Nanny for the Alien Lord by Tammy Walsh

Tauas

The zoo was surprisingly quiet,that is, until little Elken showed up.

Not only was she outdoors among regular people but there were all sorts of weird and wonderful animals too.

From the longnecked, diamond-shelled egus, to the galloping okmath with their manes so long they could use them to float off tall mountaintops in the wild.

Elken wanted to see it all.

I held her hand at all times and was surprised at her strength considering she was such a little thing.

She led us around the zoo, pointing wildly and naming all the animals—pronouncing most of them wrong—but I gave her full marks for trying.

Finally, after more than an hour of marching aimlessly through the zoo and in desperate need of some rest, Belle came up with an ingenious idea:

“How about we sketch them?”

Elken drew up sharp.

“Sketch? What’s it?”

“Sketching is when you draw something so later you can paint it.”

Elken’s eyes widened to the size of dishes.

“But we no have sketching things.”

Belle reached into her bag and withdrew a pencil and a small pad of paper.

Elken perched on a rock and got to drawing.

When she first started, I rolled my eyes.

There was no way she could control herself enough to sit still for five minutes and draw.

But I had underestimated her love for art.

She focused for a full fifteen minutes as she sketched.

I caught Belle’s eye and mouthed:

“Thank you.”

She nodded with a broad beam on her face.

Shooting Elken a quick glance to check the coast was clear, I took Belle’s hand.

She froze and focused intently on Elken.

She needn’t have worried.

She was in a world of her own.

I leaned forward and pecked her on the neck.

This made her start again.

This time, she peered at the other visitors, who took no notice of us but smiled warmly at Elken, who so feverishly worked on her sketches.

Only then did Belle’s shoulders relax and she let out a deep sigh.

She squeezed my hand and swung her arm back and forth.

“Done!” Elken declared.

She tore off the sheet of paper and held it up for us to see.

Belle instantly released my hand and cooed over the sketch adoringly.

To my eyes, the sketch looked nothing like the actual animal, not that it mattered.

“Great job!” Belle said. “Do you remember that book on art we read? About how to draw things on a grid? And then use common shapes like circles, squares, and rectangles?”

Elken frowned and shook her head.

“Here, let me show you,” Belle said.

She drew a grid on a fresh page and then used ovals, squares, and triangles to build a frame for each part of its body.

Elken watched with a deep look of fascination on her face.

When she compared her own sketch to Belle’s she noticed the difference.

She turned to a fresh piece of paper and began to sketch the animal with the same common shapes.

She glanced at Belle’s sketch more often than the actual animal but that hardly mattered when she was learning.

Belle returned to my side and took my hand again.

My chest was filled to bursting for the love I felt for this woman.

She was so good with Elken and cared nothing for my wealth, influence, and power.

She cared only about doing what was best for little Elken.

Once Elken was done, she compared her original sketch with the latest one and grinned at Belle, who agreed the second one was much better.

Then Elken took off like a shot, her sketchbook and drawing materials clutched under her arms.

“Here we go again,” I said.

We took off after her, struggling to keep up.

This time, Elken came to a stop outside the phen enclosure.

They sang and shrilled at the top of their lungs, the feathered plumage about their necks flapping wildly.

As Elken began a new sketch, I gently rubbed the back of Belle’s hand with my thumb.

I kissed it and kissed her every time I found an opening.

Anyone watching us would mistake us for a family, I thought.

The idea brought a warm sensation to my chest.

It grew cold when I considered how Lyssun might have felt if she saw us there like this, but I hastily shoved the thought aside.

The truth was, she didn’t want me to be sad and alone my entire life.

Just as she wouldn’t have wanted Elken to grow up without having a mommy.

Mommy.

Was that what Belle was?

I peered over at her.

She beamed at Elken warmly.

She loved Elken, that much was certain.

But how did she really feel toward me?

Our contract ended next week.

Would her affection for me expire at the same time?

Was all this only a flight of fancy?

Was it something we only enjoyed because we knew we shouldn’t?

I didn’t know the answers to any of those questions, but I sure wished I did.

I sure knew what I hoped the answers were.

Then I noticed Belle wasn’t looking at Elken any longer, but through a fence that fed onto a street corner.

A long line of Yixx lined up at the local job center.

Their shoulders were hunched, beaten, wishing they didn’t have to go through with this.

The atmosphere was one of sadness, disappointment, and desperation.

And there, high above them on a prime location advertisement board, a large posting for the new range of Choer Robots releasing next month.

Already, both major and minor companies had placed their orders.

They would be in the process of letting their workers go right now.

Some of them had come here to find new work.

The contrast couldn’t have been starker.

My feelings were mixed.

This was the way it worked, I told myself.

Technology was in a constant state of development and improvement, always striving for greater efficiency…

And bearing the brunt, always, was the average working Yixx.

The expression on Belle’s face was cold.

The way it had been when she met me at the restaurant when I offered her this temporary position.

I’d thought it was because I’d managed to track her down.

What if it was really because she’d been displaced by my range of nanny robots?

It made sense for the employer.

Over the long term, it would be more cost-effective.

But had we as the manufacturers factored in their true cost?

The cost to society and the people it would make obsolete?

Belle’s hand felt heavy in mine.

I had taken her job from her, and I knew how much she enjoyed it.

I was relieved when Elken finished up her sketch.

This time, Belle was less excited about it, not that it wasn’t better—it definitely was—but because of the scene we witnessed through the chain-link fence.

And the reality that soon, it would be her in that line.

The restof the trip to the zoo went well, and by the time we returned home, my legs were sorer than they had been in a long time.

Elken had already started nodding off, her dozen or so sketches spread across the backseat beside her.

The improvement from the first sketch to the last was dramatic.

It made me realize just how skillful she could be with enough time and practice.

Elken didn’t stir as I unbuckled her booster seat and carried her from the shuttlecraft.

“My sketches…” she mumbled.

“Don’t worry,” Belle said. “I have them.”

Elken relaxed immediately and let me carry her into the house.

I ducked over her to prevent the worst of the rain from dabbing her face.

I reached the front door and it opened automatically.

“I’ll put her to bed,” I said quietly.

Belle followed me up.

As I placed Elken into her bed, Belle placed her sketches and drawing materials on her desk.

We left her there, already fast asleep, and shut the door save for the customary inch in case she needed us.

In that narrow hallway, I could smell Belle’s shampoo and perfume.

She was damp head to toe, just as I was.

The downpour had come suddenly, violently.

Belle couldn’t meet my eyes.

“I should be getting home,” she said.

“It’s only three o’clock,” I said.

My voice was husky with desire.

Belle nodded.

“But Elken is asleep and probably won’t wake up within the next couple of hours. There’s not much I can do until then.”

She turned to sneak past me but I blocked her way.

“Excuse me,” she said and I blocked her again.

“I don’t want you to go.”

“I have to.”

“No, you don’t.”

With a finger, I raised her gorgeous face up to mine.

Her eyes were big and wide, her lips parted, ready to be taken advantage of.

Her damp hair clung stubbornly to her face.

I arched my lips down on hers and felt her warmth.

She was hesitant at first, then reacted in kind, responding to my advances.

I kissed down her cheeks, her neck, her collarbone, and nibbled on it.

“We shouldn’t…” she gasped.

Yet, she kissed me just as hard.

I took her by the hand and led her down the hallway.

To my bedroom.

We walked silently, not saying a word.

I paused to open the door.

She hesitated when I pulled her inside, but she came.

Each time she hesitated, I gave her a look, and she succumbed to me easily.

I shut the door behind her.

“What if Elken wakes up?” Belle said. “I wouldn’t want her to find us like this.”

“She won’t wake up for a few hours, as you said.”

I approached her, my breath hot and heavy.

Here we were, tucked away in my bedroom, the rain lashing down.

The world didn’t know who we were, what we were up to.

Nothing could distract us or get in the way.

For once, it was just her and me and our own carnal desires.