Blurb:
“Let there be life,” a solemn scientist uttered as
he played God. A single Hybrid opened his eyes, changing the course of
humanity.
Lucien was living without hope for a mate while
the military pursued him. Everything changed the minute he saw Avery. Now he
was not only fighting for his people but for a chance to experience love.
Avery was baren, living in a world that only
prized women who could have children. Her right to live and die exploded the
minute she accepted a drink from a Hybrid and a spark of hope ignited between
them.
They became the couple the world hated, danger
stalked them, reporters hounded them, and the military wanted the streets to
run red with their blood.
War was raging. Could a romance doomed from the
start survive? Who would win?
18 years and older
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Chapter Two:
He maketh the barren woman to keep house,
and to be a joyful mother of children.
Praise ye the LORD!
Psalms 113:9
Two years after Hybrids have been made public.
The world has been made to see us as
an
evolutionary dead end.
Hybrid history as recorded by Elias.
Avery sat in the specialist’s waiting room,
craning her head to look at the television that was blasting the newest reports
of the humans that had been twisted into scientific freaks.
“They used to be human,” the news reporter
said. “I have it from a trusted source. They are no longer.”
“They were never human,” the reporter's expert
guest said. “There was a plan to get rid of all human races that were
considered unwanted.” The male put it delicately. “That’s why they were created,
to kill people of color hopefully racially cleansing the earth.”
The reporter, a beautiful African American
woman, rolled her eyes.
“You disagree?”
She opened her mouth then closed it as if
thinking over her response. “Not wholeheartedly. Do I think some were thinking
racial purity? Yes, maybe in the beginning. Have you met Delun, who is
obviously not a white male or any of the others? The perfect super-soldier idea
died almost from the very beginning, according to my sources.”
“Your sources are misinformed. They may not be
white super soldiers, but they were racially targeted. If we can’t make the
perfect weapon, then let’s get rid of those who aren’t like us.”
“How do you explain, Lucien?”
“Not every Caucasian male is wanted by the
Caucasian race.”
“We’re out of time today. Thank you for coming
on, Professor Henderson. You will want to read Professor Henderson’s new book
‘What they aren’t telling you.’ It’s out today.”
“Thank you, Brie.”
“Please come back. We’d love to hear more about
the new race sharing our world with us.”
“New race, why don’t they just blow them to hell?”
the woman sitting next to her remarked loudly.
“It’s not their fault that they are here.” Avery
knew she should keep her mouth closed. “They were like us once upon a time.”
“I am not and have never been a criminal,” the
woman said.
“You’re assuming something about them that you
can’t know.”
“Where else would they have come from if they
weren’t criminals? They found them in jail and used them for twisted experiments
because they were the dregs of society. No one would miss them. Then instead of
doing the humane thing and putting them out of their misery, they released them
onto an unsuspecting world. Don’t be fooled. They are wounded animals that need
to be put down like rabid dogs.”
“Ms. Ryan,” the nurse who stepped into the doorway
called. “You can come back now.”
Avery stood without replying to the woman. Nothing
she said was going to stop the rampant hatred happening. She was angry with
herself for saying anything at all.
“Thank you,” she told the nurse after she finished
her vital signs before she left, closing the door behind her.
This was her last-ditch effort at a life that she
knew was forever out of her reach. She was only here so she could lay to rest
this need in her life. When she heard the final news, she would walk forward,
refusing to ever look back in her rearview mirror. Some pain wasn’t worth
revisiting.
“Ms. Ryan, it’s nice to see you.” The doctor
walked in with a smile on her face.
“Dr. Spiva, fancy meeting you in a place like
this.” They both laughed, having formed an easy friendship over Avery’s few
visits.
“You have the results?” She pressed her damp palms
against her jeans, hoping against hope that it would be different this time.
“I do.” Dr. Spiva’s voice was so kind that she
knew.
“There’s no more hope.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Ryan, there’s always adoption.”
Avery nodded her head, too intent with not crying
to say anything.
“We looked at everything… Sometimes,” the doctor
tried again. “Sometimes modern medicine just doesn’t have the answer, and
mother nature, if you believe in that kind of thing, goes her merry way without
anyone being able to halt her.”
“Not every blessing is meant for every woman.”
“That is another way to look at it. Ms. Ryan…”
“Avery, please call me Avery.”
“Avery, will you be all right?”
“Yes, I’ve been preparing myself for this very
answer.”
The doctor stood, glancing at her watch. “Take
your time. I wish I had better news to give you, Avery.”
“It’s been nice knowing you, Dr. Spiva.” The door
closed behind the doctor. Avery gave in to a bit of her anguish, just enough so
that when she walked out ten minutes later there were no tears in her eyes.
She walked back to the car, her head in a fog. She
drove to the little Italian restaurant where she and her best friend had agreed
to meet.
Watching Tiff wave at her like she was crazy made
her relax as she joined her at the table. She covered a quick yawn and a slight
misstep before reaching her friend.
“Not good?” Tiff’s smile disappeared as her eyes
took on a shiny look.
“Hey, none of that. We already knew what the most
likely outcome would be. Did you order for us?” She tried to change the
subject.
“Not yet.” Tiff drew her into a warm hug. “I hoped
it would be different.”
Avery closed her eyes and relaxed into her friend,
taking this moment to soak up her love before sitting upright.
“I had hoped, but I knew.” She’d been on this
journey for a long time. It started when she and her husband decided it was
time to have a child. Her wedding day had been one of the happiest in her young
life. Others had said that she was too young to start a family, but she ignored
them. When they agreed to start their family, she had been so happy. Then a
year passed and another. That’s when she started going to different doctors.
When they said she wouldn’t be able to have a child, that’s when her marriage,
the one that was supposed to last forever, fell apart.
He loved her. That’s what he said when she was
presented with the divorce papers. He’d found someone else capable of having
children. She was already pregnant, and he was going to marry her and raise his
family, but he would always love her, the lying, cheating bastard.
She kept going to specialists until she knew for a
fact that there was no chance of ever having a child. Everything was there; it
just didn’t work.
Tiff thought she wanted her husband back or some
reasonable facsimile in another man. She was wrong. Avery needed to know who
she was and to be able to put aside dreams that would never happen. Today she
buried her dream of being a mother while opening herself to other dreams.
“What are you going to do?” Tiff asked her.
“I’m going to drink a glass of wine and eat good
pasta in a celebration of life. Then I’m going to go home, catch up on work and
maybe make plans to take a vacation. I might walk the treadmill.” She was a
little thicker than she would like. “Forget the treadmill; give me dessert.”
They both laughed and placed an order with the
waitress.
“Have you heard the latest news about the Hybrids?”
Tiff asked.
Avery went back, searching her memory, but the
truth was she was too busy wallowing in her misery to have time for another’s.
“Maybe, but I don’t remember. It couldn’t have
been that big of a deal.”
“It’s breaking news. My phone beeped with the
update while I was waiting for you. The Hybrids are not allowed to marry.”
“What? Wait.” She held her hand up before
summoning the waitress. “I want a merlot in the biggest glass you have.” She
wasn’t much of a drinker, so that would do it for her. When the waitress came
back, she took a bracing sip and then another. “All right, run that past me
again.”
“The Hybrids—those sexy creatures that seem to
come from nowhere—are not allowed to marry humans or each other.”
“Why?”
“The courts didn’t want to allow same-sex marriage
because they thought it would encourage human men to spend time with the Hybrids.”
“This is getting out of hand; soon, people will be
coming at them with pitchforks and Tiki lanterns.”
“Too late, but it gets better. Apparently, they
are unable to procreate, that makes them a subclass of human. They are an
evolutionary dead end.”
“Are they saying anyone who can’t have children is
subhuman?”
“They are, and that’s how it should be,” the
waitress added her two cents as she placed their food on the table.
“What if you couldn’t have children? Would it be
fair to classify you as subhuman?” Avery asked her.
“I have two children, thank you very much.” The
waitress turned her nose up.
“What if is all I’m asking.”
“Then, like Hannah from the Old Testament, I would
pray to have a child and wait for God to answer my prayers.”
“What if he said no?”
“God never says no, not to something like having a
family.”
Tiff caught Avery’s arm before she could get up
and deck the waitress.
“There are good women across the world who can’t
have children. Some might not want them; others do. God didn’t answer their
prayers. Or for whatever reason, he said no, and that doesn’t make them
subhuman.” It came out gritted between her teeth.
The waitress backed up before hurrying away.
“Did it end there?”
“The church came out with open support of what the
supreme court ruled. They said that there is no need for marriage if you can’t
produce children. Marriage is to preserve the family.”
“Was that the pope?”
“Straight from his lips to God’s ears.”
“What about the other branches of religion? There are
more than the Catholics. What about the Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist,
non-denominational? What are they saying?”
“Nothing.”
Was that what mankind really thought? Was she a
dead-end, was her line supposed to end because of her inability to have a
child? Was the worth of who she was wrapped up in her womb?
“The court doesn’t always get it right. They are
governed by the politics of the people who put them in office, and our court
has a definite prolife leaning.”
“They’re supposed to take each case at face
value.”
“I’m sure they do. The question is, whose value
are they using? If there was a man or a woman on the court who couldn’t have
children, I’m sure the ruling would have been different. We all take things at
face value as if it’s our right until we meet someone who knows differently. I
hate to admit it, but if I didn’t know you as well as I do, I might have been
bigoted over the whole issue also.”
She didn’t have to like it, but Tiff was right.
Until you spent some time with someone who didn’t have the same innate
privileges as you, it was hard to understand the other side of the coin.
They ate in silence, each considering the court
ruling.
“Tiff, if you had a chance, would you date a Hybrid?”
“I don’t know. There’s hot sex and no chance of
pregnancy to think about.”
“There is that, but honestly, would you?”
“I want to be a mother someday. Then I will call
on their favorite aunt to babysit for me.” Avery smiled, knowing she would be
godmother to her best friend's kids. “Would you?”
“Have you forgotten already? I’ve sworn off men
for the rest of my life. A nun without going to the nunnery.”
Tiff rolled her eyes. The sound of plates breaking
drew their eyes to the front of the restaurant. Several Hybrids walked in. The
busboy dropped a tub of dishes.
“All they did was walk in,” Avery muttered into
the silent restaurant. “Are they really that scary?”
The Hybrids turned to look at her as if they
heard.
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