Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Speaking of pretty dresses, Zane arranged with Tanya’s dress maker, Orvand, for a gown that was a cross between an Earth and Phallyx wedding gown. Elaina was bringing it.
CHAPTER 35
TANYA
The Rosa Waterfalls were beautiful. Breathtaking. Funnily, the landscape could have been at home with rock faces that looked more like ours than the red sparkle-flecked mountains behind the home Zane and Ollie shared with me. But, the water, gushing from many crevices and orifices, was pink. And adding to that the pink Phallyx sky and flowers, literally, everywhere – this was paradise.
There were fancy restaurants, lush groomed flower gardens everywhere, and a crazy futuristic (by Earth standards) amusement park that had just reopened with the expectations of a surge in tourism.
Not only were more and more women arriving here, but people were taking holidays, commerce was rising with the anticipation of normalcy on the planet.
Ollie enthusiastically showed me around as it was his second trip to the area, so he acted like a subject matter expert tour guide. We were carefree for the first two days and we saw two other couples there with Earth women as well as one couple that was a recently married Phallyxian pair. I was astonished to see two elderly Phallyxian women, too, obvious survivors. Zane told me that not only were survivors getting on with their lives, the women who’d been living in hiding were beginning to come out, too.
The rogue movement wasn’t over. Two hundred women had been stolen from their homes on Earth, but no new ones had been taken and new Earth ships arrived weekly all over the planet in eight of the ten regions.
Quite a few of the two hundred had been rescued and went through a process that allowed them to be put into matchmaking events, which were now becoming tamer as there were guidelines being implemented as well as a process where the women weren’t left to wonder about their futures until some alien deemed them worthy to marry. They were brought here and put in lodgings and given choices about meeting Phallyxian men as well. The alpha culture still showed through with many men pursuing the women they wanted, but it was all a work-in-progress.
Shockingly, Zane’s employee Pace had been caught having a stolen Earth woman. A further surprise was that she opted to stay married to him despite the offer of being rescued. There was so much rebellion that the planet wasn’t charging the men found with black market women with criminal charges. Pace and Jen were already expecting a baby. We’d had dinner with them twice. Her name was Jen and she and I had hit it off. She’d also done something about Pace’s taste in clothing, telling me in hushed tones that she’d made him get rid of half the items in his wardrobe.
Zane was invited by Spar to sit on a Project D committee to make recommendations about the process. He regularly asked me questions and gave me feedback about those meetings.
We were having a lovely fancy meal in our hotel suite, which was gorgeous and overlooked the waterfalls with a picture-perfect view. The ceiling was another one of those retractable domes, but this one was white with a forest scene of birds in trees.
“It looks like Earth,” I remarked. “It doesn’t look like the trees around here.”
“That’s because that’s what it’s supposed to be. I chose it for you. To give you a taste of home,” Zane said.
I put my arms around him. “This is home.”
“The Rosa Waterfalls?” Ollie chimed in. “We don’t live here.”
“Nope. This. Being with the two of you. Wherever I am, if you’re both there: it’s home,” I tagged Ollie’s hand and pulled him into a group hug.
“Family hug!” Ollie sang out and wrapped his arms around both of us.
“Look how tall you’re getting!” I told him. He had shot up an inch since I’d been here.
“I’m going to be five soon,” he informed me. “Of course I’m getting tall. Daddo, can I tell her about the surprise now?”
Zane smirked. “Yes. Tell her.” Zane reached for his hip and retrieved his phone.
My eyes darted between them and then I watched Zane dial, before announcing, “It’s time.”
Who had he called? Time for what?
“Momma!” Ollie got my attention. I loved hearing that on his lips. “You and Daddo are having a wedding today.”
My mouth dropped open.
“You can get married by the waterfall. Everybody came. Except Chili. The neighbors and Granddad’s friend are taking turns going over and playing with him.”
“Oh. Oh wow,” I was shocked.
The door burst open and people spilled in.
“Surprise!” Jetta ran at me. She had the cutest little baby bump ever.
Daxx, Elaina, and Quid were behind her. Elaina was also sporting a bump, though hers looked closer to being ready to burst. Quid held their baby girl in his arms.