his Bible, using it to show people "the light." "Now! Now I understand you, brother. Now I truly respect you. I am not just kissing your asshole either!"
"It was your Muru's recipe," Kula says, puffing out his chest. "I can't take full credit."
Raiska sniffs the sandwich, and then takes another monster bite out of it. He closes his eyes as he chews. He finally sits back down.
The smug grin on Kula's face looks like it will never be wiped away. It’s like it’s a permanent part of his face as his six-dimensional scar.
I point to the sandwich and nod. "It is really good, Kula."
My endorsement sounds weak after Raiska's, but that can't be helped.
"Eat, Muru," Raiska says. "Kula, you will cook real food for my Muru until the baby comes out. I don't want your child to have some kind of advantage over mine."
I lean back and eat as the two brothers argue. Ellie and I give each other knowing looks. Ellie pours me a glass of fizzy water, and we toast each other as our alien men argue with each other about whose kid is going to be smarter, faster, and stronger.
Several months later, after Kula's son is born, and just before I start to get too pregnant to safely travel, we make a trip to Earth.
The council had Raiska and his brother Uskon act as the face of first contact with Earth. It was recommended I stay back on Lakria while Raiska made his trips and appearances on Earth. They thought it was shocking enough for humanity to see an alien for the first time, but they thought an alien with his human lover who he had knocked up would be a bit too shocking for the very initial stages of first contact.
Raiska made those first steps long enough ago now though. There are now thousands of aliens living on Earth—the first immigration wave. Millions more will follow in the coming years, but now that humanity has had time to adapt, I've been given permission to be seen in public with Raiska.
I had already been given a chance to go back and see my family. To assure them I was alive and safe.
This is our first trip back to Earth together though. We teleport in to my parents’ backyard in Pittsburgh. Most of our extended family is going to be there, and most of my close friends who were able to make it.
We teleport into the back garden. It's a small, fenced-off yard, and we appear behind a large tree.
"I didn't want to scare them with the higher-dimensional light," Raiska says.
Raiska couldn't teleport during the Breeding Games because the Ulkar were blocking his ability to do so. Now that he can, it's really changed everything. We never have to drive anywhere, and we can take vacations all over the galaxy with no travel time. It's the first time we've teleported on Earth though, and it somehow feels more impressive to teleport from New York City to Pittsburgh than it does to teleport hundreds or thousands of light-years in an instant.
"How do I look?" Raiska asks.
"You always look good, Muru," I say, smiling up at him.
He's wearing a button-up shirt and a tie. It's a huge shirt, but it still can barely contain his biceps and chest. His body doesn't look like it's built to wear clothes...or pants.
"I told you it was fine if you wore your kilt," I say, straightening his tie.
"No," he says. "I want to show your family that I am not some kind of barbarian."
"They won't think that."
"It took me over an hour-and-half to get this tie on right. And I was using YouTube tutorials. I am a barbarian, Annabelle."
I hug him. He's warm through the thin white fabric, and I bury my face in his warmth. "You're my barbarian then, and I wouldn't have you any other way."
We walk arm and arm through the backyard.
My annoying uncle Chaz and my less annoying cousin Chuck are sitting on the back porch. My uncle does a double take and tips back in his chair. He starts to fall, but his son grabs hold of the lawnchair and steps his shoe down on the metal bar that runs along the bottom, keeping my uncle from toppling back over.
"Dad!" Chuck says. "That's a Valittu!"
Uncle Chaz takes a big sip of his beer. "Yeah. Sure is."
"Hey," I say, waving. "Is everyone else inside?"
"You—you—you're...having an alien baby?" Chuck points to my stomach. "Sorry, Annabelle, it's just, like, woah."
I nod. "Half