Chapter 27

Sandy

Rane held Sandy close all night. They didn’t do anything sexual; it was all sweet cuddles and soft reassurances. And maybe that was why it was one of the most intimate moments of her life.

Naked, skin to skin, sharing warmth and closeness. They kissed until they were breathless, then talked about their dreams and plans for their lives. A vision that was completely different from what either of them had always imagined now that they had each other.

Sandy wanted a big house. Rane wanted a big hover. After a short debate, they settled on having three children with an option to open discussions again later if either of them decided they wanted more or less at any time. It didn’t even need to be said that Elffa, once she was removed from their life, wouldn’t be welcome back into it in any way.

“But what about your father?” She asked curiously.

He blinked, looking down at her, both of them bathed in the weak light of the distant moon. “What about him?”

“Well… Don’t you want to meet him again?”

He looked up over her head, frowning as he actually thought about the question. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen him. I doubt he cares about me anymore. With any luck, he’ll have focused only on his mate and has settled into a proper family by now.”

“And you think that means he no longer cares about you, his first son?”

He turned his eyes back down to her. “How can he care? We haven’t seen him since I was very young. I don’t even remember him. You have no love for either of your parents, right? It’s the same.”

Sandy tilted her head curiously. “You said your mother forced him away.”

“Right.”

“So, it’s not the same. My parents willingly gave me up. Your father was made to do so. If I were him, I would have done anything to keep up with you. If nothing else, then just to make sure that you were doing okay. He definitely knows who you are. You’re a famous trikballer. Maybe he wants to know you personally too, he just hasn’t had the chance.”

Rane hadn’t responded. But he did look uneasy.

“What’s his name?” She asked softly.

“Traff. His name is Traff el Consorta.” He whispered the name, like he was afraid of speaking it out loud, a sad expression on his face.

His father, she knew, was just another thing Elffa had stolen from him. And maybe he was only so calm about it because he had to be. Like the anger he was only starting to contend with, the grief of losing his father was something he couldn’t afford to feel for fear it would break him down.

Sandy sat beside him now in a hover they ordered, flying back to the stadium for practice today. She was nervous about going to see Drevor. Getting her ovulation restored was just part of their plan, a necessity for their future.

But they were still about to work on having a baby. It was a scary thing, a big thing. She rather thought a little nervousness was not only permissible but expected.

Moreover, she would be going alone. They didn’t want Elffa to catch wind of what they were doing, so leaving while he was at practice was their best option. Elffa already knew that Sandy followed him to practice and so would expect her to be here, waiting at the bottom for him.

They should, hopefully, finish soon, but Rane told her he’d try to draw out the practice for as long as possible.

“Just come to the bottom of the stadium,” he told her outside the locker room. The rest of the team had already gone inside. But he lingered with her after assuring them that he was going to be just a moment. “I’ll try to keep the practice going until I see you return, but Sal will call a halt when he determines it’s gone too long regardless of what I do.”

She shook her head, smiling. “I shouldn’t take that long. The process to turn it off took minutes. Turning it back on will be the same, I’m sure. I don’t think you’ll even need to elongate the process. I’ll be back soon.”

“Alright.”

He took hold of her hands and pulled her close to kiss her. First on her lips. Then her cheeks. And finally, her forehead.

He leaned back again. Staring at her longingly.

She chuckled. “We don’t have to say goodbye yet. We still have time.”

“I know. But it’s still a limited time. I feel like it’s going by so fast.”

She lifted his hands and kissed them. “I’ll be back before you know it, and then we can have lots of sex. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

He laughed. “It does, really.”

“See?” She beamed. “Now, go. Play hard.”

She pushed, turning him down the hall and towards the field. He chuckled and got to walking, looking back at her just a couple more times before he stepped onto the field.

“Alright.” She let out a breath, reaching for his combot. She had been the one holding onto it for a while now.

She had to work fast. They knew Elffa was monitoring his combot, but they didn’t know how closely. If it was Drevor still in charge of them, she would be worried that she’d know instantly. But he was competent and devoted. She didn’t think Elffa would be so diligent in checking up on what they were doing every moment of the day. And ordering a hover was one of the things that they were already allowed to do.

She pulled up the ride service and began entering the address for the stadium and the address Drevor had her memorize.

Focused as she was on typing, she didn’t immediately notice the shadow that came over her. But she definitely felt the sudden heat on her back.

She paused, fingers in the air as she became acutely aware of the presence behind her. The immediate urge to run was swiftly tamped down. She knew she wouldn’t get away. The only thing she’d do was end up hurting herself.

Besides, she didn’t run from her problems. She confronted them.

“I’m guessing I won’t need this ride, huh?” She asked.

No response, but she didn’t really expect one. The screen in front of her was disturbed and vanished as the combot whirred in protest. But it couldn’t do anything against the large fist that covered it, ripping it out of the air.

She turned, completely unsurprised to see Blue and Green there. Both looking down on her with that detached, cold look in their eyes.

“Well,” she gave them a frosty look of her own. “Let’s get this over with then.”