Page 37 of Alien Protector's Nanny

The sight of Ayla peeking around the corner caught her eye, and a bit of guilt coiled in her. She desperately wished the young girl didn’t have to get caught up in all this mess. She hated leaving her.

Katie smiled at the girl and walked over to her. Ayla’s bottom lip trembled.

“You’re really leaving.”

Katie nodded. “I am, but I’ll see you again. I promise.”

“But why do you have to leave?” the girl protested.

“Believe me, I want to stay withyou. It’s just that …”

How to explain that her uncle was being a selfish jerk and now she was going to have to fight for Ayla? She wouldn’t say that, even if she wanted to. She already knew Axur would be willing to give the girl up since the military wouldn’t allow him to continue as her guardian much longer. But she didn’t want to say it so bluntly and upset the poor girl or make her feel unloved by her uncle.

“It’s just that it’s time for Katie to move on.”

Katie tensed at the voice behind her. She’d only spoken to him once since their fight, and that was to tell him she was going to request custody of Ayla.

“Why don’t you go get the goodbye present you made for her?” Axur suggested, basically dismissing the girl.

As soon as Ayla was out of earshot, Katie whirled on the general.

“All right, you obviously got rid of her because you wanted to talk. So talk.”

The general studied her for a moment. It reminded her of when she first started here. How he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her. But now they knew each other too well for that to be the case. She met him with a hard stare.

He was walking around a lot more. He already started physical therapy, and from what she heard, he’d be service-ready in a couple of weeks. Just like he wanted.

“I just wanted to smooth things out before you left,” Axur finally said. “I don’t think we should leave on bad terms.”

Katie’s nails practically dug into her palms. “Oh, so you get to dump me and choose your career over everything we made, butI’mthe one who’s being unreasonable.I’mthe one who needs to leave with a good attitude. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s not going to happen.”

“That's not what …” He let out a frustrated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not wording this correctly.”

Katie snorted. She doubted anything he had to say was going to be worthwhile.

“I really do care for you, Katie,” he continued. “And it’s not that I don’t wish things could be different, but this is simply how it is.”

She huffed. Sure enough, it was definitely not worthwhile. “No, it’s not ‘simply how it is.’ It’s what you choose.”

Katie turned to leave but then abruptly stopped and swiveled back to him. “And for the record, you don’t deserve Ayla, either. No kid deserves to be second in their parent’s life to their job. So at that hearing, I will fight for her with everything I have.”

Then she stormed off without another word and up to her room to finish packing. She was ready now to leave.

Katie wasn’t really sure what to expect when she left. Would there be a shouting match with the general before slamming the door in her face? Would he not so much as give her a single thought as she went out the door? Or would Lisa simply show her the way out?

What she hadn’t expected was for Axur and Ayla to be waiting for her next to the door. For a fleeting instant, she wondered if he’d somehow changed his mind. But he had a neutral look on his face, and Ayla looked far too sad.

Katie dropped her bags on the ground and held out her arms for a hug from the young girl. Ayla immediately barreled into her and held on tightly.

“Please don’t go.”

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart, but I need to go for now. But I promise, I’ll be at that hearing to make sure you come back with me.”

Ayla pulled just enough away from her to shake her head. “But why can’t I stay with both of you?”

Katie bit back her immediate and angry reply. Ayla didn’t deserve that.

“Because that’s just the way things are,” she said softly, brushing the tears from Ayla’s face.

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