Unexpected Mates (Sons of Heaven) (28 page)

As if in agreement, Jo shifted closer to him.

****

Jo glanced toward their joined hands again. Part of her wanted to shake Rietin free. The other—more vocal but less welcome—part admitted that holding his hand was nice.

“This will be your room, Ms. Williams.” The captain’s translated voice snapped her attention up.

The Sakk glyphs on the door made no sense to her.
I should take a picture of it with my cell phone, so I can find it again.

Oh, who am I kidding? I won’t be allowed to leave my room without a guard, just as I wasn’t allowed to at the consulate. How am I going to get lost?

Rietin will be that guard.
Her hands started to sweat, and she hoped Rietin wouldn’t notice it.

“Thank you. I’m sure it will be perfect.”

“Yours is there, Captain Rietin.”

Jo took note of it. It would be to the left of hers, as she entered the corridor.

She expected him to continue on to pointing out Diane and Steve’s room, then Amy and Sakkra’s room. He didn’t. He waited patiently for something she couldn’t name.

“He won’t move on until you are safely in your room,” Amy informed her.

“Oh, but... Isn’t your...?”

“No,” Sakkra informed her. “The quarters we will share are for mated couples, dignitaries, and ranking officers. We will be available to you, any time you wish to see us. Rietin can escort you to us, or we can come to you.”

She swallowed hard and looked up at Rietin. Her nerves properly jangled, Jo released Rietin’s hand, then made her way to the door to her room. She turned to shut it behind her and found Rietin looming in the doorway.

“Allow me to bring your pack in?” he asked. His eyes pleaded for something she couldn’t name.

“I’ll take it. I really should... I think I need a nap.”

Rietin took the backpack off his shoulder and offered it, his smile strained. “As you wish, Jo. Always as you wish.”

She took it, words sticking in her throat. He stepped back and closed the door for her.

Jo stood there, uncertain. She wasn’t really tired, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to unpack either.

Boxes were stacked neatly against the far wall. Most of her belongings were in storage at the consulate. They’d only packed the things she’d proclaimed she couldn’t do without for a year.

And maternity clothes they claimed she would need before they reached Sakk. Jo admitted she’d probably brought too much with her, but she’d never faced being away from home for a year at a time.

She went to the stack closest to her and started to shift one of the boxes. It wasn’t too heavy, but Rietin would have a fit if she tried to move them without assistance.

Jo looked at the wall that separated his quarters from hers. Why was it that she didn’t want to upset Rietin? Her head spinning in confusion, she made her way to the bed. Maybe lying down wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Six weeks later

“Just a few more moments,” Dravil soothed Jo.

“Can you tell yet?” She’d asked that question at the sixth week after she came to the consulate—their fourth week aboard ship—and the seventh. It was the eighth week, and Jo still didn’t know if her daughter was winged.

Dravil smiled warmly and went back to work. She reminded herself to be patient. The healer was one of the royal healers; he’d delivered both of Sakkra’s nephews, and he’d been hand-picked by the Sakk emperor to deliver Amy’s daughter.

He’s treating me, because Amy asked him to. Dravil could have told the ship’s healer to tend to me instead.

“Fully-winged or nearly so,” he reported.

Tears pooled in her eyes. Jo had dreamed of a winged daughter...and she’d dreamed of one without wings. Now that she knew, there were so many things she had to plan for.

Dravil appeared at her bedside, clearly assessing her condition. “Are you well, Ms. Williams? Should I summon your mate?”

“I don’t
have
a mate,” she reminded him bitterly.

He straightened at the rebuke. “Of course. Should I summon...your daughter’s sire?”

She shook her head. She wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that their daughter was winged. The last thing she needed was Rietin’s excitement about it.

“Would you like me to call for Sakku?”

Jo nodded and managed a shaky “Thank you.”

“As you wish, Ms. Williams.”

He went to the comm board and relayed the message that Jo wanted to see her cousin. She didn’t understand everything he said; her grasp of the Sakk language was still weak.

It didn’t take Amy long to arrive. She rushed through the door, looking harried. “Is something wrong?” she asked urgently.

Dravil shook his head, then went back to packing his tools. “They are both healthy and strong, Sakku.” He slid a sideward look at Jo. “Your cousin is...upset, I believe.”

Amy dismissed him, and Dravil left Jo’s room.

He’s probably off to report to Sakkra that the baby has wings.
It seemed the entire ship was on pins and needles, waiting to hear if her daughter would be winged.

Amy went to the tray of frozen juices in sealed containers and poured herself a glass of the frozen lemonade. “Want one?” she offered.

Jo pushed up from the bed, sighing at the size of her womb already. “The berry punch?”

Her cousin poured one for her, then held it out for Jo. She took it; they went to the sitting area and took two of the soft chairs.

“It’s the fact that the baby is winged. Isn’t it?” Amy asked bluntly.

“It’s everything.”

Her cousin shot her a knowing look, one eyebrow raised for effect.

Jo sighed. “Okay, the fact that the baby is winged does limit my choices.”

Amy took a drink of her lemonade. “In what way?”

Putting it into words was difficult. At last she grasped on a concrete example she could use. “When I’m trying to start my career, she’ll be starting school.”

Amy nodded. “So will mine.”

“Well, I’d always planned to teach at the school my kids attend for preschool and elementary school, if possible.”

“Who says you can’t?”

“What? Of course I can’t. She’ll be bullied. Someone might break her wing without even really meaning to. I’ve heard they are very easy to break.” Dravil had been answering her questions about the particulars of dealing with a winged child, just in case Jo’s daughter was winged.

Amy smiled. “General Lea is setting up the first two colony compounds while we’re gone.”

Jo took her time, drinking down a quarter of the glass of berry freeze before she answered. “I heard about the plans, but I don’t understand what that has to do with anything.”

“Assuming at least a woman or two each year wants to stay on Earth, we will need a school system soon.”

“I could teach there?” Jo hadn’t considered it before.

“I was actually thinking of you running the program. You could teach, of course, especially while there are only a few children to deal with. Later on, when you would naturally move into an administrative position, you could give up the classroom and do that.”

“Amy, I’m not even a licensed teacher yet.” And her heart ached at the idea of leaving her baby to go to school every day. “I might not be for a long time,” she admitted.

“The Sakk government decides what makes someone a licensed teacher. We’ll be on Sakk for a full six months. We’ll have three more months on the trip back and as much time as we need afterward to have you trained.”

“As a
Sakk
teacher?”

Amy swallowed another sip of her drink. “More a melding of Sakk teaching methods and European, I would think. If we got a retired master teacher from Sakk, we could have you qualified to teach within a year of returning home to Earth. You’ve already got two years of college for a teaching degree in that would license you in the state of Virginia...which you don’t need to teach in a consulate school, of course, but it will allow you to handle a cross-cultural program. You could take some additional college classes if you think you need them, but you would be a foreign graduate student, for all intents and purposes. We have the benefit of being able to accept all of your existing credits.”

“Wow.” Jo set her glass down, her head spinning in new possibilities.

“You and the Sakk master teacher would set up the program together.”

“Me? I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“There’s a first time for everything. This is the first time we’ve ever set up a school system on Earth.”

“Wow.” It seemed all Jo was capable of verbalizing.

Amy laughed. “Think of the other plus-side.”

“Which is?” Jo continued on without letting her answer. “I’ll have to teach both Sakk subjects and the usual ones we do on Earth.” It was a lot to teach a child.

“It won’t be as difficult as you think. Remember that the parents can teach both languages at home. The consulate already has software designed to teach other Earth languages, which children could use for home study. Children could be trilingual or even more before they reach high school. Not to mention, you’ll be able to take the best field trips in the world.”

“We will?”

Amy motioned around at the room. “You can bring children aboard Sakk ships. The ships can do weekend trips through the solar system. The children won’t be able to go to the surface, but they can see high definition live video of the surface or the atmosphere.”

Jo considered that. “Can I see the ship?”

“Now?” Amy seemed shocked by the question.

“Can I?”

Amy pushed to her feet and retrieved her glass. “
We
can go anywhere we want, as long as we take my guards. Well...anywhere but the engine rooms and other machine areas. Too hazardous for pregnant women.”

Jo vaulted to her feet and grabbed her own glass, already making plans for field trips to come.

****

The comm board toned, and Rietin tensed.
Damn Dravil for noting that Jo was more relaxed when I’m not hovering.
It wasn’t simply the fact that the healer had banned Rietin from attending checks on his daughter that upset him. The fact that Rietin made Jo nervous, after all this time, stung more than he wanted to admit.

Sakkra invited whoever was contacting him to speak. Rietin’s heart went into overdrive at the sound of Dravil’s voice.

“Ms. Williams requests an audience with Sakku.”

Amy made it to her feet and slipped on a pair of flat shoes. “I’m on my way.”

“Do you need me?” Sakkra asked.

Dravil continued. “No, Sakkra. I believe this is...a female request.”

“Very well.”

Amy was already halfway out the door. Rietin rose, intending to follow her.

Sakkra intercepted him halfway. “Dravil will come directly here. Whatever it is, you will know as soon as possible.”

“What if Jo needs me?”

“She will decide if she needs you, when she needs you, and if she wants you.”

Rietin wanted to argue it, but there was no winning an argument against a prince. He stalked back to the chair he’d abandoned and dropped into it with a series of grumbled curses.

The wait was nerve wracking, and a light knock at the door sent Rietin to his feet again.

“Enter,” Sakkra called out.

The healer strode into the room as if he owned it, tipped his head to Sakkra, and offered his report smartly. “Ms. Williams and her daughter are healthy and strong.” He slid a glance at Rietin. “The babe is also winged. Fully or nearly so.”

Rietin smiled. A laugh bubbled up from inside him. They’d done it. He, a ‘genetically inferior’ male, had produced a fully-winged daughter.

“Why did Jo ask to see Amy?” the prince inquired.

“I do not understand it, Sakkra. Ms. Williams seemed distressed by the news that the babe was winged.”

Rietin’s smile disappeared that quickly. She was upset that their daughter was winged. Perhaps Jo wouldn’t want a winged child. Would his daughter be enough, if Jo decided to deliver the baby and walk away?

No. He wanted Jo in his life.
His daughter would be special, but not as special as having Jo’s love.

Worse, after his misstep with Jo, he wasn’t sure Sakkra would let him keep his daughter, if Jo rejected them both. Would they place her in the care of one of the adopted families that took in surrendered children?

Dravil and Sakkra continued speaking, but Rietin didn’t hear any of it. The only thing that mattered was finding a way to convince Jo to choose him, their daughter, everything they could have together.

He rose, dimly noting that Dravil had left.

“Where are you going?” Sakkra asked.

“To see Jo.”

“You’ll have to wait.”

Rietin glared at him, wagering his life on the chance that the prince would understand his frustration. “Why?” What roadblocks were being erected between them now?

Sakkra smiled. “Apparently, Jo and my Sakku have decided to tour the ship. They are well guarded, but I guarantee they need the time alone to discuss...female matters.”

He nodded. “They tend to do that often.”

“Females with decisions to make talk to other females.
Smart
males allow them privacy to do so.”

I suppose I should be a smart male.
But the idea of Jo making decisions without him made Rietin distinctly nervous.

“Yes. They do. I’m glad that my mate has her mother and cousin along. Females thrive in the company of other females.”

****

Jo handled the tiny outfit, trying to follow the directions Dravil had given her. The winged doll and outfits were supposed to prepare her for dressing her daughter in all manner of Sakk clothing without harming her tiny wings.

She tried the simplest form of infant
cazta
again and managed a sloppy wrap.
Not nearly as well as Amy does it.
Then again, her cousin had been practicing it for three months, and Jo had been at it for a little more than an hour.