Earth Legend (22 page)

Something about the movement of those leaves
and the possibility that they could be the last generation of
leaves if I had no children changed my mind still again. Now was
the time after all.

I didn't want to talk to Cullen about the
future but I had to. Might as well do so now because delaying
things wouldn't change anything. I'd gather my courage and ask him
to father my children as soon as he said what he came to say. I
decided I'd give myself that brief respite before making a fool of
myself. "So talk, Cullen. What's your news?"

He didn't lie down beside me as I hoped.
Instead he let his gaze wander along my body until our looks met.
Then he sighed and spoke simply. "I spent the last hour with the
captain. He was checking statistics for our new home. The planet we
are headed for. He does that every so often as we get closer and
closer because the readings are more accurate each time. So the
news I have is that our new home looks good. Very, very good.
Excellent."

"That world is years away. We might not live
to see it."

"Our children will."

"I don't have any children."

"Neither do I." He slid down then, at last,
and moved close.

We stared upwards in companionable silence
for a while. Then I spoke because the future lay ahead and couldn't
be avoided. "I might not see that new world but if I have children,
they will see it. In fact, they must because my descendants will
assure that planet is fertile. They'll keep the plants alive that
will keep the colony alive until it encompasses an entire planet
that I might never know but that they will know intimately because
it'll be their home."

"If you have children."

"No 'if' about it." I turned on my side so I
could see him better. "I'd better have descendants or this whole
trip through space will be for naught. That future colony will die
if I don't have children."

"I've thought of that. You aren't immortal.
Or are you? I never thought to ask."

My laugh was unexpected, even to me, and
ended in a giggle, which made what I had to say easier. "I'm not.
So I must think about the future. My future. My children."

"You must marry and have children. Or just
have children, forget the husband. Husbands aren't essential to
procreation."

"I'd prefer that my children know their
father."

"Do you have someone in mind?" The words were
spoken slowly. I couldn't read anything in his tone.

"Yep. I do."

"You do?" He drew his breath in sharply. He
could hardly speak.

"I do. Because it's important."

"Congratulations." He sounded like he was
about to expire from strangulation.

"Don't congratulate me yet. It's not
definite."

"Why not?" He turned angry. "Any man will be
lucky to have you."

"I'm glad you feel that way." The leaves
turned greener as we watched. Lush and happy. Cullen looked at me
suspiciously but I hadn't done anything.

"I haven’t told him yet." The trees knew what
I was feeling. Hope.

"Well then, tell me who he is and I'll make
sure he understands what he's getting."

"He already knows me, both the good and the
bad."

"There is no bad. Some thorns, maybe, but no
bad. Whoever he is he should be jumping with eagerness to marry
you. If he isn't he's an idiot."

"He's not an idiot."

"Then he'll be happy to marry you." A pause,
then, "Who is he?"

"He's the military type."

"So he'll be a good father figure."

"I believe so. But he has a softer side,
too."

"That's good."

"He likes music. He's a wonderful
musician."

"I don't believe I know him."

"Yes you do." Get on with it, Elle. Say it.
"You know him well. Because he's you. Cullen Vail." The silence
that followed lasted so long that I wondered if the trees would
grow old and wither before we continued.

"Me?" Cullen's voice was an octave higher
than usual.

What if Darlene was wrong? What if he didn't
care for me? I didn't know what to say in the face of a silence
that threatened to drag on so I babbled. "Of course it doesn't have
to be marriage. Like you said, lots of single women have
children."

"Any child of mine will be legitimate. My
parents didn't bother getting married and I spent my childhood
shuttling between planets. My dad was on Mars and my mother on
Earth and I spent a lot of time on space ships going from one to
the other." He made a slicing motion as I realized what was behind
his dislike of small spaces. Even the most spacious suites on
shuttles are cramped and he'd said nothing about his parents being
prosperous. "That won't happen to any child of mine. They will have
two parents who are married to each other."

I thought that over. "Does that mean I'd
better forget about you and start looking farther afield? Because
you don't want to marry this particular thorn in your side?" I
didn’t look at him. The trees were lovely, I followed the intricate
way their branches wove patterns against the pretend sky.

"It just so happens that I like thorns."

"So?"

"So it's marriage or we go our separate
ways." He was almost belligerent. "After we marry we can work on
those children. Not before." He sounded like someone was strangling
him but now the sound didn't bother me. In fact, it was wonderful.
Musical. It was the sound of my future.

But he wasn't finished. "So if you're not
willing to marry me … and when I say marriage, I mean the forever
kind … then start looking because there won't be any children any
other way."

I began to smile. Couldn't help it. I wasn't
a prude like Cullen but marriage would be my first choice. "Was
that a proposal?"

He licked his lips but managed to plow ahead.
"Maybe." Silence. "Yes." More silence, then, "It was. A proposal,
that is." He ran a hand through his hair until, realizing what he
was doing, he stopped. "So what's your answer? Marriage with me or
shack up with someone else?"

"Yes."

"Yes what? Marriage or someone else?"

"Yes I'll marry you and yes we'll have the
loveliest family imaginable."

"Really?"

Why did he sound surprised? Didn't he know
we'd been moving towards this moment ever since he cornered me on
the elevator going up to the space station? Why was I surprised?
Why hadn't I known it?

"You'll marry me, Elle?"

"I can't think of a better way to spend the
rest of my life."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Silence again, until I couldn't stand it. I
rolled over to see what he was doing since he wasn't talking and
found myself looking into his eyes. What he was doing was smiling.
And smiling. And smiling. So I moved a bit more, just enough to
kiss him.

He tasted like the first time only
sweeter.

He pulled away fractionally. "Do you intend
to always initiate things?"

"If I have to. But that kiss was mutual and
don’t try to pretend it wasn't."

He flushed. "Yes it was." That smile again,
but smug this time and that was all right with me, as he moved
close and showed me that Cullen Vail, head of Security, knew how to
do more than arrest people. He could kiss.

"The captain can perform the ceremony."

"When?"

He pulled back a bit. "As soon as possible.
Sooner. After all, we owe it to the Destiny."

And so we did.

THE END

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