by Azza Sumner
Chapter 4
It had been a long night for Aidan. No matter which bed he switched to he would soon find Gem snuggled in behind him again or if he lay on his back she would rest her head on his arm or shoulder. After he lost count of the times he had swapped beds he finally gave up. He wasn’t going to win. It may have been inappropriate but in truth he liked having Gem lay with him. When he could sleep he slept better having her there. It felt good when she fell asleep on his arm. It seemed odd to him that she always slept with a contented smile. Her tiny face looked so peaceful and comfortable as she slept. She looked so innocent and serene, almost like a child. He knew she wasn’t a child physically, but emotionally he thought of her that way sometimes. It wouldn’t feel right. That was probably the only thing holding him back apart from his fear of females and still dreaming of somehow winning Emma over. Gem was a very cute girl. Aidan often looked twice at her in various positions and pictured her wearing less. He found her very desirable physically, but Emma had his heart. They both seemed to need him in different ways, which appealed to him greatly. The problem was the girl he did seem to have won over was the one laying on his arm beside him, not the one he desired the most.
Something about it all just wasn’t right though. He couldn’t stop rehashing it all in his mind. As much as he slept better with her there, knowing she was there while we was awake made him uncomfortable, too tempted. Moreover he wasn’t sure how Emma would react. She seemed fairly understanding, but he just didn’t think it was fair somehow. He didn’t know why. He knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Emma after what she had said to him, and she knew he was a looser that lived in a fantasy world of escapism, but her actions seemed to say otherwise sometimes. Why had she opened up to him on the beach and even held his hand? She wasn’t comfortable with physical closeness. Her words and actions didn’t add up. Why did she desire his understanding so much? Maybe he was just looking for hope where there was none.
Thinking of Emma he realised that he had neglected to take her to the bank as promised. He cursed at his absent mindedness. Aidan wrote himself a note and left it on the bedside table before climbing into the empty bed in the other room once again. As he climbed in he saw Gem slowly trudging in behind him rubbing her eyes and yawning. Silently she crept in beside him and curled up against his side as if she belonged there. This time he just gave in and fell asleep listening to her breathing.
He awoke the next morning to the sound of the shower running. Aidan was alone in the bed to his surprise. He could hear two girly voices giggling in the bathroom so he figured that Emma had let herself in again. He rose and got changed while he had some privacy. Aidan wasn’t sure what to make for breakfast so settled on a large pile of toast with cinnamon sugar. He wasn’t much of a cook, but that was a favourite of his. He set the little breakfast table for three and put the pile of toast in the oven to keep it warm.
Eventually the girls emerged from the bathroom. Both were still giggling and had towels wrapped around there hair. Emma was wearing the tracksuit again and now Gem was wearing his favourite polo shirt and a the lower half of the white suit she was wearing when she arrived. Today it seemed that Gem’s attention was more focused on Emma, which was a relief. Maybe everything will work out he thought.
Aidan was curious and couldn’t help but to ask “So what was all the giggling about? Gem isn’t much of a talker.” Emma just smiled and winked. “Just girl stuff.” Aidan had no idea what that meant but figured that was all he was going to get. He remembered the trip to town and addressed Emma “Oh, sorry I forgot to run you into town yesterday. Is today ok?“ Emma nodded in appreciation and sounded understanding as she replied “Well we were kind of busy yesterday with our little alien girl. You know we have to get her some clothes don’t you. We can get the bulk of it at a charity shop, but underwear has to be new. Neither of us have any underwear, or a bras.” Aidan gulped nervously as his pervy imagination went into overdrive again thinking about both of them. He agreed and hoped there was enough left in his bank account. Charity shop or not, he lived on a very tight budget.
After breakfast Aidan started grabbing all the laundry he could find so he could put a load in the washing machine when they got back from shopping. There would no doubt be a full load by then. When he picked up in the bathroom he could see marks left on the mirror where the girls had been drawing pictures in the steam. So this was ‘Girl stuff’ he thought as he tried to make out the drawings. They were scribbled over, but one looked like it had been the figure of a woman’s body. Aidan decided he rather not know what girl stuff was and continued his search for dirty clothes.
When the clothes were all in the laundry he came back to the lounge room to find the girls watching TV. Aidan had almost forgotten that other channels existed besides the kid’s cartoon channel. They were watching a day time soap opera so he had no interest in it and decided to take a quick look at the craft in the shed. Everything inside the pod was still wet and there appeared to be no power. He couldn’t understand any of the writing on the dash, and had no idea what the few instruments were. Behind the pilot’s seat he found a case of some sort fastened to the side. When he opened it he saw it had some kind of a probe on a cable, a lot of buttons and few indicators that looked like level gauges. He decided to try and ask Gem what it was.
When Gem saw him enter with it she hugged him and took it from his hands. She looked pleased to see it. She opened it and inspected it. She seemed relieved when her inspection was done. Aidan tried to ask her what it was. Gem strained as she tried to find how to communicate. Eventually she grabbed a knife from the kitchen and came back. She made a very small cut in the palm of hand, just enough to draw blood. Next she placed the probe touching the cut and pressed some buttons. Aidan saw a small dob of pink goo appear from the end of the probe and disappear into the cut. Next a clear resin seemed to appear around it. After about two minutes Gem returned the probe to the kit and closed the lid. She held her hand out to Aidan and peeled of the clear layer above the wound. It was fully healed already. Aidan was amazed. It looked like it must be a first aid kit. He was very impressed and thanked Gem for showing him what it was.
Aidan sat next to Emma keeping as far as he could. He asked if she could drive his car into town alone because he wasn’t sure they should take Gem into town or leave her here alone. Emma pointed to her missing eye and replied “No license sorry. Anyway it might be fun to take her.” With that idea quashed he started looking around for a way to disguise Gem’s ears. Eventually he found his grandfathers old straw hat that he wore fishing hanging in the shed. It was going to be pretty big, but seemed like the best option. When Emma saw the hat she had an idea. She sat Gem on a kitchen chair and began making two large plaits out of the long hair. These she then wrapped around her head and joined at the back with a rubber band. The hat fit much firmer now with the layer of plated hair between it and the girls head. It looked a little silly but did the job. As an afterthought Emma added a pair of his grandmother’s old knitting needles to make sure it was secure.
Now they were all ready they piled into Aidan's little car and headed to town. After Emma sorted her business at the bank she tried to give Aidan some money for the use of the van and the food she had eaten, but he wouldn’t accept it. She vowed that if he was going to be so stubborn, she would just buy some things for Gem instead. Their next stop was the main shopping centre. Aidan was glad when the girls finally emerged from the lingerie store with their little bags of goodies. Next they hit the grocery store to stock up on supplies. Even with the ugly old hat Gem and Emma still attracted a lot of attention. Nearly every man they passed stopped to watch the girls walk past and ogle them. Taking Gem into the grocery store was something Aidan swore never to do again. She was easily distracted and often got left behind while she studied something. She was continually trying to help by loading things into the trolley and Aidan was having to find where to return the items on the shelves. Whenever he got back to the trol
ley, he would notice the junk foods he liked were gone and Emma had replaced them with healthy foods. He still managed to bury some chips and chocolate bars under the healthy stuff before reaching the checkout though. Eventually it was all over and they returned to the car much to Aidan’s relief.
As Aidan and Gem loaded the groceries into the car Emma spied a payphone and said she would return in a sec. Once the car was loaded Aidan and Gem got in to wait. It seemed like Emma had been a while when Aidan told Gem to stay put and got out to see what was keeping her. He could see Emma standing near the phone with two tall young men blocking her path trying to talk to her. No matter which way she turned they blocked her advance. Instinctively Aidan began to run towards her. As he got close he saw one of the rough looking young men grab Emma’s sunglasses from her face. They laughed and pointed at her injury. Aidan heard one of the men laugh “It’s ok sweety, we can put a bag on your head.” Aidan was beyond furious. Without thinking he dove at both of the men together knocking them both to the ground. He was the first to his feet and barked at Emma to run.
Emma ran to the car as Aidan realised the trouble he was in now. He was hopeless in a fight. He had charged in out of anger without thinking rationally. He swung at the first guy’s face missing by miles. The man laughed at how pathetic Aidan was however he managed to land the second swing square in the middle of his face giving him a bloody nose. It was more from luck than skill. The second attacker grabbed Aidan from behind. He couldn’t move as the man with the bleeding nose started pounding into his stomach and ribs. Suddenly the man was hit in the back of his neck with a flying kick from Gem and he fell to the ground. She now stood in his place targeting the man holding Aidan's arms behind him. Gem looked terrifying like a wild snarling animal. With a lightning fast jab that narrowly missed Aidan’s head she sent the second attacker reeling back and tripping over his own feet. With both men now on the ground she started growling words under her breath in her own language. The first attacker wasn’t moving, but the second was still groaning and rising back to his feet. Gem grabbed his hair and slammed his head into the ground until he was also motionless. Aidan grabbed Gem by the hand and lead her back to the car as fast as he could. As she saw them approaching Emma dived in the passenger seat and they left in a cloud of smoke and squealing of tyres. After a few blocks they pulled over beside a park to assess things and calm down.
Aidan did his best to hide the pain he was in. He hoped there was no internal damage, but felt he would survive. He was more concerned that the girls were ok. He knew that Emma must be going through hell right now. As for Gem, well that just scared him. Gem lifted his shirt rubbing him all over and inspecting the bruises starting to form. Satisfied that Aidan was going to be ok she threw her arms around his neck and hung there holding him until he carefully forced her back. They all approached the log barrier around the park. Before sitting Aidan turned to Gem. He mussed her hair and thanked her for saving him. Gem was happy now and went to watch some children playing on the swings nearby. He sat on one of the logs that surrounded the park a body length from Emma. Now alone, Emma slid closer until her thigh touched against his. She looked him in the face for a long period lost for words. Suddenly she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. She didn’t let go as she whispered “I don’t know how I’m ever going to thank you enough.” She burst into tears and squeezed him so tight it hurt. Struggling to breath he said “It was nothing. Just doing what anybody would do. Besides Gem’s the one who saved the day.” “No.” Emma responded. “It isn’t something anybody would do. You have to stop saying that.”
Gem looked up and saw Emma with her arms around Aidan. She growled and started to charge, but after a few steps she stopped. Fighting her urges she sadly turned back to watch the children playing instead. Aidan breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Gem stop her approach and turn back. It was painful to see the look of disappointment on her face but it was good to think that maybe she was maturing. He went back to thinking of Emma. It was nice in her arms. Even though they hadn’t known each other long, she felt like home. It just felt natural and comfortable. He had no idea what to make of her current actions, but soaked up this show of gratitude while it lasted.
When they were calmed down they returned to the car and went to the charity store. The girl’s mood was cheerful again as they moved through the racks of clothes. They loved holding clothes up to each other and offering opinions with a nod or a shake of the head. At one point Gem found a very transparent night gown on the rack and ran over to see if Aidan would nod or shake his head about it. She held it against her small frame and looked at him quizzickly. He wasn’t sure whether to be honest or responsible. Of course the thought of seeing her in something like that excited him. He was a normal male in that regard, but he couldn’t bring himself to nod. Thankfully he was saved as Emma grabbed it scolding the poor Lorene. Aidan had enough of shopping with the girls, so after handing his wallet to Emma he went and sat in the car. He was tired, aching all over and emotionally overloaded. He decided he may as well nap while the girls entertained themselves.
Eventually Aidan was awoken by the car door opening and the girls stuffed half a dozen shopping bags full of clothes in the back. Glad it was all over they headed home. On the way Aidan reflected on how different his life had become. He had only met Emma on Sunday. Later that same night he had rescued Gem. He laughed when he realised that today was only Tuesday. He certainly felt like he was in the middle of an anime come to life. There had been so many unbelievable events in the last few days and he wondered what else could possibly happen.
Once home Aidan unpacked all the groceries while Emma did the clothes washing. Gem settled on the lounge watching TV, so Aidan decided a long soak in the bath might soothe his bruised areas. He ran a full hot bath adding plenty of bubble-bath and climbed in. It was very relaxing and soothed his aching body. He closed his eyes and grinned as he remembered how it had felt in Emma’s arms. He was disturbed as something rubbed against his feet. Opening his eyes he jumped to his feet as he saw Gem in the other end of the bath smiling contentedly and holding her knees up in front of her chest. The bubbles and her knees prevented him from seeing anything, but as he stood there he realised that she could see everything. He grabbed a towel and ran out as fast as he could cursing loudly.
Hearing the commotion Emma came to investigate. Aidan was in his room with the door closed muttering curses. Wet foot prints came from the bathroom. Sticking her head in the door she saw Gem sitting there blowing handfuls of bubbles gleefully into the air. Noticing Emma, Gem motioned for her to join. Emma shook her head at first, but after seeing the disappointed look on Gem’s face she said “Oh, why not? It looks like I need to explain some more anyway.“
When the girls finally emerged Aidan was fuming. He sat at the kitchen table with pencils and blank pages before him. “Gem sit.” he barked. Emma also sat at the table saying to Aidan “Sorry, I thought she understood when I explained it before.” For the next hour Aidan tried to convey his lecture in crudely drawn images. Emma was highly amused at his terrible drawings of naked bodies. He spoke simply and clearly until Gem finally seemed to understand and repeat whilst pointing at the diagrams. She translated the diagrams saying “Aidan no look Gem boobies. Gem no look Aidan willy.” Emma couldn’t control herself any longer and burst into a laugh chuckling “Willy? Is that really what you call it?” Gem looked deep in thought before asking “Aidan look Emma boobies?” “No freaking way!” Emma insisted adamantly, before turning bright red. Once she had recomposed herself she suggested to Aidan “I think no more of my romance shows, and you make sure no more dirty cartoons.” Aidan agreed with “Good idea. I’ll hide anything ecchi, hentai or similar.” Emma responded “Whatever that is. Just nothing to give her ideas ok.” Aidan nodded while Gem sat there looking oddly cheerful and innocent.
Having had enough of company for the day Aidan grabbed an old fishing rod from the shed and went down to a calm spot on the beach, not fa
r from the rocky headland. He was feeling very overwhelmed with the events of the last few days. After a while he noticed Emma approaching. She sat surprisingly close to him. “Catching any?” she asked. “No bait.” Aidan replied, “Just had to get away for a bit.” Emma leaned closer and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “What’s that for?” he asked in surprise. Emma replied “For caring. For trying to teach her instead of taking advantage or acting the perve. For being a decent bloke.” Aidan was stunned. Emma continued asking “So how do you do it? How do you just accept it all so easily? You just dive in to the rescue when needed. You’re not shocked by possible aliens. You make it all look like no big deal.” Aidan thought for a while and shrugged saying “I dunno. I guess I just see someone I might be useful to. I think that’s what drives me. Never been of much use to anyone. As for Gem, well I guess I’ve seen enough anime and stuff where a young man finds a strange girl in need and has to care for her. I guess I’m kind of open to the idea. I’ve even dreamt of being part of such a story.” Emma shoved him playfully and asked “You dream of rescuing a strange beautiful girl from the ocean who wants you? Well I guess I can’t say that never really happen now can I?” Emma paused for a moment and asked more seriously “So how do these stories normally end?” Aidan replied “Hmm, well normally there’s lots of awkward embarrassing moments, frustrations and the boy eventually falls for the girl. I guess they live happily ever after.” Emma pondered for a while before asking “Is that how you think this will go? Is that what you want?” Aidan replied “No I doubt it. I mean she’s drop dead gorgeous, very appealing and innocent. Any guy would want a girl like her but....... there’s something too childlike about her. ”
Emma teased “Drop dead gorgeous and appealing were the first things that came to mind hey? So maybe you are just a perve after all. Maybe I should hang around a bit longer to keep on eye on things.” Aidan replied hopefully “I hope you mean that. It would be great if you could, but I know you were on the way to Sydney.” Aidan hoped he didn’t sound too eager and transparent. Emma considered it for a moment before replying “I’m in no rush. It might be a good idea to stay a while. If you think she’s so hot and I leave you alone, you’re bound to give in to temptation eventually.” Aidan was in two minds about that statement and responded with “I don’t think I would ever do anything. Girls scare me no matter where they come from. I’m kind of a coward like that.” Emma grinned remarking “Yeah I noticed. A bit blind too. But from what I can gather, I think she might take the lead and I doubt you could resist. You being so shy, lonely and all, I think that maybe you would like a girl to come along and make the first move.” Aidan felt like she could see right through him. He just sat silently. Emma slapped him on the back and said “Well you’re an odd man Aidan. An admirer and courageous defender of women, yet too scared to talk to one. I just can’t work you out. Do you help a girl because you think you might get something more out of it?” Aidan had considered this before and remembered his conclusion before answering “No, I was willing to help both of you before I ever saw how beautiful or appealing you both were.” “Beautiful? Both.” Emma rolled in the sand laughing. “Gem I can understand but..... you’re a smooth one Aidan.”
Emma brushed the sand off as she rose to return to the house. On the way back she decided a plan of action. She had done her best to overcome her anxiety and fears of men just to be able to get a little closer to him. She was open with him, and he seemed to accept her as she was. It wasn’t as hard talking with Aidan like it was with other people hiding behind there projected fake personas. She could read him like a book, and he didn’t seem to mind being his real self around her. He wasn’t what she thought of when she thought of men in general. He was an exception. A woman fearing, shy, dorky, pervy, looser, nerd exception, but he was also an honourable, brave, honest and genuine exception. He was someone who didn’t make her uncomfortable, or feel like a freak. He was someone she was comfortable with and he made her feel oddly whole. When she imagined leaving she knew she would find something missing in her life. Being subtle or coy wasn’t going to work with him though. It was time to force the issue before her opportunity passed.
When she found Gem she was sitting in front of the TV watching the romantic scene of an anime studiously. She looked miserable, but paid close attention to the screen. Emma sat beside her and asked “What’s wrong?” Gem looked at her miserably and muttered “Love. Gem love Aidan.“ Gem looked at Emma inquiringly and asked “Emma love Aidan?” Emma wasn’t sure how to respond, but said “Yes, I think so.” Gem nodded in understanding and added “Aidan no love Gem. Emma human. Aidan love Emma?” Emma was starting to regret helping Gem learn so many words. All she could do was shrug. Gem sat deep in thought for a moment and then having come to a decision smiled and grabbed Emma’s hand. “Gem help. Aidan love Emma.” She dragged Emma to the kitchen before grabbing something out from under the sink and continued dragging Emma to the caravan.
When Aidan returned to start cooking dinner he noticed that Gem was busily putting a bunch of drawings she had done on the walls of the spare room. She was no artist, but they were easy to identify now. Mostly it was unknown Lorene which could have been self portraits, pictures of a city and a picture of her pod. Gem had even put up Aidan’s crude sketches from when he was trying to teach her about respecting modesty. He wasn’t sure that was very appropriate, but he figured it might keep her memory refreshed. When she noticed him trying to work out what she was doing, Gem pointed to the bed stating “Gem bed.” Next she pointed to in the direction of Aidan’s room saying “Aidan bed.” Aidan breathed a sigh of relief and mussed her hair with a smile and a nod. Part of him was a bit disappointed, but he knew this was right.
When dinner was ready Aidan walked up to Emma’s van and knocked yelling “Dinner’s ready if you want to join us.” Emma yelled back from inside “I’m fine thanks. I’ll see you in the morning or lunchtime.” Disappointed Aidan walked back to the house and ate dinner in front of the TV with Gem. They didn’t see Emma for the rest of the night, but Gem dissappeared a few times acting suspicious. When quizzed about what the girls were up to Gem just smiled and shook her head. It was getting late when Gem got up and showered herself. Next she climbed into her bed in the spare room and drifted of to sleep hugging a pillow. On his way to bed Aidan checked on her from the doorway and thought she didn’t seem to be smiling like she normally did in her sleep.
Aidan climbed into bed and tried to go to sleep. It was depressing to think of how cold and empty his bed was going to be again. Eventually he managed to drift off. In the morning he awoke and found Gem in her usual place, snuggled into his side smiling contentedly. He watched the sleeping Gem and muttered “I know you tried.”
After breakfast Gem disappeared into the caravan, and neither girl reappeared until lunch. At first Gem came down wearing a towel around her head and pushed Aidan until he was sitting on the lounge. She motioned for him to cover his eyes, which he did. Soon he heard two lots of footsteps shuffling in front of him. “What do you think?” Emma asked. When Aidan opened his eyes he couldn’t believe the sight in front of him. Not only was Emma’s hair now a soft fairy-floss pink, but she was wearing the maid costume he had stashed away in the bottom of his cupboard. He guessed they had found it during their initial clothes search. Aidan was speechless. It wasn’t just the hair or the way she filled the costume perfectly, but he could not believe her face. The sun glasses were gone, and she now looked at him with two beautiful emerald eyes. There was no sign of the scar. It was gone. “And check out Gem.” Emma said pointing over to Gem. As Gem removed the towel from her head Aidan saw her long white hair was now blue. She was even more stunning than before if that was possible to believe, but it was Emma that Aidan couldn’t stop staring at. “You’re both very, very beautiful.” he finally managed to stammer before asking Emma “But what have you done?“
Emma explained how Gem had offered to help fix her eye, and she had eagerly agreed. Aidan was con
cerned of possible side affects using Lorene technology on a human, but didn’t want to spoil Emma’s excitement so he didn’t express such concerns. Aidan showered both girls with compliments and attention, pleasing them both greatly. He knew this was a big deal for Emma. Eventually he asked her “Why the maid costume?” Emma replied “Don’t I look like an anime girl now?” Aidan had to nod that she did. Emma stood in front of him and added “Also, for this.” With that Emma threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately on the mouth. He returned likewise certain he must be dreaming. Eventually she pulled back, staying in his embrace and giggled “I’m making the first move.”
Gem sat back down on the lounge as Emma dragged Aidan into his room and closed the door. Her smile dropped a little, but it looked like things had gone as planned. She returned to watching TV for the rest of the afternoon. When Emma and Aidan emerged from his room around dinner time, Gem had already placed a dinner of sandwiches on the table. It wasn’t quite a suitable dinner, but Aidan appreciated the effort. He mussed her hair again saying “Thank you, it looks nice.” He felt that she hugged him back a little too tightly, before forcing herself to push herself away. As they ate their meal the girls played with each others hair. Aidan was glad that things seem to be settled now. Even though it looked like he was now involved with Emma, he wanted to be sure not shut Gem out or neglect her. She was still important to him and Aidan had the distinct impression that Gem had played a major part in all that had transpired.
Things settled into a nice comfortable routine after that. Aidan was still in disbelief of finding himself suddenly in a relationship and did all he could to make Emma happy. Gem always went to bed in her own room, yet somehow during the night managed to find her way back into Aidan and Emma’s bed. Emma didn’t mind greatly. She knew how Gem felt about Aidan, and she knew that Gem had denied herself to help bring her and Aidan together. She trusted that Aidan would behave and she wasn’t going to deny Gem some small comfort with him within reason. Besides she felt this must be what it was like to have kids. They did all felt like a family after all.
After a few days of getting used to the new situation Aidan sat on the front patio while the girls went for a walk to see what wildlife they might find. It had taken some convincing, but eventually they talked Gem into going along with Emma. She was interested in the chance of finding a koala. Aidan promised to catch up later, but was enjoying a little alone time first. As he sat looking at the sky and ocean he began to wonder how long he had been smiling for. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had played an online game or watched an anime alone. He was so happy and content now. Everything was perfect. He and Emma were a happy couple, Gem was talking a little better and acting a little more grown up. She still seemed to need to be close to him at times though. Aidan prayed that things stayed like this forever. Everything was just perfect the way it was.
A glint caught Aidan’s attention from the corner of his eye. Turning to the cliffs of the headland he noticed something slightly larger than the caravan and a similar shape hovering a hundred metres from the ground. Slowly it was moving directly toward him. Aidan looked at the gleaming white craft and muttered “Another one? You gotta be freaking kidding me.”
