Witness [A First Contact Romance]

22. Hello

Earth

2027

Cold from the tile floor cooled Rory's palms.

"I know." Theo clutched the phone tight enough that the veins popped in his hands. "I understand, but we need time."

Rory felt as if she couldn't breathe still. The leaders of the free world waited to speak with her, but she couldn't move off the floor. Crumpled in the corner of the bathroom where Theo had taken her for refuge, Rory helplessly watched the images play through her mind over and over.

The baby's tiny fingers curling around her pinky.

"Twenty minutes, please. You have to make that work. She can't talk right now. You saw her." He sighed. "Thank you. We'll make it be enough."

He hung up and turned to face her, quiet for a moment.

"It was Price," Theo said. "He's buying us some time."

The energy had fled her body. Rory couldn't even nod. She felt so weak and hollow.

Theo slowly sat down beside her, as if jostling her could break her. "No matter what it is, you can tell me." He tucked her hair behind her ear. Brushed his knuckles along her jaw. "We'll handle it together."

Rory lifted her swollen eyes to look into his. "I..." Her voice failed her. She was so tired.

He took her face in his hands and she let herself lean against him, eyes closing against warm tears. "Rory," he said. "I will love you no matter what you tell me."

They had been through so much together. Theo had been there for her from the beginning, through the early days of testing, her recovery from the gunshot, social upheaval, and countless controversies. They'd celebrated the hope of new life with positive pregnancy tests together and held one another once it was gone. Laughing together, crying together, everything together. Night after night for year after year, Theo had slid his arm over her waist in bed and had drawn her against himself. He had faithfully loved her and supported her no matter what came their way.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered in a cracking voice.

"No." He shook his head and tilted her face up to his. "Whatever you're remembering, it's nothing you should apologize for. Who you are today matters. What you decide today. If you did something back then–"

"I have a son." The words croaked from her throat. She looked into Theo's warm eyes and watched understanding sharpen into pain. "I can't remember his name, but I can see his little hands." A sob broke free but she didn't avert her eyes. "I have a son and I Ioved his father."

Theo nodded and blinked. "We considered this–" He cleared his throat and looked down. "It makes sense. It..." He sniffed. "A son? You have a son?"

"Theo." Rory wound her fingers through his. "I love you."