Savage Genesis, part 17

"Finally he spoke. He said that he had to do this for his people. He said that he'd come for my child when the time was right. He promised that he'd look out for you and take care of you, make sure you were alright. I told him to shut up, that I didn't want to hear another word out of him.

Then he asked me to give him a name. He said that his people have only their father's name until they mate and then their mate gives them their name. Again I told him to shut up. He was silent for a moment and then said he'd call himself Ruhe and then after that he stopped talking and didn't say another word.

"The aliens returned me home that night. At first I'd managed to convince myself that it had just been a dream but soon it became obvious that I was pregnant. Your father... I mean, James... had been going on a lot of business trips at the time so we hadn't making love. He was either gone or tired from his last trip. He knew the child wasn't his. He accused me of cheating while he was out of the town and when I told him about the aliens he thought I was lying. When I kept saying it, he thought I was crazy. One day I went out for groceries and when I came back, he was gone and so was all his stuff.

"The rest you know. I was scared and alone and didn't know what I could do to pretend you. So I pretend that it never happened. But when Cindy called me up and told me about how you'd gone missing, I knew it was Ruhe. I knew that he'd come back for you. All I could do was hope that he was staying true to his word and was taking good care of you." Here she stopped and she looked up at Adam. Here eyes were moist and tears had stained her cheeks. "Did he?" She asked. "Did he do right by you?"

"He did, Mom. He's the one who got me off of the ship; he's the one who got me home." Adam answered. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He held his mother in her arms. He'd made her relive the worst time in her life and he was no closer to understanding why he was taken.

He helped his mother to bed and then returned to his room. He felt he'd just have to come to terms with the fact that he might never fully understand what happened to him. All he could do was choose whether or not he'd move on with his life. With Britney gone, that hurt to even think about doing. After a few minutes of wallowing in self pity, he decided that he'd see if he could get his old job back tomorrow, then he'd save up enough money to move into an apartment. He'd follow his mother's example and try to put this whole horrid experience behind him.

The following day he borrowed his mother's car and drove to Kid's Vids! He parked the car, forced himself to take a deep breath and then went inside. He had gone into the videostore hundreds of times in the past and so was a little surprised to find that his shoulders were now so broad that they almost didn't fit through the door.

A guy he didn't recognize was working behind the counter. The sales clerk eyed the buff Adam, noticed he didn't have any children with him and began to make some snap judgements. Adam walked up to the counter and leaned on it. He heard it groan under his bulk.

"Is Bob in?" Adam asked.

"Yeah. He's in the back. Do you want me to call him?" The clerk picked up the phone.

"No, I'll just poke my head back there." Adam turned and walked to the office. He stepped around the children and their various messes. He was glad this instinct was intact at least. Most of the children stopped and stared at the behometh as Adam walked past them. He knocked on the office door.

"Hello?" He heard Bob grunt from inside. Adam opened the door and went inside. The office was pretty much the exact same as it had been when Adam had seen it last. Bob glanced up at Adam as he walked in and then did a double take. "Adam!" he shouted.

"Yep, it's me."