Winter by Michelle Love (21)

I hear the bedroom door close as he comes back in then I hear him come into the bathroom. “Baby, are you sick?”

Flushing the toilet, I shake my head. “Nerves. This shit is getting to me. I’m having a hard time keeping myself together.”

Wetting a washcloth in the sink, he brings it to me and helps me up off the floor where I ended up as I feel weak. Gently, he wipes my face then picks me up into his arms and carries me back to bed. “I’m sorry about all of this. I am.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I bury my face in his chest as a sob escapes me. “Ryker, I can’t take this. I can’t.”

“Shh, baby. It’s going to be alright. You’ll see. Everything is going to be alright. I’m going to make sure it is.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, he cradles me on his lap.

“It’s not going to be alright. You may stop me from following you with that mission but you can’t stop me forever. If you go, so do I.”

“Gia, it may be dangerous. You can come when we’ve found out if it’s safe or not.”

“Let someone else do that, Ryker. Let someone who doesn’t have a wife do that. I’m begging you.”

His hand moves up my arm then he takes my face in it and makes me look at him. “If I tell you what the secret is, can you keep it a secret?”

All I can do is look at him. I know I’ll feel compelled to do something to stop the mission if it’s really bad. But I have to keep that fact to myself and utter a lie, “I can keep it a secret, Ryker.”

The way he looks into my eyes has my heart pounding. I wait and wait for him to tell me the big, dangerous secret. When his cell rings, I look away from him, finding the word, abort, blazing across the screen. “I’ll be right back.” He gets up, still holding me, then places me on the bed. Grabbing the phone, he walks out of the room.

I can’t stand it any longer. I sneak out after him to hear what he has to say to the odd call. Just as I open the door, he’s coming back in and gives me a look that tells me he’s not happy about catching me coming after him. “What are you doing, Gia?”

“What are you doing?” I turn the question back on him. “Tell me what that’s about.”

“I can’t. And I can’t let you in on the secret, either. I had no idea the extent they’ve gone to, to make sure no one talks. The room must be bugged or my phone or something. They knew I was about to tell you the secret.”

I step back into the bedroom, more than a bit shocked. “Ryker, do they have you over a barrel? Do you have to go on this mission or they’ll do something to you?”

He just stares at me then blinks once, slowly. I can see they are using something to make him go on this mission. Taking his hand, I pull him back to the bed.

I’ve been so upset with this whole thing, I’ve hardly been intimate with him at all. He’s been in training for hours every single day. And one weekend they kept them at the training facility for two nights. When he came back home, he was kind of stiff-necked.

I run my hands up his arms after I climb onto his lap as he sits on the bed. “Make love to me.” Moving my hands over his shoulders, I send them on a path to check the back of his neck. When he reaches up, taking my hands in his to stop me, I know he must have some type of implant back there I’m not supposed to find.

“Baby, you don’t know how good it is to hear you say that.” His lips brush mine, sending sparks through me. “It’s been so damn long since you’ve let me touch you.”

“I’m not going to fight you about this anymore.” I know now that he’s pretty much at the mercy of the men who’ve set this whole thing up. I’m not about to put any more pressure on him about it. I’m going to stop them, though. I’m not sure how I’m going to do it but I am going to stop it.

He moves me off his lap and onto the bed. Unbuttoning my pajama shirt, he moves it off me as he looks at my breasts. His hands move over them then he leans over and takes one into his mouth. When he makes a gentle suck, it hurts like hell. I hold back a yelp and grit my teeth.

Trying to send him on to better places, I reach out and grab the bottom of his T-shirt and pull it off, over his head, making him leave my tender breasts alone.

He smiles as he pulls my pajama bottoms off then gets rid of his too. My pink satin panties are all that’s left between us and he grins at me as he rips them off me. I shudder with the action. It’s been three months since he and I have done a thing.

“You’ve lost weight, Gia.” He runs his hand over my flat stomach then over my hip bones which are jutting out. “You must eat.”

“I will. I promise.” I bite my lip as I’ve let things go as I’ve done little else, other than worry about him leaving.

Slowly, he moves his hands up my sides as he moves to cover my body with his. His lips meet mine and he gives me his sweet kiss. Desire rips through me and an instant need for him fills me.

His kiss grows intense in no time and our bodies grind together as they fight to get to the good stuff. I move my legs all over his then spread them wide for him. When he eases his hard cock into me, I groan with how good it feels and so does he. “Gia, my God.”

“Ryker,” I moan his name and run my nails over his back.

He moves in a slow rhythm, making my body heat and shiver at the same time. His lips press against my neck then he bites it with a softness that sends another set of chills over my body.

Every touch, every movement, further cements the idea in my mind that I have to do something to stop the mission he’s seemed to be so down to go on.

Arching up to him, I spur him on until he’s raging with an animal-like need for me. My hands move all over him, rubbing, clawing, raking. Then I move one of them in a circular pattern while the other moves up to the back of his neck.

I only get the smallest touch before he takes my hand and holds it down. But I felt something. A tiny bump, but he’s trying his best to hide it. I know it’s some kind of a device to track him or maybe even run him.

There’s no reason to ask him a thing about it. I know now that he can’t tell me or anyone else a thing. I begin to feel tremendous guilt over how I’ve treated him.

When I haven’t been cold and distant, I’ve been bitchy and vindictive. A thing I’m ashamed of myself for now. I should’ve known there had to be extenuating circumstances for him going.

“Gia, baby, I love you so much,” he whispers in my ear then bites my earlobe.

“Ryker, I’m so sorry.” Tears flow like rivers as remorse tortures me. I have to do something to help him!

All the money in the world isn’t helping him to do what he really wants. It seems maybe my mind, the thing he always saw as my best attribute, is about the only thing that can save him from this thing.

The waves of pleasure rumble through me and I’m shouting his name over and over with each surge. With a groan, he joins me, letting our bodies reconnect in the way they love to but I’ve denied them.

“Ryker, I love you.”

“I love you, Gia.”

Now I have to figure out what I have to do to save him.

RYKER

“You tell me how in the hell we’re supposed to do this thing,” I shout at the man in charge of our team, Captain Smithfield.

He looks at me with a frown so deep, his wrinkles have wrinkles. “Crawford, you know this mission is important to mankind. You were all in, up until a couple of weeks ago.”

“After the implant was placed in us, I lost faith in this whole thing. I’ve felt weird since that moment. I’ve felt unlike myself. I want it removed. I want out of this. I think there’s a lot of lying that’s happening and I think we’ve been chosen to man this mission based on the fact the six of us are the top people who’ve made the discoveries that are needed to make life on Mars a reality. Get rid of us, get rid of the idea of going there.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” His heels click as he turns away from me. “What’s gotten into you?”

“The implant, possibly. I’ve had nightmares and thought things I’ve never thought about before. Things that scare me. I’ve also had thoughts about why all the governments want this stopped. I came up with a plausible reason too. Money.”

“There’s more than you six who pay taxes, Crawford. I think you’re being paranoid.” He takes a seat behind his large oak desk and takes out a pad of paper. “I’m sending you to the shrink. You need to be reevaluated.”

“Send me to the clinic to have this thing removed. I won’t be going on that mission. And I’m about to make sure it doesn’t happen at all. You seem to think we’re all idiots. I’m not talking about only our tax dollars, I’m talking about everyone who leaves this planet. This corrupt planet.”

He sighs and points at the chair in front of his desk. “Crawford, you’re a smart man. All of you are. What none of you understand is the fact that I own you all. You signed a contract and I’m holding you to it.”

“That’s a contract that will ensure our deaths. Not only will you be able to get rid of us but all other missions will be stopped as the planet will be deemed too dangerous.” I lean up and glare at him. “Do I need to go public with this?”

“With what, your conspiracy theory?” He laughs, infuriating me.

“With the truth, Smithfield. The truth about how you have us all made into highly trained assassins now. You took six men. All of us smarter than your average person and all of us with one wish. To see Mars and live there. Now, you tell me what the world would think about what you’ve done with us. Why make us into killing machines?”

“You saw the pictures of what you’ll be up against. If we were to show the common people what’s there, in their universe, there’d be chaos the likes this world has never seen before. Would you want that, Crawford?”

“There are only six of us and those things are huge. How can you expect us to take them all out?”

“With the specialized weapons, we’ve made. You know that. It’s almost like the last few months have ceased to exist in your head. Perhaps the implant is messing up. Maybe the clinic is where you need to go. This isn’t like you. Not one bit. You’ve always been my best man for this mission. You were full of passion for it, in the beginning.”

Shaking my head, I say, “That was because I thought it was real then. I don’t anymore. I think it’s a setup to get rid of us and the whole Mars program.”

“Look, the discoveries you’re combined industries have made can help more than people who want to live on Mars. They can help people here too. Yet, none of you want to share your discoveries with anyone here. Why is that?”

“Why is it you’re just now asking this question? It cements exactly what I’ve been thinking. You get rid of us, the owners and CEO’s of the top six space exploration companies, then what?” I hold up my hand to stop him from answering the question. “I’ll tell you what. Then the governments come in and take over our companies that we’ve worked so hard for. They take our technologies and use them. Making the government’s money that should belong to us and our shareholders.”

“Wow, you really have an active imagination,” he says as he writes something on the pad of paper. “Let me make a call to get you into the clinic right away. I’m afraid major paranoia is setting in. That implant needs to be replaced. I’m not letting you out of the contract you signed. If I have to keep you here for the next three days, until the shuttle leaves, then I will.”

Sitting back, I cross my arms over my chest and smile at him. “You do that and my wife will tear this place apart to find me.”

“I’m supposed to be afraid of a little woman?” he asks with a laugh.

“You should. She’s kind of a pit bull when it comes to me.” I can see he’s not taking me seriously.

I know he can keep me here. I can’t even leave this office without him opening the door, using his retina. But I can count on Gia to find me. She knows I’m here after all.

A knock at the door, has me looking back at it and he hits a button under his desk then leans over. A green light moves over his eye then the door opens. Two men in camouflage uniforms come in and I see where we’re headed with this.

“These men will escort you to the clinic where a new implant will be inserted and the old one will be removed. I hope to see you back to your normal self soon, Crawford. Either way, you’re going on the mission.”

I look at the mindless goons and ask them, “Do either of you think it’s right to send a man to outer space without his consent? And with possible mental issues, as the captain thinks I’m having?” Neither looks at me, both look straight ahead. I look at Smithfield and smile. “And you’re going to tell my wife what exactly?”

“That we’re quarantining you all until the shuttle leaves. For health reasons.”

None of the other men are in the facility at this time. So, I have my doubts about him being able to get them to come in and submit to being held here for their last few days on Earth with their loved ones.

“You do that.” I turn around and walk out of his office, flanked by the men who will make sure I get to the clinic.

No one has any idea that Gia and Damien have a past. She will call him when she gets this news, I’m sure. Then we’ll see what happens.

I never thought I’d be happy about her having a past with that man but things seem to always happen for a reason!

GIA

“So, what you’re telling me is that I can’t see my husband before he goes on a mission he might not come back from?” I ask the man who’s called me to tell me Ryker and the rest of the team will be kept at the facility until the shuttle leaves.

“There will be a brief chance to talk to him when they leave this facility to get on the shuttle. This is for their health, Mrs. Crawford.”

“And why did this suddenly occur?”

“Our doctors decided this. You can come to the lift-off in three days at nine in the morning. See you then.” He hangs up and I’m left shaking as I hold my phone in one hand and the pregnancy test I just took in the other.

I drop the phone and look to find out what the results are. Positive!

And I can’t even tell the baby’s father the good news!

Picking my cell back up, I call the only other man I know who’s on the team with Ryker. “Hi,” Damien answers his cell. “It’s good to hear from you, Gia. I’m glad you’ve called.”

“Um, okay.” I hesitate as I’m not sure what the hell to say. “Damien, how come I can talk to you but not my husband?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I just got a call from Captain Smithfield that said all of you are being kept at the facility for the next three days until the shuttle leaves. For health reasons. So, why are you able to have your phone but Ryker’s not?”

Confusion is threaded through his deep voice, “What are you talking about?”

“I think something’s wrong, Damien.”

“I’ll go up there and find out what’s going on,” he says. “I’ll get back to you soon.”

“Wait! What if they keep you too?” I ask him as I’m starting to get really worried about this whole thing. Even more, than I already was.

“I don’t see how they could do that. I wanted to ask you something, though. Do you suppose it would be too much to ask you to watch out for Svetlana and Friedrich while I’m gone? And could you make sure they make it onto the Russian shuttle when it leaves?”

“Uh, really?” I ask him as that kind of is too much to ask of me.

“Yes,” he says with a soft tone. “It’s hard for me to leave here without them. Unfortunately, it’s necessary for everyone’s safety.”

“Damien, what’s the deal with Mars? What is it that you six are supposed to go and do what will ensure the safety of all others who will come after you?”

“I’m not at…”

I interrupt him, “…Liberty to discuss that. Yeah, I know. I just thought for a moment that you might want to let me in on it. I know you all have had some type of an implant placed at the back of your neck.”

“I don’t know where you’d get a silly idea like that, Gia.” I hear another ringing sound in the background. “Can you hold on a minute? I’m getting another call.”

“I can.”

I can hear him as he answers the other phone. “Markov here. And why is that, sir? I am currently on my private cell phone with her right now. She’s wondering why I’m not being kept at the facility, Captain Smithfield. When did you decide to do that? Is he okay now? I see. Yes, I can go in. Can you give me a little while to tell some people what I’m doing? A half hour. Yes, sir.”

“Damien?”

“Gia, I have to go. I’m sorry about this. I really am. See if you can’t find it in your heart to do what I’ve asked about my family. You’re the only one who knows who they are to me. Try to get them to me on Mars.”

“Damien, something’s not right. What’s happened to Ryker? What have they done to him?”

“I think you know I can’t discuss that with you. He’s alright. Just know that. I have thirty minutes to get to the facility. I have to get going. Please do as I’ve asked you to.” He ends the call, leaving me hanging.

With another phone call, I make my way to grab my purse and head out to the facility that’s taken over my husband. “Hi, I’m going to need your help with a situation. Are you still dating that news reporter?”

“Yes, why?” my colleague from work, Brittney, tells me.

“Can you grab him and meet me at 405 East Callahan Street? I’m going to need the media’s help to get to the bottom of this mission Ryker’s been asked to go on. It seems he’s been forced to go and now he’s being kept at the facility under false pretenses.”

“Oh, Lord!” she says with shock. “I’ll get him and meet you there.”

Ending the call, I get into my car and start it then I stop and think about how much time Ryker’s been spending locked in his office and how his office is always locked now. Getting out of the car, I head back inside to get into his home office to see if he’s been hiding anything from me.

Of course, I find the door locked, so I go get a knife out of the kitchen and run it between the door frame and the lock, jimmying it open. Taking the knife with me, I find the top drawer of his desk locked too and I stab at it until I get it open too. A file is in it and little else.

Pulling it out, I open it and find a picture of something that looks out of this world. A huge creature with giant teeth and sharp claws, the likes of which I’ve never seen before. And there are dozens more of them in the background. I pull it out and see a page behind it that reads, ‘objective, get rid of these creatures before population begins.’

So, that’s what they’re sending them to do. Kill these things, so others can go there.

Not my man, not him!

Part 9 - The Differences

RYKER

Pain radiates down my spine as the doctor pushes a needle into the spot next to the implant on the back of my neck to numb it, so it can be removed. The two men, who escorted me to the clinic, are standing just outside the door of the small examination room they brought me to. My mind is a flurry of ideas about how the hell to get out of this place in one piece.

“There’s a small amount of redness around the implant,” he says as the numbing medicine begins to work. I can feel him pushing it but it doesn’t hurt. “Have you been trying to take this out yourself?”

I keep my answer short. “No.” But I have been trying to get it out. It’s impossible to get at it on my own. A thing I’m sure that was thought of when they decided where to place these things on us, in the first place.

“This is an important device for you to have, Mr. Crawford. You have to be careful with this area. Captain Smithfield has written on this report that yours seems to be malfunctioning. Giving you paranoid thoughts. Can you explain to me what kinds of thoughts you’ve been having?”

Hesitating, as I think about what to say, I finally ask him, “How long have you been a part of this organization?”

“Not long,” he says as he goes over to pick up a tray of surgical tools. A sharp scalpel catches my eye as the overhead light catches the silver object, making it gleam. “A bit over a year. When the team was formed.”

“I thought the pictures from Mars with the creatures just got back to NASA four months ago.” I watch him pick up the sharp scalpel and grit my teeth as I know he’s about to slice my neck open.

“Oh, yes they did,” he says and I think I’ve caught onto something.

“Then why would the team have been formed a year ago?” I feel the incision he’s making. It’s not painful but I can feel some pressure.

The sound of the metal implant clanks into a stainless-steel bowl behind my back and I know I’m free of the device. And this old man will play hell putting another one in me. He makes his way across the small room to leave the bowl on the counter top then he comes back with a bandage. “Let me cover this up to stop the bleeding. I have to run down to the supply closet to get another implant. I’ll be right back, Mr. Crawford.”

It’s not lost on me that he doesn’t answer my question. As I watch him leave, I reach back and touch the bandage covering the hole in my neck. I’m free!

The two guards are still right outside the door that has a glass window at the top of it, so I can see them clearly and they can see me. But they’re looking straight ahead. I think I can use what I’ve learned to gain their weapons from them, rendering them useless to stop me.

Just as I get off the exam table I see Damien walking up to them but I can’t hear a word anyone of them is saying. Then he comes in and I’m stuck. “Ryker, what’s going on?”

“Damien, I need to get the hell out of here and I think you should too. This is a trap and…” I stop when he holds up his hand and points to the back of his neck then winks.

“Ryker, have you gone insane? What’s happening to you? This is crazy talk. I heard your implant went haywire.” He walks over to where the bloody scalpel is and takes it, cleaning it with alcohol. “After a new implant is inserted, you’ll be back to normal.” He comes to me and hands me the surgical knife. With a nod, he turns his back to me and holds up his hair.

Going along with him, I say, “You don’t understand, Damien. They mean to kill us all. I think even the pictures are a hoax. It’s as plain as the nose on my face what they want. They want us all dead, ending the plans to leave this planet, taking away citizens from every country, taking away tax dollars.” I make a quick slit and use the sharp instrument to take the implant out.

“That’s just insane, Ryker,” he says with a pained sound to his voice.

I take the implant and toss it in the trash and get a bandage. Putting it on the wound on the back of his neck, I whisper, “You take the guard on the left and I’ll take the one on the right. We need to get their guns and go to the nearest exit.”

“Got it.”

We move with quick strides to the door. When I pull it open, neither of them turns around, thinking it’s just Damien leaving I suppose. With a quick slam of my fist to the side of the guard’s head, I knock him to the ground and in no time, I have his gun out of the holster.

Damien and I stand in front of the men who don’t even bother to get up off the floor, staying right where we laid them out. One of them shakes his head. “We’re not about to try to fight you two. We know you’ve been trained.”

“Good,” I say then Damien and I turn to leave. The doctor meets us in the hallway. With one look at the guns we have, he turns around and goes into another door, leaving us alone.

“I say we get to Smithfield and set him straight,” Damien says. “No reason to leave the others in harm’s way.”

With a nod, we head that way and stop when we see an open door, leaking light into the dim hallway. A couple of women are inside, looking at a projection screen. There are pictures of the creatures from Mars that we’ve never seen before.

It’s obvious they’re unaware of us as they talk. The blonde says, “If we add in some red in the background, it’ll look more realistic.”

“I found this overlay of red dust blowing around. That’ll give a good effect. These will be released to the media after take-off,” the woman with dark hair says. “It’s such a shame we have to lose some of those men.”

“Yeah, the Russian’s hot. I’m thinking about seeing if I can get a little taste of him since they’re all being kept here for the next three days. I’m sure they’ll all be seeking a little hot female interaction before leaving forever.”

“I know Crawford is married but do you think he’d be desperate enough to give me a romp?” the dark haired woman asks.

My stomach is knotting and Damien puts his finger to his lips as we fall back to hide on the sides of the door, so we can listen some more.

“I overheard the Captain saying the boosters have been rigged to explode just before they reach the outer atmosphere. That’s when the media will get these pictures, along with the explanation about why they were being sent. They’ll all be labeled heroes.”

“And the missions to Mars will stop there.”

I look at Damien, ‘I knew it.’

And with what we’ve just overheard, we move with stealthy silence to our Captain’s office. Voices come from the hallway that’s intersecting this one, halting us. “Markov’s transmission has stopped. We have to find him,” Joel, another man who’s scheduled to be with us on the mission, says.

“The clinic is the last place where he was. Do you suppose Crawford took it out for him?” Clayton, another man slated to be with us on the fated mission, asks.

Damien and I slip into a room to hide. At this point we need to get to Smithfield then the other men can have their implants removed. Getting to the Captain is the number one priority at this point.

We hear their footsteps go past the door and wait until we can no longer hear the clicking of their shoes as they go down the hallway. Moving to a window, I look out into the parking lot and see a news van. Waving Damien over, he sees it too. “I wonder what’s up.”

“How much would you like to bet that Gia’s behind that, somehow?” I ask him.

He nods. “She called me. That’s why I was called in, I think. I wasn’t on the phone with her but a few minutes when Smithfield called me and told me I had thirty minutes to get here. He knew I was on the phone with her. When I figured that out, I knew the implant was more than merely a tracking device.”

“I feel like an idiot for falling for all this shit in the first place and even allowing them to put that thing in me,” I say as I wonder what the hell I was thinking.

Why would I ever agree to leave Gia here, all alone? None of it makes any sense to me now. Not any of it!

GIA

Dust particles hang in the air as the news reporter, Dave Johnson, and his cameraman, stand in front of me and Brittney as we walk into the facility where Ryker has spent most of his time the last three months. “It’s dark in here,” the camera man, Gary, says.

“I’m sure they want it this way. It’s hard to get accurate pictures in this light,” I say as we find no one stopping us from coming in. We all expected a fight.

A fast set of heels, clicked down the hallway, coming toward us. Another set joins them and we stop as a couple of women, one blonde and one brunette, came to us. “You can stop there,” the blonde shouts.

“I’m Dave Johnson with Channel Seven News. I’m here to ask Captain Smithfield some questions.”

“No, you are not. He’s not taking any questions. There will be a news conference on Tuesday. Just before the shuttle takes off,” the brunette lets us know.

“We’re here because of Ryker Crawford. He’s been detained and his wife is worried about him. He hasn’t even been allowed to call her. Things don’t seem to be on the up and up here,” Dave tells the two who look like they’ve been sucking on pickles, their lips are so puckered.

“Ryker Crawford is fine. I’m sure, when the Captain sees fit, he’ll allow Ryker to call his wife,” the blonde says.

The brunette quickly adds, “If that’s a thing he wants to do. He may not be calling her of his own accord. The men will be leaving all their loved ones behind. Some are finding it difficult to be around them any longer with what’s about to happen. If she loves him, she’d know how he’s feeling.”

“Excuse me,” I say as I step around the men to face this crazy bitch. “I’m Gia Crawford. I do know my husband and I know he would never want to spend his last days on Earth anywhere but with me. So, where is he right now? I want to see him.”

“That’s impossible,” the blonde says.

The camera man turns on his camera and sheds some light on us all. I find the women are much older than I could tell when the light was so dim. They shield their eyes from the light as the brunette shouts, “Turn that off. No videotaping is allowed in this facility!”

“Well, it’s being done,” I say and hold out my hand to separate the two and walk through them.

“You can’t just go anywhere you want around here!” the blonde says as she grabs my shoulder. “This is a top-secret facility. Only people who are supposed to be here are allowed.”

“You have my husband,” I say as I shake her hand off me and move past them, with the other three people right behind me. “I see a light on under a closed door up here.”

The women’s laughter pisses me off as one of them shouts out at us, “You won’t be able to get into any room that has anything you’re seeking in it.”

“Wanna bet?” I ask as I get to the door with the light on in the room. “You want to take it from here, Dave?”

With a nod, he steps up to the door and knocks. “Dave Johnson with Channel Seven News. I’m here to speak with a Captain Smithfield.”

“No interviews until Tuesday,” comes a man’s voice.

“If you won’t talk to me, we’ll be back with armed forces,” he tells the Captain. “You see, I’ve done some investigating. It’s only a small sector of our government who’s behind this. Not any other countries know a thing about what you’re doing here. So, I’d like to know why you have six of the top men in the Space Industry leaving our planet to fight some very odd looking creatures that are supposedly inhabiting Mars.”

The door flies open and an old man in a non-distinct military uniform is looking at Dave with a red face. “What in the hell are you talking about?”

Dave holds up a copy of one of the pictures I found in the file in Ryker’s desk in his home office. “This is what I’m talking about. So, would you like to answer some questions now?”

“You need to leave here at once!” he snarls as he looks at us all. His eyes land on me. “Gia Crawford. I should’ve expected you’d be behind this.”

“I found the file in Ryker’s desk. I want my husband. Where is he?” I ask him and find him changing his snarling expression to an evil grin.

“Your husband is dead, Mrs. Crawford.”

My heart stops but Dave shakes his head. “I doubt that. I’ve seen many liars in my day and you, sir, are a terrible liar. I don’t know how you got so many intelligent men to believe you.”

Chaos breaks out down another hallway, echoes of shouts and then gunshots, have us ducking for cover and scattering away to find somewhere safe to hide.

Dave finds a door that’s not locked and we follow him inside, closing the door behind us. I shudder as I hear it lock and try to turn the handle, only to find that I can’t. “He’s trapped us in here.”

Dave looks around the room. One window is at the top of a wall. “This is not a great place for us to be.”

The little light there is out as the electricity has been shut off. “Great,” Brittney moans. “Now what?”

“I have my camera light,” Gary says. He points it up to the ceiling. “Air vents.”

“That lead to air ducts,” Dave says. “That can get us the hell out of here.”

Brittney bumps my shoulder with hers. “He was in the Marines. Dave’s a reporter with a few tricks up his sleeve and some military smarts that should help us, Gia. Not to worry.”

“My only worry is Ryker and where he is. He can’t be dead. I think I’d feel it if he was,” I say and find my stomach clenching and knotting. I cannot throw up right now!

Shouts from just outside the door have my heart pounding. “He’s heading toward the front exit, Damien!” It’s Ryker!

Running to the door, I bang on it. “Ryker! Ryker, it’s Gia! He’s locked us in here!”

“Gia?” I hear him ask. “Bang on the door again.”

I bang and bang until I hear him banging on the same door I am. “I’m in here.”

The sound of him trying the door knob has me stepping back to see if he can figure out how to open it. Damien’s voice is loud as he shouts. “I can’t let him get away. I’m going after him, Ryker.”

“Gia, you’re safe in there. Stay put, I’ll be back to get you. I promise you, I will!” I hear his footsteps leaving me here and find weakness enveloping me. “Wait up, Damien. You shouldn’t go alone.”

Brittney grabs me as I slowly fall to the floor. “He’s coming back for us.”

“What if something happens to him?” I ask as I hear more gunshots, more men’s voices, and their shoes hitting the tiled floor as they run around in a chaotic manner.

“Look what I found,” the cameraman says, drawing our attention as he points his camera light at a short file cabinet. “Let’s get some footage of what’s in here.”

Dave hurries to open the cabinet but it’s locked, of course. I pull out a little screwdriver I found at home and hand it to him. “Will this help you?”

“It might,” he says then gets to work unlocking it. “Don’t record this part, Steve.”

With a nod, Steve stops taping but keeps the light on Dave and what he’s doing. In no time at all, he has the top cabinet open and pulls out files. Damien Markov’s name is across the tab of the first one. When he opens it, we see pictures of Damien. Some have been altered, making it appear he’s running from the same creatures that are in the pictures I found.

Each file he takes out has similar pictures. And behind them are reports of the fake mission on Mars. As if the world would really believe this shit!

Opening the next drawer, he pulls out one large file. Schematics are inside of it. “Okay, let’s get footage of all this, Steve.” He lays out the open files all over a table and the schematics too.

Brittney and I watch and listen as he makes his report about what we’ve found so far. Then shots ring out and our door is blown open. “Who the fuck put you in here?” Captain Smithfield shouts.

The gun in his hand is shaking as he points it at me. And I don’t know what the hell I should do!

RYKER

Flashes of light, meant to disorient us, pulse around me and Damien as the other four men in our team surround us. “Drop, men. We just need to get you to the clinic to get the implants put back in. You’ll be okay once they’ve been replaced,” one of them shouts at us.

I look at Damien over my shoulder as we stand back to back. “Do you think they’ll listen to anything we say?”

“We can give it a try,” he says. “Listen, men. We’ve all been duped into this thing. And they plan on killing us all.”

“No, they don’t!” another man shouts.

“They do,” I tell them as I hold my hands up over my head. “Listen to us. I do not want to shoot any of you.”

“Nor us. But you have to stand down and allow us to take you to the clinic,” one of them says. “It’s our orders. We can’t do anything different.”

“You can let us cut that shit out of your necks and you will be able to think for yourselves. Your mind will become clear, instantly,” Damien tells them.

“They told us you’d say that.” The flashes get quicker and I can see they’re moving in. “Drop the weapons and drop to the floor, now!”

“We won’t be captured. If you come at us, you will have a fight on your hands,” I let them know.

Sirens begin to leak into the corridor. “Shit!” Damien shouts. “We have to hurry!”

“They aren’t here for us,” I say and find the sound of gunfire coming from another area of the facility. “They aren’t even here for you guys either. Put the weapons down and come with us. We need to get to them, they’re here to protect us.”

“From you, I’d bet,” one of them says.

A loud screeching sound fills the air. Like a banshee. And I know that sound. “Gia! Stay where you are!” I shout out.

Something flies through the air and I hear the sounds of some of the men who are surrounding us grunting and groaning. “What the hell?” one of them asks.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

The flashing stops and one large light comes up behind Gia, who’s wielding a long pole with a red light on the end of it. The men she knocked down are staying down and perfectly still as if it has paralyzed them.

“Gia!” I shout and step over one of the men to get to her. She’s shaking as I take her in my arms. Damien takes the stick out of her hand and holds off the one man who managed to escape the bad end of that stick. “Where the hell did you find that thing?”

“In the room, we were in. Smithfield came in, waving a gun and I jumped into a closet and found this thing. I found a button on the side of it, clicked it and when the red tip lit up, I jumped out of the closet and poked him with it. He fell and I came out to find you.”

“I warned him about you. I told him you’d rip this place apart to find me.” I kiss the top of her head and hold her tight.

The lights come back on and some man on a bullhorn is calling out, “Everyone on the ground. This is the Orlando Police Department. Place your weapons on the ground and shove them away from you.”

“I guess we should all do what he says, so we can get done with this shit,” Damien says as he takes the position and pushes the stick away from himself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the last man standing out of our group and he makes a dive to get the stick. Pushing Gia away from me, I lurch for the stick too and collide with the man who has been my teammate for three months. “No, Paul!”

When I fall onto the stick, I feel a jolt and go stiff. “Get him off it, Damien!” Gia screams.

I feel hands on me, turning me over and can’t move. Damien picks up the stick as Paul tries to run and throws it at him. He drops as soon as it hits him in the back. “That’ll stop the police from shooting your dumb ass, Paul. You can thank me later,” Damien shouts at him then looks at me. “Does it hurt?”

I’m frozen. I can’t even blink. Then Gia’s face looms above me too. “I think it’ll wear off, baby.” She kneels down and touches my face, which I can feel.

“On the floor!” comes another loud shout from the police.

She and Damien lay on the floor next to me as the police come into the area. “We need you all to stay perfectly still while we cuff you and take you in for questioning.”

“Most of them can’t move,” Gia tells them. “He and I are the only ones who can.”

“Stand up, slow and easy,” I hear one of the officers direct them.

They get up and Gia says, “This is my husband, Ryker Crawford. He and this man here, Damien Markov, aren’t a threat. The rest are. Except for the cameraman, the reporter, and the woman with them, who are lying in the hallway down there. They’re no threat, either. I’m the one who texted your office. I’m Gia Crawford.”

I watch Damien put his arm around her and pull her close to him. “Damn, I never thought I’d ever say this but I’m damn glad Ryker stole you away from me. Shit, you’re tough and smart as hell!”

“Thank you, Damien,” she says with a bit of surprise. Then looks down at me. “Maybe a paramedic should come look at you, Ryker.”

I’d like to nod but I can’t. An officer picks up the stick and looks it over. “What’s this?”

“Be careful with that,” Damien tells him. “It shocks people into what seems to be a state of paralysis.”

The cop looks around at the five men on the floor, myself included. “And who took all these men out?”

“He took himself out, on accident,” Gia tells him as she points at me. “And I got the rest of them.”

The cops all chuckle and one of them says, “Wow, are you a ninja?”

“No, just a wife who was determined to get her husband back. There’s another man in a room near the front that I touched with that magic stick too. You might want to make sure that he’s cuffed before he starts to move again. He’s a major flight risk.”

“Can you take me to him?” one of them ask her.

She nods then looks at me. “Damien will stay here with you. Don’t worry, baby. I’ll be back soon and I’ll bring someone who might be able to help you.”

Watching her walk away, I feel more pride than I can ever recall feeling. Then Damien takes a seat on the floor, wrapping his arms around his knees. “How is it, being married to her?” He looks at me as if I could actually answer him.

In my head, though, I say, ‘It’s like Christmas every day, being married to that woman.’

Because it is!

GIA

The paramedics have managed to massage Ryker to help get his body moving again. He regained the ability to speak after thirty minutes, making him feel much better. His legs still need some work and they’re wheeling him out to one of the ambulances to take him to the hospital to be checked out. Following behind him, I find Damien catching up to us. “Hey!”

I stop and wait for him. “Yes?”

“I’ve learned a lot from you, Gia. A hell of a lot. I just wanted you to know that I’m going to be marrying Svetlana. I’m coming out with the truth about my son and make my family get the hell over it.”

“Wow!” I’m stunned! “That’s awesome!”

“I’m glad you think it’s a good idea.” He opens his arms and I move in for a hug. “I really am happy I met you.”

“Me too.” I step back as he lets me go. “I think it’s so much better to stop hiding them. For both their sakes.”

“We need to head out, Mrs. Crawford,” one of the paramedics calls out to me.

With a wave, I give Damien a smile. “We’ll be seeing each other. Of that, I have no doubts. Give them my best, Damien. Make a wife out of her and treat her with respect.”

He nods and I turn and get into the back of the ambulance where they’ve placed Ryker in his wheelchair. “You look happy. What did he say?”

“He’s going to marry the mother of his son. He’s done hiding them. It seems I’ve inspired him to do that.” I take a seat on the long, padded area to the side of him as both paramedics take seats up front.

“You are quite inspirational, Gia.” He wiggles his finger at me, so I lean over. One soft kiss melts me as his fingers hold my chin. “I love you.”

Breathing out a long sigh, I find the words slipping off my tongue without even thinking, “You’re going to be a father.”

He blinks at me as if he’s not sure what I’ve said. “Huh?”

A smile breaks over my face. “A father. You’re going to be one. I took the test earlier today. I’m prego, baby!”

“How?” he says then stops and shakes his head. “I mean, I know how. But we only had sex once in the last three months.”

“We had it on our wedding night too, silly.”

“So, you’re like three months, already? We only have six months to get prepared for this. Is it a boy or a girl?” he asks as he’s getting pretty keyed up.

“I have no idea. The test doesn’t tell you all that,” I say with a laugh.

“You’re going to be a mom, Gia!”

“You’re going to be a dad, Ryker!”

His eyes dart back and forth then he’s asking, “What should we name it?”

“We should find out what it is first,” I tell him and find his expression is priceless and I really wish I could’ve gotten a picture if it.

“Gia, you aren’t messing with me, are you?”

“I’d never do such a thing! How could you even say such a thing?” I huff and cross my arms over my chest.

“Sorry, baby. Now it makes sense. All your bitchiness!”

My eyebrows raise to new heights. “My what?”

“Oh, shit!” He shakes his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I always say the stupidest things. I think it’s the shock that had me saying such a dumb thing. I meant, that’s how come my poor wife has been having a hard time and I’m going to rectify that.”

“I’d love it if you’d spoil me a bit. I’ve been feeling so tired and moody.”

“I know!”

My ire grows again. Then I laugh. “Ryker, you have little to no filter. Do you know that?”

“Did I say something wrong again? Damn, baby. You need to teach me,” he says with a laugh.

As we pull to a stop, the paramedics get out and he wiggles his finger at me and gives me another kiss. “I love you, Ryker.”

“And I love you, Gia.”

RYKER

Sliding my fingers through her hair, I watch Gia as she lies back on our bed. “Swear it to me again, Ryker.”

“I swear to you I’ll never leave you or our baby behind for any reason in the world. Other than God…”

She places her finger on my lips. “I know about the one way out, you’ll have no control over.”

“You’re a hero to me, baby.” Pushing her hair off her neck, I lean in and graze my lips over the column of her throat. “You looked like a warrior angel, sent to rescue me, earlier today.”

Her hand moves over my shoulder then up to my cheek. “Ryker, if you knew the anger that was coursing through me when I saw those men surrounding you, you’d probably be afraid of me.”

I have to laugh. “I am, a little.”

“You never need to be afraid of me,” she says with a giggle. “I’ll never turn my powers of destruction on you.” She kisses me, sending me to the state her kisses usually do. A state of bliss and happiness.

When our mouths part, I find her looking at me. Moving my hand over her pink cheek, I whisper, “You’re my world. I can’t believe I ever thought, for one second, that I could live a year or more without seeing your sweet face. And now that you’re going to be bringing our first child into the world, I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I can’t go a day without seeing you both.”

“Are you saying that Mars is off the table for you, Ryker?” Her eyes dart rapidly as she searches mine.

“I’m saying, you and I will make that decision when the time comes. I won’t be forcing anything on anyone. And my place is with you and our children. I’ll never leave you. Not ever.” Pulling her close, I kiss her again and feel her body warm under my touch.

The long, hot bath we took has left us smelling of lavender and coconuts. Her skin is smooth and soft beneath my hands that roam all over her body. Cupping her ass in my hands, I roll over, pulling her on top of me.

Her stomach is still flat as she’s not eaten nearly enough in the last three months. A thing I know is my fault. I’ll have to make sure she eats well from now on.

As her body moves over mine, my cock stirs and thickens, filling with a need for her. Her hands move through my hair as our kiss deepens. Her legs move to straddle me as she settles onto my erection with a groan, “Ryker.”

When her mouth leaves mine, so she can sit up and move her body up and down my cock, I find her tits bouncing. I have to touch them and move my hands up the sides of her waist, making a trail to them.

Her stomach may still be flat but her breasts are already blossoming. They were never small but now they’re getting even bigger. “I love the way these feel.”

“Wait until they’re full of milk.”

“Are you going to one of those stingy mothers who never let Daddy’s taste what’s baby’s?”

She nods and I groan as she also makes a little swirling action that makes my dick hit a very deep spot inside of her. “I bet I can talk you into giving me a taste, every now and then.”

With a smile, she leans over, her tits dangle near my face. “You can have a taste now. If you’d like.”

Pulling one into my mouth, I run my hands to her waist to hold her, lifting her some to help her make longer strokes. When her body tenses, I release her scrumptious tit. “What’s wrong?”

“It hurts a little. They’re pretty tender. But do it anyway. I think the long period of keeping myself away from you has a lot to do with that too. Limber them up, hubby. I sure don’t want them to go unused until little junior arrives.”

“Can do, Momma.” I pull one back into my mouth, being very careful to be easy with her. When she moans, I know I’ve found the perfect amount of suck, lick, and nibble to satisfy her.

All I really care about is making her happy, pleasing her, worshiping her. With a sense of that, I roll her over on her back and change things up. She smiles and runs her hands over my cheeks. “I love you.”

“I know,” I say and give her a deep thrust that makes her eyes close. “And I love you.”

One of her feet move up the back of my leg then the other does to and she wraps her legs around me. Her arms move up my neck, holding on to me as I make deep strokes.

Our bodies move up and down together until we’re both shaking and breathing hard. When her body lets go, mine does too. Our sounds fill the room, making me think we’re going to have to learn how to do this much quieter, once our little one comes along.

With a long sigh, I move my body to one side of hers, not wanting to leave my weight on our baby that’s nestled inside his mommy. I stroke her stomach as I kiss her neck. “I can’t wait to see him or her.”

“Six months isn’t a terribly long time to wait.” Her hand covers mine as I caress her tummy.

“You say that but it sounds like an eternity.”

She wiggles and moves around to face me. We hold one another as we look at each other. “I hope he has your eyes,” she whispers.

“I hope she has your hair.” I push a lock if it off her face.

“I hope he’s blessed with your plump lips.”

I smile at her. “I hope she’s got your thick and lustrous eyelashes.”

The way her hand feels as she gently touches my cheek, has me feeling sleepy and all too soon I’m taken over as we lie in our bed, basking in the glow of our love and how it’s created another person, neither of us can wait to see.

GIA

Waddling to the kitchen, I find our new cook, Consuela, making some oatmeal. “How did you know I was craving that?”

She laughs. “You really don’t know the answer to that?”

“I really don’t.”

“Around nine, every evening, you get hungry. It’s either soup, oatmeal, or cereal. And I’ve figured out that you have a pattern. One night it’s the soup, the next it’s the cereal, and the one after that is the oatmeal.” She taps the wooden spoon on the side of the small pot she’s making it in. “After six months of making sure you eat right, I think I should be acutely aware of your eating patterns, Mrs. Crawford.”

Sitting at the table, I pop a strawberry from the bowl of mixed fruit she’s already placed on the table, into my mouth then take a drink of the milk she’s put there too. “You do know me better than I know myself.”

“And I love being able to help you.” She places a bowl of the piping hot food in front of me. “Now you let that cool while I make you some wheat toast.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The sound of footsteps comes down the hallway and into the kitchen Ryker comes in. “Sorry about how late I am.”

“The drive from Orlando is a long one.” He leans over and gives me a kiss then rubs my tummy.

“I missed dinner, due to a long meeting about that damn fiasco I was involved in,” he says as he sits down next to me. “Is there enough of that for me, Consuela?”

“Of course,” she says then brings him a bowl too and a glass of milk. “Let me get you some toast, Mr. Crawford.”

He takes a couple of blueberries out of the bowl and eats them as he looks at my stomach. “You know, if he’s not out by the end of the week, he’ll be making his debut appearance on Saturday with the doctor’s help.”

“I know that, Ryker. I was just at the doctor’s yesterday. It was me who told you that.”

“What I meant to say is, maybe we should stay in a hotel in Orlando. We’d be much closer to the hospital and you just said it yourself, the ride from Sebastien to Orlando is a long one.”

Consuela sits down a small plate with our toast on it and I look up at her. “How do you feel about having yourself a little vacation while we stay in town? We wouldn’t need you to come back to work until we come home from the hospital.”

Ryker claps his hands and gives her a smile. “I’ll pay for you and your family to go wherever you’d like. And I’ll send you there on the jet. I want you to know we really appreciate how well you’ve taken care of us both, and the baby.”

She looks giddy as she smiles at us. “Oh, my! My husband and two daughters would love to see New York. It’s Christmas in two weeks and they’d love to see the tree and shop in the fancy stores.”

“A New York holiday it is for you four then,” Ryker says with a huge smile. “Let them know that you will be going tomorrow. I’m going to take Gia into town with me in the morning. You can take off now, let the maid clean the kitchen up. And you’ll have a hefty bonus in your account too.”

“We really do appreciate all you’ve done,” I tell her as she hops around with sheer delight.

“I can’t wait to see their faces when I tell them the good news!”

I get to eating my oatmeal and smiling away as I do. It makes me feel so good to get to do something for her for a change. The woman came in and took over the role of chef and chief nutritionist, like a boss.

Turning my attention to Ryker, I ask, “About the meeting, what was it all about?”

“The CIA had to get all of my information about what happened with the Mars mission. They’re putting together all the evidence they can find on the people who were actually involved in that. Americans were the only ones involved. Corrupt politicians, mostly. A few ranking military people too. The thing is, the other countries are now thinking about doing no more business with the U.S. because of that.”

“None?”

“Well, space business. That would put us having to figure out how to manufacture the boosters here. A thing I’m not looking forward to as I don’t trust the American companies that can do that. Not anymore, I don’t. They found out, it was several engineers from the main company that makes things like that, who fixed the boosters on the shuttle to blow up.”

I shiver with the thought that my husband could’ve been killed. “So, what does that mean?”

“It means, I might need to see if Damien would build a facility here to make the boosters. I have no idea if he could pull that off or not. It means our race for space may be more of a crawl behind all the rest of the world. Thanks to greedy people, here in America.”

My heart goes out to him. I know he’s had this passion forever. “Things are falling apart, aren’t they?”

He nods and takes a bite of his oatmeal. “If the space industry, here in America crashes, do you know what that will mean for Apollo Engineering and the companies that have joined us as affiliate partners?”

“Bankruptcy.”

He nods and I find myself not so hungry any longer. The houses, the cars, the money, all would be history. All because of some greedy individuals.

“I’ve made wise investments for us, personally. We’ll be fine, no matter what. I’ll have my investment broker do the same for your family. The businesses might go under but we won’t.”

“What about all the employees?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t take care of everyone, baby. They’ll be on their own to figure things out.”

With a nod, I put my spoon down and feel more than a bit sick. “When will we know about what the other countries will do?”

“I’m not sure. The government is scrambling to get every last person who was behind the scam. So far, only the people who were actually at the facility have been captured. But they know there’s more behind it. Quiet individuals who cannot be trusted.”

“This is not good.”

“No, it’s not.”

RYKER

Arriving at the office after getting Gia squared away at the hotel, I find several members of my staff waiting outside. “Are we having an outside meeting I wasn’t invited to?”

The receptionist, May, asks me, “Do you have something you’d like to tell us, Mr. Crawford?”

“No, not really.” I look around at the eight people who are the first to arrive each morning and start to wonder about what’s going on inside the building my grandfather purchased when he began this whole business. “Would anyone care to let me in on why you’re all out here?”

Tony, the maintenance man, steps forward. “The CIA and the FBI are in the building. We all stepped out because they’re going through everything and making us feel like criminals.”

My eyes just about pop out of my head as I turn and haul ass inside to see why they’d be doing such a thing. I’m stopped as soon as I enter the door by a man in a dark suit and glasses. “Sorry, no one is getting in here today.”

“I’m Ryker Crawford. I own this place. I just had a very long meeting with the CIA only yesterday. Why is this happening?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss that.” His answer infuriates me and I storm back out.

“You all should go home. I have to make a visit to my lawyers,” I shout as I go past the waiting employees.

“Are we getting paid for today?” one of them shouts.

“I sure as hell hope so. But I can’t make any promises.” I get into my car and head out, hitting the call button on the computer screen to call my lawyers.

“Davenport, Davenport, and Stephenson,” the receptionist answers the call.

“I need to speak with any one of them.”

“No one’s come in yet,” she lets me know. “If you’ll leave your name and number, I’ll have the first one to walk through the door give you a call.”

“They have my number. Tell them Ryker Crawford needs to talk to them as soon as possible. It’s of the utmost importance.”

“Yes, sir.”

Just as I end that call, I get one from the hotel I just left Gia at. “Hello?”

“I’m looking for Ryker Crawford.”

“You got him.”

“There’s a problem with the credit card you left when you checked in earlier. Can you come back and give us a different one?”

“I’m pretty busy. My wife’s in the room. She has all the same cards I do. Can you go up and let her know about the problem?”

“Of course. Thank you, sir.”

Shaking my head to try to clear it, I decide to drive over to my lawyers’ offices to meet them all in person. Something has to have happened to make the FBI join forces with the CIA and be looking at everything I have.

Making a quick call to my accountant, I try to figure out why that credit card isn’t working. “Stimson’s Accounting.”

“Hi, I need to speak with Roger, please.”

“One moment, sir,” his secretary tells me.

“Roger Stimson here.”

“Ryker Crawford here. I’ve had one of my credit cards turned down. Have you stayed up on all the bills?”

“Yes, sir. Which one did they turn down?”

“A platinum Visa.”

“There’s no reason anyone should ever turn that one down. There’s no limit on it.”

“Can you check into that for me? I’m pretty swamped today.”

“Of course, I’ll get right back to you, Mr. Crawford.” I end the call.

And right away, another call comes in and I see it’s Gia. “Ryker, you’re never going to believe this.”

“Try me.” I tap the steering wheel as I sit at a red light. My nerves are shot!

“Our card was declined here at the hotel. The manager came up here with a credit card reader to get another one and every single one of mine was declined. Even the debit card from the bank. Ryker, what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure, baby. You don’t need to worry about a thing. You rest and relax.”

“I can’t. They said I have to leave the room. The bellboy is being sent up to get our bags.”

“What the…” the light turns green and I have to make a U-turn to go back to the hotel to straighten this shit out. “I’m coming. Wait in the lobby if they make you do that. The bastards!”

“You sound pissed. Watch your speed, baby. Everything will be okay. You’ll see.”

“I hope so. Sit tight. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Ending that call, I make one to our bank in Orlando. An automated system answers the call, so I push zero to try to get to talk to a real person. Instead, I get this, “Hello, your phone number has brought up your account with The National Bank of Orlando. Our records indicate your accounts have been frozen. For more information, you will need to go into the local branch. Thank you and have a nice day.”

How in the hell can anyone have a nice day after hearing that?

Pulling up to the hotel, I stop as the valet comes to get the car. Rushing inside, I find Gia is sitting in the lobby with all of our things on a luggage cart. Heat flows through me as I hold out my hand to let her know to stay put and walk past her, to the front desk. “I need the manager out here now!”

“Ryker, stop,” Gia’s voice comes from behind me. “We need to go. We have more pressing matters to tend to right now.”

Turning around, I look at her. “Just hang on. Let me deal with this. You’ll be back in that room, relaxing in no time.”

“No, I won’t.”

“Yes, you will,” I tell her and put my hand on her shoulder to take her back to sit down.

“Ryker, my water has broken. I need to get to the hospital! Damn, stop and listen!”

“Shit!” I look back at the lady at the front desk. “Never mind!” When we get outside, I hand the valet the card the other one gave me. “Can you send someone inside to get our luggage? That’s it right there.” I point at it and he gives me a nod.

“Ryker, what the hell is going on?” Gia asks me.

“You just don’t worry about that. I want you to think about you and our son and that’s all. Noah is soon to be here. That’s all that really matters, baby.”

“Ryker, damn it! Tell me why our cards don’t work!”

“I’m working on that as we speak. I have our accountant dealing with that right now. Not to worry. Most likely a weird glitch in the system.”

The car comes up and a bellboy brings our things and puts them in the trunk. When he waits a moment for a tip, I shake my head and feel like a complete fool. But I have no idea how much cash I even have on me. And I can’t go giving away shit right now.

As I pull away, the phone rings and I see it’s our chef. “Shit!”

Gia looks at me with confusion. “Why’d you say that?”

With a push of the button, I say, “Hello, Consuela.”

“Sir, I hate to bother you. I really do. But we’ve arrived at the hotel in New York and they said the card number you gave them to pay for our room has been declined.”

“Yes, I think there’re some problems. Can I get you to hop back in a cab and get back to the airport? I’ll call the jet and have them bring you back home. Things have turned a bit sour here. I’ll explain things when I know more. I’m very sorry about this.”

“Okay, sir,” she says with a shaky voice.

“Honey, can you call the jet and tell them to pick them back up and bring them home?”

“I can certainly do that. And can you give me some idea of why this is happening to us?”

“It most likely has something to do with why the FBI and CIA are at Apollo Engineering, going through everything.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch her eyebrows raising up high. “Damn.”

“Yes, damn, damn, damn. Not to worry, though. There’s nothing to find. I have no idea what kind of a tip they got but it’s a false one. That will soon be found out and our accounts will be freed up.”

“Freed up? Have they been frozen?”

I nod as the phone rings again. This time it’s hers and it’s her father. “Daddy?”

“Hey, sweetheart. We’re running into a bit of trouble up here. Your mother went to buy some groceries and her card was declined. Then she went on over to the bank and found out our accounts have been frozen. Do you think you could get Ryker to see what’s happened?”

“Ours are frozen too. The FBI and CIA are at Apollo Engineering. I’m not sure about anything. Well, that’s not exactly true. I’m sure your grandson is about to be born today. My water broke and we’re on the way to the hospital.”

“That’s good news! Send us pictures as soon as you can. I’ll tell everyone else. Don’t let this money business mess up such a great occasion. Your first kid only comes once, you know. Rich or poor, you won’t feel a thing about that once you lay your eyes on your little man.”

“Thanks Dad,” she says then wipes a tear from her eye. “I love you. I’ll keep in touch.”

“I love you too, baby girl. And you better keep in touch.” She ends the call and lies her head back on the headrest.

“Are you having contractions, baby,” I ask her as she’s not said a word about them.

“I didn’t realize what they were. It’s in my back. It hurts, then it doesn’t. In all honesty, I thought I had to poop.” She giggles and blushes.

Pulling into the hospital parking lot, I stop at the front door. “Let me grab a wheelchair and take you in. Then I’ll park the car, once they’re taking you up to where ever it is they’ll take you.”

Getting out, I run inside and grab one of the waiting wheelchairs and go back out to get her. She’s still smiling as I help her out of the car and into the seat of the wheelchair. “I feel so much better being here, Ryker. Things will be okay. I just know they will.”

With a nod to give her an idea that I’m on the same wavelength she is, which isn’t true at all, I push her inside and go to the desk where a nurse is standing, waiting for us. “Are we having us a baby today?”

“We are,” Gia says, cheerfully.

“I need to park the car. I’ll be right back.” I run out and get into the car and haul ass to park it. Then I grab the bag out of the trunk that we packed just for the hospital and run back inside.

When I get inside and see tears flowing over Gia’s, now red, cheeks, I almost fall down. “Ryker!”

The nurse is no longer alone at the desk, there’s a man there too and he’s looking at me with a scowl on his face as he wiggles his finger for me to come to him.

“What’s wrong?” I ask as I approach them.

“I’m afraid we can’t check your wife in, Mr. Crawford. Your insurance company said they can’t pay. The cards your wife gave us aren’t working, either. I’m afraid you’ll have to go to the county hospital to have the baby. This is out of my hands to fix.”

“Her doctor delivers here and only here,” I say as I look over and see Gia crying even harder now.

“Someone there will deliver the baby. Not to worry, sir. Sorry about this,” he says as if he’s really sorry.

“I guess there’s no time to fuck around with you people.” I turn around and wheel Gia out of the hospital, taking her all the way to where I’ve parked. “They can come pick up the wheelchair their damn selves! No compassion, mother…”

“Ryker, please just hurry. I’m uncomfortable and just want to lie in a bed. Or walk or do something!”

Helping her into the car, I lean the seat back, so she can recline a bit. “I’ll get you to the county hospital, baby. No worries.”

“I’m sorry for being a bitch.” She runs her hand over my cheek. “I’m just kind of freaking out now.”

“You’re not being a bitch at all. Just try to relax.”

When I get into the car, I see her shaking her head. “Ryker, can you just call Margie, the midwife we were in the dome with, and see if she’ll come out to our house and help us deliver this baby? I don’t want to have him in the county hospital with some doctor I don’t even know.”

I nod and call Margie. “Hey, you. Long time, no hear. How the heck are you, Ryker?”

“Not great. But that can be talked about later. What are you up to right now?”

“Not much.”

Gia pushes the button to bring her seat up into a sitting position. “Can we come get you and take you to our house? I’m having a baby. I need you, Margie.”

“Gia, are you kidding? Are you having it right now?”

“I am. Well, I’m in early labor. Contractions are ten minutes apart. My water has broken already, though. The ride out to our place is about an hour. I’m sure I have plenty of time to get there and situated. Can you help me?”

“Of course, I can, Gia. I can take my car out there. No reason for you guys to go through the trouble of picking me up. Send me the address and I’ll head out there right away.”

I watch Gia breath out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I’ll send it to you.”

“See you guys soon.”

Looking at Gia as I stop at a light, I reach over and run my hand through her silky hair. “Hey.” She turns her head to look at me. Her cheeks are a bit chubby and she looks absolutely adorable. “I hope he has your strength, Gia. You have it in spades, baby.”

“No, I don’t. I’m a wreck.” She sniffles and wipes her eyes.

“You’re not a wreck. You’re level-headed and thinking clearly. You’re a rock, baby. An absolute rock. I’m lucky to have you and Noah is lucky to have you as his mother.”

“Ryker, what’s going to happen if our accounts stay frozen for a while? How are we going to live?”

“You let me be the rock in that situation, Gia. I don’t want you to worry one bit about that. First, we’re going to take care of getting our son here. Then I’ll take care of this financial thing while you take care of him.”

“You’re making it sound easy. I don’t think it’s going to be easy.”

“Worse-case scenario, we have to sell some things for cash while this mess gets sorted out. See, I’ve already got an idea for money.”

She smiles a weak smile. “My rock.”

“Yeah, we’re just a couple of rocks in this crazy world who managed to bump into each other one, fateful night.” I give her cheek a little pinch.

She closes her eyes and breaths in deeply. “They’re getting a little closer together now. Maybe by five or six tonight we’ll be looking at his little face.”

“I can’t wait. I will wait. But it’s going to be hard.”

Her laughter makes me happy and it becomes crystal clear. As long as I have her, I have everything!

GIA

His tiny round head is lying on my breast. He’s using it as a pillow and making little movements as he sleeps. “He’s so precious,” Ryker whispers as he runs his fingertip over our son’s head.

“Isn’t he?” I whisper too. I don’t want to wake him. He’s so little and needs his rest.

Margie looks in on us. “Last check before I leave. Is everything okay?”

“We’ll be fine,” Ryker tells her. “Thank you. When I get things figured out, I’ll get you some money for being such a great friend and helping us through the delivery.”

“No, you won’t. I’m not taking a dime from you. When we all get to Mars, we won’t have money to bother with. We’ll all help each other, without any monetary gains. I’m living like that as often as I can right here on Earth. Now, if you need anything else, you just call me. And don’t forget to get that little guy to his pediatrician soon.”

“We will,” I tell her then kiss the top of Noah’s tiny head. “Thank you, Margie. I’ll bake you a pie or something.”

“Now, a pie, I’ll take. See you guys later on.”

Ryker moves his arm around me and gently pushes my head to rest on his shoulder. “Things will work out, Gia. I know they will.”

“I have faith in you. I know you’ll figure this whole thing out.”

When his cell rings, we both cut our eyes to it as it lies on the nightstand next to his side of the bed. “That’s the agent from the CIA, who’s been running this case,” he says as he just looks at the number.

“Are you going to answer it?”

“Nah. Right now, I’m going to gaze at my little boy and forget about everything but him and you. My perfect little family. Fuck the rest of the world, for right now.”

A kiss to the top of my head, has me lying my head back on his shoulder. And I have to say, I’ve never found myself loving the man any more than I do right now.

But what will the future hold for us?

Part 10 - The New Life

RYKER

Waking up to the sweet sound of my son’s cries finds a smile on my lips. “I’ll get him.”

Gia moans a little as she wakes up too and tries to situate herself. I help her first, fluffing the pillows and helping her slide up, so she can feed him. I place a pillow under her arm to rest it on.

“Thank you, baby,” she mumbles as she wipes the sleep out of her eyes.

Picking up the baby out of the bassinet that’s right by my side of the bed, I place him in her waiting arms. “Here’s Momma’s little man.” I kiss the top of his squirming head. “I’m going to go to the kitchen and grab you something to eat and drink. I’ll be right back.”

Taking my phone with me, I see it’s nine in the morning. Padding through the house to get to the kitchen, I check the messages that have come in. I put the phone on silent last night. I wanted to shut the world out for a while to let me get my bearings.

My lawyers are the first call I return. “Davenport, Davenport, and Stephenson,” the secretary answers.

“This is Ryker…”

“Oh, yes! Mr. Crawford. Everyone has been trying to reach you. All day, yesterday we called and left messages. Are you okay?”

“I am. My wife gave birth to our first child yesterday. I had to take time for them.”

“Oh, I see! How exciting for you two. Let me send this call to Harvey Stephenson. And congratulations, sir on the new baby. Did you have a boy or a girl?”

“We have a son. We named him Noah.”

“How nice. Okay, sir. You have a great day.”

I wait as the phone makes clicking noises then I hear a man’s voice, “Crawford, we were worried sick about you!”

“Well, you can stop worrying now.” I stop and think for a moment how some things do need to be worried about. “That’s not exactly true. I need you to worry but over other things. My accounts have been frozen. The CIA and FBI were all over my office building yesterday. What can you find out about that?”

“Have charges been pressed?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Hmm. Stay put and let me make some calls. Your accounts shouldn’t have been frozen unless charges had been filed. Even if we’re talking CIA and FBI. I’ll give you a call back. Please answer our calls today, Crawford.”

“I will. I just had to take a break from the drama to let the birth of our son take precedence in our lives.”

“The birth of your son? That’s why you weren’t taking any calls?”

“Yes, sir. We had us a six-pound baby boy yesterday.”

“Well, congratulations. What hospital are you in? Our office will send flowers and a gift basket.”

“We’re at home. The hospital wouldn’t let us in. They told us to go to the county hospital. My wife wasn’t keen on that, though. My wife and I know a midwife and we got her to come to our house to deliver the baby.”

“Lord have mercy, Crawford. I’ll get this straightened out ASAP! You can count on us.”

“Thank you,” I tell him then end the call.

I find the maid in the kitchen when I push the galley door open to walk in. “Oh, Mr. Crawford, can I get you anything? I’m not a great cook but I can make scrambled eggs.”

Biting my lip, I don’t exactly know how to tell her, she’s not going to get paid and she should leave. “Um, uh, Patsy, we’ve hit some stumbling blocks. I hate to get you to work if I’m unsure if I can pay you or not.”

She freezes as her mouth drops open. “Sir?”

“My accounts have been frozen by the government. I’m not sure how I can pay you for your work. So, as of right now, I’m sending you home. But I’ll let you know as soon as this gets straightened out, so you can come back to work. And, if it all does get worked out, I’ll pay you like you never missed a day. Okay?”

She shakes her head. “No, sir. That’s not okay. I will stay on. Even if you can never pay, I will stay on. You both need me more than you ever have. I won’t leave you in your time of need. I’ve been your maid for many years and you’ve been a generous and nice employer. Just because something has happened to your finances, doesn’t mean you will lose me as your housekeeper. So, how about some scrambled eggs?”

The galley door opens and Consuela steps inside the kitchen. “That won’t be necessary, Patsy. You can see to your work and I’ll see to mine.”

“I can’t let you ladies work for free,” I say as I look back and forth between them.

“I have faith things will work out and you will eventually be able to pay us again,” Consuela says. “And even if you can’t, that’s okay too. You need me now. And I’ll be damned if anything gets in the way of that.”

My heart pounds with their generosity and I grab them both and give them hugs. “You two are the best people I know!”

When I release them, I have to wipe tears out of my eyes. They both pat me on the back as Patsy says, “You go and take care of your wife and baby, Mr. Crawford. I’ll bring in breakfast to you both, once she has it prepared for you.”

Consuela goes to the fridge and takes out a bottle of water. “Have Mrs. Crawford drink this while I get the rest ready. It’ll only take me a few minutes to whip up some omelets and toast for you two.”

I turn and leave the kitchen, still wiping tears away and wonder how I got so lucky. My phone vibrates in my hand and I look to see the damn CIA agent’s number. “Crawford,” I answer.

“I need to see you in our offices today.”

“No.” I’m not bending to these bastards!

“You can come on your own, or we can come get you,” he threatens me.

“Look, my wife had a baby yesterday. That’s why I didn’t answer your call. Furthermore, I gave you all the information you asked me to. I held nothing back. But you did. You held a lot back. Why the search of my building? Why freeze my accounts? My baby was born here, at our home, thanks to you.”

“What?” he asks.

“Don’t act as if you give a shit. When you froze everything, even the insurance wouldn’t pay. So, thanks a ton. As far as you talking to me anymore, you won’t be. You can call my lawyers. Or better yet, sit tight and let them call you. I’ll forward them your number, asshole!” I end the call and don’t feel much better but at least I told him what I think about things.

Texting my lawyers the number, I let them know they need to call the prick. Going to our bedroom, I put the phone in my pajama pants pocket and take the water to my wife, who’s nursing our son.

“Water, yes,” she says as I sit on the bed beside her and open the bottle for her, holding it up to give her a drink as her hands are all tied up with feeding the baby.

“Consuela is here, making us breakfast. So is Patsy. I told them both to go, that I wasn’t sure if or when I could pay them for their work.”

“Let me guess, they both said they’d work anyway,” she says with a smile. “Both of those women are so good. When we do get things straight, they’re getting new cars!”

“And then some,” I say as I agree, their loyalty should be greatly rewarded.

“He’s eating better than I thought he would. Even though there’s not much coming out. Margie said it would be like that for up to three days. I think I have enough cash in my purse for us to take him to the pediatrician today. I think if you call and tell them what happened, they’ll get us in.”

With a nod, I go and get her purse off the dresser. “I found a whopping sixty bucks in my wallet. Damn my habit of carrying so little cash.” I open her purse and find three hundred in it. “Good, you have enough for the visit, I bet. I’ll make the call.”

“Once he’s through eating, I’ll put him down and you can watch him while I take a much-needed shower and get ready to go,” she says as she gazes at Noah. “He’s just so adorable!”

With a laugh, I say, “That he is, baby. Just like you.”

Taking the card from the pediatrician we picked out, I make the call. “It’s a Child’s World Pediatrics,” a young-sounding woman answers the phone.

“Hi, my name is Ryker Crawford. My wife and I came in for a visit a few weeks ago. We picked Doctor Wang to be our baby’s pediatrician. We’d like to make an appointment for him as quickly as possible. He was born yesterday evening.”

“Sure. What hospital are you in and I’ll send him over?”

“We weren’t allowed to have him where we had planned. We’ll come to you. Just give us a couple of hours to get there. And what’s the cost for the appointment? We have limited cash.”

“I’m looking at your file and money doesn’t seem to be an issue. Would you care to explain what’s happening, to me? Perhaps I can help you in some way.”

“Our accounts have been frozen. I have my lawyers working on it and I’m sure they’ll clear things up. But for now, we have a little over three hundred dollars to our names. And I’m not sure how long we’ll need to make that stretch. But our son comes first. So, whatever the payment is, we’ll make it.”

“Can I call you back? I need to ask the doctor some things.”

“Sure. Talk to you soon.” I end the call and find Gia smiling as she looks at our baby.

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders, so I walk over and sit down next to her and run my hand over our son’s head as he sucks away at his mother’s breast.

“Don’t worry, Ryker. Everything will work out.”

As I touch our son and my wife leans her head on my arm, I feel the weight lift, like magic. “I hope so. Never, in my wildest dreams, did I see this coming. I thought I’d never have money issues. And for them to occur at the same time we bring our kid into the world, is insane.”

“You know, it’s teaching me things, though, Ryker. I was afraid to give birth anywhere but a hospital with all the capable doctors and nurses. Painkillers and all that stuff. But I did it. With a bit of help, mind you, but I did it.”

“You did do it.” I kiss the side of her head. “I’m so damn proud of you, Gia. You have no idea.”

“And I’m proud of you. Ryker, you were right there every step of the way. Helping me and helping our son to get out into this world.” She sighs as our son falls asleep at her breast. His mouth opens and his head lolls back a bit.

“So, here we are, a couple of people who are proud of one another. I suppose things could be worse,” I say then feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. “It’s the pediatrician’s office.”

“Answer it,” she says. “Hopefully they can give us a couple of hours to get ready and get there.”

“Hello.”

“Mr. Crawford, this is Angie, the nurse you just spoke to.”

“Hello, Angie. Did you get us an appointment?”

“No, sir. I have the doctor coming to you. He’s bringing a nurse with him and everything he needs to make sure the baby is in good condition. If, for any reason, he feels the hospital is the best place for his patient, he will bring you all in and place you in the hospital.”

“Will they accept us?” I ask as I doubt they will.

“Yes, he said he’ll use his personal money to make sure his patient is well taken care of. Not to worry, sir. He’ll take excellent care of him. He’ll be there in an hour and a half. We have your address on file. Thanks for choosing us to take care of your baby, Mr. Crawford.”

“No, thank you! Bye now.”

“What?” Gia asks as she looks at me.

“He’s coming here. He’s helping us. Gia, this is more than I could’ve ever asked for.”

“Seems, with this little bundle of joy, came a bunch of miracles too.”

We kiss our son’s little head at the same time then each other. Seems, miracles can happen!

GIA

The sun is shining brightly as I sit in the backseat with Noah, who’s resting comfortably in his car seat. Ryker’s driving us into town for the meeting between him, his lawyers, and some government officials who think they have enough evidence on someone in the company to prove Apollo Engineering was part of the scam about the Mars mission. A preposterous accusation, in my opinion.

Ryker told me that I should stay home. The baby’s only a week old. But I wasn’t about to let him face this without me by his side. As he pulls into the parking lot of the law office the meeting has been scheduled at, I find myself getting a little nervous about things.

I brought a bottle of breastmilk, I pumped earlier. Just in case the baby wakes up hungry while we’re here. Ryker parks and gets out of the car, coming around to my door, he helps me out first, then reaches in and gets the baby’s car seat out and grabs the diaper bag.

“Hold on to me, Gia. I know you haven’t regained all your strength yet.”

I take hold of his arm and lean on him a little. He’s right, I do feel a bit weak. “Thank you, Ryker. You’re so thoughtful.”

“You and Noah are my world, Gia.” He opens the door and lets me go in first then comes in and nods for me to take his arm again. The smile that covers my face goes clear to my soul. It was no mistake that I met this man. It was no mistake that he found me.

When we step off the elevator on the third floor of his lawyers’ offices, I find a couple of men in dark glasses and black suits, standing in front of the main door to the suite of offices. When we walk between them to go inside, I can’t stop myself and say, “You look proud to be working for such a corrupt agency that would pull down hardships on innocent people. Bravo, boys.”

Ryker snickers as he opens the door for me. “Don’t worry fellas. I got the door. No need to offer any help here,” his words are heavily laced with sarcasm.

“Being gentlemen must not be part of their training,” I say as I step inside as Ryker balances the bulky car seat in one hand and opens the door with the other.

Neither move a muscle as Ryker kicks the door closed. The receptionist hurries to us. “Oh, my! Can I see him?”

Ryker pulls back the blanket, showing off our handsome son. “This is Noah Ryker Crawford.”

“What a little cutie,” she gushes. “Follow me. They’re all waiting on you.”

She pauses at a small fridge in the hallway. “Anything to drink before I take you in? We have a little bit of everything.”

“I’d love a soda,” I say.

Ryker shakes his head. “A couple of waters, please. No caffeine for Momma.”

“I forgot.” I kiss his cheek. “Thank you for remembering.”

“It’s my job as Dad.” He smiles at me and kisses the tip of my nose.

The receptionist smiles as she gets the waters then leads us to the meeting room. “You two are adorable.”

“Thank you,” I say as I love it when people say things like that about us. I too think we’re adorable.

When she opens the door, we find three men obviously, lawyers as they’re all wearing expensive suits. And two men obviously, government agents who have on suits that look as if they came from JC Penney’s.

She places the bottles of water on the table where we’re supposed to take seats at, then excuses herself and leaves.

“Mr. and Mrs. Crawford,” one of the lawyers says with a nod. “I’ve never met you, Mrs. Crawford. It’s a pleasure.” He leans over to shake my hand. “Call me Pat.”

“Hello, Pat. Nice to meet you.”

He shakes Ryker’s hand and greets him as the other two lawyers introduce themselves to me. Harvey and Leon are the other two. The government officials have yet to speak. They’re looking down at their files.

Harvey gestures to them as he takes his seat. “Allow me to introduce you both to Agents, Booth and Danner. They’re from the CIA.”

The man he pointed to when he said, Booth, stands up. “Let’s get these proceedings under way. I’m not a man who dallies about with things.”

“Great. Time is pretty critical to us too,” Ryker says.

Danner stands up too. I suppose this is a tactic used to dominate the room. He adds, “Good, then here’s the first question we have for you, Mr. Crawford. When you took over the CEO position of Apollo Engineering, is it true you ousted a man who was your grandfather’s right-hand man for the last ten years of his life?”

“Frank Holiday?” Ryker asks. “Is that who you’re talking about?”

Danner jots down his response as he nods. “Frank Holiday was the man your grandfather had told many people would be taking the CEO position when he was no longer viable to do the work. You swooped in when your grandfather became ill and took that over. No formal vote was ever made by the board. Is, that right?”

“Not a written vote. The vote was spoken and the secretary has the notes from that meeting, stating everyone’s oral vote,” he says.

“And how does this pertain to you freezing our accounts?” I ask.

Ryker places his hand on my leg and looks at the men too. “Yes, how in the world does that justify such an action?”

“The money you’ve made by being the CEO of that company should’ve been Frank Holiday’s. He’s given us information on you that had us justified in freezing those accounts,” Booth says. “You see, he told us about overhearing you and Damien Markov talking one late night at your office. He told us about you and Damien meeting at a hotel while he was in town. He told us about the booster agreement.”

“I have no idea what he thinks he heard. Markov and I are not into anything unethical,” Ryker says as he sits up straighter. “He and I had a few conversations that might have seemed odd but that was because he and I were fighting over this woman, right here.” His thumb hooks at me. “Not that it’s anyone’s damn business.”

“Mr. Holiday has written a statement that says he overheard you and Markov talking about setting up the whole scam and finding others who wanted the same thing to happen,” Booth says. “And it’s odd that only you two had the implants removed. His story is that you and Markov did that to ensure you two would be left here and the others would get on that shuttle and blow up, leaving you two the top space industry leaders. Making it so you two could get to Mars first. Something you both craved.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong about any of that,” Ryker says. “We were going to die, if we had to, to stop the whole thing. You can ask anyone.”

“We did ask them all. The other men in your team,” Danner says as he tosses out four pieces of paper. “These are your team members’ statements. All had ideas that you and Markov were in on something together. All had distrust for you two.”

“There was no reason to,” Ryker says. “Markov and I have a history, is all. That may have been why they thought the things they did.”

Booth takes a seat as he says, “Holiday thinks you’ve always had a plan to win the race to Mars. He’s told us, in his statement, that you’ve had the plan to be on the first mission since before your grandfather passed away.”

“That’s not a crime,” Ryker says.

“Stealing the CEO position is,” Danner says.

One of the lawyers clears his throat and I look to see Pat holding up one finger. “The position wasn’t stolen. I’m sure we can get the notes from that meeting to prove that.”

“The files have been confiscated,” Danner says as he looks at the file in his hand then he takes a seat too. “And here’s what we found, no file that says anything about the meeting your client is claiming took place. We didn’t find one shred of evidence that any type of vote was taken. And that too makes Crawford seem suspect of being one part of the mastermind behind this murder plot to kill off the competition. With Markov’s help, he nearly killed those men. We’ve been instructed to strip him of his office as CEO of Apollo Engineering.”

“By what authority?” Pat asks.

“The United States President,” Booth tells him and tosses another piece of paper, he takes out of the file that’s on the table in front of him, to Leon who’s sitting closest to him.

I can see the presidential seal from here and I cringe. “That aside,” I say, quickly. “You’ve frozen everything. My money is in those accounts too. All the deposits are not his.”

Booth smiles as he looks at me. “Your small amount will be unfrozen and you can take that and open another account. I wouldn’t put his name on it, though.”

I look at him and smile. “Great. I expect that to be done by tomorrow. It shouldn’t be hard to see what deposits are for me and what are for him.” I look at Pat who’s across the table from me. “Can you handle that for us?”

“Well, um, there is the matter of our attorney fees,” he says as he threads his fingers together. “With this presidential order, I’m afraid those assets are gone. Ryker Crawford is no longer the billionaire he once was. I don’t know how we can represent him any further.”

“What does this all mean for me?” Ryker asks Booth. “Exactly what’s going to happen to me?”

“We don’t have enough evidence to charge you with a crime. You’ve managed to cover your tracks there, Crawford. Being that other countries have threatened not to do business with one of America’s top space companies, the President is within his rights to take that company away from you and place it in more trustworthy hands.”

Danner takes over as he pulls a paper out of his file and pushes it toward Ryker. “This paper states that you can no longer serve in any capacity at Apollo Engineering. It states that all of your cash assets will revert to the company. And no criminal charges can be made at this time with the evidence we have.”

“Essentially, I’m broke and jobless,” Ryker says.

I pat his leg. “Don’t let that worry you, baby.”

“You’re taking all I’ve done and flushed it down the drain. You know there’s every chance that Frank Holiday got rid of the minutes from that meeting. He took advantage of the scam that happened. A scam that I too was a victim of. He took advantage to gain control of something he has no business having control of. And our president gave it to him.”

“Look at it any way you want to. You’re no longer the CEO of Apollo Engineering. You can’t step foot back into the place. Your personal effects have been packed up and are in the trunk of our car,” Danner tells him. “You should feel grateful that you’re not being charged with a crime.”

Ryker’s hand moves over my leg. “The only thing I’m truly grateful for is this lady at my side and this child. All the rest if this Earthly shit can go to hell. So, I am free to go on about my life then, right?”

With a nod, Danner says, “Yes. Just stay out of Apollo and all will be okay.”

“Not a problem,” I say. “Since I have no legal team, how long do I have to wait for my part of the bank accounts to be freed?”

“It’s our policy to have them freed within twenty-four hours, ma’am,” Booth says.

“Good.” I look at the attorneys and give them all nods. I won’t be employing them. “And what about the smaller affiliate companies that were working with Apollo?”

Pat looks at Danner who says, “Their accounts have had the holds taken off them. It’ll be up to Holiday to decide to keep any contracts with them or not.”

“Good,” I say. “We’re done here, then.” I get up and Ryker does too, picking up the car seat.

“I want a file of all that you have,” he tells them all. “I want a copy of everything in both of those files.”

“You’ll have to wait for that,” Pat says. “Let Stephanie, in the front, make copies. We can no longer do business with you, Crawford. You understand, I’m sure.”

My husband’s head drops and so does my heart. He’s never been treated this way. It’s humiliating to him, I can feel it radiating off him. I turn back and push all the papers together and hold out my hands for the files the CIA agents have. “Let me get these to her. We don’t have time to fuck around. Our son will be waking up to eat in half an hour. You all seem like time-bandits. Time, we don’t have.”

They let me take the papers and files and I follow Ryker out. “Thanks, baby.”

“You really don’t have to worry, Ryker.”

“I know. I know you have money. I just feel terrible. I feel deflated.”

Dropping the stack of papers on the receptionist’s desk, I say, “Can you make copies of these really quick for us before Noah wakes up and wants to eat?”

“Of course,” she says as she hops up and gets busy doing that.

“Frank Holiday?” I ask Ryker as we take seats to wait for the copies. “Who the hell is he? I’ve never even heard anyone talk about him.”

“An old as shit man who knows so little about modern technology, it’s not even funny. But, apparently, he’s quite a good bull shitter and an excellent man with paperwork.” Ryker rubs his temples, telling me he has a massive headache. And who wouldn’t with this news?

“What does he do at Apollo?”

“Um, I think his official position is something like vice president of accounting or something like that. I’m not sure, really. I know it holds no real responsibility. It’s more of a paid job until he retires. Which I don’t know why he hasn’t taken retirement already.”

“Don’t worry about him. That would take more time than we care to take. Okay, he’s got the company. You have the brain. I have money. And Damien is our ally.”

For the first time since this shit began, Ryker smiles. “We do have all of that, don’t we?”

“That and Mars isn’t inhabited by a damn thing.” I pat his leg then lean over and kiss him, sending us to that place only we can take each other. When the kiss ends, he and I are both smiling.

“Here are the copies. I put them in this large manila envelope for you,” the secretary says.

“Great,” I take it and we both get up. “See ya.”

I keep my mouth shut as we walk out between the two CIA pricks and go to the elevator. As the doors close, Ryker puts the car seat on the floor and wraps his arms around me, giving me a real kiss. When the elevator stops, he ends the kiss. “Baby, you really are my hero.”

“And you are mine,” I tell him. “Never doubt that for a second. We’re a team, you and I. What you want, I want. And I want you to see Mars.”

The glazed look in his eyes does something to me. “Gia, you don’t have to…”

I stop him with another kiss. “Shh. I want it too.”

We step out of the elevator with our arms around each other as the doors close. “The baby!” we both shout.

He throws out his arm to stop the doors from closing and grabs the car seat with our son in it. “That was close!”

I clutch my chest and try to calm down. “Damn, baby!”

“I know,” he says as he shakes his head.

Walking out of the office has us knowing things are very different. But not so much so that we can’t handle those changes. Nothing worth having is ever easy. And neither of us mind working hard.

The future doesn’t scare me. I hope it doesn’t scare him, either.

RYKER

“I’m broke, Gia,” I say as I drive my wife and son home. “For the first time in my life, I am dead broke.”

“How does it feel?” she asks me from the backseat as she looks at me through the rearview mirror.

“I’m still breathing. It doesn’t cost a dime for the air I need to stay alive.”

“Are you feeling worried at all?”

Digging deep into myself, I look for worry, dread, fear, and I find none. “I’m not. You know I think I can deal with this.”

“And it doesn’t hurt that you’re married to a pretty rich chick, either,” she says with a laugh.

“Oh yeah, you have money. I kind of forgot about that. Funny, huh?” I stop at a red light and look back at her. “Guess you can be my sugar-momma.”

“I got you, Big Daddy.”

We both laugh then quickly shut up as the baby starts to move. “We almost woke him up,” I whisper.

She pats his little leg to settle him. “We don’t want to do that. He’s going to want to eat as soon as he wakes up and I can’t take him out of this car seat.”

Driving home in silence, I think about how I really feel. I’ve had everything I’ve ever worked for taken away from me. By a man who doesn’t deserve it. A man who’s lied about me and stolen from me.

I should be furious. I should be seething with anger. But all I can be is happy. Looking in the rearview mirror, I see my gorgeous wife, dozing and the car seat with my son in it. Happiness is all I can feel.

So what if I’m not a powerful CEO anymore. So what if I have only a few dollars in my wallet. So what if I have no clue what I’m going to do in the future. I have people to love and they love me.

That’s all I need!

The sky is still blue. I don’t have money and the sky is still blue. The breeze still blows, the birds still chirp. Life goes on. Money or not, life goes on.

“Baby, I’m starving,” Gia says as she shakes her head in an effort to stay awake. “I’ve got money in my purse. Can you pull through somewhere and get us something to eat?”

“Dollar burgers?” I ask with a chuckle. “Anything off the dollar menu, Gia.”

She laughs and sighs. “You’re hilarious.”

“I think I’m going to be good at being poor,” I tell her.

She wrinkles up her nose as she shakes her head. “You’re not going to be poor. Not a damn thing is going to change. We’ll keep the staff at the house. The cars, the house, all of it will remain the same.”

“But I’m not going to be paying it. It won’t be me keeping us wealthy.” Then it hits me like a brick wall. “I’m going to be a kept man. I really am going to be kept. I’ll have to ask you to give me money. I’ll have to rely on you, Gia.”

“So?” she says like it’s not a great big, huge, deal.

“So? So, Gia? That’s not cool!” I pull into the drive-through of a fast food place and have to reach back for money to pay for the cheap stuff. “I need some cash.” The words feel thick on my tongue.

She places a twenty in my palm and runs her fingertip over it as well. “Don’t ever think about this money as mine. This is our money. The way it’s always been. Now order me a burger and fries and a bottle of water, please.”

I think about what she’s said as I look over the menu. Our money. Her money is now, our money. Nope, it still feels bad!

“Two cheeseburgers, all the way with mustard. Two small fries and two bottles of water, please.”

“That’ll be twenty-five dollars and seventeen cents,” the man in the box tells me, freaking me out.

“How much?” I ask as this has to be a mistake. It’s a couple of burgers and some fries and water, for God’s sake!

“Twenty-five, seventeen, sir. And do you need extra ketchup?”

“How many ketchups come with it?”

“One small packet. Most people want extra,” he explains.

“Baby, do you need more than one packet of ketchup?” I ask Gia.

“Please,” she says.

“Yeah, give me some extra ketchup.”

“How many?” he asks.

“Um, how about two or three more?”

“You want two or three?” he asks, annoying the crap out of me.

“What does it matter? Put in a couple or so.”

“There’s a thirty-cent charge for each one. So, give me an exact number” he says, sending me into a tizzy.

“Thirty cents each? For little tiny packets of fucking ketchup? Are you fucking serious right now?”

“Ryker!” Gia hisses at me. “No cussing! They’re going to spit in our food!”

“Sir! You can’t speak to me like that! You know what, I’m deleting this order. Find somewhere else to eat. I’m refusing you service,” he tells me, sending me into a rage.

“Listen here, dipshit! You can’t refuse me service because I’m deleting this order. That’s highway robbery, anyway! So, fuck you, prick!” I peel off and then I hear the baby crying and Gia’s glaring at me and I think I may have just messed up.

“Pull over. Now that you’ve woken him up, I have to get him out and feed him. Way to go!”

Pulling into a parking lot, I spot a little pizza place. “I’m sorry. I am, Gia. But that guy was crazy.”

“No, you were the one being crazy,” she tells me, making my jaw drop.

“Me?”

She nods as she gets the baby out. Spotting a little pizza place in the strip mall I’ve pulled into, I get out of the car. “Where are you going, Ryker?”

“To get us a couple of slices of pizza and some water. I’ll be right back.”

I can feel her icy stare pummeling my back as I walk away from the car. Am I really the crazy one?

GIA

Icicles are forming on the trees as I look out the window of my parents’ farm house. “Ryker, can you see if Noah needs his diaper changed? I smell something funky.”

Ryker gets off the bed and goes to check on our son, who’s sleeping in his little playpen at the foot of the bed. “Yep, he’s ripe. But won’t it wake him up if I change him?”

“If you don’t, he’ll get a rash. We certainly don’t want that to happen. Not when we’re about to leave.”

“It’s hard to believe that we’re really doing it, Gia,” he says then shushes our one-year-old as he wines about being moved around. “I know, Buddy, but you went stinky and Daddy has to get you all cleaned up.”

“The house and cars have been sold. The plane tickets have been paid for. We’re really doing it, Ryker.”

“Damien sure pulled it off, didn’t he?”

“It’s hard to believe, but he certainly did. Giving you a job at Markov Global is the best thing to happen to us since Noah.” I get out of bed and stretch as I watch a cardinal perched in the tree outside my childhood bedroom window. It looks back at me and flies away when I wave at it.

“There will be no birds. No trees. No barking dogs.”

“No, roosters to wake us up,” he adds. “Mars is thankfully, void of those things. Is that the same damn rooster from when we came here the first time?”

“I’m not sure,” I say as I take the dirty diaper and go throw it in the wastebasket. “Why do you ask that?”

“Because it’s as stupid as that bird was. It’s not dawn at four in the morning.” He snuggles Noah back up, and he falls right back to sleep.

Wiggling his finger at me, he whispers, “Come here, pretty momma.”

I giggle and go to him. He wraps his arms around me and kisses me with a long, sweet kiss. “In a few hours, a plane will start our journey to Russia.”

“A few years after that, a shuttle will take us to Mars,” I finish his thought. “Things are still moving in the direction you’ve always been going. Just a few speed bumps got in the way.”

He sways with me as we look into each other’s eyes. “Losing Apollo was a great loss. But it helped one thing. It helped us all to realize we need to be working together instead of apart. The program that Markov Global came up with, where we all work together and stop the segregation of different countries, is pure genius.”

“It is,” I say and kiss his cheek. “And you were the mastermind behind that idea. Damien had the ability to get it done. You two actually make a great team.”

“Weird, huh?” He kisses me again. “I stole his girl and now we’re partners.”

I give him a frown. “You didn’t steal me. I left him. I hate when you say that.”

“That night, when I saw you for the first time, I knew I had to have you. I stole you then and there.” He kisses me again.

“I suppose you’re right. You got into my head that night. That’s for sure.”

“And your heart,” he says then gives me another kiss.

Laying back down on the bed, he and I snuggle down under the thick blankets. “It took you a bit longer to burrow into there, Ryker. But once you did, you made a real home for yourself in there.”

Rubbing his nose to mine, he says, “You’ve created quite the homey spot for yourself in mine too.”

“I think losing Apollo Engineering was the best thing to happen to the space industry, Ryker. Sure, you lost your shit for about six months but when you came back around, you kicked ass and made things happen. I didn’t know I could be any prouder of you than I already was but you made it happen, somehow.”

“You know I hate it when you bring up my six-month meltdown. Stick to the good parts. Like when I came up with the idea for conglomerating the tops minds in the field. Now that was sheer genius.”

“It was.” I kiss him again and feel a stirring in his pajama bottoms.

His hand moves down to the waistband of mine and he moves it on in, finding my little pearl and giving it a swirl. Our tongues dance as his fingers ignite a heat in me. What a great way to warm up!

Something thumps the blanket, followed by a grunt, stopping us. We look up and see Noah, standing in the playpen and he’s thrown his empty bottle at us.

“Breakfast time,” Ryker says with a laugh. “Mommy will have to wait.”

I moan as he gets out of bed and trots past Noah, making Noah let out a sharp sound, commanding his daddy to come back and get him. I climb out of bed and pick him up. “Daddy’s going to go make his little man a bottle. You want to snuggle with Momma until he comes back?”

I take him with me back to our bed and lie him down then get in and snuggle with him. His dark hair needs a trim and a lock of it has fallen into his face. I brush it back and gaze at our little boy. He’s a perfect mixture of us. Our little creation.

He pinches my cheek as he looks at me and I think about what life will be like for him. Growing up on Mars will mean he’ll never see some things we have here. It’ll mean he won’t get to do a lot of things we all take for granted. But he’ll have experiences no one on Earth will ever have.

I battle myself at times about taking him away from this Earth. His grandparents are people that he might never see again. That’s why we’re here now. So they can know him and him them.

But today we’ll leave here. Only sporadic visits to them will be made. But at least they will all have some time together before we leave this place forever.

The decision was made that those who leave cannot come back to Earth. Primarily for health reasons. We might bring back viruses that could wipe out the planet. There are so many little reasons for us not to come back.

The decision to go wasn’t easy. But the urge to do it was always there. So, we will start the first leg of our journey to Mars today. And Noah will be right there with us.

I just pray we’re doing the right thing!

RYKER

The morning sun is bright as we walk to the launch pad. Noah’s holding his little sister’s hand as we make our way down the long corridor. Gia and I walk behind them, watching our children take steps most other children will never get to do.

The first group of settlers has three hundred people going to Mars. And Gia has one in the oven, just the way I wanted it to be. Only two weeks pregnant, we have high hopes the space travel won’t interfere with the pregnancy.

I take her hand and swing our clasped hands between us. “You ready for this, Gia?”

Damien walks up on the other side of her with a huge grin on his face. “She’s more than ready, Ryker. Can’t you see it written all over her face? She never planned on making this journey but here she is, just the same.”

“I am ready. I’m so ready. The little family gathering we had this last week let me know that my family will always reside in my head and my heart. And it’s important to move forward and not allow anything to stop progress. With their support, I know I’m doing the right thing.”

Damien’s wife and three children come up behind us and he gives us a nod and steps back to walk with them. “See you all on board.”

Photographers are taking pictures of the people as they stop just before getting onto the giant shuttle. We pause for a photo with the kids then step through the door.

“Wow!” Noah says as he looks around at the entry.

“You want to really see something, keep walking, son,” I tell our five-year-old.

Gia picks up Maggie, our two-year-old and carries her as she’s frozen in place. “I think she’s a little afraid.”

“Not Daddy’s girl,” I say and tweak her little nose, making her giggle.

Taking the seats that have our number on them, I strap in Noah as Gia straps in Maggie. Then she takes a seat and I strap her in too. “I like how these bonds look on you, baby.”

“Ryker!” She gives me a wink. “Wicked man!”

With the kids seated between us, I go to my seat, next to Noah. “Your dad has dreamt of this day what seems like forever, Noah.”

“Are you scared? I’m a little scared,” he says.

“Sure, I’m a little afraid.” I buckle the last buckle and tussle his dark hair. “But all great adventures start with being afraid. It’s part of the lure of it all. Only the strong of heart and mind will do something like this. Not everyone has this strength in them. You’re special, Noah. You have your mother’s strength.”

“So do you, Dad,” he says as he holds his hand up for a high-five.

I give him one and say, “She did give me the strength I have today. She sure did. She’s my rock, you know.”

“Yeah, mine too. I’m not worried about Mars. Mom can take care of all of us. She’s great at it.”

I look past the kids to find Gia resting her head on the headrest with her eyes closed. “You see what she’s doing there, Noah.”

He turns to look at his mother. “What’s she doing, Dad? Sleeping?”

“No, son. Your mother is praying. That’s her secret. That’s how she stays so strong.”

“Oh, then we should do that too, Dad.” I watch him close his eyes and lay his head back. His lips move as he prays, silently.

Laying my head back, I start praying too. When I finish my prayer, I find the cabin we’re in is now full and take off will be very soon. My heart speeds up as the speakers fill with soft music.

They’re getting ready. The sound of the music is supposed to keep everyone calm and not so focused on the sounds of the rockets that will project us into space.

But I focus on the sounds beyond the music. The eerie silence in a cabin full of people. Then the clicking of the ignition and the roar of the engines.

Noah takes my hand and I look over to see Gia taking Maggie’s hand. Noah takes her other one, making our family chain complete. “Can I have everyone’s attention?” a man’s voice comes over the speakers. “I’m Captain John Stevens. I’ll be one of the people flying us all to the first manned mission to Mars. I’d like everyone to sit back, relax, and get prepared to start this eight-month journey. Once we get out of the Earth’s gravitational pull, you will be free to move around. Check out your quarters for this trip. This place is your home for now. You all share a common bond as the first settlers of another planet. So, let’s relax and enjoy this part of the ride. It’s going to be the roughest part, except for when we land. But in the middle, will be a whole lot of nothing. Once we reach the outer atmosphere, our internal gravity system will kick in, keeping us on the floor. You will hear a countdown, followed by a pretty loud explosion. Some of you may want to cover your ears. Here we go.”

A woman’s voice fills the speakers, “Ten, nine, eight,” I look at Gia and give her a smile. She beams one back at me. “Seven, six, five.” Noah gives my hand a squeeze and I give his one back. “Four, three, two.” I brace myself for the sound. “One.”

And here we go!

GIA

The rough lift-off has my body feeling very odd like a heavy weight is covering it. I want to look at Maggie, to see how she’s taking this but my head won’t move. The sound is so loud and I want to cover my ears but I’m stuck in the position I was in when the shuttle blasted off.

Holding Maggie’s little hand, I try to breathe normally but can’t seem to take in any kind of a decent breath. This seems to be taking forever. The woman who made the countdown comes back on the speakers, “Fifteen seconds.”

I don’t even know what the hell that means but I count to fifteen in my head and nothing happens. Then I feel it. The weight is gone in an instant and so is the loud sound of the rockets. I hear sighs coming from everyone and let out one myself.

Looking at Maggie, I expected to see her crying but she’s grinning like a lunatic. “Fun! Do it again, Mommy!”

“Wow, you liked that?” I ask her as I’m shocked.

Ryker gets out of his safety harness and comes to help me out of mine. “Your face is so red, baby.”

“I couldn’t breathe. I’m okay now,” I tell him as he sets me free then picks me up and gives me a big kiss.

A tug on my jumpsuit has me ending the kiss and turning to find Noah, is the culprit. “Can you guys let us out of these things before you start making out?”

“Noah!”

Ryker chuckles as he lets me go. “Sure, Buddy.” He gets to work setting him free while I free Maggie.

Excited murmurs are everywhere then Damien is at my side. “Did you enjoy the lift-off, Gia?”

“Not really. But it’s all good now.”

“The living quarters are back this way. Come, I’ll show you,” he says as he leads my family to where we’ll call home for the next eight months.

Ryker steps up beside me, putting his arm around my waist. “I purposely didn’t come on the shuttle, so I could see it all for the first time with you guys.”

“Are you excited?” I ask him as I pick up Maggie.

“More than that.” He leans in close to whisper in my ear. “And I can’t wait to christen our new bed.”

Heat moves through me and I find myself blushing. “Ryker, naughty, naughty.”

I feel a pinch on my ass as he gives me a devilish grin. “Yes, I am.”

Turning down a narrow hallway, I see doors along both sides, just like in a hotel. Numbers are on each door. Each individual traveler or group of them, were given a number. That number designates where you live, sit, and even when you eat. Our number is seven and we find our door, easily.

With no material objects to covet as everyone was issued what they need, there is no need for locks on the doors, so Damien opens ours and we see a small living area with three doors off of it. “Your suite.”

We walk in while Damien stays in the hallway. “It’s small,” I say as I can reach out and touch each person in the room.

“Cozy,” Damien says. “I prefer to think of it in that way.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Ryker says then kisses my cheek. “And I like being close to you, anyway.”

Not happy about how small it is, I make my way to the first door and find an even smaller room. A set of bunk beds that are built into the wall is there and only enough room to walk in and get on the beds. “I suppose this is the kids’ bedroom.”

“Of course,” Damien says, still standing in the hallway. “These quarters are generally for sleeping and not much else. There are large areas around the ship where you can spread out. The dining areas, the entertainment areas. The observation area is very nice and adult beverages are served there. You two should join Svetlana and me for drinks later. You could leave the children in the play area.”

“Sounds good,” Ryker tells him. He points to the watch-like thing we all wear on our wrists. “Tap me when you’re there.”

With a nod, Damien leaves us alone and closes the door, making the main room feel even smaller.

Ryker opens the door in the middle of the three of them and we find a tiny toilet area. “Bathroom. Look, Maggie, the potty is in here.”

She claps and comes to look. “Potty!”

We just recently potty trained her. Her joy at seeing a toilet makes me laugh and Ryker leaves that tiny room to open the door to what must be our bedroom. “The master…” he stops talking as he looks inside.

I can’t imagine what has rendered him speechless but when I look in too, I find out. “Oh, Ryker!”

A twin bed is all there is in the room. Tiny amounts of space are on each side of it. Barely enough room to walk. And my pregnant body will be expanding all the way there!

“Gia, this isn’t a problem. This is great, we’ll get to be so close.”

“I’m going to be on top of you! And I’m only going to get bigger! I didn’t think about this. I should’ve jumped in and had a hand in designing this space.”

“It’ll be okay,” he says as he pulls me to sit on the bed. Our combined asses take up every bit of the space.

“Tight quarters aren’t so bad. Think about it, Gia.” He gives me a kiss and I fight back the urge to cry.

“Can we go in our room, Mom?” Noah asks me. “I want to lay on my bed. I’m taking the top bunk. I’ve never had a bunk bed before.”

I nod and watch him take his little sister’s hand and lead her the five steps across our living room and they go into their new room and both seem very happy and excited. When I look at Ryker, I see the same damn expression on his handsome face. “You love this, don’t you?”

“Close the door and come to bed. I think we need a naked nap.”

I close the door, using my foot and lie back on the bed. “Take me away, Ryker. Only you can take my mind off how small everything is.”

Unzipping my jumpsuit, he pulls it off me, tossing it to the little floor area next to the tiny bed. I watch him as he pulls his off and has more difficulty doing that than he had taking mine off. “We’ll get used to these close quarters. I know we will. When we have the wide-open spaces on Mars, we won’t know what to do.”

“I’ll know what to do,” I say as he lays down on one side of me, stroking my tummy and looking into my eyes. I cradle his face in my hands and kiss him. Letting my mind go, feeling only his lips on mine.

His hand makes slow strokes over my stomach then he dips it into my pleasure pool, stirring up sensations that take my mind even further away. Playing with me until I ache to have him inside of me, he finally gives me what I need. Moving his body to cover mine, he makes one hard thrust into me.

I arch up to him and he moves his mouth off mine to kiss along the length of my neck. I moan a little as he gives me a good bite then thrusts into me harder.

My body is quivering before I know it. My heart is racing as the wave washes over me, leaving me writhing under his attention. I’m home!

RYKER

A red sky greets us as we step off the ship. A gentle breeze blows and I take in a deep breath of the cold air. Steam forms when I blow my breath out.

“Steam, we can make water just like we planned,” Damien says as he and I take the first steps onto the loose red dirt. “We made it, Ryker.”

“We did,” I say as I look all over at the vast open space where we will make our new home. I tap my communication device. “Gia, bring them out.”

Damien calls his wife too and they come out of the door as we watch their faces. Steam floats around them all as they walk out with much hesitation. Gia gets to me and I find her smiling. “Ryker, we’re here. We’re finally here!”

Taking her in my arms, I kiss her as our children cling to my legs. “We’re home, baby.”

I run my hand over Noah’s head and reach down to pick up our daughter. “Daddy, it’s windy!”

“It sure is.” I carry her away from the shuttle, so everyone else can get out too. The eight months went by like molasses but we’re finally here. And here is where we’ll stay.

GIA

The baby waited a whole week before coming out to see his new world. Zane Ryker Crawford was the first-born citizen of Mars, just how Ryker wished for.

Life on Mars is hard work. Diligence and patience are required here. We’ve managed to make things easier as time has gone by. Five years have passed. Ryker and I have had another child in that time, a girl named Cindy.

The people here are from all over the world. We are but one race now, the Human Race. No divisions are made here. We all work hard and we all share the fruits of our labors, evenly.

Money will never come into play. If we, the founders, have things our way. We’ve penned a constitution that makes everyone equal and set basic rules for society.

No murders have occurred, knock on wood. We have had one death but it was from natural causes. Mr. Chadwick was eighty-seven when his heart gave out on him. He came here alone. He had no one left on Earth anyway and he was proud when he told us, he’d make a name for himself here, as the first person to die on Mars.

It seems most people want to be remembered for something, no matter where they are. I want to be remembered as the woman who once was lost but found her way and ended up as a founder of Mars.

Ryker wants to be remembered as the man who didn’t let adversity stop him from achieving his very large goal of getting here. And he’s also happy he’ll be remembered as having the first child here too. His planning paid off for him.

Planning, preparation, and follow-through are important things to remember when you want to reach your goal. Any goal. And most goals aren’t easy to get to. Most have a road filled with hard work, trials, tribulations, and even disappointment. In the end, though, when you reach that goal that seemed like it would never come, how you feel is beyond amazing.

Focus is the key. One must remain focused if they want to see their dreams come true.

I wasn’t lost when Ryker found me. I was hiding from greatness. He forced me to come out of hiding and grab the brass ring, joining him in a future most can only dream about.

The time has come for us to settle in and just live now. And I think it’s safe to say, we will all live happily ever after…

The End