Ramliel by A.M. Griffin
Chapter Fourteen
“I can’t believe this is happening.” Mia sat at her desk at work, trying to keep it together. She’d already cried longer than she should’ve but despite only wanting to lend three minutes to this pain, it’d been hours, many hours.
After sending Ram on his way, she’d spent the night curled into a ball, crying, ignoring all incoming calls from Hinduru, then Lina and Diana.
“Fuck him,” Lina said from the holo. “Fuck him to this side of the galaxy and back.”
Mia wiped a lone tear from the side of her eye and sniffed. “Fuck him to Earth and back.”
“Like seriously?” Diana said from the other side of the screen. “They didn’t do psychological evals on these people before they made us come half-way across the galaxy to meet with them?”
“Well, to be fair, our mates weren’t born yet and they didn’t decide who would mate with us until thirty years ago,” Mia said.
“Don’t make excuses for them!” Lina yelled.
“Sorry. Just thought I would add that. But yeah, fuck Ram to Earth and back!” Mia said with a wet chuckle.
Although she hadn’t known either one for very long, she felt connected to her girls. They’d been the first people she’d met on the transport ship and she’d been connected to them ever since. She knew the other humans but none of them had clicked like Lina and Diana had.
But how would their friendship continue? Lina and Diana did things with their mates. They didn’t tell Mia about it, but she knew they double dated. She’d hoped that with her and Ram together they could triple date and she could be a part of the activities Lina and Diana tried to hide from her. That hope had been short lived.
Mia wiped another tear and sighed. She’d resigned herself to the fact that she was going to be on an alien planet and alone. Then Ram had turned on the charm and just like that, she knew she wanted him and didn’t want to spend the rest of her life alone. Now, that dream had been snatched away from her.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
She quickly wiped her tears away and glanced up. Hamir one of the doctors stood in the doorway. “Yes, can I help you?”
“I…um…wanted to see how you were doing.”
She stared at Hamir, trying to comprehend why he would be asking her that. He was handsome. Not as handsome as Ram. But he was nice. They spoke in passing. She didn’t work with his team. He did genetics and was mainly focused on solving the reproduction problem while her team worked on humans and emotional support.
Then it hit her.
“Oh, God. Does everyone know I was dumped?”
“It wasn’t mentioned but it’s being assumed since there are whisperings that Varona is pregnant with his child.”
Mia let out a sob and buried her face in her hands.
“That’s it,” Lina said. “Leave work and go home. I’ll meet you there and we can have a girl’s night.”
“I’ll meet you there too,” Diana added.
“I don’t need a pity party,” Mia sniffled into her hands.
“I didn’t come here to pity you,” Hamir said. “I came to ask you out.”
Mia shook her head. Although he said it wasn’t pity, it definitely was.
“I do think you should leave for the day. But if you let me, I’d like to take you to where I go when I have a bad day.”
Mia stared at Hamir through tear-soaked eyes. “Where is that?”
“The observatory. We can lay there and look at the star system and the distant galaxies.”
Mia wiped the tears from her eyes. She could stay here and endure the pitying looks she was sure would come her way. She could also go home and have Lina and Diana come over but she would be taking them away from their mates. Or, she could let Hamir do something nice for her.
“Okay, let me grab my bag.”
She said bye to her girls and disconnected the call.
* * *
Ram. Hated. Everything.
He was going to be a father. Shouldn’t he be happy? Wasn’t that what he’d wanted all his life? It had been ingrained in him since he was born. Have a baby. Continue the family line. Not all was given this opportunity.
He’d been told all his life that he would have a baby with one person. Mia.
He took another swing of his alcoholic beverage. He’d gotten into the stash he’d been saving for a good occasion. His father had collected beverages and still had bottles that had been passed down for generations. Now, Ram ran through it like water.
“Drinking. Again?”
The sound of Varona’s voice grated his nerves. “Is there a problem with it?”
His words slurred but he didn’t care.
Varona sneered. “Useless.”
“Useless enough to give you a baby.”
“Yes, it seems you are good for one thing.”
He glanced at her. There were two of her now. He picked one image and focused on it. “We need to go to the medical facility.”
One side of her mouth lifted into a snarl. “Why? So your mate can do something to sabotage the pregnancy?”
Ram shook his head. “Mia would never do anything like that.”
He slipped his hand into his pocket. He’d torn off a piece of Mia’s shirt that he’d taken from the house and kept under his pillow. Smelling her scent was the only thing that helped him to sleep at night. Now, he needed a piece of her to help him get through the day. His fingers found the soft fabric and he rubbed it, immediately calmer than he had been a few minutes ago.
Varona let out a laugh that wasn’t jovial sounding at all. “Mia would never do that,” she mocked. “And how exactly would you know that? You spent a few nights with her and now you know everything you need to know? You spent months with me. I’m the one you know intimately. She’s just a passing fancy.”
He wanted to tell Varona that he’d known Mia since he was born. His parents had signed him up for the mating program when he was an infant and to get him used to her, they’d talked about her constantly in hopes that when she finally arrived, he would feel a connection toward her.
It was a connection he’d tried to hide and bury deep, but it was still there. He knew her favorite color was red, her likes and dislikes. He knew her mother had died while giving birth to her and her father had been loving and doting until he’d died. Then she’d had to go live with her father’s brother and his wife. She’d worked herself through her educational program and had done well for herself. And one fateful day, she’d been chosen for the Teague Bride Program.
He’d been waiting for her his entire life.
But he’d failed her. Twice. And it didn’t feel good knowing that.
“If we don’t go to the facility on Teague, we need to go somewhere to make sure the baby is alright.”
Varona balled her fists and shook them at him. Her face twisted in rage. “Of course, the baby is alright! I would know otherwise.”
“I’m just saying.”
Shouldn’t there be doctor appointments and testing to make sure the baby she carried was alright? He didn’t have much experience with these things, but the pregnancy would be high-risk for the mere fact that his species had trouble conceiving.
She snarled. “You’re just saying what? That you want me to put our baby in harm’s way?”
“No harm will come to you—”
She raised her hands in the air. “You don’t know that! She’s still your mate and until you complete the paperwork releasing her, she’s a threat to me and our child!”
Ram’s head was on fire. He took another drink to numb the pain in his head and his heart. It didn’t work.
“Alright, Varona.”