Alien in the Family

“Now what?” I asked Reader.

“Sit.” He put me in a chair next to Chuckie, who still seemed dazed.

“Dude, you okay?”

“Yeah.” Chuckie shook himself. “That’s a great dress. Have I mentioned that Martini’s a total womanizer, has a major gambling habit, and secretly hates dogs and cats? And children, he hates children.”

I laughed. “No, you actually said he was a great guy who didn’t have a roving eye and was focused solely on my happiness.”

“Did I? Man, am I a moron.”

“Nah, but I love you for the honesty.” I patted his hand.

“Yeah, great. Lucky bastard.”

The girls were out and dressed now. Reader had them all in the same thing. “James, the dresses are all black.” Well, with a white flower at the hip. But still, black. Gorgeous, but black.

“Yes, your wedding colors are black and white.” He looked at them with a critical eye and made the twirly-sign.

“James, I thought we were tired of black and white.”

“We are. Your groom, however, is not. He loves black and white. Several of your bridesmaids love black and white. And half of your guests think black and white is da bomb in terms of color choices. We’re on a limb by not going with Armani in the first place. Let’s not push the luck.”

“I was thinking blue.”

“Yes, I know.” He looked pained.

“I had a really pretty blue all picked out.”

“Yes, I know. It was a great color and honestly would look wonderful.”

“Then why not?”

“I refer you back to argument number one. Girls, really, how hard is it to remember to twirl? You’re not even drinking alcohol.”

They all sighed and twirled, and I looked closely at the dresses. Full-length satin, sleeveless with a plunging neckline, plunging back, gathered midriff from just under the breasts to the top of the hips, A-line skirt that went out pretty wide. Excellent for hiding tails and such.

“I like it. Not wild about the flower.”

“Of course. Don’t care; it makes the dress more dramatic. But have to be sure it’s the right choice.” Reader had the frowny-face on again. “Girls, go back, walk out one by one, twirl, go back.”

They all sighed but did what he asked. While we watched the impromptu catwalk, I polled my mother, Lucinda, and my grandmothers. “So, what do you guys think?”

Nana Sadie was watching intently. “I don’t want them to look better than you.”

“Not my fault they’re all gorgeous.”

Nona Maria sighed. “True. But you were perfect in the dress. James is so good with fashion.”

“That’s why he’s my partner, yeah.”

Both grandmothers looked at me, gave me very i

Something about their expressions made me wonder. I watched the girls more closely. The dresses were really great—they looked good on all of them, even Jareen, and when you considered that the dresses were looking good on Dazzlers as well as Giant Lizards, you had to figure the designer was fabulous. No tails showed at all, no matter how the Animal Planet girls moved. Awesome dresses. I’d live with the flower at the waist, it was more dramatic.

My brain kicked. None of the girls were disguised as human. I had seven aliens parading up and down in designer wear, and no one was batting an eye.

I cleared my throat. “Ah, Nana? Nona? What do you see, when you look at the girls?”

“I see seven lovely ladies,” Nona Maria said. She sounded like she was trying not to giggle.

“We’re very proud of you for having such an interracial wedding party,” Nana Sadie added. Considering how upset she and my Papa Abe had been when my parents got married, her attitude was impressive. Nona and Nono hadn’t been much more thrilled at the start. Now each set loved the other like true family. My grandparents had come a long way on religious tolerance over the ensuing decades. I got the feeling they were coming along even quicker on species tolerance.

“Um, Chuckie?”

He sighed. “Ask your mother.”

“Mom?”

She sighed. “Your grandparents had a difficult time believing your reasons for leaving the party in the first place. Then when you and Michael came back and others started acting like the end of the world was coming and so forth, they got more suspicious.”

“So, what, you just broke down and shared highest-level government secrets with them to stop them from complaining?” How had this woman been working in covert ops for most of her life?

Mom gave me a dirty look. “No.”

“Did Dad crack?” He was the more easily guilted of the two of them.

Dirtier look. “No.”

“Who shared, then? Not Uncle Mort!” The high-up-there career Marine? I would figure someone would have to be cutting off body parts to get Uncle Mort to share any secret, let alone government ones.

Dirtiest look yet. “Hardly.”

“Who then?”

Lucinda sighed. “We discussed it. They’re all becoming family now. That means what we do affects them. Alfred, Stanley, Ericka, Richard, and I made the decision. Richard told them. Most of them took it very well.”

“Most of them?” My voice was heading to the dog-only register. “You told my entire family tha—” Chuckie put his hand on my wrist and I stopped myself. Maybe they hadn’t said what I thought.

“That you’re marrying a space alien?” Nona Sadie finished for me. “Yes. You know, Kitty, a prince is a prince.”

“Oh, my God.” It hadn’t occurred to me that this was what Martini’s title was if he wasn’t king. “Guess it’s a good thing Jeff passed on the Alpha Four crown then.” Whoops. My mouth was doing that speaking without thinking thing again. Hated that.

My grandmothers exchanged glances. “Pay up,” Nana Sadie said.

Nona Maria sighed and nodded. “I always take the long shot.” She dug into her purse and handed money to Nana Sadie.

“You two knew about that? And you were betting? On whether or not Jeff would choose the kingship over me? You were betting on it? And Nona picked that he would?” My family. The love was overwhelming.

Nona Maria shrugged. “I told you, I always bet long shots. Besides, he’d had to deal with Carla. I mean, lesser men have run screaming away because of her.”

“Like three husbands,” Mom muttered.

“Right,” Nana Sadie said. “And he’d already dealt with our Ruth, too.” She shook her head. “I almost felt daring, taking you over the kingship.”

I looked at Reader. He was focused on the dresses. “Girls, bend, sit. Want to make sure no one’s going to bust out.” They groaned but followed his orders.

Looked to Chuckie. He shrugged. “It’s a security breach, yeah. Considering Angela’s technically my superior, though, nothing I could do about it. Besides, I wasn’t there when it happened, and Richard, as the Sovereign Pontifex, has free rein to make these decisions.”

“They were betting! On Jeff and me!”

He looked over at my grandmothers. “Did you give me any odds at all?”

“Oh, yes, Charles,” Nona Maria said. “If Jeffrey took the kingship, you were the clear favorite to marry her.”

“Christopher had longer odds because of his relationship to Jeffrey,” Nana Sadie added.

“Thanks. Oh, I assume everyone did the spit swear and pinkie oath?”

“Yes, Charles. Carla had to have a special memory implanted. Everyone else, no issues. Most of us had our suspicions aroused last year, when all those handsome men came and took us to special bunkers for our protection. It was nice to know what was really going on. The children were all given the same lectures the A-C children get, apparently, and they seem clear on why secrecy is important and why you don’t talk about your alien relatives or you go to the doctors for special tests.” Nona Maria was laughing.

“So you were all busy while we were out saving the world?” I didn’t know whether to be relieved or upset. Settled for a combination of the two. “And, Mom, everyone in the family knows, other than Aunt Carla? Even Aunt Ruth knows?”