Earth Husbands are Odd (Earth Fathers #2) - Lyn Gala Page 0,56

of explanation. Being a father had contributed to his new skills as much as the alien kidnapping. The kids did ask the strangest questions.

Back to his argument. “The people on the ship were assholes because they isolated us and didn’t give us a chance to mentally recover from the shock.” Max considered the closest Chosen alien. “Like some other species, many on my planet believed we were alone in the universe, that we were chosen by a deity to be unique. Others believed there was life in the universe, but could not prove it because our part of the galaxy was so quiet. So seeing alien ships was a shock.” That was an understatement. “And those assholes saw shock and took it as proof that humans are morons. That sort of assumption makes the rest of you look like morons.”

Max debated sitting. He had made his argument. However, he hadn’t addressed the one part of his con that had outed him—that navigation program. Maybe he could convince these aliens that they had judged humans too quickly, but they’d had plenty of time to decide they didn’t like the Hidden ones. So this part wouldn’t end well. That ingrained hatred was going to make these guys assume that anyone who loved a Hidden one had to be a moron.

Looking at Rick sitting near the judge, his tentacles all curled, Max couldn’t deny him. Not even by avoiding any mention of him.

“And I have a right to sell the navigation program. I didn’t write it. I don’t even understand it, and Rick’s attempts to explain do not help. But Rick is my husband. What is mine is his and what is his is mine. That makes it mine to sell.” That caused such a stir among the gathered aliens that Max was distracted. Tentacles undulated, feet shifted, mutters filled the room. On his bench up front, Rick uncurled a couple of his larger tentacles. Max had hit a nerve.

Max had more points to make; however, by the time he thought about making them, the judge’s platform had revolved, and he was no longer facing Max. With a sigh, Max sat back down. Damn it.

No one else stood to speak, and the judge rotated nearly all the way around until he faced Max’s family. Then Rick stood. He was short, his walking tentacle curled more than it had been at any time since the pirate invasion.

“I hired Max believing he was moron species and would make a sufficient carrier of young.” His tentacles curled more, either because he felt guilty or because he knew how the rest of the universe judged his reproductive methods. Either way, Max wished he was standing down there, his arm tangled with some of those curly fry tentacles.

“He said he was warrior, and I believed he lacked an understanding of the meaning of the word. When I was a moron, I allowed Hunters on my ship. They tried to kill offspring, and Max killed many of them. He had no weapon so he used a maintenance hook to rip out internal organs. Then I knew he was warrior. I offered to return him to a place of safety, and he said he found me desirable. I find him desirable. We name each other husband. He can spend my money. He can claim my work.”

That caused even more tentacle twitching, and this time the mutters intensified to chatter, and when half the aliens sounded like cats in heat or tone-deaf opera singers, it made for a pretty cacophonous courtroom.

The judge stood, and Max expected the room to go silent. Instead the room transformed in the blink of an eye into a cocktail party sans drinks. Carrington stood talking to two Chosen ones while Xena headed for the exit. A small crowd had gathered around Bundy, and since he was short, he vanished under the moving wall of tentacles and backs.

What the fuck was going on? Max touched the screen, willing a barrel shaped alien to move aside so Max could get one last look at his family. At Rick. Despite every instinct that told Rick to hide, he was here. He had spoken up and defended Max the best he could. Max had thought he couldn’t love Rick more, but he did.

He pressed his palm against the screen as Rick and Kohei pushed through the crowd and walked up the long aisle. Aliens were wandering out now, and Rick moved faster. Max prayed for each second the video continued,