Page 18 of Tis the Season for Tentacles (Tinsel and Tentacles 2.0)

Ten months later…

FELIX

“ T he space station is waiting for us. They’ve rounded up the latest group of abandoned strays for us to rescue,” I tell Najar over breakfast.

He sips his kavga and strokes my thigh with one of his tentacles.

It’s been nearly a year since we got together and in that time, Najar has grown much more comfortable being affectionate with me, especially around others.

“We should be arriving in a few hours. Do we have enough room to bring them all aboard?”

“Yep. Our kennel facilities are more than equipped to handle things. It’s only six this time.”

In the past ten months, I haven’t sat idly by like a kept husband or anything. Not long after Gemma joined us, I realized I wanted to do something about helping those animals abandoned at intergalactic space stations. It didn’t take long for me to learn these busy ports have a chronic problem with folks dumping their pets and few resources to help with safely and humanely rehoming them.

That’s where the crew of the Sleigh Belle comes in.

Luna and Najar helped me transform one of our large storage rooms into a comfortable kennel facility with a small veterinary med bay. We now have a regular schedule for visiting different space stations during our travels and collecting any animals who need help.

Saving Cosmo inspired me, and I’m finding this new calling to be incredibly rewarding. I still get to interact with and learn about exotic animals—of the extraterrestrial variety—and help rehome them or, in some cases, reintegrate them into the wild when able.

Right now, Cosmo’s curled up in a ball at my feet, having his morning nap. Needless to say, he’s living his best life too.

Gemma and Luna, still in their pajamas, come into the canteen giggling at one another.

Just like Najar predicted, those two ended up falling hard for one another, and I’m grateful. Seeing my sister so happy has eased so many of my worries.

Now we’re a ship full of lovey-dovey couples, and it’s kind of awesome.

I swear, instead of the Sleigh Belle, the ship should probably be called the Love Space-Boat—or something like that.

“Let me get some kavga for us, babe,” Luna offers.

Gemma yawns and smiles. “Thanks, gorgeous.”

“We’ve got a pickup at the space station,” I tell her.

“Ooh! How many this time?”

“Just six. A Gemellian fire-lizard, two bonded Rebu songbirds, a Carmathian monkey, an elderly Levitron tortoise, and a Scythian two-headed pig.”

She chuckles. “Sounds like an early Christmas present for you.”

I rub my hands together in anticipation. “I’m so excited. They’re all fascinating species.”

Najar nuzzles my ear and I sigh happily. “I love it when you get so excited.”

Luna joins us at the table and hands my sister her coffee, which earns her a kiss.

My sister and I smile at one another, silently sharing our happiness.

Kheph and Sasha are the last to arrive for breakfast, and I fill them in on the plan for once we dock at the station.

A sleepy-looking Sasha nods along and takes a sip of his kavga. Then his eyes go wide. “Oh! Guess what? I was able to buy our tickets for Tentacular Tales Con last night. You owe me big time, Felix.”

I blink. “Didn’t they go on sale at some ungodly hour?”

He grins. “Yep. I totally had Kheph help me stay awake so I could grab tickets as soon as they went on sale. It’s a good thing I did, too. They sold out in five minutes.”

I gape. “Really? It’s that popular?”

Sasha gives me an incredulous look. “Dude, you still haven’t realized how massive that story is?”

I wince. “My bad.”

“I heard that the author might be attending this year,” Najar offers dryly.

Sasha and I flip out and instantly start bombarding him with questions before Sasha finally says, “Screw this. I’m going to email River right now!” and races out of the room.

Everyone starts laughing, and I lean into Najar’s side. One of his tentacles wraps around my shoulder while another massages my neck. I stroke the tentacle in my lap in response, and Najar makes a pleased noise.

Every day I’m thankful for how my life turned out. Traveling on the Sleigh Belle with those nearest and dearest to me has been a non-stop adventure filled with wonder, joy, and more love than I ever dreamed of. Life is good out here among the stars—and I can’t wait to see where our journey takes us next.

With Najar at my side, the universe is the limit.