Victoria left work early for the first time in almost a year around two weeks later and made her way quickly to the pharmacy. It was even colder now and she had brought out the double scarf and glove combo she had chosen when it all started and the ice seemed to be inside her. When she was looking at the shelves, she felt almost embarrassed. She couldn’t even explain why she wanted to do this in the first place. But maybe she already knew the answer.
Things had been okay for a day or two. The feeling of dread she had every time she opened her eyes clung to her, but she got used to it quickly and after a week she was so accustomed to it she felt almost protected. It was nice to know that someone out there was looking out for her. She had worked as usual and gone about her days as if nothing had changed. She avoided Helen’s requests for boozy nights out and rolled her eyes as she listened to her go on and on about her latest sugar daddy. She tried again to get Victoria to go and work at the club with her. She could tell she was feeling down and thought that she should quit her job and make some real money.
“Honestly, Helen, I’m fine,” she had told her. And in a way, she actually meant it.
After the second week had passed, she felt movement. It was low in her belly and rose up to her ribcage. It seemed to lay dormant during the day, but then when the world went dark, it began. Some nights she would wake and feel like she was being pummeled from the inside out. Like her intestines were being wrapped around its fists and dragged up and down.
“Help me,” she would whisper through the dark, just hoping one of them would listen.
She placed the test on the counter in front of the cashier and he bagged it up. She spent the last of her cash on it and walked home slowly, delaying the inevitable.
In her bathroom she watched the clock for two minutes before she dared to pick up the white stick and check the result. She almost expected it to say she wasn’t, that she was in fact crazy and that she had imagined the whole thing. At least then she could go and root through her chest of drawers and find the leaflet for the shrink. She exhaled and said aloud, “I hope you’re all finding this funny,” and then she stood up and swiped the test from the side of the sink.
Two pink lines….
Pregnant.
“Fantastic,” she smiled.
She closed her eyes and willed him to her: Come and get me… I know now… The time is right… Come and get me…
She lay in bed and looked up to the ceiling. The presence seemed stronger and the movements inside of her were powerful. Her belly was round, swollen, and protruding, and she knew it was going to happen. It was like her acceptance was all that was needed to bring the pregnancy to full term.
All around her the hum of what could have been an engine started. Light flashed before her eyes before she felt weightless once more.
The next thing she knew, she was waking up in a completely different room, in a beautiful house, with a gorgeous baby boy in a bassinet beside her. Victoria looked around and at the adorable little creature next to her. He was bright white skinned with large dark eyes and a cute little wisp of white hair.
“Hey, cutie,” she whispered as she ran her hand down his cheek.
“Oh, you’re awake.” The man’s voice came from the hallway and he joined her with fruit juice and toast on a tray. “I thought you might like these.”
It was the man from the bar. The alien man who had started it all and taken her to the ship. Victoria looked up at him, bewildered, and shook her head.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“You’re being rewarded,” he moved closer to her and tipped her chin up so her lips met his, before he kissed her so deliciously slow that she thought she was going to melt in his arms.
“Rewarded?” she asked when they broke away.
“You’re the mother of The Lord’s heir… you are going to be looked after more than you could have ever dreamed.”
She looked down at the baby and then up to him.
“But… you?” she said.
“I’m a guardian,” he whispered, “I’ve been watching you for a very long time and I handpicked you for this, Victoria. The time had come, and it was right for you. This is your destiny.”
She sank back into the bouncing soft sheets and pulled her baby onto her chest. He was amazing. A wonderful mix of alien royalty and human humility. Victoria then looked up to the wonderful alien guardian by her side and felt the warmth spread throughout her body. She had finally got her happy ending… Her life had finally taken on some meaning. And she couldn’t have been happier.
THE END