When She Wishes (Risdaverse)

by Ruby Dixon

"That night in town? You...me...what we did..." I just stare. "I'm having a litter." And she bursts into tears.

Once I got the deed to my farm, I went to the cantina in Port to celebrate. I might have had a few too many alien beers and when I woke up, I was naked in a field, curled around an equally drunk cat-alien stranger that I'd been chatting with at the bar. I chalked it up to a celebratory drunken hook-up and didn't think anything of it... Until I got violently ill in the mornings. Went to the medic here in Port, found out I was pregnant. Not just pregnant. Pregnant with triplets. At age thirty-six.

His expression turns absolutely serious. "You are taking care of yourself and our children. There is no job more important."

"If you need anything, you come to me, yes? It is my great joy to do this for you, Payton. I hope you realize that." I hope he realizes I'm probably going to rub one out while he's in the shower.

I am glad she allows me to use her shower. She is trusting and kind, my Payton. Which is good, because it means I get the opportunity to mark the lavatory area. I marked the front door days ago. Soon, I will mark the bedroom, and then it will be well established that Payton is claimed and no one will ever think to touch her...because she belongs to me.

I just want you. Not because you're the dad or because you're a good farmer, but because you make me smile and laugh, and I feel so seen and loved and taken care of when I'm with you. I might be holding myself together, but I know that when I'm with you, it's okay to fall apart a little, and I hope you feel the same. I hope that if you're having an off day, you come to me because you love me and want to share your burden. I hope if your lungs bother you that you let me take care of you. I hope you share your joys with me because you care for me, and not because you feel you have to."

"Like I said, I'd be fine without you. I'd manage. But when I'm with you, everything's brighter and better, and that's the world I want."