Atonement (Earth Evolution Series Book 3) Read online

  “It would also be best to try and locate her family. She doesn’t have a lot of time left, and it might help keep her fighting to live longer if she had something else to live for. I could ask Commander Estro to use his resources to search out her family.”

  “I’ll ask him. I’m supposed to return to the command ship tomorrow with Thomas. Maggie wants me to help her with the baby shower. I’m sure I’ll see the Commander at some point.”

  “How can you shower the baby if it is not yet born?”

  She laughed, “It’s a type of party for the expectant mother where she is given gifts for the baby.”

  “Oh, that sounds—interesting.”

  “It will be lots of fun. Let me see what I can do about Mrs. Gordon.” Lily went back to the other partitioned area feeling dread. How did you tell someone that they were dying and that there wasn’t much that could be done? She stopped to watch as Mrs. Gordon was clearly checking out a Drastan warrior’s ass as he lifted a box and carried it to a nearby subcar. She cleared her throat to get her attention.

  “Mrs. Gordon, I have some news.”

  “I’m dying, I know this already child.”

  “Oh. Well, yes, I’m so sorry. How did you know?”

  “I’ve known for a while now. I suffer coughing bouts and my energy level is low. How long do I have?”

  “If you stay here in the tunnels, six months to a year. If you leave the tunnels and get regular treatments you could extend your timeline by two years or a little more. Would you consider coming with Thomas and I to the Drastan command ship.”

  Mrs. Gordon stood up and wiped the dust off her backside. “When do we leave?”

  “You want to go?” Lily looked at her in surprise.

  “Of course I do, I’ll be in outer space like a real astronaut. My Georgie would be so proud. Plus, I get to see more of these hunky men. Count me in as they say.”

  Well, that went easier than she thought it would. She felt her Drastan communicator vibrate and pulled it out. It was a message from Maggie.

  “When are you coming back?”

  She typed her message. “Tomorrow. Bringing Mrs. Gordon.”

  “Yay!”

  Chapter 3

  The next day

  Jared was looking at some old charts on his computer when the door to the mediko opened.

  “We’re back Jared!” Thomas called out as he bounded in and headed right for him jumping into his arms. Jared caught him easily and looked up to find Lily smiling and watching the two of them together from the doorway.

  “I see that.”

  “Did you miss us?”

  “I did.” He couldn’t help but smile at the boy. Thomas was so full of joy and excitement. He reminded him of his youngest brother, Kyle, when he was the same age. “Did you have fun with your friends?”

  Thomas looked up at him with such happiness on his face, Jared’s heart squeezed at the sight. He glanced up and felt like he was struck by an electrical current as his eyes locked with Lily’s. “Lily, welcome back. It’s good to see you have returned safely.”

  “Even though you didn’t want me to go this trip?” She questioned him.

  “I was worried about your safety.”

  That was an understatement. He had actually fought with his father and brother when she wanted to return to Earth’s subway tunnels. He insisted it was too unsafe, but Lily wasn’t going to let him dictate what she could or couldn’t do—her words. She got Maggie and Rachel on her side so he relented.

  Jared knew he wasn’t Lily’s mate, but he couldn’t seem to stop worrying about her. It would devastate him if something happened to either her or Thomas. They had become part of his family in a short amount of time. He didn’t like it at all, these feelings that he had for her. He set Thomas back down on the floor.

  “Good to see you, too. We arrived about an hour ago. I wanted to bring Mrs. Gordon by to see you, but she was tired from the trip up. Would you be able to assess her tomorrow?”

  “Of course. Is this the terminal patient that Mediko Lane was talking about?”

  She nodded her head then pointed down to Thomas. He understood that she didn’t want to talk about it in front of the little boy.

  “Thomas, I have a new model ship I started working on, I put it on my desk in my office. Why don’t you go take a look at it and see where I messed up.”

  “Sure!” Thomas ran off down the hall to the office.

  “Thank you. Mrs. Gordon is an old friend and Thomas adores her. I know I have to tell him about her health problems, but it’s just so hard. He has lost so much already in his young life.”

  “Does she have any family?”

  “I want to ask your father and Maggie’s father use their resources to look into it. Supposedly her children and grandchildren were to have been sent to a government dome in Washington.”

  “We have a team not far from there. Send me her children’s names, her name and her husband’s name. Plus, I have her medical history on record now so I can cross check with Earth government database and locate them that way too.”

  “That’s how you located Maggie’s parents, right?”

  “Yes. I have access to their entire database.”

  “I bet they just love that. How long will it take to get the results back?”

  “A day or two. The more information I have the easier it will be to pinpoint the correct match.”

  “Thank you, Jared. I appreciate you doing this, and I know that Mrs. Gordon will too.”

  He fiddled with his digital pen, he would do anything for her. “Are you going to the baby party for Maggie?”

  “It’s called a baby shower and yes, I’ll be going. Mrs. Gordon said that she will watch Thomas for me, so that I can help set everything up.”

  “Well, I will see you there then.”

  “You’re coming?”

  He frowned at her surprise. “Of course. Maggie is having my niece or nephew. I will be there for the baby party—shower. Is there a reason I should not come?”

  “Usually, men don’t go to parties that are called showers. Showers on Earth are typically given to women by women.”

  “Liam says he is going.”

  “The father of the baby is expected to come to the baby shower.”

  “Does that mean I shouldn’t come?” Jared was confused by these Earth customs. If they were back on his home world, they would have a big celebration the day after the baby was born and that’s when gifts would be brought forth. Earth people did everything backwards in his opinion.

  “Of course you can come. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to confuse you. You and anyone else will be welcome. I just don’t want you to feel uncomfortable if you and Liam are surrounded by a bunch of women.”

  “It won’t be just me and Liam, my father and Kyle are also coming. Should I tell them not to?”

  She patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, let them come with you so that you at least will have another man or two there.” She looked over to the hallway and smiled at her son who was coming back.

  It was incredible how her smile warmed him from the inside out. He would love to be the one to put that smile on her face. An image of her beneath him naked as he plunged into her sweet depths filled his mind and his body was quick to react to those thoughts. She would smile up at him with satisfaction and call out his name.

  “Jared.”

  He shook his head to clear his mind, “What?”

  “I wanted to work on the model with you. Could you come over while momma is at the baby shower?” Thomas asked him.

  “Actually, I’ll be going to the baby shower too. What should I expect, it’s my first one?”

  “I went a few months ago to one on Earth for one of our tribe members. It was the first time we actually had real presents to give. All the presents are for the baby, but the food is pretty good. I was able to get a full plate of those little sandwiches. It was so good.”

  “I like sandwiches.” He winked at Thomas making the
little boy laugh. He looked like his mom when he did that. He had an inner light of goodness and joy that shined out. Jared couldn’t understand how anyone wouldn’t love the little guy.

  “Come on Thomas, we need go back to our quarters and help Mrs. Gordon settle into her room.”

  “See you later Jared!” Thomas waved as he followed his mother out of the room.

  Jared nodded at Lily when she looked back at him. He did his best not to show that he had been checking out her nicely rounded ass. “Bye Lily.”

  He sighed once she was gone. He had been standing behind a patient bed so that he could hide the evidence of his arousal. “Damn it!” He hated having no control over his body’s reaction to her. After all these years he thought he had himself under control.

  He shoved the floating bed, which drifted to the other side of the room. After what happened when his mother had gone into labor with his younger brother and he had failed her by not being there when she needed him the most.

  Jared was supposed to come home when his mother was due to have Kyle, but he got side tracked with a girl. Having sex with her made him miss his flight home. He had been young and foolish, and he arrived home too late. His mother had given birth to Kyle and then she never came back to them. She had died and Jared hadn’t been there.

  His father had yelled at him; the first time ever that his father raised his voice at him. He wanted to know where Jared had been, but he was too embarrassed to admit what he had been doing. Jared knew that technically he didn’t cause his mother’s death. That didn’t stop him from feeling responsible. He swore that he would never let his emotional or physical needs outweigh his judgement. He would be in control at all times. He had to.

  Chapter 4

  The next day

  Lily smiled at Maggie who was trying to find a comfortable way to lie on the sofa. She stood up and walked over to put a large pillow behind her friends back.

  “Thanks. I’m getting so big that no position is comfortable for long.”

  Lily rubbed Maggie’s large belly before going over to sit across from her. “It won’t be much longer, honey. You’re near the end of it now.”

  “How did it go this last visit? Did Taylor show his ugly mug?”

  “No, thank God. I did find out that he has been traveling tribe to tribe recruiting for the resistance rebels.”

  “Holy crap! Liam is going to be pissed about that.”

  “I thought the resistance rebels had settled down with their antics.”

  “Yeah, they have, but Devlon thinks they are planning something big. The guys have been having these secret meetings at all hours of the night. It’s getting me annoyed when I wake up and find my man gone. Quinn has been back and forth on some special mission and every time he returns he reports something to Liam that pisses him off. I have to calm him down every time.” Maggie did air quotation marks when she said calm, which was her signal that they had lots of sex. “When was the last time Taylor visited our old tribe?”

  “Mrs. Gordon said it was right before I came back down, which was about a week and a half ago. He’s been asking about me.” She couldn’t help but shiver at the thought.

  Taylor had been a mistake from the beginning but he was good-looking and made her feel desired. Her being a widower raising her son made her even more susceptible to him. The moment that she realized it wouldn’t work was the first time she introduced him to Thomas and saw his expression of disgust before he hid it from her.

  Maggie tried to sit up, but she was having a hard time with it. Lily laughed at her frustrated expression. “What are you doing? You just laid down.”

  “I need to tell Liam about Taylor and his recruiting.” She finally gave up and flopped back down. “Can you call him, please?”

  “Honey, I already told Devlon.”

  “You did? When?”

  “As soon as we returned to the ship. He was actually there to greet Thomas and I in the docking bay. I told him everything I knew. He even spoke with Mrs. Gordon too. She was thrilled to see a slightly older version of Jared.”

  “Oh God, did she flirt with Devlon?”

  Lily laughed, “Only a little bit.”

  Maggie covered her face with her hands before opening her fingers to peer out. “Was he upset?”

  “Only when she said she was glad to have someone her age on board.”

  Both women laughed hard. Maggie snorted, “Oh poor Devlon, reduced to senior citizen status already.”

  “He doesn’t look like a senior. That man is built strong and fine just like all three of his sons.” Lily told her.

  Maggie winked at her. “They definitely have some great genes. This little one is bound to be a heartbreaker.” She patted her belly lovingly. The baby kicked out in response to Maggie’s voice. Maggie laughed. “Did you see that? This little guy or girl is trying to kick their way out.”

  Lily smiled at her friend who had a glowing look on her face as she whispered stuff to her unborn child. “It’s so good to see you like this—happy. You deserve to be, Maggie. Especially after …”

  A sad look came over Maggie’s face. “Not a day goes by I don’t think about my Darla. I think she would be okay with me starting a new family. Don’t you think so?”

  Lily wiped a tear away from her own cheek thinking about the baby that Maggie had lost while in the tunnels. Her friend had suffered so much; from being raped as young teen and dealing with a troublesome pregnancy, to losing the child she had come to love.

  “Absolutely. Maybe Darla had something to do with bringing you and Liam together.”

  “I’d like to think so.” Maggie’s voice cracked with her trying to fight back her tears. “Damn hormones have me balling like a baby all the time.”

  Lily wanted to change the subject and get Maggie smiling again. “Are you hungry?”

  “I’m always hungry.”

  “Let me fix you a sandwich or something.” Lily stood up and walked toward the kitchen.

  “Thanks for taking such good care of me; you’ve always taken care of me.”

  “How’s Rachel doing with her pregnancy?”

  “She’s finally got a nice baby bump going on. At least I’m no longer the only one.”

  Lily walked back over and leaned down to kiss the top of Maggie’s head. “You may have a biological sister and family now, but you will always be my little sister. You and Thomas are my family.”

  Maggie squeezed her hand. “You’re my sister just as much as Rachel, besides, my mother fusses over you and takes your side on most things all the time just like she does with Rachel. My parents have basically adopted you, and I think they think of Thomas as their first grandchild. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for you, Walter and Corey.”

  “Don’t make me cry, then you’ll cry and the men will come back and find us crying. I don’t think Liam or Devlon could handle that.” They both laughed.

  “They are helpless with crying women.” Maggie agreed.

  “Speaking of Corey, have you seen him lately?”

  “He stopped by about a month ago. They upped his training wanting to get him out in the field since he’s familiar with the tunnels. Man, he has changed big time.” Maggie’s belly suddenly rumbled causing them to burst out in more laughter.

  “I better feed that baby.” Lily rushed off to the kitchen. She found a type of sandwich meat in the cooling bin and fresh bread. She quickly made the sandwich and sliced up Drastan fruit called shastas that tasted like apples, she picked up the plate and headed back out into the main living space. She halted when she saw that Liam had returned and that he had Maggie sitting in his lap.

  Lily hadn’t heard the door open at all, but now she moved back a little to give them privacy. She couldn’t help but feel a touch of envy at how loving and gentle Liam was with her friend. His large hand was gently cupping Maggie’s baby bump, and he leaned forward speaking to the baby. It pulled at Lily’s heartstrings.

  “Hi little one, Daddy’s home. Did y
ou behave yourself?” Liam chuckled and Maggie giggled when the baby kicked in response.

  Lily wistfully remembered when her husband Shawn had done the same thing during her pregnancy. They were pressured by their families to get pregnant as soon as possible, even though Lily had wanted to get through nursing school first. Her husband was in the air force and was being deployed soon. It was the worst timing for starting a family, but she didn’t regret it. She only wished that her husband had been with her and Thomas in the subway tunnel when the nukes hit. Her son had no memory of his father at all.

  It broke her heart at times when Thomas asked about what his Dad was like. To him Shawn was a fictional person that he saw in pictures. She did her best to tell him about how Shawn had proposed to her and about their wedding day. Thankfully, she’d had her wallet with her when the nukes hit so she had some pictures, but you couldn’t hug a picture. Thomas needed a real flesh and blood father.

  She was so grateful for the years she’d had with her own parents. They died in a car crash before Thomas was born, and she had no idea if Shawn’s parents even survived the nuclear disaster. They were in their sixties having had Shawn late in life and neither of them would have been considered vital enough to get a spot in the domes. They also didn’t live in a city that had a subway system. Lily was all that Thomas had as far as a birth family and she wanted to make sure he was happy.

  Movement near the door caught her attention. She glanced over and locked eyes with Jared. At once her heart beat faster and her nipples hardened. Why did he always have this effect on her? One look and her panties were damn near wet.

  He was tall—almost seven feet, and muscular, but not too muscular, with dark hair and dark eyes. His mouth was sinful—no man should have a mouth like that—with a full bottom lip ripe for sucking. He was compassionate, and smart, and to top it all off, a doctor.

  She could feel the attraction between them almost from the first time she laid eyes on him, but neither of them ever acted on it. Sometimes she thought that the attraction might be one sided. It was a shame he wasn’t interested in her because Thomas really liked Jared and they seemed to hit it off. It was a far cry from the way Taylor treated Thomas.