This Is Where I Want To Be

135. Finally Going Home

Juliet

I had been stalking Chris and Caleb for a few days, getting a sense of what their lives were like all those years. Every morning and evening, they gathered around the table. Zoreah was all about relationships, and I couldn't help being a little jealous of the peace the Riphaths enjoyed. I understood why Ira was so bent on not mixing the species. Nevertheless, Chris and I had two children together. I could do nothing about how things turned out or how Michael's one decision had changed everything. Chris was such a great father. Sammy had taken to him so well, and she listened to him. As a human, she was doing so much better, but Ira wanted her off-planet, and Michael had taken her home with him. It had all gone much better than what I could've hoped for. I didn't know how much longer it would be before they had that meeting of theirs. I needed and wanted to sit in. I didn't care what Ira said... I wanted to know the truth. So, most of the time, I stalked Ira, trying to understand what was going on.

When Michael and I returned to En-gannim, I forced him to send me back immediately. Invisible. He protested and said I was making a mistake. But it was our future... I went to the cave and sent him messages every day to tell him everything was fine. Ira never forbade me to come back... Caleb knew I was there, and sometimes, I would let him vanish with me. He loved the fact that I had an ability. We did some silly things, and we did some stupid stuff, spending time together. I would sit with him till he fell asleep, and afterward, I would stand staring at him like a creepy mom. Chris, Caleb, Sammy, and I would all die simultaneously in nine hundred years... If we all lived in the same place. It wasn't typical for any of the species. Not even for my mom and dad. They would die hundreds of years apart. Louis... and Marcus will pass hundreds of years before me. If Chris couldn't go back with me, what would I do? If Ira didn't let me stay, what would I do?

Eventually, it became so dark that I could see nothing. Sirrah had set, and the streets were quiet, leaving only faint voices of Riphaths inside their houses. I made my way to Chris's bed. I didn't have anywhere else to sleep, and for the few nights I was there, I had risked sleeping next to him.

***

Chris

I was frustrated and felt like pulling out my hair. Juliet got into my bed again at night, and I felt her there with me. She was not even disappearing because it was that dark. I've been waiting for her to be drowsy and forget where she was. Maybe even fall asleep and drape herself over me, clutch onto me like she had been doing.

So, I would pretend to sleep to see if she wouldn't cave. If she wouldn't just touch me... or talk to me. She must have been tired. That night, her breathing deepened for a few hours. I put myself as close to her as I could. Then it happened. She was too sleepy to hold herself back, rolled around, and I had to laugh that she really thought I wouldn't know the second she got in that bed... That she thought I still had my head up my ass. Not anymore, stupid girl. Her arm had touched my back when she rolled over and instinctively took hold of my waist, creeping closer, spooning me, her face at the base of my neck. I was the little spoon.

Slowly, I turned into her arm so that I was facing her. I was going to make it my mission to make her enjoy life again. To focus on the small things that made her happy and living on Zoreah wasn't going to help.

Yeah, I couldn't do it anymore. My hand slowly lifted to where I thought her face would be. I touched her cheek. She stirred and, with my finger, guided myself to her lips and put mine on hers. I could feel her body stiffen. Her hand had reached up in surprise. I climbed on top of her really fast. She wanted to protest, but I put my hand over her mouth while pulling my pants down. At least we didn't sleep in bodysuits. It was hot at night. So I didn't have much on but sleeping shorts. Or that's what I would call them.