Colonel Seeders' Mail Order Bride, Hank

6 Hank

Hank:

Hank stood under the spray of the shower, trying to wash the smell of the burnt furniture and clothes from his skin and hair. He never once thought that the reminder of Lilly would affect Hawk as much as it did him. With Hawk it only went as far as being reminded of a woman that gave birth to him, but did not stay to watch him grow. He could never get himself to tell the boy the truth about his mother. A truth that he wanted to take to his grave.

Unfortunately, he found out that Hawk's trust in woman did not reach his own level of distrust, made clear when he moved Hank's com-device and saw the application form that Sebastian filled in.

His whole face lit up as he grinned at Hank. "Are you going to get married?"

"Not if I can help it," Hank said, before closing the device and taking it up to his room, that he no longer slept in. "We still have one more room to clear out."

Hawk joined him by the door of his bedroom. "It smells funny. When last have you opened the windows?"

"The last time I opened the door. Come help me clear out the cupboards, while I strip down that bed."

They worked the rest of the afternoon, cleaning out the room and burning everything that could remind them of Lilly, until they both headed to their bathrooms to clean up.

"Dad?"

Hawk banged against the door when he didn't answer him. With a sigh he turned off the cooling water and stepped out of the shower onto a soft blue mat Hawk insisted on buying for Hank's bathroom while they were out shopping for groceries one afternoon.

He wrapped a towel around his waist and asked, "What?"

"Are you going to fill in that application form? The one for a bride?"

"No, and I do not want to hear about it again. It's just Sebastian's way of riling me up."

Hank turned to his mirror that cleared up as soon as he stepped in front of it and gripped the pale blue basin while he tried to calm himself down again. His usually hazel eyes turned yellow, so he squeezed his eyes shut, fighting against the change.

"I think you should do it, Dad. It will be nice to have someone else here with us. It gets lonely when you're not here and I know you can't help it, but I miss having someone to talk to. Will you at least think about it?"

Hank threw the door open and stared down at Hawk. "I do not want a wife. Women leave. They always leave and then we are back to square one, just you and me. Alone."

"So then make it clear that you do not want a wife, but if she agrees to stay, she will have a room and food. It's not like we can't afford it. You're never here so that must mean that sales are good. And when you're not delivering that device all over the universe, you get called to help the military. You might not have sales this week, but what if they need you to help them find someone, or some war starts on a planet. I'll be left here, alone. Again."

Hawk stormed off to his room and slammed the door shut. Hank would have to wait until he calmed down enough to unlock the door or break it down so that he could get clothes. So he walked down the stairs with the towel wrapped around him and flopped down on a chair in the cold kitchen.

After running through everything Hawk said, twice, he realised what an ass he had been by thinking a young boy of ten would be fine living by himself, so he finally called up to Hawk.

"Bring me the com so that I can send the application form." and then added, "And some pants."

When he rushed down the stairs, clutching pants and the device against his chest, he asked, "Will you at least say something nice. I know you're mad at me for what I said, but don't take it out on the lady. You don't know what her situation is. She must be desperate if she applied to be a bride, right?"

"I will say what I need to say and nothing more. I'll even say that I will marry her so that she can buy stuff for you and..." Hank waved his hand towards the empty living room. "the house. I'm not handing her money so that she can disappear. Everything the two of you buy better be cleared with me first. Other than that, I don't care what she does. She's here to look after you and that is it. Are we clear on that?"

"Yes, Dad." Hawk looked down at his covered hands, his face no longer held an excited smile. "Dad? Could you maybe add that she needs to be able to fly with me? I still have problems landing."

"I'll add it in. Now get to bed. It's getting late."

Hank opened the application form and called up his translator to get the words for whatever the chicken scratch was that Sebastian filled in. His only human friend... His only friend knew how different the Trachtarian symbols were to the English words he used.

Application form

Name: Hank Bragh'shcul

Species: Trachtarian

Description of species: Dragon

Age: 80

Employment, if any: Owner/creator of training device DA101, Specialist for the military, Master tracker.

Would you prefer remaining on your own planet, or are you up for a change?: Stay on Trachtaria

Description of self: Hard working father to one son, Provider, Native American features (as per Earth standards), Handsome and well built (when not all scaled up), Moody at times, but has a kind heart.

Hank deleted the last part. He did not want some woman thinking she had a chance at his heart. She would only be there to share his home.

Description of potential mate:

Hank thought of the words he wanted to use to describe what he needed. Humans could not fly, so they were not an option. After the last one... But they did have soft round bodies, so unlike the Trachtarian females. Hawk needed a caretaker, but he did not need a wife, even though he agreed to marry her. For legal and financial reasons, only.

Description of potential mate: The female will need to be able to take care of my ten-year-old son and my home when I am not available. Willing to get married so that she will have access to finances that will need to be cleared with me first. A room will be prepared for her as mine will be off limits. Flying a must. If human, willingness to change is compulsory.

That should scare off any romantic thoughts that they might have. Hank just hoped his friend understood the importance of the last part.