Page 159 of The Genius

Shelly looked down. “You mean that?”

“Yes, and I will tell you every day if you need me to. If you could feel what I feel when I see you walking around barefoot with your pregnant belly. It’s pure bliss to me.”

Her eyes widened and she grabbed both my shoulders. “Marco, that’s brilliant.”

“What is?”

“If I could feel what you feel…” Her thinking face was back on. “Maybe we don’t need to put an implant in babies’ brains. Wouldn’t it be cool, though, if we could pick up on sensations that others were experiencing? Like during sex. I’ve always been curious to know what it feels like for you. You could feel what an orgasm is like for me and vice versa.”

“What about your farming project?” I asked but Shelly broke free to pace the room, her finger twisting her lock of hair.

“You’re not done with this project, are you?” I asked, a bit unnerved. “I like our beach life.”

“What?” She blinked her eyes as if coming out of a trance.

“I don’t want to move.”

“Why would you move?”

“Just promise me we can stay here.”

Shelly planted a distracted kiss on my lips. “We’re staying for now. I just have to jot down some ideas for future projects. There are other nice beaches in the world.”

“All right. Then I’ll go back to writing my best-seller.” I smiled as I walked back to my hammock feeling the warm sand between my toes, a sense of peace and tranquility filling me.

Later that night Shelly fell asleep early: exhausted from the pregnancy, the thousand thoughts in her head, and our intense lovemaking. I got up to get something to drink and stopped in her study, taking in the walls already plastered with big and small ideas. To the soundtrack of the waves outside, washing up on the beach in a slow steady rhythm, pure awe washed over me in that room. It was incredible that inside my small woman lived a giant imagination.

The thought of how my life had changed these past six months made my throat tighten and I swallowed hard, fighting the tears that formed in my eyes.

I didn’t know a single Nman who lived a life as rich as mine. No one who had access to a beach with warm water or the chance to travel and experience different parts of the world. What did it matter that we traveled in community planes and drones or that we didn’t own the house we lived in? We were free and happy.

Using the back of my hand, I brushed my happy tears away and got back into bed with the love of my life.

“Where did you go?” Shelly muttered, half asleep.

“There was an alien delegation outside who wanted to discuss my portrayal of them in the book.”

Shelly yawned and curled up against me. “Did you tell them to come back tomorrow?”

“Uh-huh. They took it well.”

“Good aliens.”

“I know, right? Go to sleep, darling.” I kissed her forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Most of the time.”

Brushing her hair to the side, I whispered, “What do you mean ‘most of the time’?”

Shelly didn’t open her eyes, but she smiled a little. “When you aren’t trying to get me to eat fish.”

“It wasonetime.”

She cracked an eye open. “You should know better.”

“Okay, I won’t offer to share my fish with you again.” I squeezed her closer, my cheek to her hair.

“Good. Then I’ll love you all the time,” she whispered.

“All the time and forever?”

“Yes.” Her eyes closed again, her breathing slow. She was falling asleep.

“Shelly Summers, I’ll love you all the time and forever too.”

The small smile on her lips told me she had heard my words, and it filled me with pride. My woman was happy, sated, and loved. I was sure of the fact that we were the luckiest people on earth and fell asleep with a last thought for my friends back home, hoping that, somehow, they would find their own happy endings.