Mated: A Sci-Fi Alien Invasion Romance (Garrison Earth Book 3) by V. K. Ludwig

Author:V. K. Ludwig [Ludwig, V. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-05-13T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

Balgiz

* * *

“How about Joaxin?” Rosie asked, twirling code around with one hand, and holding a book with human-Vetusian baby names in the other. “It says here it’s one of the rarer names currently used.”

I glanced back at her over my shoulder, a sense of bliss and content coming over me. Rosie sat in the hallway of our home, reading me names for our child, helping me to create our family.

With one small lie, harmless to everyone around us, I had finally claimed her as mine. As far as I was concerned, she was my mate, everything else nothing but boring fine print. Eventually, non-fated mates would become less rare and more accepted. Until then, I would no longer deny myself to share this life with Rosie.

I hammered a nail into the stone wall Earth-style, grabbed another frame from one of Rosie’s boxes, and hung the picture. “How would they know what’s rare and what isn’t, if the first hybrid was born only four lunar cycles ago?”

“This thing is interactive. Look.” She turned the book around, names moving up and down the columns all on their own. “It even has a hybrid counter at the bottom of each page, with a note that there’s a one-hour reporting delay.”

Another nail.

This time, Rosie handed me one of the photos from the wedding, my fingers going tingly the moment I clasped them around the frame. It was a humbling experience, this being part of something, and seeing me surrounded by Rosie’s family turned my throat raw.

My height sure made me stand out. But aside from that? I fit right in, blending into the picture as if I’d been destined to be in that old-fashioned photograph. Rosie stood in front of me, both of us not liking what fate had served us, so we’d forged our own.

“Joaxin,” I said, testing the potential name of my son, letting it roll over my lips. “Don’t like it. It’s too… I’m not sure. Soft?”

“Let’s hope it’s a girl since we at least managed to settle on a name for her.” Rosie let out an annoyed huff. “We should probably take a break before I toss this thing against your head. It’s not like we’re in a rush anyway.”

“Nine lunar cycles aren’t a lot of time to choose something as significant as a name. They carry great weight for Vetusians.”

“That’s hard to believe, considering you don’t even have last names.”

I turned around with a snort. “Who told you that? Of course, we have last names. We just stopped using them since we technically don’t belong to families anymore and replaced them with crop numbers instead.”

“You have a last name?” she asked with wide eyes. “Let me hear it.”

I strained my brain for a moment but quickly gave up. “I’d have to dig into my file for that. It’s not something I have a reason to remember since nobody ever asks.”

“Does your first name have a meaning or something? Since you mentioned they carry weight.”

“Balgiz means something along the lines of mountain of honor.

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