Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

JADE

F luffy, white snow blankets the ground and trees around us, creating a picturesque Christmas. The rest of Havok’s crew arrived in the past few days which meant we’ve had plenty of hands pitching in. The tree has a bright copper star Melikk fabricated, silver threads for tinsel courtesy of McKenna, strings of fovi berries thanks to Makov and Emily, and pictures the kids drew hang from the tree. Once Torin flushed out the sartog living in the tree, it’s been rather peaceful here.

Too peaceful. I miss my sholan. Constantly smiling for the kids’ sakes is wearing on me. I stare out the window while Emily and Makov clear the dinner dishes behind us.

Ruby wraps me in a tight hug. “He’ll be here.”

“You never worry about anything.”

“Sure I do. I just don’t show it.” She kisses my cheek and I wander over to the common area where McKenna and Remmikov are spreading out the last of the blankets and pillows for all the kids. I’ve lost count at this point, but they appear to have everything in hand .

Mak and Em have Clem’s room, and McKenna and Remmikov have Crispin’s. The remaining couples will sleep aboard The Relentless which Torin landed a few hundred feet away from the house. Once the kids settle for the night, I’ll head upstairs and stare at the ceiling as I wait for sleep to claim me. If that’s even possible.

“Hurry, everyone,” Emily announces. “Santa can’t visit if you’re all running around. You need to get to sleep.”

“What about the cookies?” my Clementine asks.

“I cooked another batch,” Emily answers. I laugh a little. She never gives up which makes having her here so crucial, even if most of her cooking is inedible. “Why don’t you and the others each take a cookie and put the rest on the plate for Santa.”

“Did you make extra for Daddy? He’ll be home for Christmas. He promised.”

“I saved a bunch just for your dad.” She did, too. I saw the plate she set aside for Havok. Not just cookies. An entire meal.

I lose it right there and race upstairs so no one can see me cry. Torin follows me up.

“He said he’d be home in time,” I say with my back to him as I face the window.

“And he will.”

“What if he’s lost?

Torin harrumphs. “Havok doesn’t get lost. You could blindfold him, tie his hands behind his back, drop him in a mud pit on Trinoth, and he’d still find his way back to you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because he’s spent his entire life fighting against others. When he found you and Clementine, I saw the change in him, Jade. Now he fights for you. Everything he does is for you and your younglings. He will return.”

“Go to sleep,” Ruby says beside him. I didn’t even hear her enter, but she’s never far from him. The connection of mates. I look inside myself and feel Havok in my soul. He’s okay. I know it, but I need to see it with my eyes, to wrap my arms around him and breathe him in.

I flash them both a quick smile. The bedroom door clicks shut and I lie down. “Sholan, I’m waiting for you,” I whisper as I close my eyes.

I wake up with a start. I don’t know what woke me, but it’s dark as can be outside and the house is completely quiet.

Except a faint knock at the front door.

I race to my window and see a ship has landed in the distance. My heart sinks. It’s a small ship, the type the military uses for quick travel on Zyan, not the larger vessels they use for interstellar missions.

Dread weaves through me with every step I take down the stairs. The white lights flickering on the tree, individual ornaments Melikk designed, cast a soft light over the room and the sea of sleeping children. Crispin and Clementine lie curled up against their cousins.

Slowly, I tiptoe through the maze of children in their colorful pajamas, and head to the door.

I take one deep breath before opening it.

Havok is fine. This is not bad news. He’s late. That’s all.

Finally, I open the door. My eyes shoot to the incredibly broad shoulders and silver eyes of a Zyanthan male, but it’s his uniform that shatters me. A zyanthan soldier who has no reason to be here, except to deliver bad news.

Just as my entire body begins to shake, a shadow overtakes me from behind. “It’s okay, Jade,” Makov says, placing a hand on my shoulder. “This is my cousin Jaizon. Who apparently re-enlisted in the military since I last saw him a week ago. A head injury Jaizon?”

Jaizon takes in the site of all the kids sleeping on the floor. “Are you looking for a beating, Mak? We can go outside if you’d like.”

“You’re not here with news about Havok?” I ask.

“I’m not part of the ZDC anymore. The uniform is in case anyone catches me landing on Zyan illegally.”

“Illegally?”

“Not through a base or port.”

“I’m stopping in to say hi to Torin. I had to make a delivery nearby and I can’t stay long. I need to get home to my family for Christmas.”

“Christmas?” I repeat. “Oh, that’s right. You’re married to a human as well. We haven’t met before. I’m Jade.” I extend my hand, then quickly withdraw. Zyanthans don’t shake hands. With my thoughts on Havok, I’m not thinking clearly. “I’d love to have you and your family over the next time you’re on Zyan. We humans who are mated to Zyanthan warriors are close, but there’s always room for more.”

“This is my first time…home… in years, but I will tell Anya of your invitation.” He struggles with the word ‘home,’ even as his eyes meet Makov’s.

“Come, we’ll wake Torin,” Makov says.

I don’t ask Makov what he’s carrying in the bag as he leaves the house, or why he’s stopping outside the door to grab a hand full of snow. Jaizon’s silver eyes light as Makov packs the snow into a sizeable snowball, and forms a snowball of his own. I watch as the two sneak off toward the ship, and I do mean sneak . They’re in warrior mode, planning an attack.

I laugh, as a sense of normalcy returning as I head upstairs with a new idea. Just because Havok didn’t make it home before Christmas Eve doesn’t mean we can’t extend Christmas until he does. This is Zyan. New world, new rules. It has been since the beginning, but somewhere along the way I got so wrapped up in making everything perfect for the holiday I forgot what Christmas and living on Zyan with my family, new and old, is all about.

I actually bounce as I take the stairs. In a few hours, I’ll wake up to the giggles, screeches, and sounds of kids bursting with joy as they open their presents. And I will remember and recount every screech and smile to my sholan. And maybe leave the mess for him to enjoy as well. Nothing says Christmas like wrapping paper and ribbons all over the floor. Or in this case, zyanthan cloth bags and twine with flowers and fovi sprigs attached.

I fall asleep easier than expected, dreaming of my sholan and the Christmas we’ll have when he returns.