"You deserve to be king and marry a princess."
"Don't you love me?"
"Doesn't matter,” and the tears fell copiously from her eyes.
"Sure it does. You are better than any princess I ever knew, and I knew a couple of them. It makes me mourn to see water come from your eyes."
"Earth men don't like to see women cry, either."
"I love you, Gabrielle. Please become my life partner. I bought you a ring from the Home Shopping Network last night and everything."
"What?” Gabrielle stopped crying and lifted her head off the pillow. “The Home Shopping Network? Are you joking?” She made a mental note to put a block on certain cable channels for him. A vision of faux white gold band with a forty-eight carat cubic-zirconium golf ball embedded danced before her mind.
"Yes, I learned about joking, too. Comedy Central. Very amusing.” He laughed. “You should see your face, Gabrielle."
She squinted at him, trying not to smile in return. Keller had a sense of humor after all. Who would have thought?
"So, do you have a ring or not, Romeo?"
"Almost. I ordered it from a place called Tiffany.com. My Earth mother assured me it is the very best place."
"Tiffany's good,” she said, relaxing a bit. “So, where is it?"
"To be delivered to my apartment later on today."
"This ring you got,” she said mischievously, “is it big?"
"I imagine it's adequate enough in size to get the job done."
"Will I be able to lift my hand?"
"Of course. Will you marry me, Gabrielle? I love you,” he said sincerely, his eyes shining with pure, unadulterated love for her.
Gabrielle looked at him, overwhelmed by her own love for him. “I will. I do love you, Keller. Don't ever doubt my feelings for you."
Then they sealed the proposal with ... just a kiss.
Epilogue
Skippy took an instant liking to Keller who secretly fed him dog treats like candy to a spoiled child whenever Gabrielle wasn't looking. Keller took an instant liking to Skippy, too, because they both loved Gabrielle unconditionally.
Keller took Gabrielle to his Earth mother's house for dinner the very next night. Ruth Keller was indeed delighted her son was dating a sweet girl. As expected, she began asking about their future wedding plans before dessert was served.
Gabrielle was overjoyed to have a future mother-in-law who actually liked her and didn't think her son was too good for the likes of her.
Keller waited a whole week before giving the Tiffany ring to Gabrielle. He asked her formally in a public restaurant with several strangers clapping at his bended knee proposal.
After waiting two months, they did get married in a small civil ceremony, where Ruth cried buckets as she held Skippy on her lap. Gabrielle insisted the vows contain the words ‘life partner’ in there a couple times so Keller would feel at home.
Some time later, and after several attempts at the reproduction ceremony, where Gabrielle finally learned the optimal position for impregnation, she found out soon after she was gestating an alien human hybrid. Keller and Ruth were both beside themselves with joy as Gabrielle enjoyed crackers and Sprite until she, too, felt the joy.
Eight months later, she bore Keller a son, whom they named Craig in honor of a friend from far away. Gabrielle wisely said giving him the name Crag would only make him the kick toy of bullies everywhere.
Eight months and two years later, Gabrielle bore Keller twin daughters, Emma Ruth and Elizabeth, which Keller warned her was going to happen if she kept requesting the optimal position for impregnation on a regular basis, whether they were trying to conceive or not.
Keller and Gabrielle were strolling with the children in the park one day when, lo and behold, they received an unexpected visitor. Elsbeth, Queen of Tiburon, who still ruled with an iron fist, came to visit the son who'd abdicated the throne in favor of one puny, alien, female creature, and of course, to meet her new grandchildren.
Keller and his mother forged a fragile peace and forgave each other. Gabrielle was moved to invite her alien mother-in-law to visit planet Earth anytime she wanted but added, “Please call first, and try to come at night.” Don't want to alarm the other puny, earthling neighbors.
And like most fairytales, Gabrielle and Keller, along with Skippy, Ruth, and the hybrid children, lived happily ever after.
JUST A KISS
THE END
BIO
LARA SANTIAGO
Lara Santiago always loved to write. However, her pragmatic, analytical side got the upper hand at an early age and informed her she should be getting a ‘real’ job and not pursuing a creative writing career.
She joined the Air Force and spent her four years of service in Blytheville, Arkansas working nights in Supply issuing aircraft parts to guys working on the flight line. Her husband discovered her there and married her to continue getting his aircraft parts quicker than all the others.
Lara soon earned a degree in the field of Logistics—a word she thinks is very sexy. No logisticians will ever be the bad guy in any of her novels.
After the military, Lara spent many practical years working at a ‘real’ job, allowing her analytical side total free rein. Then one day, the characters banging incessantly inside her brain simply couldn't be silenced any longer. She bought a laptop with the sole purpose of writing a book to allow her creative side to express itself and to let all those characters out. Her motto ... so many characters ... so little time.
To those interested, Lara's practical, analytical side is now stuffed in a dark hole and only allowed out once or twice a month to pay bills.
When she isn't hunched over her faithful laptop, now with half the letters chipped off in her zeal to write as fast as possible, Lara enjoys reading, catching up on all her recorded television shows, and watching movies. Oh, and occasionally, she cooks for her family, too.
She hopes her readers enjoy her stories and looks forward to hearing from them—but only if they refrain from insisting she make anyone in Logistics a bad guy.
Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Visit www.sirenpub.com for information on additional titles by this and other authors.
Just a Kiss [The Tiburon Duet] Page 13
