Afua couldn’t really describe all the things she felt the first time she saw Xander enter the living room of her home. It seemed as if heat simultaneously began in her feet and head, then collided together in her midriff. She actually felt her knees buckle and she was unsure if an earthquake had hit Florida, because she literally felt the earth move. And this was all without saying the first hello.

            “Baby girl, are you okay?” Badru asked, noticing how shaken his daughter looked. He hadn’t seen her this ruffled since the night her mother died. Usually Afua kept a tight rein on her emotions. Too tight of a rein at times.

            Afua blinked and placed a hand on a nearby chair to steady herself. “Yes, I was just startled to finally meet the man that’s going to change our whole world.” Inwardly, she prayed for strength. She had no idea that this man would affect her so. In fact, Xander was the most handsome man Afua had ever seen in her life. Plus, she picked up nothing but good things from his spirit.

Though still concerned about her lack of composure, Badru proceeded to make the proper introductions anyway. “Xander, this is my daughter, Afua or Baby girl as I like to call her. Baby girl, this is Xander and his dog Nasiir. I…ran into them in town and invited them to have dinner with us.”

“Welcome to our home, Xander and Nasiir,” Afua said, addressing each one in turn in a much calmer way than she felt. When her eyes lit upon the dog, she felt something stir in her spirit. This is no ordinary dog, she mused with unexplainable certainty.

“Thank you. It is very good to meet you, Afua,” Xander said, extending his hand in greeting as custom on this part of the planet. He was amazed to see so much light of the Creator in her essence.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Afua replied, preparing to shake the hand offered to her. Yet when she shook that hand, her whole world tilted again and her speech changed. Soon Afua began to speak in an unknown tongue as her grip on Xander’s hand grew tighter.

The language Afua spoke may have been unknown to her and her father, but Xander and Nasiir understood every word she said. In the Katanian tongue, she said, “Yes, you have come to change our world, but you have also come to change my world. For you are my mate and I am yours.”

An intrigued Nasiir looked up at Xander. Xander was too busy looking at Afua with a startled expression upon his face. It wasn’t just her words that caught him off guard; it was also the change in her essence. Yes, the Divine light was still there in abundance, but there were also vivid splashes of purple, blue, orange, and the kind of red that denotes the presence of love and passion.

This was a woman capable of loving a man with every fiber of her being. The only other human female Xander had ever detected that trait in was his birth mother. Juna’s digital logs had been splattered with those colors.

Suddenly, Afua snatched her hand away from Xander’s. “I…uh…I apologize if I made you uncomfortable just then,” she said, now speaking in English again. “I assure you I meant no harm.”

“No harm done,” Xander replied, his eyes now fixed upon her beautiful face. “Do you understand what you just said?”

Afua shook her head, keeping her gaze fixed upon him, as well. “Unfortunately, no. Usually when I speak in tongues so publicly , there is immediate interpretation afterwards. However, I am confident that God will reveal all in time.”

Nasiir waited for Xander to give Afua the interpretation. When his friend remained silent on the issue, the amused Hekiman went to find a nice elevated spot to sit. Nasiir knew that he could better observe the humans when he didn’t have to keep looking up so much.

“Yes, He will reveal all in time,” Xander agreed, continuing to scan the loveliness of the woman that he now knew was destined to be his wife. Lakota was nowhere in the race for his hand in marriage now.

Afua was light cinnamon in complexion due to the mixing of a mahogany-skinned father with a bronze-skinned mother. Her hair was thick and the color of brown mink, its length touched her shoulders. Her almond-shaped eyes were a warm nut-brown tint. At only 5’3, Afua was one of the shorter humans, but still taller than the tallest Katanian. She was also shapely with generous curves that announced that she was full woman, despite the conservative gray shift dress she wore.

“Yes, well…what’s for dinner tonight?” Badru asked, starkly aware of how Afua and Xander kept staring at each other. Regardless of the fact that it would do his heart good to see his child finally fall in love and marry, especially with the offspring of the Mannings, the timing was too complicated for romance right now. They all needed to stay focused.

“Broiled fish and steamed vegetables. However, I could fix some stewed meat for the dog,” Afua replied, tearing her eyes away from Xander long enough to look at her father, who was hanging his navy suit jacket on a wooden hook near the front door. She missed the frown on Nasiir’s face as he sat on the stairs near the raised dining room entrance.

Nasiir was not looking forward to having anything on tonight’s menu. Although he was in canine form and could consume those items, he still preferred to graze. Besides, he’d already had enough meat products at Lakota’s house when they offered him and Xander breakfast and lunch.

Aware of his friend’s disposition, Xander said, “That will not be necessary. Nasiir has already eaten and I do not like to over feed him. If he could be turned loose out in the yard on such a calm afternoon, I am sure he will be quite content while we eat inside.” Xander also knew that Nasiir would want to graze a bit and survey the perimeter outside.

“Okay, let me show you the way to the back yard,” Badru told Xander as he led the way towards the back door. He wasn’t really used to having animals in the house anyway.

As Afua watched Nasiir leap down from the stairs to allow her father access to the entryway, she could have sworn the canine had an expression of relief upon his face. That’s if she was a swearing woman, which she was not.

That is definitely no ordinary dog, Afua mused, her gaze continuing to follow Nasiir. When her eyes lit upon a departing Xander in the process, her mind added, That is no ordinary man, either.