They ended with Mr. G saying, “I’ll go talk to a friend of mine who might be able to get us the supplies. Draw me some dinosaurs and we’ll see which we can turn into puppets. Deal?”
“Deal.” They shook on it.
After Mr. G roamed off to play cards with another man, Tina and Zac returned to planning the talent show itself. With the boy’s growing eagerness, they made short work of the refreshments and moved on to decorations and announcements.
An hour later, Tina’s proposal had turned into a full-fledged plan. “Now all we need is the performers and a date. Let’s grab a snack from the food line. Then we’ll check in with the boss. He’ll be interested in our plans.”
“Who’s the boss?”
“Yorso.”
Some of Zac’s interest dissipated at her clanmate’s name, but he nodded agreeably. Tina was delighted she’d get to spend time in the office with her Imdiko.
Maybe we can do more than that tonight after the kids are asleep. Maybe everyone will get off work on schedule for a change, and we won’t be too tired.
Cookies were available from the kitchen, including the chocolate chip ones Zac was partial to. He pointed to the one he wanted. The smiling Imdiko manning the line who handed it to him earned a mumbled, “Thanks.”
Small steps. Tina was encouraged. Now if Callie would just let her put her down for a second or two…
* * * *
“Hey! Look at these amazing people coming to see me. How’s it going?” Yorso greeted them with pleasure when they walked into the office.
“Pretty good.” Tina wished she felt comfortable enough to kiss him in front of the glowering Zac, who remained close to the door. She shifted Callie to her other hip.
“Is she still demanding to be carried like the princess she is?” Yorso came around the desk.
“Nonstop, but I suppose it’s normal for her to be clingy.”
“No doubt. Here, let me take her. Hi, cutie!” He held his hands out for the toddler, who reached toward him with a chortle.
“Don’t you touch my sister, you dirty Kalq! Ugly alien!” Zac ran forward and punched Yorso in the leg, his face red with fury.
Tina gasped. “Zac, stop!”
Yorso held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, his expression shocked. “I’m not going to hurt her. I was just—”
“Go away! Get off our planet! Nobody here likes you!” Tiny fists battered Yorso’s muscled thigh, thudding in a rapid tattoo.
Tina set Callie on the floor. Ignoring the toddler’s bereft wails, she grabbed Zac instead and hauled him away from Yorso. “No hitting! Yorso’s your friend.”
“Kalqs are the enemy, not friends! They’re bad! My daddy said so!”
Yorso knelt to confront the outraged child, grabbing his flailing arms. “Calm down, Zac. The war is over. We want to help Earthers, not hurt you. We like you.”
“Well, I hate you! You’re stupid and mean. Go back to your own planet and leave us alone!”
Zac yanked free. He stomped to his wailing sister and crouched to wrap his arms around her. He glared at Yorso with outright hatred.
Chapter Eighteen
Days passed and Zac’s antagonism didn’t improve. If anything, his attitude grew worse. He made his feelings clear where Tina’s clan was concerned: he despised them. His bedroom door slammed when they returned home from work, shutting him off from them.
When Zac remained present, he lashed out if any of the three attempted to assist Tina when she tended Callie. His smaller sister was off-limits where they were concerned. He insulted Yorso’s cooking, though the Imdiko was talented in the kitchen, already making many Earther dishes as if he’d done it for years. Zac interrupted Tukui and Osopa when they spoke, demanding Tina pay attention to him instead.
When she broke the news that their parents were almost assuredly dead, he behaved even worse. After spending half an hour screaming horrible things, he refused to speak to her for an entire day. When he did begin talking to her again, it was only to answer questions, using as few words as possible.
The only time Zac settled down was when he spent time with Mr. and Mrs. G. The older couple, helping him construct his dinosaur puppets, were his island of calm in a storm of rages.
The Garcias were Tina’s life raft that first week. They adored the children and were happy to take them off Tina’s hands for a couple of hours a day, becoming de facto grandparents. She hadn’t asked them to help. Mrs. G had simply noted, “You look as if you could use a break” before lifting Callie out of her arms to join her husband and Zac at the table where they’d begun constructing the papier-mâché components of the puppets.
Tina used her breather to assist Yorso, as she had before her siblings had arrived. He begged her to rest instead.
“You’re stressed. I know about the nightmares, and you’re barely eating.” His handsome face was etched with worry as he leaned his chair back.
“I’m fine. Callie’s less clingy lately. Have you noticed?” Tina reached desperately for the positives she could find.
Yorso frowned, but he pulled her into his lap, cuddling and pressing gentle kisses to her forehead. “You’ve said that twice in the last hour. Your concentration is shot. Go to our quarters. Take a nap. Read a book. Something.”
She refused. His to-do list was a mile long, and he needed her. As bad as Zac’s anger was, quiet allowed her to ruminate too much about all she was getting wrong. Her concerns were mounting about how the clan felt about their responsibility for a boy determined to defy them.
To distract Yorso from the increasing problems, she slid from his lap to the floor. His protestations were weak as she freed his cocks, and they turned to groans as she bobbed hungrily over his groin. It didn’t take long before he was an active participant, pressing his hand against the back of her head, encouraging her to swallow his primary’s length. He soon shot sweet-spicy passion down her throat, his cock jerking against her tongue.
Tina had wanted the moment to be all about him, but Yorso wasn’t having it. No sooner had his climax ended when he put her on the desk, yanking her jeans to her ankles. Her efforts to stop him landed her in trouble. The remaining forty-five minutes of freedom from caring for the children was spent wailing for relief as her determined Imdiko brought her to the verge of orgasm and kept her there, his lips, tongue, and fingers delivering agonizing rapture. Only when the alarm went off, warning them she needed to reclaim Zac and Callie from the Garcias, did he at last give the order for her to come. Tina twisted on his desk with the violence of release as he sucked hard on her clit.
“How am I supposed to face the Garcias looking like this?” she moaned a minute later, brushing the tangles from her hair. Her face was flushed, red blotching her cheeks.
Yorso grinned. “You got what you deserved. One of these days, when things settle down, you’ll get it far more often.”
Tina wished she could believe life’s demands would ease up. She smiled for Yorso’s benefit and left to collect the children.
* * * *
The second week after the children had joined them began. After a long day, Tina sat on the edge of their bed, stroking Callie’s hair as the toddler slumbered. Zac’s eyes were closed too, but Tina wasn’t sure if he actually slept. She suspected he was faking it so he wouldn’t be compelled to talk to her. There were deep creases between his brows.