Invited

Forty-Four - Chevelle

Going to the restaurant was always a little awkward since all of the guys who worked there were Wicken's friends. I made sure to go up there as often as I could. One, for a break from Timber's cooking. He was good, but I felt bad taking advantage of his skills all of the time. Two, the guys wanted to see me. They wanted to make sure I was okay, and I secretly hoped that somehow they were able to communicate with Wicken to tell him how I was doing.

Cleo was waiting for me at the entrance. She had on a nice skirt and a matching top, also simple in style. Her dark blonde hair was pulled up into a bun, and her face was looking a lot more refreshed than I remember seeing it last. My guess was now that she wasn't drinking all of the time anymore, she was taking better care of her body. Her life was turning around. Too bad it took her son disappearing for her to notice she needed a change.

I gave her a small smile, and a wave. Awkward conversation was put on hold as the host walked us back to our table out on the patio. The window to the universe was above us. There was no view of Earth anymore, thankfully. The planet only appeared a couple of times a day at specific times. I didn't want it looming over us while we ate.

"Thank you for meeting with me," Cleo said once we were both sitting. "I know that you've probably got a lot to do now that your family is here."

"Sort of," I said, shrugging.

She tilted her head to the side. "Only sort of?"

"I'm helping them get settled when I can, but there are things to take care of in the apartment as well. Some days, I'm just too tired to do anything, anyway."

"Yes, I remember going through that, doubly so when I was pregnant with Wicken. He took up a lot more energy than his half-brother." She sipped on her water.

Grabbing some bread, I buttered it, trying to keep my body language casual as I started to bombard her with questions. "Half-brother? He mentioned he had older siblings, but didn't tell me they were only half related."

"That's because he doesn't know. Granted, dads are not something we discussed often at home to begin with. His father died when he was young, and...I just didn't feel like explaining everything to him. Selfish of me, I suppose. He has a right to know just as much as the others did. It's more sensitive for him. His father is the only one who is gone." She took another long sip of her water.

I nibbled on the bread, trying to figure out what it was she was saying to me. What was she hiding? "I'm guessing there's a reason you didn't want him to know more than it's simply a taboo subject."

She sighed. "Yes, there is, and you need to know because it's going to affect your pregnancy as well as what might happen on the ship."

"You hinted at that earlier today, and you seemed to know what was going to happen to Wicken."

"I have an idea," she said. "His father was a Gorgachan."

For a moment, all I did was stare at her and blink as I decided if I should take her seriously or not. She wasn't drunk or high, I could tell just looking in her eyes. Crazy? Probably not that either. She seemed to on edge and nervous, like she knew how this one fact would impact everything that happened from here on out. Which was the whole point of our conversation, right? To discuss the future of both our children.

Letting out a slow breath, I set my bread back down on my plate. "I know you're being serious, but man, this is a big thing. I thought I was done getting bombshells."

"Hopefully this will be the last one for a while," she said. "Keep in mind, I'm from Earth, normal, human, like you. There's nothing different about me. His father was a Gorgachan, sent to investigate Earth on the ground level to get a better understanding of how we lived. How similar were we to his kind, that sort of thing. It was when they were just starting to take humans as part of the Preservation Pact made between the Gorgachan and the Achlivans. While the Achlivans came to their decision to put humans into a glorified zoo fairly early on, the Gorgachan couldn't decide what we were worth to them."