Page 69 of Galaxy Between Us

“Am I allowed to kiss you now?” Knox asks, feeling my ecstatic energy through our bond.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pull him in and kiss him hard. I’m glad I don’t need to be angry at him anymore. I missed these lips on mine. It goes on far too long to be appropriate, even at a date-night restaurant. Pulling back, we find Jaimie and Chet sporting cheeky grins at us, which reminds me.

“You said someone else has news?” I ask around the table, pulling back from Knox. “What else is going on?”

Jaimie clears his throat, sitting a little taller with a blush across his cheeks.

“Well…as much as I’d love to share a bottle of wine to celebrate us Omegas dominating the workplace… I can’t because I’m pregnant!”

My mouth drops with a stunned gasp. Chet’s eyes pop and glow with awestruck amazement. Knox chuckles and raises his glass, proud for his friend.

“Oh my gosh, how exciting!” I squeal, “You should’ve led with that, Jaimie, that’s a thousand times more important than my little promotion! Congratulations!”

“We’re having a baby?” Chet whispers in disbelief.

“Yes!” Jaimie grabs his hand, clutching it tightly in his own. “I stopped my suppressants a while ago. It was challenging to break my routine, but in a good way. I figured if I could push myself to do that, and survive the messiness of a heat with you, then maybe I’d be ready to handle this, too.”

My eyes water for them, and I lean into Knox with an empathetic sniffle. What a positive outcome to this dinner I had dreaded moments ago.

“And you feel ready?” Chet asks, “You’ll keep it?”

“Of course! I’ll be working with a therapist throughout my term for my perfectionism and compulsions, and she’s really great. But honestly, when we connected for the first time, it just felt natural, Chet. It felt right. It’s like my love for you overturns my obsessiveness.”

“I love you too, Cookie.”

On the verge of tears, they share a passionate kiss as I lean in for a few more from Knox as well. The love is so potent in the air that I can taste it.

“To family,” my mate raises his water glass, and the four of us clink them together just as the food arrives.

Chapter XXX

Today is the big day. Arius has been training for weeks, ending his leave prematurely to get started. Now, it’s time for the certification test designed for Alphas who have studied for positions like this for a minimum of two years.

Ari did an accelerated version of the course in a few months.

I don’t doubt that some of the questions on the exam will be entirely guess-work, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s Arius.

I’ve also been his study partner, helping him prepare and giving him pop quizzes while we took Luna on walks and spoon-fed her a million different mushy baby foods to see what she likes. Peas, carrots, and bananas for the win. Mango and sweet potato are her personal nemesis.

Nervously, I step onto the concrete production floor where we have a beta model of the new software set up along with the complex machinery for assembling parts. Gone is StarPoint, replaced with something similar, but intimidatingly modern. Hands clasped behind my back, I stroll around the small lineup, testing my own knowledge, noting the safety levers, conveyors, ventilated enclosures, touch screens, calibration tools, measurement spectacles.

It’s a lot to take in.

My skin heats, and a shiver skips up the back of my neck. I glance to my right, finding two stern scientists strolling toward me with my mate strutting behind them confidently. One is holding a clip board, ready to assess Arius’ knowledge on the advanced machinery before us.

With a nod, I step back, remaining politely out of the way, but close enough to observe the proceedings. It seemed necessary that I be present for the unconventional plans I set into motion. Arius locks eyes with me and nods once. The Alpha with a clipboard, Dr. Eliza, kicks things off with a brief overview of how this will go.

She’ll ask a few key questions and allow Ari to present and demonstrate his understanding of the operating processes. He needs to score one hundred percent on the proceedings to pass. Straightening his lab coat, my courageous mate stands tall, ready for the task that determines his future.

Forehead cascading sweat down to my eyebrows, a tense cramp of anxiety forms in my shoulder blades as the test begins.

“Can you show us the tools required at each station?” Dr. Eliza asks and Arius answers.

Moving efficiently, he points out every item by the correct name and confirms that they are all appropriately placed for the beginning of production. I can tell that the two judges are just waiting for him to mess up, but we’re prepared for any questions they might throw at him. During study sessions, we figured that they would throw curve balls at him.

Dr. Eliza interrupts him constantly with rapid-fire questions. Undeterred, Arius answers them with speed and clarity. Until he draws a blank.

“If the system undergoes a reboot, what is the process for restarting the machines?”