,” Anya says, rolling her eyes as Sydney shoves a grape into Elizabeth’s mouth and Kenny laughs.

“I love that they’ve accepted my son.”

“He’s Tera’s brother,” Anya says simply. “That makes him our brother. And while I’d like to call you mom, you’re way too young.”

“I’m going to love being called dad,” Elex grins. “As soon as Relion comes back.”

He and Jaire start laughing as they unfold the chairs.

“I’m really glad things have turned out the way they did,” Anya says to me, eyeing the two males as they wave to the newcomers to take a seat.

And it’s later, when everyone is satiated and relaxed, when the kids are playing and giggling, when Elex is sitting at my side as I visit with Dori, when Anya’s husband stands to speak.

“Well, our favorite dancers aren’t here,” he says, making his way to the middle of their dance area where lights hang from a tree. “But Anya and I can show you a little of what they do.”

When they perform, it’s the most beautiful, haunting dance I’ve ever seen. At the end, we clap and more Adroki males come out, asking women to dance. Dori leaves for the dance area with one and Elex holds his hand out to me.

I slide mine into his palm as he leads me out to the crowded dance floor. The music is softer now, and we sway in place. His arms feel so good around me, and I never want this moment to end.

“You know you’re mine?” Elex whispers softly. “There’s no other who makes me feel like you do. I love your daughter, I love your son, and I want him to be mine.”

“I think he already feels like he’s yours.”

His arms tighten around me with his emotion. God, the strength in his biceps. It feels like he shields me from the world and I never before knew I needed shielding. His arms are where I want to be.

“Kenny’s sleeping over at Simon and Aaron’s tonight,” I whisper. “They’re having a boy’s night. Sleeping bags in the backyard.”

“So it’s just you and I alone in the house, sweetness?”

“It is.” Deliberately, I press myself against him. “And I thought I’d do a little bit of exploring, if you don’t mind.”

“What kind?”

“I wouldn’t mind having a sexy man splayed out flat on the bed underneath me.”

“I wouldn’t mind that either.” He catches himself. “Wait. I mean…”

I laugh softly. “You wouldn’t mind being that sexy man?”

“Yes, I meant that,” he says, huffing lightly. “Naughty female. You get my thoughts all in a fluster.”

When line dancing lessons start, the kids join us and it’s so much fun that it’s easy to start yawning at midnight, when curfew is mandated for outside Earth. While Eden doesn’t have to follow the same rules, a lot of humans are used to it and begin to head home.

Elex and I both kiss Kenny goodbye, and Sean and Connor take the boys home. Sean winks and says they’ll probably play until two or three tomorrow.

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