Again, she stops me. “I blame myself. I shut out the world because the one man I trusted left me. I had a daughter to raise. I didn’t know what to do, so I turned inward. I know I failed you. I know it, baby-girl.”
I stare into her eyes, trembling. “You didn’t fail me. You hear me? You did the best you could. Now we have to move forward. We have to be a family again. A different family, but a family nonetheless.”
She hugs me again. “I know, sweetie. I know.”
This wasn’t the happy ending I expected, but closure is everything. I have my mom back. She has me. Of course, I have my alpha aliens.
“So,” I mutter. “What are we watching?”
She shrugs and dips her spoon inside the bucket of ice-cream, but there’s no more left. “You pick,” she says.
I smile, feeling so fucking happy I get this chance. “Okay, I’ve got just the movie,” I say.
She sits up straight. “Before you choose, do you have any more ice-cream?”
I laugh and dry my eyes. “Me? Ice-cream? I’ve got about eight different flavors in that freezer.”
Well, Earth hasn’t changed a bit.
That’s okay with me.
Epilogue: Emma
My skin glistens with sweat. My entire body aches. I’m stuck in a tub, surrounded by nurses, and they’re all looking at me with indescribable expressions.
Resting in my arms is one baby alien.
Eyes wide, the doctor removes her surgical mask. “It’s a… girl?”
Rekker appears, standing over her. “This is our little secret,” he says.
Vraik and Lök appear, as well.
“Got it?” Vraik asks.
Silent, the team nods in unison.
It took about six months for my mom to understand what happened. She met my alphas and nearly had a heart attack. But when they explained their love to her, she understood how much I meant to them.
She had always wanted to become a grandmother. In the end, she couldn’t object.
I gave everything I had to give for this baby. And when I thought about giving up, my alphas were there to push me. They taught me how to fight for the things that are real in this life. Family, purpose, a life of decency over submission. It is not a new idea. It’s just something I forgot was possible.
“That’s our baby,” Lök whispers.
Their anger toward Slain has gone away. All of the pain they once felt about their home has turned into excitement over the new possibilities that lay in front of us.
Akron and the miners have destroyed the sentinels. They have built a new form of governance. The Resnyx has been destroyed.
All is well in the universe.
On Earth, no one could say what had happened. There was no one to blame, no explanation at all to tell humanity what they experienced.
Facing public pressure, NASA revealed a new program, the Earth Federation. They are going to expand their scope into the cosmos.
They will bring us back answers.
I don’t expect much to come of it. My alphas and our child might have to stay in hiding for the rest of their lives, but we’ll stay strong.