Lily kissed him again, the tidal wave of happiness suffusing her being more intense than she could’ve ever imagined.
Epilogue
Two months later
“You’re heading out tomorrow, right?” Alice said, while tickling the foot of Laura, Jade’s chubby baby girl.
Lily smiled as Laura squealed with delight. “Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Alex. Time to catch up.”
Alice leaned back in her seat, draping her shining brown hair over one shoulder and crossing her long legs. “Well, thanks for meeting with us. We need more volunteers to contribute to the human database.” She huffed out a breath. “There’s only so much I know, you know? I’ve already detailed everything I can remember about animals and everything I remember learning in school, but more people means more info. I hope if enough Clecanians read up on us, it’ll help smooth the transition for the next time someone finds a human.”
“It might’ve helped for me and Verakko if he’d known more about Earth going in.”
“Did someone say my name?” Verakko strolled in through the front door, Jade, Theo, and Luka at his heels.
Lily stood and crossed through their living room to greet him with a quick kiss. He deepened it at first, then reluctantly pulled away when she swatted at his chest. The past month had been the best Lily could remember. She and Verakko had chosen to leave Mithrandir and purchase a home in Tremanta. She had decided that being closer to the vast majority of humans would be beneficial, and Verakko had been eager to return to his beloved job.
They’d purchased a house on the edge of the city, close enough for Lily to enjoy the many amenities of city life, but far enough away that their trendy one-story home overlooked the woods. Every morning, Verakko would walk her to beauty school before taking a cruiser to whichever site needed a technologist. He often tried to explain what he’d done that day when he got home, but Lily understood very little of it.
“How was the tour?” Lily asked, peeking around Verakko’s large frame to the other three closing the door behind them. He’d taken them out to his workshop, where he built all kinds of gadgets.
“I didn’t understand technology at home, and I’m not going to understand it here,” Jade said, bending over to greet Laura, who giggled and produced an impressively sized snot bubble. The little girl had faint pearlescent markings running all over her skin as well as bright red hair, just like Jade.
Theo, Jade’s large husband whose frown was in place remarkably more often than Verakko’s, nodded unconvincingly. “It was…impressive.”
“Why are you asking them?” Verakko groused. “No one here appreciates the beauty of my work.”
“I do,” Luka, Theo’s brother, argued. “I’d love to talk with you more about collaborating on tech for the reserve.” He kissed a blushing Alice on the lips and continued. “Since I’ve started working fewer hours, I’m worried I’m missing critical observational breakthroughs. I need a piece of tech that can follow specific animals and record, but that isn’t discernible to them. I haven’t been able to find one that works yet. They all scurry as soon as it comes near.”
Verakko and Luka then launched into a heated discussion about what types of materials would put off the least amount of scent, while the rest of them sat and watched, trying to follow along quickly enough to add to the conversation and failing.
The first one to break and beg for the barrage of technology jargon to end was Laura. Fat tears fell from her eyes as she cried. In a matter of seconds, her cries became ear-splitting wails.
“Sorry. She’s just tired. We missed naptime today,” Jade said. She caught Theo’s raised brow and added, “Okay, okay, I made her miss naptime.” Jade smiled at the other women. “She just started laughing, and for some reason, the funniest thing in the world is Cebo. I think he knows it too because he comes over and tickles her with his whiskers, and it’s the cutest thing. I couldn’t interrupt!”
“I still can’t believe how fast she’s growing,” Alice said.
Jade lifted Laura into her arms and bounced on the balls of her feet. “I know! It’s happening so much faster than a full-human baby. Too fast for me.” They all winced as Laura let out another ear-splitting shriek.
“Maybe Verakko could sway her to go to sleep?” Lily asked, peering up at Verakko, who was looming over her chair.
He shook his head. “I can’t begin to know what she’s thinking.”
“It’s okay.” Jade grinned mischievously. “Wanna see a magic trick?”
Theo, who’d been quietly sipping on a mott in a far chair, stifled a grin and set his drink down. He gazed at Jade and Laura with a staggering amount of love as they approached.
The rest of the room watched as Jade handed Laura off to Theo. He curled his baby girl against his chest and kissed the top of her head.
Lily didn’t notice anything extraordinary as Laura continued to wail. But then suddenly another sound rumbled through the room. As Laura’s cries stuttered out and her eyelids grew heavy, Lily realized Theo had started purring, the relaxing rumble against his chest lulling Laura to sleep almost instantly.
“Isn’t that the greatest thing you’ve ever seen!” Jade whispered.
She and Alice both nodded enthusiastically. Verakko wrapped an arm around her waist from behind, and she leaned into his warm chest.
“We’d better head out now before she wakes up,” Jade whispered, careful to pick up their things without making any sound.
Theo kept his hold tight on Laura and followed his mate, nodding to them with an unbidden grin.
“We’ll get out of your hair too. I’m sure you need to pack,” Alice said, moving to give Lily a hug. “Will you
