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"Walkin' My Baby Back Home" - James Taylor

I jumped us to Gaelen's apartment about 9 a.m., after we'd taken a morning dip in the warm waters of the Caribbean. Of course, we needed a shower to wash off the salt, so it was around ten when I got downstairs.

Grace was at the grill this morning. He asked what I wanted in my omelet and I said everything. It didn't matter to me what everything was. I was hungry and it all sounded good to me. The sun was bright and the wet snow was melting as fast as it had accumulated. Pedestrians were out in full force, and there had already been a couple knocks on the door to the bar. "Just can't wait to get boozed up," Etta offered.

"Nah," Grace said, "it's the smell of my cooking."

Everyone had come in a bit early in case traffic was bad. Ben had finished his omelet and was behind the bar when I walked toward the stairs carrying a second plate to surprise Gaelen.

"Is Gaelen all right?" he asked me. "She's seemed different the past couple days… since you've been around."

"You two are friends?" I asked.

"Pretty tight, yeah. I know I've never seen her interested in a guy before… or a girl, for that matter." He looked me up and down. "What's so special about you?"

I grinned. "Not a damn thing."

He shook his head and smiled. "Just see you don't hurt her, okay? She's a nice person, and she deserves to be happy."

"I couldn't agree with you more," I said, and turned away to climb the stairs. Was being with me what Gaelen needed to be happy? I had no idea. Things had gone so well for us last night, and I wanted it to continue. I was following my instincts now; it was all I had.

"Breakfast!" I announced, and Gaelen came over and took the plate from my hand, smiling as she grabbed a fork and picked open the omelet to see what was inside. I sat next to her on the bed.

"Gaelen, do you think you could get some time off? Just a day or two, maybe?"

She looked up, a cheese-string connecting her mouth to the fork. "Why?"

"I want to show you my home, love. And I want you to meet Star and his family. Would you be okay with that?"

She stopped eating and looked at me. I reached out and broke the cheese-string and she slurped the rest of the bite into her mouth. "More people like you?"

"Yes, a few more." I smiled. "All there are, really. Star lives on a ranch in the foothills, and I often stay with him when I'm in town. But I have an apartment in Denver, and I also bought a house in a little mountain town called Evergreen. That's where I'd like to take you. It will still be snowy there, but it's so beautiful."

"I'd like to see places you love. I'm just sorry I can't take you to my home." Her eyes shadowed.

"Gaelen," I tilted her head up to look at me, "I can't take you to the planet where I was born either. Even if I have a few happy memories of it, it's not a nice place to visit. But I'd love to hear more about your home."

"Ah, I just get melancholy sometimes. It's been so long since I was there. I guess Earth is my home now."

"And mine."

She smiled. "I guess it's not such a bad place at that."

"Star thinks that knowing him may help you to understand me. For myself… I just want to show you off."

She snorted and gave me a push with her shoulder. "You are so full of shit. All right, I'll ask Ben if his brother can come in to help out. If it's all right with Grace, then I'll go. I assume we won't be taking an airplane?"

I grinned. "Same mode of travel as before, if that's okay."

"Can we bring luggage, this time?" Her eyes twinkled.

"Whatever you want." I kissed her and went down to make my own arrangements.

Dex was sitting at the bar now, talking to Ben and an older man everyone called the judge. "Excuse me," I said. "Dex, I wonder if you could do me a favor. Would you take over the cooking for a couple of days? I really want to take Gaelen home to meet the family."

Ben and the judge raised their eyebrows, Dex shrugged. "Sure, I guess, as long as it's just a couple days." He got up and led me to a booth in the back and spoke quietly. "Since I've been here I've enjoyed Grace's company a lot, but Jorje is being a dick, and the other vampires aren't helping. I want to go home."

"I'm sorry I've been leaving you on your own so much. I promise it won't be more than two days."

"Not a problem. You and Gaelen… seems like you're pretty hung up on her."

I sighed. "Yeah, she's pretty much all I can think about."

He grinned. "I hope I find someone like that some day. If it can't be Eric, then maybe I should look for a girl."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're not exclusively gay?"

"Well, 51 percent, maybe. Guys are just easier to get, I guess, for sex. I think maybe women are easier to keep, though."

I shook my head. "Some women, maybe." I hugged him, thinking of Vai and Zee and wondering if, for the first time in my life, there might be a woman I wanted to keep.

* * *

Gaelen packed a bag, a large bag, and we left the next morning. I didn't want to just dump her on Star's porch, first thing, so we picked up my Bronco in Denver and drove out to the house. There were still patches of snow here and there in the shade, but spring seemed well on its way in Colorado. Gaelen seemed to regard the wide open spaces and inhale the clean air with pleasure. She looked lovely today, in jeans and a blue flannel shirt, her feet laced into hiking boots.

"Gaelen!" Star smiled as he opened the door. "Please come in. I feel as if I know you already."

She looked back at me, but I gave her a little shove and we were inside. Then there was the whirlwind of introductions. The kids were on their good "there may be humans present" behavior. Lana and Mari shook Gaelen's hand, and the boys just beamed and nodded. Roca gave me a wink and a thumbs-up when Gaelen's back was turned.

Of course Star hugged her, looking closely to be certain it was all right first. Gaelen threw me a look over his shoulder, but she seemed pleased, and I felt the tiniest stab of jealousy.

Vai was ensconced on the couch with the new baby. Little Vrai^[1] was about the size of a loaf of bread, gurgling and cooing like any baby. I was surprised to see that his wispy hair was the golden brown of his mother's, instead of the platinum blond of Star and the other kids. His eyes were still baby blue, but his skin was a creamy brown, just a little less golden than his hair. I looked askance at Vai, but she just turned her cheek up for my kiss, and I decided that, whatever the baby's looks, if Star was happy I was happy too. She patted the couch next to her and motioned to Gaelen.

"How lovely to have another woman visit us. Would you like to hold the baby?"

Gaelen dropped her handbag and the jacket she'd been wearing and sat down with Vai, and that was the last I heard from them both for about an hour.

* * *

I went down to the boys' room and admired their latest toys and report cards, in that order, and then we just shot the shit like we usually did. Lana and Mari joined us in a few minutes, and the boys didn't seem to mind.

"She's nice," Lana said. "What planet is she from?"

Everyone looked at me with interest. "I don't know the name," I said. "Why don't you ask her?" Lana and Mari got up. "But take it easy. Her home was destroyed a long time ago, in a war, I think, and she lost her family too."

The girls looked at each other. "That's awful," Mari said. "We won't ask her, but maybe she'll want to talk about it."

"I dunno," I said. "She hasn't said much to me."

"That's because you're not a girl," Lana said with certainty.

All four of the kids moved back down the hall, and I followed.

"Gaelen," Mari sang out, interrupting the conversation Gaelen was having with Vai, "Do you want to see the horses?" Before I knew it, they had spirited her out to the barn.

I shook my head and went out to help Star fix dinner.

It was a nice evening, just sitting around the fireplace, talking about nothing in particular and enjoying the kids. Vai was friendly, and Star was his sparkling, beautiful self. They wanted us to stay the night, but I was adamant, and we left for Evergreen a little after dark.

Mine isn't the nicest house, just a little cabin on the side of a hill. But there's a big picture window in the living room that looks out over the valley and another that faces southwest. Lying in my bed, we could watch the full moon creep its way across the clear sky. I watched the moving brightness paint shadows across Gaelen's body, memorizing every curve. My heart beat faster, just knowing I could reach out and touch any part of her if I wanted. We lay quietly, and I thought she might have fallen asleep, but she hadn't.

"They're really nice people, and they seem as normal as you do, even the kids," she said. "But they're all blond, with that dark skin. You didn't tell me they were all blond!" She looked thoughtful for a second. "If I bleached my hair I'd fit right in."

I laughed. "Star and the kids all have the most ideal coloring for Lecurela. Me, I got the opposite." It surprised me that I could laugh about it when my looks used to upset me so much.

"Looks good on you," she said, letting her eyes roam over my face. Then she leaned in close. "Um, you said you'd had sex with both of them. They aren't going to want to have an orgy or anything like that, are they?"

I stroked her cheek. "I don't think so. Would you mind?"

She shrugged. "That Star is pretty cute, but I'm still getting used to having you in my bed. Maybe someday, if you stay around that long."

My stomach lurched. Gaelen was right. I'd been with a lot of people, and sooner or later I left them, or they left me. Somehow the initial attraction became less intense, and neither party minded the ending-we both just went back to our lives. But I couldn't imagine leaving Gaelen. Each time we made love my feelings for her intensified. There was no sense of moving toward completion of our time together, as I'd often had with others.

We'd known each other such a short time. Perhaps I just needed to wait a while and things would become clear.

* * *

It was the second night that we spent in my bed in the house on the hill, that Gaelen again rocked my predictable little world.

"Evan, I've changed my mind," she said, looking into my eyes with all seriousness. "I can't believe I'm saying it, but I want to have a baby by you. I guess I'm tired of hiding from life, tired of being alone. You and I together, however long it lasts-this is special to me, and I want to keep a part of you, okay? I want some way to really remember you after you're gone."

I didn't speak. I couldn't. We'd just made love, and the fireworks of the energy transfer had yet to wear off completely. Doubting my ears, I replayed her words in my head a few times until the meaning began to sink in a little.

"I… are you sure, Gaelen? You said you didn't want another child…"

"I know what I said. Evan, I don't know if you can understand this, but it's been fifty years since I've taken a lover. Fifty years of being alone, completely alone. What's the good of going on living if there's no one to live for? Sometimes you just have to take what life offers without so many goddamn questions and what ifs. I have an opportunity and I'd like to take it… if you're willing?"

Something inside me leapt at the sincerity I saw in her eyes. I felt the subtle shift inside me that meant my sperm were now active and ready. I hadn't consciously ordered the change, as I had when I donated germ cells to make Mari; my body seemed to have a mind of its own when it came to Gaelen.

"I'm willing," I said.

^[1] Vray