Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 14300 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 72(@200wpm)___ 57(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14300 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 72(@200wpm)___ 57(@250wpm)___ 48(@300wpm)
I've forgotten all about my hand. What does it matter when the pain in my heart has been replaced with so much joy? "Can I wear the ring?"
"I'd love nothing more," Haina says, and slips it onto my good finger as I watch. And then we're both smiling, and I don't think I've ever been so happy. To think that I've lived for Thursdays and Thursdays alone for so long…
Now I can enjoy every day with my love at my side.
EPILOGUE
ALI
Two Years Later
"Taste this," Haina says, holding a wooden spoon out to me as I work on the floor nearby. There's been a problem with one of the crop-harvesting bots and I got instructions on how to fix it from one of the custodians, and I've been taking it apart and tinkering with it all afternoon while Haina works on a new jam recipe. She waits patiently as I get to my feet and wipe my hands on my grease-covered bodysuit that I use for maintenance.
I taste the jam on the spoon and consider. "It's missing something."
"More inaadh spice?"
"Like I know what that is?"
She laughs, and it's like sunlight poured over my soul, every time. "It's the leaf that looks like a curlicue. Tastes kinda tangy."
"Sure, add some of that." I slide my hand down her back to her tail, watching as she adds a bit of spice to the mixture bubbling on the stove-top. I love how excited she gets about her jams. She loves her gardening. I can find her daily with a floppy hat tied across her horns, protecting her face from the sun as she hoes the soft dirt and fusses over her plants. Instead of vegetables, though, she settled on berries. She likes sweet things after being with me, she teases. The first season, she grew three kinds of Homeworld berries here, using the last of her savings on some pricey seeds. They've paid off, though—we had an amazing harvest and all of our neighbors wanted some of our fruits. This year, Haina's garden is three times the size it was last year, and with the extra berries, she's been making jams to sell in the general store to bring in some additional credits.
We've talked about adopting a baby in the future—maybe a mesakkah from the station slums like she was. Haina loves that idea, and I do, too. I think she'd be an amazing mom.
I taste her jam when she holds the spoon out again and nod this time. "That's perfect."
She breaks into a wide smile. "I'm going to write this recipe down! Aliette's Sweet Nectar will sell out in a week. You wait and see."
I groan at the name for our business. "Please don't call it that."
"Why not? It's so sweet it reminds me of licking you." She gives me a mischievous look and runs her tongue along the edge of the spoon. "And it makes me happy. Also like licking you."
"Who am I to take happiness from my mate?" I ask lightly, stroking my hand over her sensitive tail. "If we have to call it by my real name, can't we just call it Ali's Jams?"
"I might need some convincing," she says, moving the jam off of the burner on the stove. Her tail twitches in my grasp, and the look in her eyes grows heated.
Luckily for her, I am excellent at convincing. With a grin, I stroke her tail and tilt my face up for a kiss. "I'll get you to see things my way."
"I bet you will," Haina replies, and then neither of us speaks of jams or names for a long, long while.