feel fine." She reached over and patted his arm. "And Mom will take good care of the baby, don't worry."
"How could I be concerned?" he asked. "She raised you, didn't she?"
"And did a heck of a job!" Lainey declared with a decided lack of modesty. "Isn't it a beautiful night?"
Micah glanced up. The sky was clear, the stars shining brightly. "Beautiful," he agreed, and wondered, not for the first time, how Earth and Xanthia could be so different and yet so similar.
They arrived at the restaurant a short time later. Lainey gazed out the window, her chin resting on her hand as she watched the waves lap at the shore.
"Do they have oceans on Xanthia?" she asked, turning her gaze to Micah.
"Yes, though not as big as this one."
"And fish? And sharks? And whales?"
Micah nodded. "We have a multitude of sea life, different in some ways from yours."
"Different how?"
"We have a fish that has legs and buries its eggs on land."
"Really? I'd like to see that."
"And we have a large fish, what you would call a whale, that is almost a hundred feet long."
"Sounds like a sea serpent to me."
"You could call it that."
"And do you have dogs and cats and horses? And birds and bees?" Lainey grinned at him. "I can't help it, I want to know everything about your world."
"Xanthia is much like Earth. We have animals similar to yours, just as our people are similar to yours."
"But different."
"In some ways."
"Do you believe in God?"
Micah nodded, his expression somber. "Of course. All intelligent life forms acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being."
"I've never been afraid of being invaded by creatures from outer space," Lainey remarked. "I've always believed that if there were people on other worlds, they would be just like us. I mean, if God created man in His own image here, then He'd probably do the same on other worlds." Lainey grinned at Micah. "I guess I was right, at least where Xanthia is concerned."
"You're very wise," Micah said. "I've been to many other worlds and I've never seen any monsters. The people may not look exactly the same, but all are humanoid in appearance."
"Do they have organized religion on Xanthia?"
"Not exactly. We have places of worship, but people attend whenever they wish."
"Not like here, where we go to church on Sunday?"
"No."
"Are you a religious man?"
Micah nodded. "In my way. On Xanthia, I went to worship once each week when I was home. Sometimes to meditate. Sometimes I went into one of the reflection cells and played one of the religious tapes."
"Would you mind going to church with me?"
"No."
Lainey smiled at him, then sat back as the waitress brought their food.
After dinner, Lainey called home to check on the baby, and then they went for a moonlight walk on the beach.
"We'd better take our shoes off," Lainey suggested. Micah steadied her as she removed her heels and stockings; then he took off his shoes and socks and they walked barefoot in the sand.
"The water is cold," Micah mused. "On Xanthia, the oceans are warm."
"Do you miss your home?" Lainey asked.
"Not when you're with me," he replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
A soft sigh escaped Lainey's lips. "Oh, Micah, you should have been a poet."
"Me?"
He laughed softly as he drew her into his arms. She was beautiful in the moonlight. Her hair shimmered with blue highlights, her skin was luminous, her eyes as warm and dark as a handful of earth. She was like the ancient goddess, Zanadeus, who had walked the shores of Xanthia, luring unsuspecting men into the arms of the sea.
Gently, he framed her face in his hands. "You're my home, Lainey," he murmured. "Don't you know that?"
His kiss was warm and soft, filled with promises of forever, of sun-kissed days and moonlit nights, of happiness doubled because it was shared, of sorrow halved because it was understood by another. He kissed her with all the love in his heart, and prayed that it would be enough, knowing his life would cease to have meaning if Lainey ceased loving him.
"Micah, let's go home."
Startled by her request, he drew back so he could see her face. "Is something wrong?"
"No." A faint blush heated her cheeks. "I was hoping... I mean, it's been a long time since we..."
She gazed up at him, her eyes filled with a need that went beyond words.
"Is it all right?" Micah asked. "It's not too soon?"
"It's not soon enough," she murmured, her lips grazing his.
Heat seared through him, instantaneous, as