Earth Mars Love (The Marsikons)

Chapter 35

Marcus exhaled when the online meeting with the President was over. He was already briefed on the situation, probably the Boss gave him the recording of the meeting with Arthur Morgan. So, to reach an agreement about plastic was a five-minute deal, but for another hour they had talked about how Marsikons would help Earthlings to build ships and fight the Martians if that would be necessary.

Marcus thought, that there would be a fight to come. Even if Wisel was out of the picture, for which he doubted, that left his daughter, Onyx, in his stead. And if she was so treacherous as to spy on them and then help her father to plan an attack on Earth, then she could be as ruthless and avenge him in any way possible.

"Marcus, can I talk to you?" he heard Regina's hesitant voice behind him.

He turned, and there she was, in black clinging pants and a loose pale pink T-shirt. She looked so soft and relaxed. Her facial features lost their tension. Her hair was lying around her shoulders in soft brushed waves, and he wanted to bury his nose in it and inhale her scent like he did when he was holding her after the attack.

"Regina!" he rushed to her, wrapping his arms around her. Going with his desire, he buried his hose in soft tendrils of her hair, and just breathed her in. Finally, they were alone, and they could talk. He had a lot of questions, about what happened in Arthur's office when she had a panic attack. And what happened when she went alone with her mom. Had the confirmation of Clare's adoption made such an impact on her, or there was something else?

When he first heard the keening cry from the room where she went with her mom, his heart clenched in pain. He was about to run there, but Darius' hand on his own stopped him. Then came Clare and told him about the meeting, and he ran to get a shower to look more or less presentable. Arthur gave them his navy T-shirts and black sports pants to wear.

She clung to him, raggedly breathing. He moved to hold her face in front of his with both palms, their foreheads touching. Her hands were a searing band on his waist, her fingers lightly stroking the low of his back, which sent electric currents through his spine and all over his body.

He noticed that her eyes were still a bit puffy, with a sheen of tears in them.

"What happened, Regina?" he whispered, brow furrowed in worry.

Her voice croaked in response, "I was adopted too."

His eyes opened in concern. "Are you okay?"

She smiled. "That's just the thing. I'm sorry I'm crying again, I hate when I'm crying. But now it's tears of happiness I think. I've finally had a heartfelt conversation with my Dad, and Mom, and Clare. I realized how selfish and stupid I was through all these years. If not for you, I would've still been keeping them at a distance, not realizing how a big mistake I was making. And if not for that Martian attack, I think I would've done something reckless and erased my family from my life," she said with a lopsided smile.

She told him the full story of what her mother said to her, and about what happened in Arthur's office. How she disowned her father at that moment, and what she felt when he was lying almost dead on the lawn. She told him about the other conversation with her father, and that Marcus was right. He never had any grudge against Regina. She told him about moving to Washington to be closer to her family.

Marcus' eyes filled with tears for Regina. His heart bled for her, for what she endured in a short amount of time. He wanted to take that pain she felt, and relieve her of that burden. But at the same time, he was elated, that she'd got everything she ever wanted and even more.

But was there any place for him in her life?

"I'm glad you've found good things in your life."

"As ridiculous as it sounds, without the Martians, I would've just gone back to LA and stopped any contact with my family. Thank you, Marcus, for coming here and making my life better," she smiled at him, but his insides still churned from guilt.