Crossbred Son by Brenna Lyons

was no possibility of her becoming pregnant, though I mistakenly thought she meant she was on pregnancy block. We can’t scent it as we can the typical hormonal preventatives.”
    “Then why—?”
    “It’s a long story. I can tell you the whole thing today. Unless you’d rather...?” Gabe’s heart ached at the fact that he might have lost his partner over some indefinable offense or species discomfort.
    “What? Switch partners?”
    To Gabe’s relief, he sounded offended by the suggestion.
    “You must be kidding. Do you have any idea what our combined success rate does for both our careers?”
    Gabe bit back a laugh. “Not a clue,” he lied.
    Thomas snorted and rolled his eyes, then went back to buttoning his uniform shirt. “Yeah. I believe that. Not.”
     
    ****
     
    “All this time, she’s been raising Michael alone and trying to figure out how to tell you?” The question came out muffled by the bite of hamburger Thomas was choking down, but clear enough for Gabe to pick out the words...more or less.
    Gabe closed the now-empty temperature-controlled unit he carried his lunch in, nodding in answer. He could skip lunch, but he’d always enjoyed the social interaction with Thomas. Since the only ‘fast food’ option for a Xxanian was sashimi, he brought his lunch four days out of five and treated Thomas to oriental food the fifth.
    “Damn. That must have been hard for her.”
    “Yes. Very hard, I’m certain.” Too hard. A human mother raising a human child alone was hard enough. A human Hauaa raising a Xxanian-mix child alone was inconceivable. More than ever, Gabe wanted to do something special for Abby.
    “You do realize the trouble this is going to cause, don’t you?”
    The abrupt change of subject caught Gabe off guard and sent warning tremors down his spine. “What trouble?”
    Thomas swallowed another mouthful of burger. “You know humans.” He shrugged and took another bite.
    Some days, all too well. Some days, not nearly well enough. “I suppose so.” But he still wasn’t following the connection between Abby’s pregnancy, his son, and human troubles. They’d already jailed the men who’d attacked Abby and Michael, and she’d agreed to take one of the men with her or leave Michael at the nest when she ventured out, to avoid a repeat.
    Thomas set his burger down and stared at Gabe, his expression starkly serious. “When the elders started taking human mates and crossbreeding, what happened?”
    Gabe considered that. “It took the humans a few bindings to react to it, but that’s when the guerrilla attacks against Xxanians started.” They’d been bloody and brutal, and they’d only escalated when Earth’s military moved to protect their new Xxanian allies. “But there hasn’t been an attack like that in at least...two decades.”
    “Because there haven’t been any more accidental bindings, and it was believed that it was impossible to create a bastard crossbreed.” Thomas raised his hand to still Gabe’s boiling temper. “I’m not calling your son a bastard, but they will. And once word gets around that it’s possible for babies to be conceived out of binding, there is going to be a whole new shit-storm. Excuse the term.”
    “Why would word...get around?” Suspicion burned in his gut.
    Thomas leaned toward him, his usual easy-going nature chillingly missing. “Because these things always...get around. It’s all over the station already. Your emergency leave paperwork listed the reason for your leave.”
    “Caring for my mate and son.”
    “But the rest of your paperwork has you listed as unmarried...unbound. What’s your next step? At the end of our shift?”
    They’d discussed this already. Realization dawned on him. “Changing my benefits paperwork. Listing Abby and Michael as my beneficiaries and adding them to my medical.”
    “But your paperwork still shows you as unbound. Even if you married Abby today...human marriage, you’re still unbound. No