Mending the Rift (6 page)

A lump formed in Luca’s throat. This was it—their baby, live in the flesh. The baby seemed unperturbed and flip-flopped in every direction. Luca croaked, “It seems fine.”

Nicholas sent him a brilliant smile. “It is fine, absolutely. Now if it would just keep still for a few seconds, so I could measure it. You’ll probably have your hands full with this one.”

Luca darted his gaze toward Marcus, whose eyes had a very soft touch. If he wasn’t mistaken, Marcus was fighting against tears. He nudged Marcus’s chest with his foot and Marcus jerked. “Are you okay?”

Marcus nodded. “Very.”

IT TOOK
Nicholas a while to measure the baby and record all the details. After the examination, Luca wiped his stomach clean, and Marcus helped him sit up. Luca’s head swam from the sudden change of position.

Luca leaned into Marcus’s side and Marcus gathered him close, then whispered, “Love you, kitten.”

Luca lifted his head for a kiss, and Marcus obliged in an instant. When Luca traced Marcus’s lips with his tongue, Marcus shuddered and drew back. “Hey, that’s not the reaction I was hoping for.”

“Your dad’s sitting a few feet away,” Marcus replied.

Heat rose in Luca’s cheeks. How could he have forgotten? “Um… oh… yeah….”

Nicholas winked at him but stayed silent and kept scribbling some notes. Marcus brought his mouth to Luca’s ear and said, “How about you try again later? When we’re alone?”

“I’d like that,” Luca admitted.

Nicholas rose from his chair, waved the document that held all the information they had about the baby so far, and stepped toward the door. “Let’s go to the office.”

“What about Father? Won’t he go with us?” Luca slipped his hand into Marcus’s, needing the firm grip around his fingers. Anxiety surged through him, twisting his stomach. What if the official didn’t accept Marcus’s claim? Without his father, they’d have no chance of convincing the official to change his mind.

“Your father will meet us at the office, don’t worry,” Nicholas said as he led them out of the examination room.

Keith waited for them outside and quickly fell into step behind Luca. He asked, “We’re heading to the office, right?”

“Yes, we are,” Nicholas replied cheerfully. He was practically bouncing ahead of them, wearing a shit-eating grin.

“Congratulations, kid,” Keith said softly.

“Thanks, Keith.”

“What about me? Don’t I get some congratulations as well?” Marcus asked.

“I’ll congratulate you as soon as you make your official claim.”

“It’s only five minutes to walk to the office, and maybe a couple more minutes to make the claim. What could possibly happen?” Luca asked, keeping his and Marcus’s fingers intertwined, causing a great deal of whispering and stolen glances from passersby.

“Luca,” Marcus hissed. “Stop it. Everyone’s looking at us.”

In a show of defiance, Luca raised his head high, daring anyone to look at them with disapproval as they walked on. “I don’t care. I’m yours. Everyone can know.”

“Not before I’ve put in my claim.”

Luca opened his mouth to protest when Nicholas’s phone rang with his father’s ringtone. Nicholas’s good mood evaporated within seconds, his pallor turning ashen. Marcus and Keith exchanged a grim look before they hurried to Nicholas. His dad’s knuckles turned white from the tight grip on the phone.

When he ended the call, Luca waited in dreadful expectancy. “Dad, what’s going on?”

“Smith’s ship landed, and he’s brought an escort with him. They know something’s up, and he’s demanding to see you right away.”

Luca’s legs turned to jelly. This couldn’t be true! Not now. They were so close to their goal. They’d hidden the pregnancy for nine weeks. Marcus only needed to claim it. Only ten more minutes….

Nicholas shoved the phone into his back pocket. “Greg’s trying to stall the official call-out for you.”

“They’re going to do a call-out?” Luca squeaked. His name would be broadcast via speakerphones for everyone to hear. Anyone who saw Luca had to immediately hold on to him until security personnel came to retrieve him. He wouldn’t be allowed to go anywhere, and if the program official knew about the call-out, he’d never agree to Marcus’s claim.

“Marcus, Keith,” Nicholas addressed the bodyguards. “Luca and I will take a shortcut. If we get caught, that could cost you your jobs, so you might do better to turn around and do something else.”

Nicholas snatched Luca’s hand, pivoted on his heel and stormed away, dragging Luca with him. Luca hastened after his dad when he realized two more pairs of feet followed them. “I think they don’t want to do something else. And besides, Marcus has to put in the claim personally, doesn’t he?”

“I could’ve probably convinced the official I’m acting on his behalf,” Nicholas panted. He slipped behind an alcove holding a bronze statue of two pregnant people—one female, one male, both radiating joy and contentment. Nicholas’s hand shot to the side, tapping some kind of rhythm, but before Luca had time to ask what he was doing, a door appeared in the wall.

Shaking his head, Luca followed Nicholas, who called out, “Don’t bother with the door. It’ll close on its own.”

For a while no one said anything, and Luca tried not to skid on the slippery ground. The walls were illuminated by a soft glow, though Luca saw no lamps. “What’s making the light?”

“Fungus,” Nicholas replied.

“Fungus? You’re bringing Luca into a corridor littered with fungus? You do know he’s pregnant, right?” Marcus growled, his hot breath ghosting along Luca’s neck.

“It’s not harmful, trust me. I’ve used these corridors a lot, and they never affected my pregnancies. Plus I researched this particular fungus. It’s all right, and it’s much faster to reach the program building without being seen,” Nicholas replied.

“Does Greg know about these corridors?” Keith asked.

“It hasn’t come up in conversation.”

Keith snorted. “You’re so busted.”

“We could keep it a secret,” Nicholas said, though his voice was questioning.

“I’m doing a lot of things, but I’m not keeping any secrets from Gregory Walker. No way, Nicholas. But since I’ve known you for a long time already, I’m sure you have some more secret passageways hidden somewhere. I’m actually glad I know about this corridor. Now I know you’re not really capable of vanishing into thin air.” Keith chuckled. “God, I’m so glad you’re with Gregory. Not many men could handle you.”

“You don’t take after your dad, do you?” Marcus chimed in.

“Only in looks,” Luca replied, laughing. “I can’t believe we’re doing this. Father’s going to be mad if he finds out about the hidden passageways.”

“No, he won’t. He’s too busy buying us time. Ah, there’s the right door. Come on.” Nicholas stopped in front of a section of the corridor that, to Luca, looked like all the others, but his dad confidently tapped his finger against something and a crack appeared in the wall. Nicholas cautiously peered through, then beckoned them to follow.

“We’re inside the Confederacy building, right next to the director’s office!” Luca worried his bottom lip.

Marcus gave him a one-armed hug. “Are you okay? You keep rubbing your belly.”

“I do? I didn’t notice.”

“He’s fine,” Nicholas threw in. “It’s a protective gesture. Many pregnant men and women start doing it from the time they know they’re pregnant. Let’s go. Time’s of the essence.”

Nicholas rapped at the director’s door. Without waiting for confirmation, he barreled into Director Harold Whithers’s office. “Harold!” Nicholas exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you! How’s Evelyn doing?”

The director jumped in his large black leather chair, standing behind an opulent, antique teak desk. “Nicholas! I didn’t see you on my visitor’s schedule for today.”

Whithers rose from his chair with a hiss and grabbed for his ever-present cane. Keith closed the door behind them and took up position while Marcus pushed Luca farther into the room. Whithers raised a white bushy eyebrow. “I see you brought your youngest. You’re not going to decline marriage again, are you, young man?”

Luca shook his head. Whithers’s gravelly voice always sent a sliver of fear down his spine, even though he’d been extraordinarily patient with him.

Marcus stepped forward, his face schooled into an impassive mask, and said, “No, he’s not. However, I’m here to claim the baby he’s carrying as mine, and I demand you withdraw Smith’s marriage claim so I can take him instead, since I’m the biological father of the baby.”

Whithers’s eyebrows rose and almost met in the middle. He cast a look from Luca to Marcus and back again before he held out his left arm to Nicholas. “Nicholas, dear, help me back to my chair. You don’t want an old man to faint, do you?”

“Of course not.”

“If Luca’s bodyguard—what was his name?”

“Gray, Marcus Gray,” Marcus replied. He sidled up behind Luca, one hand securely resting in the small of Luca’s back.

“Ah, yes, Mr. Gray.” Whithers’s head bobbed up and down in agreement as Nicholas guided him back to his chair. “If Mr. Gray is here to claim the baby, I’m assuming you’re at week nine. Is that correct?”

Luca’s tongue seemed to be stuck to the roof of his mouth, but somehow he managed to answer. “Yes, sir.”

“Is there a reason why no one knows about your pregnancy?” This time Whithers looked straight at Nicholas.

“There has to be a transmission error in the system,” Nicholas said.

“A transmission error?” Whithers echoed. “Hmm, let me have a look.”

Beads of sweat formed on Luca’s neck. They’d decided to enter the data right after the nidation process, though they didn’t use his real identity at first. His parents thought it for the best to have everything recorded correctly and present the pregnancy as the result of a random experiment. These random pregnancy experiments were still done about ten times per year, but only with people who hadn’t been pregnant before and declined potential partners for a long time. The breeders were selected by random and only got to know about it after the nidation had been initialized.

Whithers clicked on his keyboard. Luca chanced a quick glance up at Marcus, wondering what was going through Marcus’s head. Was he as panicked as Luca? How long could his father buy them time? How long would it take Whithers to check and sign the needed papers? This wasn’t going to work!

“Luca? Hey, kitten, breathe,” Marcus murmured.

Luca lost all countenance and threw himself against Marcus’s chest. Rising on tiptoes, he wrapped his arms around Marcus’s neck, hanging on to him for dear life. “I want
you
, no one else.”

Marcus stroked his large hands up and down Luca’s heaving back, trying to soothe him. Normally it would’ve worked, but right now Luca’s body had developed a mind of its own. He shivered and gasped for air while he almost strangled Marcus.

“This is very strange,” Whithers commented. “We haven’t had a transmission error in years.”

“Well, you know how these things go,” Nicholas quipped. “Here, I brought the papers for you to sign.”

“How very convenient,” Whithers drawled.

The loudspeakers blared to life with a deafening alarm. “Call-out for Luca Walker. Luca Walker is to be brought to the President’s Chamber immediately.”

The message was repeated twice more. A sickening silence engulfed the room.

WHITHERS COULDN’T
sign any papers now. Luca would have to marry Smith and—

A harsh sob escaped Luca’s mouth. His attempt to stifle it in Marcus’s collarbone was unsuccessful. Instead, he burst into tears, chanting over and over again, “But I want you, I want you.”

Luca didn’t hear anything beyond his wails and sobs, hating that he was making a scene in Whithers’s office. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop crying and clutching Marcus with all the strength he could muster. He didn’t know how, but after a while he found himself sitting in Marcus’s lap in one of Whithers’s oversized visitor’s chairs, sniffling and cleaning his face with a handkerchief Keith pushed into his hands.

“I’m sorry,” he said thickly.

Whithers’s cane tapped on the floor as he slowly made his way over to him, flanked by Nicholas, who looked tired but not devastated. Shouldn’t his dad be sad for him?

Nicholas helped Whithers into another visitor’s chair, then perched on the armrest, holding several sheaves of paper.

Luca gazed up at Marcus, but his vision blurred instantly from another bout of tears. “I really want to be married to you.”

“Then you go ahead,” Whithers said. “Oh, Mr. Gray, please be so kind and sign the top two papers. If it’s no bother, it would be great if you could do it right away?”

“But the call-out…,” Luca protested feebly.

“Call-out? I heard nothing.” Whithers shrugged and pulled a skin-colored implement from his ear. “These hearing aids aren’t what they used to be.”

Luca shot from Marcus’s lap, grabbed the papers, and stared at Whithers’s signature. After a quick glance toward the director, he stuffed the papers into Marcus’s trembling hands. Marcus lost no time in signing the papers in his curt script.

“The baby is officially Marcus’s, and I don’t have to marry Smith?” Luca asked.

“Mr. Gray’s claim is official. Smith might contest the marriage, but your family has enough money to buy you out, I’d reckon,” Whithers replied.

Luca rose on wobbly legs, bridged the short distance, and gave Whithers a gentle hug. “Thank you, Mr. Whithers. Thank you, thank you.”

Whithers grinned at him, and his eyes glinted with humor. “Don’t think for one moment that I believe in failed data transmissions, young man. However, I know what it’s like to be in love. And besides, if I hadn’t signed, your dad would put me in an early grave.”

Nicholas put a hand over his heart. “Harold, I’m hurt.”

“No, you’re not, but you’d drive me crazy with new regulations for everything you could think of. No one would become pregnant anymore—except naturally, and we all know that’s become a rarity—and humankind would die out within a few decades.”

“I’d never do that!” Nicholas replied, blinking innocently.