Sera woke only a few hours after falling asleep, her stomach sour and her head pounding. She opened her eyes and stared up at the grungy motel ceiling and the glass globe covering the lighting fixture, filled with dead bugs. There were speckled stains on the tiles above her head, and she was grateful she didn’t have a UV lamp, because there were just some things she didn’t want to know.

She put her hand on her stomach, feeling it grumble, full of acid and not much else. She sighed and closed her eyes.

She couldn’t believe her life now. Here she was, ensconced between two sleeping men from a distant planet, pregnant with a half-alien baby. She didn’t know which of the two men at her side were the father. Considering the way their bodies melded into one when they made love, it was entirely possible that they were both the father in some way that beggared understanding. She was a fugitive from at least two governments and possibly two armies, and there were killer aliens looking for her partners...and those killer aliens might be coming for Earth next.

Two months ago, she’d been certain of who she was, and where she was going in her life. She was a tenured professor of archaeology and anthropology at the University of Austin. She’d finally gotten permission from two governments - the same ones currently pursuing her - to begin work on the dig of a lifetime. How many archaeologists get to open a brand new Mayan pyramid to exploration? Even more, how many female archaeologists get to direct their own excavations? She’d been on top of the world.

How far away it all seemed now.

Theyn shifted in his sleep, his hand sliding over her abdomen protectively. She turned to look into his face. His remarkable eyes were closed, but the tiny iridescent scales of his skin still shone in the dim light through the single curtained window. He had an artist’s dream of a face, she thought; gently swooping blond brows, a straight nose, a firm chin and a precisely-drawn jawline that looked like some sculptor’s masterpiece. His lips were softly parted as he dreamed, pink and kissable, and blond eyelashes spread like fans over his cheekbones. His hair was tousled, hanging to his shoulders in gentle waves. In truth, most everything about him was gentle, and she hadn’t been surprised to learn that of the two aliens, he was the most spiritual.

On her other side, Beno slept with his face toward the door, his back against her side. She rolled toward him, careful not to dislodge Theyn’s hand, and considered his broad shoulders. He was muscular, and even in repose, his body was hard and masculine, shaped for strength. His dark hair was black, shorter than his partner’s but just as thick. His own scales reflected the light, and as she looked at him, she realized that his scales reflected in golds and greens, while Theyn’s scales reflected silver and blue. She hadn’t noticed that before, but then, she hadn’t taken the opportunity to really look at them until now.

She sat up so she could see his face. His dark brows were straighter than Theyn’s, but still beautifully shaped. His nose, too, was straight, and his mouth was fuller than his partner’s, his lips softer and more pillowy. He had a strong, square jaw, and his eyelashes were long and soot-black.

They were like night and day, these two, and yet they seemed to need each other to be complete.  They had told her that Ylians were symbiotic, which made sense. She wondered what the partnering process was like when they were children, and if there was some sort of biochemical change that happened when they were matched to each other. It was hard for her to imagine Theyn without Beno, or vice versa.

And now… now there would be a new little Ylian, and she might be Ylian, herself, at least in part. Theyn and Beno seemed to think that her family tree included refugees from their world, but if it did, that was news to her. She had never shown anything but human traits, and yet…there in the blood test, it was shining proof in her DNA. She wondered what their DNA looked like, and what that would mean for her baby.

Her baby. She had never wanted a child. She had always believed that she would be the worst mother in the world, and that it would be a kindness to any future generations to not create them in the first place. Now she was pregnant, and she was overwhelmed with feelings of love and protectiveness toward the little life inside of her. She would never have thought herself capable of feeling such things, but here she was, being maternal.

Beno stirred, awoken by the feeling of being watched. His eyes opened, glowing green like illuminated emeralds, and he smiled when he saw her. The smile started as a smirk and blossomed until it was full and friendly, and she smiled back.

Good morning, she greeted. Or probably good evening is more appropriate.

He ran a hand over his face and shifted so he could sit up. Theyn responded to the shifting weight on the mattress and woke, as well. He yawned and rolled onto his back, his hands on his stomach.

“Are you hungry?” she asked him.

He nodded. “Very.”

“Me, too.”

Beno stood and stretched. “I could eat.”

She slid off the bed and did some stretching of her own. “I think I saw a greasy spoon on the way in here. I can go there and get us some food while you two lay low.”

“A greasy spoon?” Theyn asked, confused. “How can you obtain sufficient food for the three of us from a dirty cooking utensil?”

Beno chuckled. “It’s a slang term. It means a restaurant of fairly low quality and cheap prices.”

The blond shook his head. “I will never learn to speak appropriately here.”

“Telepathy is very useful,” his partner said.

Sera took some money from Beno’s bag, tucking a trio of twenties into her pocket. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

She grabbed the car keys and ducked out of the room, leaving the boys to their own devices. Somehow, she was going to have to come up with a way for them to move around in the daylight without attracting suspicion. Maybe she could put makeup over their scales, and make sure they kept their dark glasses on. That would only help so much, but it was a start.

It took longer to reach her destination than she had expected. She had to go practically all the way to the highway before she found it again. The restaurant was a tiny hole-in-the-wall sharing a parking lot with a dry cleaner and laundromat. The building was so filthy on the outside that she doubted anything going in would ever come out clean.  She parked the car in front of the restaurant and went inside.

There were only three patrons there when she walked in, so it wasn’t difficult to get the attention of one of the servers. The woman, a fifty-something with bags under her eyes and sagging orthopedic hose, handed her a menu and left her to make her selections.

Can you eat meat?

She wasn’t sure if Beno or Theyn could hear her, since she was quite a distance away.  Beno’s response came with gratifying speed. We can, but Theyn prefers not to. Make him do it anyway.

She chuckled. That’s rude.

My job is to take care of him, because he can’t really be trusted to take care of himself. She could sense his smile despite the edgy words. If we can’t tolerate the food you bring, we’ll cope. It’s one way to find out what on Earth we can eat and what we can’t.

She looked up and realized that an old man in the corner booth was staring at her, his amber brown eyes fixed on her face.  His mouth turned down at the corner, and his white hair hung limply around his face. Something about the way he was watching her made her distinctly uncomfortable, and she looked away, wishing the waitress would come back.

Right on cue, the woman returned to the counter and took her order, then rang up the purchase. Sera dumped the change into her pocket. She needed new clothes. Luckily this was the car Joely had driven, and her wallet and ID were in the glove compartment. She didn’t want to be driving around without her license.

She nearly laughed at herself, and she stifled it quickly, afraid that if she started she wouldn’t stop. She was being chased by soldiers and had two fugitive aliens in her hotel room, but she was worried about getting in trouble at a traffic stop. Oh my God, she thought. Things could not be any stranger.

Beno chuckled in her head, and it sounded a little cynical. Careful what you wish for, love.

He had never called her ‘love’ before, and the emotional pop behind the pet name made her shiver. Did he love her? Wasn’t it too soon for such things? She’d never fallen in love with anyone, ever. How would she know if she had? Relationships were such confusing things, so fraught with nuance and messy details. She had never wanted a relationship.

When she’d been growing up, her grandmother used to say, ‘if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.’ She knew that life had a way of twisting itself in directions that couldn’t have been predicted. She had the cognitive understanding of the concept. Her current situation, though, was the first time she’d encountered that twisting and turning face to face. She didn’t like it.

Or maybe she did. She didn’t know anymore.

The waitress brought her order in a brown paper bag with the receipt stapled to the top. A greasy handprint decorated one side of the bag. She grabbed napkins and plastic ware on the way out of the restaurant.

The old man rose and followed her out. She looked over her shoulder at him, then quickened her step, hurrying to her car. She unlocked the door with the key fob and opened it as soon as she reached it, flinging the bag onto the passenger seat. Before she could get into the car, the man pushed the door closed and nearly caught her hand in it. She jumped back with a yelp of surprise.

“What do you want?” she demanded.

He squinted at her, and he asked in Spanish, “What are you doing? Where are you from?”

She switched idioms. “Get away from me,” she told him. “Leave me alone.”

The man grabbed her wrist. “You’re not human!”

She shook him off and shoved him, pushing him back several steps. It was enough space for her to get into the car and close and lock the door. He staggered back toward her, his gnarled hands beating on her window.

“You’re not human!” he screamed. “Not human!”

She put the car into reverse and peeled out of the parking space, leaving him standing and ranting in her rearview mirror. She could feel Theyn’s alarm and heard him through their link.

Are you all right? Are you hurt?

I’m fine, she answered, telling a little lie and hoping they’d let her get away with it. Her heart was pounding and she was full of adrenaline that made her hands shake. Just some crazy old coot.

Beno is coming to you.

What? How?

Theyn sounded frustrated. He’s running. We have no other way to reach you.

She huffed. Beno, go back to the hotel. I’m fine, and you’ll just attract attention.

I’m camouflaged, he told her, his tone sounding annoyed. But I will return if you’re certain.

I’m certain, she nodded. Even though he couldn’t see her, she knew he would feel the motion and know it for what it was.

The drive back to the hotel seemed to take less time than the trip to the restaurant, but then, she was speeding the whole way. She parked outside their room, backing into the space so that the license plate was concealed. Beno appeared beside her, leaning on the car, and she let out a shriek in surprise.

He held up his hands. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Well don’t sneak up on me, then! Jesus!” She put a hand to her head. “Sorry… just feeling a little jumpy…”

He opened the door and helped her out with a solicitous hand. “You’ll feel better after you eat.”

“Maybe.”

He carried the bag inside, and Theyn held the door for them.  Once they were safely inside the room, he closed and barred the door, flipping the dead bolt and the door guard into place.

“What happened?” Theyn asked, concerned.

“There was this creepy ass old man at the restaurant,” she said, covering the shaking of her hands with the busy work of unpacking the bag.  “He came up and grabbed me and kept saying that I wasn’t human. Weird, huh?”

“Very.” Beno looked at her, not fooled and fully aware of how she was trembling. “Do you want me to go take care of him?”

Sera and Theyn both chastised him at once.  “Beno!”

The dark-haired Ylian set his jaw and crossed his arms over his chest. “The longer we’re on the run, and the more we’re hunted, we’re going to have to start considering things like that. Especially after the baby comes.” He fixed a very serious look on his lovers. “I will not allow our child to become a captive to anyone, human or otherwise, and I will do what I have to do to prevent that.”

Theyn sounded distressed. “Even kill?”

“If that is what it takes, yes.”

The blond shook his head. “No. We have always been a peaceful people.”

“Yes, and look at what it got us,” Beno said angrily. “If we’d had a decent military, if we’d had weaponry like the Bothesans, if we’d fought back even once, maybe we wouldn’t have been so easy for the Taluans to destroy.”

“But… our peaceful nature, our willingness to cooperate without violence, that is what has always made us Ylian,” Theyn protested. “We can’t turn our backs on who we are now.”

“This is about survival.”

“And what is the good of surviving if we lose everything that we are?” The two men stared at one another, Theyn calm and sad, Beno angry and frustrated. Finally, Theyn said, “I forbid it. There will be no killing.”

He glared fiercely, his teeth clenching but he ground out, “Yes, Your Highness.”

Sera shook her head. “Now, hold on just a damn minute. Theyn, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, staying true to your ideals and everything, but Beno’s right. You are not in a position to be idealistic, at least not for now. If someone comes for you or me or this baby, you had better believe that I’m going to get medieval on their asses, and if they’re still able to walk away when I’m done, then that just means they’re lucky. And I don’t care what you forbid, because most of the people who are hunting us are human, and I know what humans are like. They will keep coming and coming until you prove to them that they need to stop.”

Theyn looked at her, shocked, but she could see a spark of admiration in Beno’s eyes. He nodded to her in silent approval.

“I…” The blond looked down. “I don’t know what to say.”

They ate in silence, both because they were too hungry to take a breath between bites and because they didn’t want to speak. She wondered if anyone had ever really told Theyn ‘no’ before regarding something so profound; he was a prince, after all, so he was probably used to having people do whatever he said. Then again, he was paired with Beno, and she had already seen that the dark-haired Ylian was not shy about opposing his partner. They had an interesting dynamic.

When the meal was over and Sera got up to clear off the table, Theyn motioned for her to stay seated and took care of the mess himself. She rested her chin in her hand and drummed her free fingertips against the table top until Beno put his own hand on top of them to stop her. She smiled at him apologetically.

“I guess I’m feeling a little anxious,” she said.

Beno smirked. “Can’t imagine why.” Even Theyn chuckled at that, and then the dark-haired Ylian asked, “So… we haven’t had a chance to talk since…”

“Since I found out I’m pregnant?”

“Yes.”

Theyn finished dumping the garbage into the wastebasket and sliding it outside the door to eliminate old-food funk in the room.  He sat down across from Beno, his right knee gently touching Sera’s left. She looked down at her right hand, safely and softly held in Beno’s left, and felt their three-way connection springing to life again.

“Wow,” she breathed as the electric feeling washed through her, the energy between the three of them flowing like an ocean current.  “That’s… that’s quite a feeling.” She took a deep breath. “So what do you want to talk about?”

“Let’s start basic,” Theyn said. “Are you happy?”

She considered all of the possible answers she could give, and none of them were quite right, and none of them quite covered all of the bases she needed them to over. “No. But yes. And I’m confused about that.”

Beno raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

Sera took a deep breath and sat back, pulling away from physical contact with both of them so that the pleasant buzzing would stop distracting her.  “I never wanted to have a kid. Like, ever. I’m the least maternal woman you’ll ever meet. My own mom was… not around. And I didn’t want…”

She felt the words gathering like a lump in her throat, too bulky to be swallowed, too unruly to be spoken. She looked down, trying to hide the tears that were wetting her eyes. Stupid hormones.

The men stayed silent, waiting for her to continue, not attempting to rush her or speak for her. It took her a long minute, but she finally went on.

“My mom wasn’t a very good person. She really hated being a mother, and she told me all the time about how having kids ruined her life. She left me and my brother with our grandparents one day when she went to ceramics class. The only problem is that she never came back.”

Theyn reached out for her sympathetically, but she pulled back, so he dropped his hand again. “How old were you?”

“I was six.” She wiped away a tear that had escaped, feeling foolish and weak. “It was twenty years ago.”

“But it still hurts,” Beno said, “obviously. And you shouldn’t be ashamed of that.”

She clasped her hands together as if squeezing them would help her throttle her own emotions. “My grandma and grandpa did their best with us, they did, but they weren’t equipped to raise two kids. My brother was only four at the time, and they were both in their eighties. They weren’t financially able to really care for us, and they both were so old and frail. Grandpa died the next year, and Grandma passed away four years later.”

Theyn whispered, “So you were ten and your brother was eight when you were left alone.”

She nodded.

“Where was your father?” Beno asked.

“We didn’t know him. I don’t even know his name. Mom never said who he was, and she was sort of the village bicycle, you know? Could’ve been anyone.”

It was clear that neither man really understood the bicycle reference, but Beno was telepathic enough to pick up her gist. He nodded. “So you were alone. What happened?”

“We were put into foster care in two different families. I lost track of my brother, and I have no idea where he is, or if he’s even still alive.”  She took a deep breath. “I don’t have any family to give a child. I don’t know how to be a parent, except in the bad ways. I’m going to screw this kid up so bad.”

Beno grasped her hand and pulled her toward him, and she went, no longer wanting to be separate from them and yearning for comfort. He pulled her into his lap and wrapped his strong arms around her, holding her tight.  Theyn pulled his chair over and sat with his arms around her, too, his cheek pressed to her shoulder.

“None of us have a family now,” he whispered, and Beno nodded.  “The only family we can offer our child is each other. I don’t know anything about being a father, or raising a child, either.”

Beno stroked her hair back from her face. “I grew up with five sisters,” he said.  “My family was freakishly large by Ylian standards, but I know kids and I know how to take care of them. I was the oldest, so I saw and helped out with a lot with my siblings. I know how to feed a baby, how to clothe him, how to wash him, how to care for him. I think we will all know how to love him… or her.” He smiled.  “Girls are rare on Ylia, but I think that if anyone would give birth to a daughter on the first try, it would be you.”

She sniffed and chuckled. “You make it sound so special.”

“It is. I told you before, males outnumber females by a factor of four to one. That’s why the male pairing was developed.”

Sera straightened, the anthropologist in her intrigued. “Developed? You mean, it was deliberate?”

He nodded. “Ylian males on our own aren’t very fertile, and many are underdeveloped sexually.”

“Not your problem, either of you,” she said, winking at Theyn, who blushed but smiled.

Beno grinned and continued. “That’s because we were paired. We were the lucky ones. Males who don’t find a pair in childhood, who don’t have the right physiochemistry for the merging, never really reach sexual maturity. It’s only by merging with another male that we are able to produce offspring. One Ylian male isn’t able to produce enough motile sperm to result in a viable conception.”

Theyn smiled and leaned his chin on her shoulder. “I was the Empress Kina’s only son, and they looked all through the aristocracy for a pair for me.  The matching never worked.”

“To match boys, they combine their blood and childhood skin secretions with a catalyst, and if the factors are right for merging, the combination will sublimate. If the factors aren’t there, then it won’t.  You either get a test tube full of liquid that turns to vapor under heat, or you get a test tube full of sludge,” Beno explained.

“They started looking for my pair mate when I was born,” Theyn said. “Mother was practically obsessed about it, even though all signs were that my sister, Thena, would be able to carry on the family line without any trouble. She had passed the screening and had been shown to be genetically viable for the next generation.”

Beno chuckled. “They went through all of the sons of the aristocracy, then all of the sons of the merchant class, then all of the sons of the upper ranks of the military, looking for Theyn’s match.”

“So where were you hiding?”

“The last place they’d look,” he grinned. “In the garden.”

“Beno’s mother was my mother’s gardener,” Theyn said. “Not exactly the pair the Empress was dreaming of, but she allowed it… and I will be forever grateful.”

“As will I.” He put his hand on her abdomen. “If they hadn’t kept looking, I never would have had a pair mate. Matching like that wasn’t something that the underclasses normally had access to, unless it was accidental and found through happenstance. And if they’d never found me, we would never have been matched, and I would be dead now, and this - this tiny, growing miracle inside you - would never have occurred.”

She put her arms around both of their necks and pulled them close, kissing first Beno, then Theyn. She pulled back. “I don’t know if I’m happy or sad or just scared,” she said. “I do know that I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize this baby’s life.”

Theyn seemed to relax at her words. “I know you have the option of terminating the pregnancy,” he said softly, “and I wouldn’t stop you if you wanted to do that. I’m just so glad you don’t want to.”

They embraced for a moment, then Sera said, “I don’t know what kind of life this baby is going to have if we’re constantly on the run.”

“Then we’ll find someplace to stop running,” Beno said. “We’ll find a place to live, away from prying eyes, and we’ll try to make our own way in this world. Truthfully, Sera, we don’t have a choice. We can’t go home. We don’t have the equipment to go anywhere else. All we have is each other and the stuff we have here, and that’s going to wear out eventually. Everything mechanical does, especially when there are no appropriate power sources or replacement parts.”

She looked into his shining eyes. “That must be frightening for you.”

“Of course it is,” he nodded, “but it’s a little exciting, too. I don’t run from a challenge.”

Theyn smiled. “My partner is very bold. You might have noticed.”

Beno crinkled his nose at her. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Don’t scare the woman,” Theyn chided playfully. “Honestly.”

She took a deep breath and hugged them again. “This isn’t what I planned for,” she said thoughtfully, “but I don’t run from challenges either.”

The brunet put a hand to her chin and turned her to face him. He claimed her lips in a gentle kiss.  “I love that about you.”

She hesitated, a question in her mind that she wasn’t brave enough to articulate.

Thank goodness for telepathy. Beno nodded. Yes. I love you.

And I love you, too, Theyn confessed. We will both love you until the day we die.

Since her grandparents’ death, nobody had offered her more of themselves than a few hours at a time. She heard these two men now offering her the rest of their lives, fully and completely and without hesitation, and it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever experienced. The tears sprang up in her eyes again, and she tried not to weep as she pulled them close.

I don’t know if I love you yet, she told them. I haven’t had time, and there’s so much that should make it impossible, or at least ill advised. But… I trust you. And that’s something I’ve never had with any man before.

Trust is rarer than love, and infinitely more fragile, Beno said. You honor us.

And if love comes later, Theyn said, then we will be waiting here with open arms.

She didn’t know what to say, and expressing emotions had never been her strong suit, anyway. It was why she preferred to work with people who were already dead. Speechless, she merely embraced them for a long, long time.