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  PEYDRAN

  My human hand pushed hair off Ren’s sleeping face. He woke with a sigh, “Hmm, Pey’o. Do you always do that when I’m asleep?”

  “You haven’t been sleeping much, lately, Ro.”

  “Yeah, I’m ready to crash. Whaddaya want to do about getting married? Big wedding? Elope?”

  “Don’t care, Ren. Just so long as you know I’m yours, nothing else matters.”

  “‘Kay. Love you. Probly gonna sleep for three days. . .”

  RYST

  “Alright, the Ministry of Travel has already pre-processed the guest lists. So far, no one is black-flagged, meaning, the current version of the guest list is ready to go for round one. We’ll send out electronic invitations and people who say they are coming will have to fill out a Travel Acceptance Application. There’s a number of people who’ve traveled to Shurwinn before, either for Ministry jobs or for trade and business contracts, and those will be processed the fastest since they already have recon files. All the first-timers will be processed in the order their applications are received,” Peydran informed us.

  Nayth and I were in Ren and Peydran’s guest suite going over Shurwinn wedding planning items with Peydran while Ren slept in the back somewhere.

  Peydran continued, “So, we’re ready to go with the invites. Do you want to announce your wedding in Shurwinn before or after your quote ‘engagement trip’ to Floria?”

  “Nayth? I don’t know what’s best.”

  “I think we should do it the day of the secret Wedding of Thirteen. Make a public announcement of our engagement that says the invitations are on their way. Then a few minutes later, send out the invites. Can we do it that quickly, Peydran?” Nayth asked.

  “Ummm hmmm,” he nodded. My pad and Nayth's buzzed. “Let me know if you want anything different than this.”

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  “That works for me, Ryst?” Nayth asked.

  I nodded, “Let’s do it.”

  “How’s Ren?” Nayth inquired.

  Nodding, Peydran said, “Sleeping like a log. Ten days he wrote music and barely slept, so he’s got a lot to catch up on, but he’s good. He’s so happy, and so glad we’re here. He’s excited about all the music and your wedding. He spent the last couple of hours on the starliner recording instruments and mixing that song we played yesterday for you. I think he’s got more that he wrote just for your wedding, but I’m not sure. He conked out—“

  “Peydran, I still don’t know how you and Ren got together. Tell me, please?” I begged.

  Smiling, Peydran nodded. “When we were meeting with Sorchen and Denten? I got a message from Ren— that’s why I ditched you. I didn’t know he’d divorced Garren six months ago. I couldn’t believe it. He asked me to meet him at J’s in Media—

  “Wait, you went to J’s that night?”

  “Oh, yeah, and I got there, planning to schmooze my shy Uni crush only to find a devil wearing a Ren suit. The man set me on fire— end of story. I’m not letting him go now. Plus, he said I should marry him, so I hope you like him, Ryst. I’m keeping him,” Peydran grinned.

  “So, Ren wound up asking you out? After all that time? How long, Peydran, how many years did you pine for him?” I teased.

  “Funny, Ryst, funny. I recall you were the one pining, not me. And it was only eight years. A drop in the bucket of time,” he laughed.

  Nayth chuckled next to me.

  “You know I love Ren, Peydran. I loved him before you brought him home, even though I only knew him through his music. If I’d known Ren Creive was your Uni crush—“ I cut off as Ren toddled into the room.

  “Honey?” Ren looked like he was sleep walking. He came in, dressed in just pajama bottoms, sat down in Peydran’s lap, put his head on Peydran’s shoulder and went back to sleep.

  “He’s completely asleep. He must’ve missed us,” Peydran whispered, his lips on Ren’s forehead.

  “He says he’s lost in the music when he’s composing. But I think there’s still a part of him that reaches out to us. I think he’s still connecting to us, even when he seems far away.”

  Nayth got up and got a blanket and wrapped it around Ren. I decided Ren needed more than a blanket and sat at his back, wrapping my arms around him.

  Nayth picked me up and sat me in his lap, holding onto me and Ren at once. With my extra senses, I could feel Nayth, like a sun. Peydran was not there at all. If I hadn’t been able to see him, I wouldn’t have known he was on the sofa.

  I wondered if I could feel Ren? I had been able to sense him through the video call on the other side of the galaxy. My head on Ren’s back, I sent my senses questing. Nayth, hmmm. . . I turned down the volume on Nayth. He knew what I was trying to do, of course. No Peydran.

  Wait— there was something! Someone who wasn’t Nayth and wasn’t Peydran. It was really soft, though, not like when Ren was awake.

  “I can sense him, Peydran,” I whispered aloud.

  “I can’t feel him when he’s sleeping,” Peydran whispered back. “He recedes from me as soon as he goes quiet.”

  “I can feel Ren. Very softly, quietly. His mind, Peydran. It’s soft white light. Like a cloud or a the scent of flowers on the wind. And a quiet song so beautiful you weep.”

  I wanted to show Peydran Ren’s mind; it felt so beautiful and pure. It was a mind I would love to be with anytime, any place. I wanted to push the feeling into Peydran, but he was completely blank to me, as always. I had no sense of Peydran other than his audible breath. It was like he wasn’t even there.

  Nayth showed me something in his mind. His black hand wrapped around Peydran’s human arm. He didn’t know why, but he knew he should do that.

  “Harder, Nayth,” Peydran whispered and Nayth showed me that he squeezed Peydran’s arm harder. Peydran’s breath caught then he started whispering sweet things to Ren in Shurwinn.

  Nayth’s emotions overflowed, and I understood. Nayth felt like he owed Peydran and Ren everything. For he’d had every worldly thing, but it'd meant nothing without me.

  Then Ren had sent me to him by singing me into a vision, and the only thing Ren had wanted in return was a cuddle. So, Nayth would give Ren every cuddle he ever wanted. Ren and I were in a Peydran/Nayth cuddle sandwich.

  It was more love than I ever knew was possible.

  “This is the way it’s supposed to be,” I thought as I drifted.