Page 49 of All You Need is Alien Love (Tentacular Tales #4)

A few months later…

River

“What are you doing, dearest?” Kai asks.

I flip another page of What to Expect when You’re Gestating . “Just getting a little bit of research in while we wait.” Who’s quietly panicking while seeming to do research? Not me, that’s for sure.

There’s so much for me to learn and so little time! Five years is going to be here and gone before we know it.

“The guest of honor is almost here. I think you might want to put that away for now.”

I heave a dramatic sigh and close the book, tucking it back into my pocket. Concentrating in here was kind of hard anyway.

Moments later, the door to Vardox’s Cantina opens and we all scream “Surprise!” as Nirblob rolls in on his roller skates.

He comes to a slow rolling stop in the entryway, taking in the sight around him.

So many members of the community have shown up to celebrate the secret hero of Operation CHAOS that it brings a tear to my eye.

I’m awfully emotional these days—and I’m not even the one gestating embryos!

Seriously, life is really fucking awesome at the moment.

After finding out about our future triplets— eek— Kai and I spent a romantic Christmas together before jetting off on our honeymoon to the stars. I sigh dreamily just remembering both epic experiences.

Now that we’re back and have returned to our usual routine at the office, we finally had time to put together this party for Nirblob. It was long overdue but the timing makes the surprise all that more effective.

I grin as I watch a group of patrons lift him up in the air, cheering. Nirblob seems a bit overwhelmed at first but soon gets into the spirit of things and is dancing on the bar top before long.

Using her booming captain’s voice, Ellie eventually calls out to get everyone’s attention. “Good evening, everyone. On behalf of the Alliance, my husband and I would like to thank each and every one of you who helped us keep Earth safe during the attempted invasion.”

Everyone cheers.

“But,” Ellie continues, “there are few who were as integral to our success as our very own Nirblob.” She turns to him with a grin. “Your brilliant mind saved the day. Moving forward, the Alliance would like to offer you a position as a senior member of our R and D department.”

The look of wonder on Nirblob’s face is evident. “You would offer such an illustrious position to me?”

Ellie nods. “You’ve shown a true flair for invention and demonstrated your deep loyalty to Earth and the Alliance. We’d like to officially make you part of the team.”

My Martian-like friend turns his gaze on me. “But what about Vardox’s Cantina?”

I reach out and grab a passing Chewy, safely returned from his own intergalactic travels. “I was thinking my old buddy here could take over the bar for a while.”

Chewy gawks at me. “What the hell are you talking about, kid?”

“This is an ideal job for you.” I count off the reasons on my fingers.

“You’ve got the perfect surly temperament for a bartender.

You don’t put up with anyone’s shit. You’ve got connections throughout the entire extraterrestrial community here on Earth and beyond.

And you’ve been a bit adrift now that you don’t need to be my bodyguard anymore.

” I lean in and whisper. “Besides, a bar is an ideal place for you to stay abreast of all the latest rumors about what’s going on in the universe, good or bad, that we need to know about. ”

Chewy strokes his furry chin. “You make some good points. I’ve tended bar before so it would be a piece of cake for me to jump back into it.”

I blink a few times. “You have?”

He snickers. “Kid, I’ve got stories from long before you were ever born.”

I beam. “So you’ll take the job?”

“I’m willing to try it out for a while if Nirblob’s in agreement.”

The two of them wander off a bit and start talking animatedly.

When I see them shaking hands, I can tell the plan Kai and I came up with is going to work out.

After everything that went down, he and I spent a lot of time strategizing how to keep Earth safe in the future.

We plan to raise our kids here, but being rather unique for a whole lot of reasons, they could become targets down the line.

Now is the time to start planning for ways to keep our family safe—and it seemed like a no-brainer to me that Nirblob’s talents were being wasted at the bar.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s done an amazing job turning this into the central hub of extraterrestrial community here on Earth. But now it’s time for him to move on to bigger and better things with that enormous brain of his.

Roxy and Lu-Ren come to join me and Kai, drinks in hand. They sit on the loveseat opposite ours.

“Did Zamir decide to come?” Kai asks, hesitantly looking around the crowded bar.

Roxy shakes her head. “He’s sticking by Wilder’s side until he’s stable enough to be transported to the intergalactic medical station.”

We all go silent for a few moments. Wilder made it through the surgery, but just barely.

He’s been stuck in the equivalent of a medical coma ever since.

He needs a new lung, but it turns out it can only be grown for him at the Intergalactic Alliance medical station.

Following the transplant surgery, he’ll face a lengthy recovery period as well.

And after that, he’ll still have to face the legal consequences of his actions while working for Layne Madison.

We stick to small talk for a while until some friends of Lu-Ren and Roxy wave them over, and they depart with smiles and waves.

I sigh. Roxy’s still a bit of a mess because of her brother.

Lu-Ren’s helping her a lot, but I know my dear friend is worried about what will happen to him.

This waiting in limbo that’s been going on for months just makes it all that much worse.

Meanwhile, Zamir’s been silent on the whole matter, but he spends time at Wilder’s bedside every day.

I know he’s talked with Kai a little bit, but I would never ask my boo to break that confidence.

Honestly, the whole situation with Wilder is the only dark cloud on our otherwise sunny horizon at the moment. I only hope matters get resolved in a way that isn’t going to hurt my friends and loved ones even more.

As if sensing my mood, Kai leans over and whispers in my ear, “Look to your right.”

I dart a glance in that direction to find Mal and my Uncle Benji holding hands and leaning against one another in a booth across the room.

“What the hell happened between them while we were gone on our honeymoon?” I whisper, brightening at the sight.

“Not sure. Mal’s been awfully tight-lipped.”

“Benji too.”

“It’s clear they’ve made some serious progress though.”

I nod. “Definitely. But I won’t push. They’ll tell us more when they’re ready.”

Even though I’m positively dying to know right now!

Kai pulls me closer and I sigh with satisfaction.

“Are you bored since returning to Earth?” he asks, his brow furrowed.

I think about that seriously. “Well, it is pretty hard to top the epicness of traveling in outer space. But this is home, you know? It’s kind of nice to be back and able to take it easy for the first time in what feels like forever.”

Mom says I’m developing nesting instincts.

Kai and I have already begun work on renovating one of the guest bedrooms into a nursery.

Eventually, we’ll need to buy a bigger house so each of the kids can have their own room, but that won’t be for some time.

We’re also working with Nirblob to develop a special home security system that can handle human and extraterrestrial threats.

Better safe than sorry if you ask me. I’m taking no chances with our babies!

“Home is good. I can definitely relate to that,” Kai murmurs.

I wag a finger cheekily. “Just so you know, I still fully intend to have an even more epic space adventure in a few years when we need to go back to your home world. Until then, I’m content with continuing to build our life here.

After all, this will be home to our kids too.

We have so much to do to get ready for them! ”

We’ve even started ordering Iyaran baby supplies in preparation for the future. Their needs are quite different from human babies, as I’m learning, and we’ll have three of them on our hands. Motherfreaking triplets! I’m still in a constant state of awe about the whole thing.

Kai’s getting regular medical checkups and so far everything seems to be going very well with his Tentaculum Gestarium.

The Alliance is giving him the red carpet treatment and documenting everything for future research.

The attention isn’t something my boo is all too fond of, but he’s willing to endure for the sake of our kids.

Otherwise, Kai is happier than ever. He’s also a little obsessed with fantasies of our kids having curly hair, although I’m not sure if that will happen or not.

We still don’t know what combined Iyaran and Quintharian genetics will produce in our offspring, but as long as they’re healthy, it’s all good.

I’m also really fucking glad we have almost five years to prepare for their arrival.

That means I have the next few years to learn everything I can about parenting, my heritage, and Iyaran children—and I fully intend to make the most of this time.

It’s my path toward becoming… dun dudun dun… SuperDad!

Spending so much of my childhood without my parents has made me all that much more committed to being present for my own kids.

I think doing so might actually heal that last wounded part of my heart that grieves what I missed out on.

Being able to give my kids what I didn’t have is my mission.

I’m also pleased by how involved my own parents have been already.

They’re proving themselves in all the best ways and I can tell how excited they are to become grandparents.

It’s an opportunity for them, I think, to do some penance for not being present in my life for so long.

As Iris promised, she’s staying here on Earth for the next few years. Her husband will have to travel back and forth a bit for the work he’s still involved in back on planet Iyara, but I know they’ll make it work.

Agent Catengi finally had to return to Intergalactic Alliance HQ to help deal with the criminal cases against Darth Layne-der, Adeline, Fabian, and the insurgents he brought to Earth.

I could tell he was sad to go—after all, we’d become Star Trek buds—but he promised he would return for a visit before too long.

I’m sure I can lure him with the promise of a new Star Trek television series on the horizon.

Tales of our epic win against the forces of the Dark Side have spread far and wide in the universe.

I’ve gained a whole slew of new readers for Tentacular Tales and my advice column.

We’ve also had quite a few extraterrestrials take up residence on Earth.

Knowing that the Alliance outpost here can keep them safe seems to have inspired folks looking for a place to call home.

I’m pretty damn proud of that.

“We’re really fucking lucky, aren’t we?” I say as I pet one of Kai’s tentacles that has snuck out to wrap around me.

He holds me tight. “The luckiest. We’re going to have a lifetime of laughter and love together.”

I grin and do my very best Patrick Stewart impersonation. “Make it so, Number One.”

He kisses me softly. “Aye, aye, my darling captain.”

Keep reading for the bonus chapter!