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Morwong and the Aerinus group cooked food off the engine of his spaceship to the tune of music—human music—Ternetzi music. Someone figured out how to mix the two together. When one of the humans pointed out that their fins pulsed to the beat of the noise, they couldn’t get enough of it.
They partied before the wedding. A wooden lodge overlooked the cliff, marking where the party would relocate once night fell. Lucca’s mother teamed up with some of her friends and they set up the terrace. Caligher watched the buzz and chaos from the wood-carved entrance of the building.
So much ritual went into weddings.
At first, he failed to notice Lucca’s father standing beside him. Her father moved quietly, so he sort of snuck up.
The human didn’t seem to know what to say, but his presence wasn’t agitated in nature. He only stood there, conveying a wealth of messages with his silence.
He offered Caligher a dark bottle of beer the instant he turned to acknowledge him. Caligher took it and let him clink their bottles together.
Then they drank.
The human watched the activity, working his jaw before he spoke. “Did Lucca tell you I wasn’t there to see her off when she left?”
“She did,” Caligher said.
A painful grimace spread on the man’s face. Caligher felt the need to provide comfort. “She knew… that you still cared. She knew you were having trouble saying what you meant.”
Caligher was perfectly familiar with what that was like. He knew Lucca would get it, too.
“She had this whole picture album she was making. She said she wouldn’t have come to space if not for you—so, really, this is all possible because of you, Watts.”
Laughter broke through his hard expression. “My name’s not Watts. That’s my last name.”
“Sorry.” Caligher chuckled.
“It’s Bill.”
His laughter faded and that hard expression returned, morphing his wrinkled face. While he tipped his bottle back, tears formed in his eyes. He swallowed noisily, setting the bottle on a table nearby.
“She’s everything to me,” her father said. “If you saw how she was growing up—you’d know why I encouraged her to love space. You’ll see it tonight—the Milky Way. Should be bright up here…” He shook his head. “I was so afraid to let her go out there all alone. I couldn’t sleep thinking about what could happen to her, you know?”
“Space is cruel,” Caligher said, “but Lucca’s proven herself capable of handling it. And if anything does happen, I’m watching out for her.”
Bill’s eyes traveled up to his face. “You need to know how glad I am you saved her. I had no way of knowing what became of her—and if our last memory was of me refusing to show up for my daughter going off to space, I was gonna…” He trailed off, the tears getting too heavy for him to speak through. “I don’t usually cry like this,” he said, wiping his face.
Was hugging acceptable? Caligher had seen Lucca’s mother doing it. Lucca was also a hugger. Caligher stared at her father, seeing how the culmination of his pain had worn on him.
So he pulled the shorter human into an embrace. His shoulders went stiff with surprise, but Caligher placed a hand on his back in comfort. Bill sobbed into his chest.
“Aw.” Lucca interrupted them from the creaky doorway. “You guys are hugging.Mom.”
She wrapped her arms around the perimeter of Caligher’s wingspan. Her dad started laughing as her mom swept in from the side to sandwich him in and complete the cluster.
“Don’t struggle, dear,” her mom murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek when he tried to hide his face. “This is a circle of love. We all love you.”
“All of us,” agreed Lucca. “Even Cal loves you.“
“That’s right, Watts,” Caligher said.
“Bill,” he corrected.
“That’s right, Bill. I’m in love with you.”
Her dad started laughing and crying harder.
Lucca popped her head up. “Iknowyou know the difference between ‘I love you,’ and ‘I’min lovewithyou.’”
