A strange, green skinned creature unlike anything you’ve seen before is standing in the doorway, holding a plate of purple flapjacks in… well, you presume it’s a her… in her hands. From head to foot, the creature the back of your mind insists on identifying as “Mom” was about five and a half feet tall, and seemed about three feet wide at the hips. She was a rather plump thing, like her body was stuffed like a large pillow, and she had fairly squat proportions to her overall. On top of that she seemed to have a centaur sort of body plan, making her a quadrupedal creature, except instead of hooves her legs end in three toed feet. She was wrapped in a blue skintight jumpsuit that lacked any sleeves, and she had tied a pink frilly apron over her torso. Looking at her face, the creature appeared pretty enough, although she lacked a nose and had catlike lips. She had rounded ears that reminded you of an octopus, a pair of large purple eyes, thick purple fins in a flipped out bob hairstyle, and a pair of slug-like antennae extending from her forehead.
If you could hazard a guess, whatever this creature was, she must be some kind of space alien.
“Oh good, you’re awake,” the motherly alien beamed a smile at you, “Earthlings must sleep an awful long time compared to us Molluskans. You were out for ten whole cycles! Oh dear, what is that in Earthling timescale again? Gosh, I think it converts to around eight… uh… is the ‘h’ at the beginning of hours silent or non-silent? I can’t remember.”
“W-who… wh-what…,” you stammeringly backed away from the alien creature, “Who are you?”
“Oh my stars, where are my manners?” the creature gasped, gently setting the purple flapjacks on the dresser, “In all the excitement of adopting an Earthling I guess I let a few things slip, but I suppose I do owe you an introduction at least for how suddenly this is all happening. Uh, hi!” she waved at you nervously, “I’m Gloria Hubble, and well as of today I am your adoptive mother. Surprise!” She wiggled her hands in a sort of “tada” gesture.
“Wh-wh… nooo no no no,” you find yourself losing balance and have to lean against the wall, “this-this-this… this can’t be happening! I got… I got abducted by aliens?”
“Oh dear,” Gloria sighed, “this all must look like an abduction from your point of view, huh dear? I really was a bit overexcited, and I even made this nice new bedroom for you too. I should have waited until you were awake to teleport you in, but I guess I got the better of myself. Oh, and I even implanted that recognition chip in your head before I could ask if you were okay with it! Oh gosh, I should know better than this! What kind of mother am I?!”
“Alright alright,” you spill out, hoping to stop Gloria’s little panic spiral, “Let’s… let’s just start again from the beginning. I’ll be asking most of the questions here, alright?”
“Alright,” Gloria nodded, wiping a tear away from her eyes, “I owe you so much more than answers for this, but this is as good a start as any.”
“Okay,” you nodded in kind, “Good we’re clear on that. So… Gloria, right? What uh… what exactly are you?”
“Oh, why I’m a Molluskan,” Gloria explained, “We’re kind of like sluggy people with four legs. I think we’re a mix of mollusks and mammals? Warm blooded but we use fluid pressure instead of bones, lay eggs but also make milk… We’re quite technologically advanced compared to Earth. You’re still in your early Digital Age, aren’t you? We’re a few ages ahead of that, but you’re advancing about twice as fast as we did. We live about twice as long as humans too, so I guess that’s why we take so long to advance.”
“Alright,” you continue, “You mentioned something about recognition chip. What is that?”
“Well,” Gloria went on, “I don’t know the specifics, but it’s this little microchip that tells your brain a lot of information in an instant! Things like who your family members are and what language they speak and read. By the way you can read and write in Mollish now. All thanks to a little doodad that gets implanted right in your brain. Sorry again about doing it against your permission dear, like I said I was overexcited.”
“Okay so, why’d you do that?” you pressed, “Why did you abdu… adopt… me? Why did you adopt me? How did you even find out about me?”
“Oh, well,” Gloria wrung her hands, “I always wanted to have two children of my own, and well… this is rather personal but you probably need the context. My fertility isn’t all that strong. I’ve had two miscarriages before I had my first daughter Uniqua and she was a miracle baby let me tell you, but then after her nothing else was happening. After a few more duds I decided to go with adoption. I was recommended this agency by a friend, and they said they could help adopt alien children. I uh… I suppose you’re not exactly a child anymore, are you dear? Well anyway, the agency has been keeping tabs on Earth for potential adoptions, mostly those lacking their natural families. I guess the agency must have determined that something must have happened to your birth mother and father that would warrant your registration.”
You thought back on that and nodded glumly, “Nasty car crash. Some drunk driver rear ended their car and they swerved off the road onto the train tracks. They couldn’t get out in time before the train hit them. I was… I was 15 when it happened, staying with grandparents. I haven’t felt the same since.”
“Oh my stars,” Gloria covered her mouth with her hands, “That… that is terrible! Oh sweetheart, I’m sorry you had to go through that!”
“I’m alright now,” you assured the worried alien, “It still hurts me, but I’m okay with it now. It’s uh… wow. Really opened up there, not uh… not used to that. So I guess… thanks for your concern? I’m… I don’t know if being adopted by alien slugs is for me.”
“Well if it helps you reconsider,” Gloria said, “I can drop you back off on Earth if you’re really sure about this. I can offer you a new life if you do choose to stay here though. Cleaner town to live in, maybe a better place to work, heck I could cook for you every day if you want. I’m giving you the autonomy to choose here. You can either stay and I will take care of you, or you can go back and forget this ever happened. I’m fine with either.”