had moved mountains to save her life. It felt cruel to let them see her pain. She was glad to be alive, grateful to the doctors who had saved her.
And Abigail was an optimistic person. She was sure to have plenty of nieces and nephews to adore. One day, maybe she would fall in love with a man who wasn’t looking for children from his partner. Maybe he would even have children of his own already, and she could be a second mother to them. Her bouts of sorrow were usually short-lived, in spite of their intensity, because Abigail had always been blessed with an endless capacity to imagine a bright future.
My little sparrow her mother used to call her, for her cheerful nature.
But seeing this baby, her baby, filled Abigail with a happiness beyond anything she could ever have imagined.
Suddenly her illness, her treatments, the years of throwing herself into her teaching work instead of dating, all seemed preordained. Everything had been leading her to this moment.
This was her son. She was his mother. It was meant to be.
She had nearly reached him before she noticed the serious expression on the handsome face of the enormous man who held the baby.
He was probably involved with the adoption agency in some way. It was impossible not to notice the practiced way he cradled the child in his arms.
If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought the baby was his son. The way his thumb unconsciously stroked a chubby thigh seemed almost loving. And he did share a matching hue with the baby.
But Abigail knew that wasn’t possible. All of the babies had been pod-grown from preserved Imberian DNA, and the big man was clearly not Imberian.
“Hello,” she said, as she skidded to a stop before him, panting. “I’m Abigail Shaw.”
“Rexx,” the man said, nodding in a businesslike way. “You’re the adoptive mother.”
“Yes,” she said, breaking eye contact with the strangely handsome man to feast her eyes on the baby. “Hi, little guy. I’m your mama. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
The little one kicked his feet straight out and squeaked at her, his eyes dancing.
“Oh, my stars,” Abigail exclaimed. “What’s your name?”
“He does not have a name,” the man said seriously. “As his mother, that duty falls to you.”
“What has everyone been calling him?” she asked, surprised. “Doesn’t he have a nickname or something?”
“Rio,” the man said immediately. “I’ve been calling him Rio.”
“That’s lovely,” Abigail said. “Hello, Rio.”
The baby chortled and stuck his legs out straight.
“May I?” she asked, extending her arms.
It was probably her imagination, but it seemed like the man hesitated just a fraction of a moment before handing the baby over to her.
Rio was warm and just on the safe side of heavy in her arms. The sensation of holding him was heavenly. He smelled like warm milk and happiness.
“Hello, my darling,” she whispered to him.
“Bah,” he replied. “Bah, bah, ba-.”
He stopped speaking suddenly, due to having crammed part of his fist in his mouth like a stopper.
“I can’t wait to hear what you have to say when you get a little older,” Abigail told him, allowing her features to dance a little as she talked to him.
His merry eyes followed every movement of her face. Gods, but he was a smart baby. She could just tell.
“Ahem,” Rexx said politely.
“So what’s the plan?” Abigail asked him. “Where do we go from here?”
“I will accompany you to your new home,” he said.
“Oh that sounds nice,” she said with relief. “We had kind of a bumpy ride getting here. I’m definitely ready to go home and relax.”
“We’re walking down to town to catch the cross-moon train,” he told her. “You’ll be home with plenty of time to settle in before Founders Day.”
Founders Day?
She tried to remember when the colony at Lachesis had been founded and couldn’t.
“Founders Day isn’t for another two weeks,” he said as if sensing her confusion. “But the train ride will take a few days.”
She hadn’t been counting on spending her first few days with her new baby on a train, but it wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was kind of fitting. She’d certainly spent enough time riding them with her grandpa when she was young.
“That’s fine,” she said honestly. “I like trains.”
Rexx nodded and kept eye contact with her a little too long before turned to head down the hill toward what she presumed must be the town with the train station.
There was something strange about the way he looked at her