Chapter Nine

Chapter 9

SOFIA TRIED NOT TO tremble as she sat on the couch next to Braax in his old family home. Yes, she was meeting her alien husband’s family, wearing the nicest thing she had brought, a lemon yellow dress that grazed her knees.

The meeting had gone well so far, his mother, Evar, giving her a squeeze of a hug as his father shook her hand vigorously. He had three siblings, all older than him, with mates and offspring of their own. Despite the house being full of people, Sofia was the only human, and she couldn’t help but notice the lingering stares directed her way.

Braax held her hand as his mother stared at her, a not quite approving look on her face.

She cleared her throat loudly before speaking, green eyes directed right at Sofia.

“Braax, dear, how in the world will a frail thing like this be able to bear Hileth offspring?”

All the breath left Sofia’s lungs, the question so similar to ones she’d heard all too often on Earth. Prying questions that were really no one’s business but that of the couple involved.

Braax gave her hand a squeeze, eyes narrowed into a glare.

“Mother, I told you we will not be having offspring.”

Evar scoffed, waving a hand at her son as her husband sat silently next to her.

“Oh, well dear, I thought you were joking. You know how much I want more grandchildren.”

People did that back on Earth too, made your choice—or non-choice—to be childfree about themselves. They wanted grandchildren, they wanted nieces and nephews, they wanted a playmate for their own kids. Never mind the fact that she had tried for years with no luck, treatments that caused her endo to spiral out of control, the pain utterly overwhelming until her hysterectomy.

All of Braax’s siblings stared at her, and Sofia wished she could disappear straight into the couch.

“Mother!” he barked, exasperated. “I explained this to you. Please do not bring this up further.”

“Oh, but dear, think how wonderful it would be to have your offspring around. You would be such a good father. You always talked about how much you wanted to be a parent when you were young. Your wife is selfish if she plans to deny you the joys of child rearing. Raising you and your siblings was the best thing I have ever done. I was nothing before I had—”

“Enough!” Braax yelled, standing up and dragging Sofia along with him.

Tears welled in her eyes as her husband fumed next to her, a vicious glower eviscerating all in the room.

“You will not speak about my wife that way. I am the one who does not want offspring, and you can either accept it or let it ruin our relationship.”

He stalked off, pulling Sofia along with him as they made a swift exit, the room utterly silent behind them. Her head swam as the cool breeze blew against her, the sun blinding her for a moment after the dimness of the home. Her husband said nothing as he opened her door, gesturing for her to enter the hovercar before stalking around to the driver’s side.

It was a long moment before he got in, his eyes soft as he looked at her. He took her hand again, giving it another squeeze.

“I am sorry for what my mother said.”

Sofia just smiled, though a knot still blocked her throat, tears stinging her eyes. She needed time to think, her mind moving a mile a minute. Braax had told her he didn’t care about the reproduction aspects of mating, didn’t care that she could provide him no offspring, but that’s not what his mother said. Her heart raced as he released her hand, skillfully directing the hovercar towards the stream of traffic in the distance.

This was all her fault, for believing him, for being difficult. The familiar feelings of guilt and anxiety coursed through her, her little safety cloud struggling to hold form after the confrontation. The ride home was short and silent, tense energy emanating through the confined space.

Back in the relative safety of Braax’s home, Sofia finally spoke.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“Do what?” he asked, as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Pretend that you don’t want kids for my sake. You could’ve just told your mom the truth, that it’s all my fault, that you got a defective wife.”

He looked physically pained at her words, moving close and trying to put his arms around her, but she held her hands out to stop him.

“Sofia, why would you say that? You… you are not defective. You have done nothing wrong.”

“Stop lying to me!” she yelled, anger threatening to bubble over. “You told me you didn’t care about children… when we first met. And I believed you.”

Braax eyed the ground, shuffling his feet with his arms behind his back like he did when he was nervous.

“I… apologize. I will admit, I was shocked when you told me you could not bear offspring. Though my familial obligations were the main reason I contacted the agency, I did think that perhaps I could start a family, have children. But I wanted to try things out with you, and now I am perfectly happy. Please, you must know that.”

“ Try things out with me ?” Sofia struggled to keep her voice calm. “And if you didn’t like me, were you just going to return me?”

“That is not what I meant…”

But that is what he meant. He had wanted a woman who could satiate his human perversion and his family’s expectations, his own desire for children. And what he got was her, someone who could not accommodate all of those things.

Braax reached for her again, and she stepped away, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Please… just leave me alone. I can contact the agency in the morning to start the return process.”

It had been stupid to get attached, to think this was anything more than what it was.

“Return?” His entire body slumped as he spoke, his voice almost a whisper. “Is that what you want? To leave me?”

The words were like a knife to her heart, stabbing and twisting as his eyes glimmered with wetness. Why was he making this about her? He was the one who took her out of pity.

Sofia was tired, so tired, had been for so long. Without another word, she trudged to the bedroom, dragging pillows and a fluffy blanket towards her studio. Braax moved to follow her, but the glare she delivered was enough to stop him in his tracks.

She needed to think, needed to sleep, needed to get away.

Dual sunbeams shone in through the window, rousing Sofia from her unsatisfying slumber. She groaned, stretching her muscles after a night spent on the floor of the studio, fitful sleep on a nest of blankets and pillows. She wrapped her arms around her knees, wishing she could just disappear, teleport back to Earth so she wouldn’t have to face Braax.

Her husband.

The return process would not be simple, not since they were already married. Still, mates were supposed to be protected, and now that she knew he didn’t want her…

The thought of sharing his bed—sharing anything with him—was unbearable.

A knock at the open door stirred her, and she turned to see Braax at the doorway.

“Sofia, please, can we talk?” His voice was so low, so dripping with melancholy, it almost broke her heart.

Almost .

“Go away. I told you I’d take care of it.”

Her husband breeched the terminus of the studio, standing over her with his arms crossed over his chest, the nerves from last night replaced with utter confidence. She glared up at him, and the way her core twisted with unconscious arousal made her want to scream.

“Come. Sit with me on the couch. I will not let you contact the agency until you let me speak.”

Braax’s words were firm, and as much as Sofia didn’t want to face him, she supposed she owed him that much. She could sit through some stupid excuse or bumbling explanation, then sort out the return process. He reached a hand down to her and she reluctantly took it, letting him heave her up off the ground.

They moved to the living room, Sofia making sure she sat a good distance from him on the massive couch.

The cloud expanded, the one in her chest, protecting her from her emotions. Numbing her to the world. She silently thanked it as Braax spoke.

“Sweet Sofia, my beautiful wife. I am sorry for not being honest with you. I am sorry for making you feel like I did not want you. As soon as I saw your holophoto, your profile, I knew I needed you to be mine.”

The words choked her, a tight ball knotting her throat, and she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to focus on the cloud shielding her.

“Your value lies in so much more than the potential for offspring. Your kindness, your artistry, your sweet smile, your intelligence, those are the things I… love about you. I will admit, I may have set out for a mate to appease my parents, to do what I was told was the proper way to have a family. But that was not the only reason. I have been alone for so long. I always thought that was how I wanted things to be, but with you, I can see that I was not just alone, I was lonely. You cannot leave me, Sofia, please. I need you.”

Braax’s words cut deep, her chest welling with emotion. No one had ever spoken to her that way, not on Earth, a world obsessed with parenthood and fertility. The cloud was dissipating, slipping away no matter how desperately she tried to cling to it, tears burning at her eyes. He moved quickly, before she could react, falling to his knees in front of her, clawed hands clasped together, green eyes glimmering.

“Please, Sofia. Forgive me. I love you… I-I cannot lose you.”

Tears streamed down her face, her entire body clenched with emotion. How long had it been since she cried like this? They had refused to fall for years, even after she found out about Greyson’s infidelity, even when she signed the divorce papers. Treatment failure after treatment failure and no tears came, but now they were like a waterfall, one she was unable to stop.

Without a word, Braax sat next to her, pulling her into his lap. Sofia wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her face into his warm chest as she cried. Claws brushed through her hair and he cooed softly, trying to calm her.

The cloud was gone.

Years of pent up rage, despair, and dread bubbled over as she wailed, releasing every bit of pain she’d kept bottled up. His scaly chest warmed her, his arms a comforting presence keeping her on Olara 8, keeping her in this house, this room.

Soon, wracking sobs turned to sniffling whimpers, and still he held her, whispering in her ear, nuzzling her cheek with his snout.

As she came through the fog of despair, she realized that relief lay in its wake. Her body was relaxed, the release of anguish easing the tension she’d been carrying for so long. She wiped tears from her face, sniffling as she looked at Braax. He gave her a gentle smile, tangling his fingers in her hair as he ran a thumb across her cheek.

“I love you, Sofia. I will always love you. You are my wife and I will cherish you until the day I die.”

A smile lit up her tear-stained face, joy wrapping her in a surge of warmth, something she hadn’t experienced in so long.

Though the cloud had protected her through the worst of things, it had also dulled every other emotion, including happiness. She felt light, like she would float away if not for his strong arms, energy bubbling through her body that had been tired for so long.

Finally, she gathered her words, ones she meant with all of her heart.

“I love you too, Braax. I want to stay.”

Before she could even finish her sentence, he pulled her into a crushing hug, tears cascading down his scaly face. She closed her eyes, letting her husband hold her as their emotions enveloped the space, tangling together until they became one.

Relief, acceptance, love .