Bible verse found in Genesis:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
They had lived on Marna Two for almost four years now, and Lainey was happier than she had ever been in her life. Though they lived on a different planet, life was not so different from the way it had been on Earth. People worked and played, got married and had babies, worried about their children, worshiped as they saw fit.
Micah worked for the Xanthian Peace Keeping Force as a liason between Marna Two and the other planets in the galaxy. It wasn't quite as exciting as his previous occupation, but it was far less dangerous, and it enabled him to spend long hours piloting his own spacecraft.
Months of flying around the galaxy looking for a home had cured Lainey of her fear of flying, and she and the children often accompanied Micah to distant planets while he discussed trade agreements or soothed ruffled feathers.
Best of all, she was able to keep writing. Who would have thought that there would be an audience for mystery novels on a small planet at the east end of the Milky Way? But there was, a voracious market that bought everything she turned out and asked for more.
Yes, she thought, turning away from the window, it had been a wonderful five years.
Filled with a sense of joy that made sitting still impossible, Lainey walked down the hallway to the nursery and peeked inside. The twins, Bronte and Bronwyn, were sleeping peacefully. They were almost three years old, and Lainey was certain they were the most beautiful, most precocious little girls ever born. Micah loved his son, beaming with pride at Mike's every new accomplishment, but the whole family knew that these two little girls had their father completely captivated.
After drawing the covers over her daughters, Lainey crossed the hallway and opened the door to Mike's bedroom. As usual, he lay sprawled on his back, one arm thrown over his head. He was a handsome boy, the spitting image of his father except for his curly black hair.
Quietly, she closed the door behind her and went down the stairs to the first level. She found Micah in the kitchen, hunched over the table, her latest manuscript spread out in front of him.
"Well, what do you think?" Lainey asked. Standing behind him, she draped her hands over Micah's shoulders and nuzzled his ear. "Will it sell?"
"It's a little different from your usual stuff, isn't it?" Turning his head, Micah kissed her fingertips.
"A little. Do you think anyone will believe it?"
Chuckling softly, Micah pulled Lainey into his lap. "I don't know,cominza ," he mused, trailing kisses over her face and neck. "Spaceships and alien lovers are pretty far-fetched."
Lainey poked him in the ribs. The story was their story, a modern-day romance that took the heroine to heaven and beyond.
Micah groaned in mock pain as she nudged him in the side again, and then he captured her lips with his, savoring her warmth, her sweetness. The fire between them had never cooled. If anything, the attraction that had always been there, the passion and the deep inner love they had shared almost from the beginning, had only grown stronger.
His arm curved around her waist, drawing her closer still. Resting his head on her breast, he breathed in the fragrance that was Lainey. His woman. His wife. The mother of his children. The author of his happiness.
Daily, he thanked whatever fates had caused his ship to crash on a distant planet, just as he thanked the Supreme Being for the woman in his arms, for the children she had blessed him with, for the love and devotion that warmed him, heart and soul.
"Tell me," Micah murmured as he trailed moist kisses along the side of her neck, "how does the story end?"
Lainey gazed deep into her husband's silver-blue eyes, expressive, beautiful eyes that reflected the fathomless depths of his love.
"Can't you guess?" she asked, a small happy smile curving her lips. "They lived and loved happily ever after."
He should have known, Micah thought. Romantic that she was, all Lainey's books ended the same. And as he drew her into his arms and kissed her, he vowed to do everything in his power to ensure that they, too, would live and love happily ever after.
Part Two Chapter One
MOONLIGHT
ToDAVIS GAINES, SEAN SMITH,
and GRANT NORMAN
My three favorite Phantoms
Thanks for the inspiration
And to Phantom Phans everywhere
May you always