Engineered

Chapter 7

Greyson walks me down the stairs and off the platform with my arm in his. He guides me out of the ballroom and into the wedding room.

We walk in front of the official that will wed us. We change our stance and now we are facing each other and holding each other's hands.

I glance up into his elegant green eyes and smile. He's smiling too. It is honestly really romantic.

"Greyson, rank 7, you have chosen Vanessa to be your wife. Do you stick with this decision?" The official asks.

"I do and I always will." He responds with honesty in his voice.

"Vanessa do you accept the right of Greyson's choice?" The official asks turning to me.

"I do and I always will." I reply with tears in my eyes out of joy.

"You must kiss to seal the marriage." The official says.

I look back at Greyson who brushes my loose hairs out of my face. We lean towards each other and his lips lock into mine. My hand reaches his face and his to my waist. His lips are soft and have a certain gentleness to them. I never, ever want to pull away.

Somehow something so vulnerable feels so safe and secure. Even though we are in front of so many officials, it feels private.

I don't think either one of us would have pulled away if the official didn't start ushering us out again.

The taste of his lips linger on mine.

We walk into another waiting room where we don't get a chance to sit down.

"Follow me into your authorization room." Says a male official. He leads us into a room that reminded me of the room where I took my test just yesterday.

Greyson and I sit down next to each other on a pink couch. He puts his arm around my shoulder and I look at him and smile. We haven't said anything to each other since he chose me, yet our connection is so strong.

"Hello Greyson and Vanessa, I'm Jack your marriage counselor." Says Jack.

"Great!" Greyson and I say in unison. We both giggle.

"Okay, so I am going to assign you a last name today along with many other things. So your last name is going to be Catto."

"Hey Greyson Catto, I'm your wife." I say trying to be funny.

"Pleased to meet you Vanessa Catto. I'm your husband." He says picking up my hand and kissing it. His eyes tell me he's just joking around, too.

"Okay now onto children." The official says. I look over to Greyson knowing that our children will be the best! Between our looks and our personalities, they will be perfect without major alteration from the engineers. As I look over at him though, my mood plummets. He's not smiling anymore, he looks embarrassed. He pulls his arm away from my body and looks away.

"Vanessa, you have been approved to have children. You are fertile and will be ready in a matter of years," Jack continues, "but Greyson, you are approved, but your lab shows that you are not fertile nor capable of producing children."

Not fertile? NOT FERTILE!?!?! We are engineered to be perfect so disappointments like this don't happen!

"I'm so sorry Vanessa." Greyson says with tears in his eyes.

"It's not your fault Greyson." I respond with my voice shaking. I collapse into his arms and onto his chest. He holds me tightly and somehow makes me feel better. I can't believe something went wrong when the engineers corrected Greyson.

"It's okay Catto couple, you will still be able to have children. They just won't be Greyson's biologically. Vanessa will be surgically inseminated in about three years. You are not permitted to consummate the marriage in any sense and may not engage in such a way with each other so you don't create conflict." Jack says.

At... at least we get children. Hopefully they at least look like me if they can't look like Greyson.

I look to Greyson for confirmation and he's smiling through the tears. So am I though. I am happy and sad for the both of us. I can't believe we can't consummate the marriage though. It seems a little odd.

"Of course, Greyson will continue his job as a surgeon and Vanessa, your job will be as a celebrity clothes designer." Jack tells us. I am ecstatic! What a great job! It's a great paying job and a very interesting one, even if it isn't the engineer job I wanted.

"Here is the key to your house, number 12, located of course in the main sector. A car is waiting for you outside to take you there, so you are dismissed." Jack finishes.

I take Greyson's hand and look up at him. He's still blushing out of embarrassment.

We walk outside and get into the car.

"I'm sorry Vanessa. I should have told you before, but I just never got a good chance and—"

"Stop," I say, not angrily but comfortingly, "I understand your sad, I am too. But we are still going to have children even if they aren't your own biologically. No matter what, we will be okay. You're my husband now, so even though our children won't get your perfect features, I still love you and will love them."

He glances at me and without a second thought puts his hand on my face and kisses me. At first, I am shocked but I kiss back with love and passion. Our souls connect through the kiss and I'm radiating happiness.

I pull away slowly and look at him with hope. He stares back at me with love. His green eyes are magical to me.

"We have arrived." Manages the driver who breaks our moment.

This is it.

This is our future.

We have a lot to discuss about it.