Before he could stand up, her tiny arms closed around his neck and she kissed his cheek. “I love you, Leonardo.”
His throat tightened to the point where it was difficult to speak, and his words came out in a hoarse whisper as his tail tenderly touched her cheek. “I love you too, little one. Now close your eyes and rest.”
“Okay,” she said, smiling up at him.
As he turned to leave the room, he glanced at Tiana and realized that Abigail had done something to the container. The walls were no longer clear but had fabric fastened to the outside with tiny bows. The delicate touches made it appear more comfortable, like home, and less like the dreadful incubators. His chest ached. Abigail had done that for him.
When he returned to the front room, Abigail was still sitting on the couch. He swept her up and settled down in her place with her on his lap, kissing her until she was breathless.
She stared up at him, her pale eyes dazed. “What in the world was that for?”
“For covering the container.”
“The container? Oh, you mean the bassinet.” Her cheeks turned that lovely shade of pink. “I saw how much you disliked it, but you can’t carry her all the time.”
“It is a vast improvement, and I thank you.”
“I’m afraid she’ll outgrow it soon. We—you will need to find another place for her to sleep. Do you still have baby stores on Ciresia?”
“No,” he said shortly. Perhaps there were some that had not yet decayed, but he would not use anything from one of those sad reminders of the past for his sweet daughter.
“No, I suppose not.” She bit her lip. “Maybe when you take us back to Earth, you could stay for a little while? I could get her some supplies there.”
He wanted to—oh, how he wanted to—but he knew he could not. “Confederated Planets law forbids contact with developing worlds. We will use the shuttle to transport you at night, but it would be too risky to stay any longer than absolutely necessary.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She didn’t sound any happier about it than he felt.
He attempted to distract her. “What are you doing with those garments?”
A number of uniform shirts had been folded into neat piles.
She pursed her lips. “I know these aren’t labeled, but can you tell who they belong to?”
He reached for one, then nodded. “Yes.”
“By scent? Even though they’re clean?”
“Yes, of course. Once an object has been worn, it picks up an… essence of the wearer that is not removed, even by washing. These all appear to have been worn.”
“Can you line them up on the desk? So that they’re as identical as possible?”
“Of course.”
He reluctantly put her aside, missing the feel of her body as soon as he did so. When he stood up, she closed her eyes. It wasn’t until he noticed that one of the shirts was his that he realized what she was doing. His heart began to pound as he set the folded uniforms in a neat row on his desk.
“They’re ready,” he said.
She opened her eyes and came over to join him. One by one, she picked up the shirts and lifted them all to her face, despite her obvious reluctance as they came close to her. Her face crinkled with each shirt, until she came to his and she finally relaxed as she held it closer.
“This is yours, isn’t it?”
“Yes, my flower.” His heart was singing but she looked too troubled for him to rejoice. “Does that worry you?”
“I’m not sure I understand what it means.”
It means that you are my mate. But he didn’t say the words aloud.
“TeShawna and Elaina are reacting the same way,” she said finally. “And Molly.”
“That is… unexpected,” he said slowly. “It was clear that there was an attraction, but they are acting more like Cire females.”
He didn’t mention that she was reacting the same way, but the knowledge hung in the air between them.
“This repulsion to another man’s smell—that’s normal?”
“Yes.”
“Do you—do Cire males react the same way?”
“Yes.” He looked directly at her. “I would know your scent anywhere, Abigail. No other would appeal to me.”
She bit her lip and gave a nervous little laugh. “But you’ll get over that, right? Once we’re apart?”
No. He strongly suspected that no other female would ever appeal to him. But he couldn’t tell her that. He didn’t want her to feel sorry for him, or for her to feel that he was trying to force her to stay with him. Instead, he shrugged and changed the subject.
“Do you require anything else for your females?”
“No.” She gave him a warm smile. “You have provided for us very well. Did you talk to Dr. Mekoi about the possibility that one of the girls might give birth?”
“Yes, and he is making preparations.” He added reluctantly, “Kwaret had been assisting him.”
“See? They’re not all bad.”
“No. I suppose all races have both good and bad members. Unfortunately, the Vedeckian culture places profit above all else. He is the only one I have met who seems to have some respect for other values.”
“After the girls wake up, I’ll go and see if I can provide any help. I might not have any personal experience but I’ve been through a number of births with my girls.”
He did not like the idea of her in the same room with the Vedeckian male—or with any male for that matter—if he could not be present, but he understood her sense of responsibility. “Is that your employment?”
“More of a labor of love, really. After I adopted Lucie, I didn’t want to leave her with a nanny all day. I was a chief financial officer for a large corporation and they thought that children should come second to the responsibilities of my job. I disagreed. So I resigned and decided to open a maternity home for pregnant girls with nowhere else to go.” She looked away from him. “That was another reason that John left. He wanted a partner with an impressive title, not to mention an income that allowed her to purchase the appropriate clothing.” Running a thoughtful hand over her mended pants, she shook her head. “He certainly wouldn’t have approved of clothing made from someone else’s leftovers.”
“I like this male less and less each time you mention him,” he growled.
“I did too.” She shrugged. “He was fine when everything was easy, but he wasn’t about to make any sacrifices to support my needs, let alone Lucie’s. I wasn’t even surprised, really. Most men are like that.”
“No, they are not. A true male would make any sacrifice for his mate. I—” I would do anything for you.
“You?” she asked, her head tilted and her eyes glimmering with what looked like hope.
“I—I have duties to attend to. I will join you for the evening meal.”
He was a coward, and yet how could he tell her how he felt when she planned to leave him? Still, he lingered long enough to kiss her, hoping to convey with his body what he could not say with his words. She melted against him, her soft body arousing his desire. When at last he strode away from their cabin, the ache in his loins matched the ache in his heart.
Under the circumstances, he was not surprised when Jedan sought him out just before dinner. Since he was sharing his cabin with Abigail and the females had taken over his ready room, he was using a former supply room as a small office and Jedan found him there.
“Captain Hrebec.” Jedan stood at attention, his gaze fixed on the wall.
“Yes, Lieutenant?”
“I wish to inform you that I have moved Elaina and the two infants into my quarters.”
Hrebec closed his eyes. He should have known that this was coming. “It didn’t occur to you to ask my permission?”
“No, sir.” Jedan’s eyes flashed to his for the merest second. “I was merely following the precedent which you set.”
That was also something he should have expected. “I assume she is willing?”
&nb
sp; “Of course she is!” Jedan finally dropped his formality. “It is very difficult for her to look after both infants on her own. I wish only to assist her.”
“That is your only wish?” Hrebec asked dryly.
“No.” His second hesitated, then sighed and sat down. “I wish to take her as my mate, to care for her and the infants for the rest of their lives. But I know she is returning to their planet and that I will not be able to accompany her. She has told me that her people would react with fear. That alone would not bother me, but she says that her government would take me away from them.”
“If it were not for that, you would go? Knowing that you would never see Ciresia again?”
Sorrow cast a shadow on Jedan’s face. “You know as well as I do that Ciresia was lost to us many years ago. I would miss this ship and her crew, of course, but Elaina and the children are more important to me. I would give up everything to keep them.”
“I know, Jedan.” Hrebec couldn’t argue, because he would do the same given the opportunity. “I know.”
Chapter Twenty
After Hrebec left, Abby gathered the extra uniform shirts to return to the ready room and started working on a surprise for Lucie. They had taken some of Hrebec’s uniform fabric and boiled it with some dried fruit that Pravit had provided, turning the fabric a soft pink. As soon as she heard Lucie stirring, she hid the partially completed dress under some other clothing.
Lucie appeared in the bedroom door, rubbing her eyes and yawning. “Tiana’s awake, Mama.”
“Thank you, baby.”
While Abby fed and changed Tiana, Lucie wandered around the small room. As she traced the carving on Hrebec’s desk, she came to the pile of uniform shirts and wrinkled her nose.
“Why does you have these smelly shirts, Mama?”
“Why do I,” she corrected automatically before she realized what Lucie had said. “Wait, smelly? Do they all smell bad?”
Lucie picked through them, grabbing one with a smile on her face. “Not this one. I likes this one.”
Oh, good lord, it was affecting all of them. All of them…
She looked down at Tiana who nursed contentedly. “Lucie, baby, can you bring me one of those shirts that smells good and one that smells bad?”
Lucie made a face but obeyed. “Here you go.”
Abby took the first one, one that didn’t belong to Hrebec, and brought it closer to the baby. Her little face wrinkled and she stopped sucking.
“Sorry, sweetie,” Abby said, hastily removing the offending garment.
Once Tiana started working away at her bottle again, she draped Hrebec’s shirt over her arm. Tiana didn’t stop nursing but she definitely slowed down and her tail clung more tightly to Abby’s arm.
“What’s you doing?”
“I was trying to see if Tiana thought the shirts smelled bad. Since she’s just a baby, she can’t tell us.”
“I know. I have lots to teach her,” Lucie said importantly. “When’s she going to be big enough to play with me?”
“Not until after we go home, I’m afraid.”
“I don’t wants to go home. I wants to wait until Tiana can play with me.” Lucie pouted and her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.
Seeing Lucie so upset had Abby’s own heart aching.
“I know you do, sweetie.” So do I. “As soon as Tiana’s done, why don’t we go show Cassie your new game? I need to go talk to the doctor again.”
“I ‘spose,” Lucie said reluctantly.
Lucie kept pouting until they reached the girls’ quarters, where she forgot her troubles in her excited rush to show Cassie her new toy. Cassie was suitably admiring, but once Lucie was engrossed in another game, she came over to Abby.
“Do you think they could make a formula for Angel the way they did for Tiana?”
“I don’t see why not. They seemed to understand what a baby needs from a nutritional viewpoint. If it’s not being served cold from a tube, you could probably get her to take it. And I’m sure Dr. Mekoi would be willing to help us find the right combination.”
“What’s the matter?” TeShawna huffed. “My milk not good enough?”
“Oh, TeShawna, you know better.” Cassie’s eyes filled with tears. “You saved her life and I can never forget that. But I miss feeding her. At least with a bottle, I could still do that.”
“Yeah, I guess I can understand that.” TeShawna’s face softened, but Abby couldn’t help noticing that she still looked tired and drawn.
“I need to talk to the doctor anyway,” Abby said. “Why don’t you come with me, TeShawna? You can tell Dr. Mekoi about Angel’s eating habits.” She hoped it wasn’t a mistake to bring her along, but she couldn’t stand seeing her so miserable.
“I reckon I could.”
Cassie winked at Abby. “I’ll take care of the girls.”
All of the cabin doors were open. Abby could see Molly lying on her bed, staring at nothing, while Amber was walking Lily around, singing to her.
“Where’s Elaina?”
“She moved in with that Lieutenant Jedan,” TeShawna muttered, not even bothering to mask her resentment.
“She did what?” Oh, crap. Although after her little experiment with the shirts, why was she even surprised?
“Seems like she’s following in your footsteps,” the girl added.
“But that’s different,” Abby protested weakly. “Hrebec is just helping me with the girls.”
TeShawna raised her eyebrows. “And Jedan is just helping her with Mikie and Ginger. Alone. In his cabin.”
As TeShawna’s words sank in, Abby swore under her breath. Considering how hard it was for her to keep her hands off of Hrebec, could she expect Elaina to have the same restraint?
Abby sighed. “I definitely need to go see Mekoi now. Are you coming?”
“I said I would.”
Despite her apparent reluctance, TeShawna led the way down the corridor to the med lab. Abby watched as she stepped into the room. Even though anger still darkened her face, her body relaxed as soon as she entered.
“TeShawna. I am very glad to see you,” Mekoi said gravely as his tail flicked towards her. “You did not give me an opportunity to finish—”
“I heard enough,” she muttered. “I’m not here to see you, anyways. Miss Abby wants to talk to you.”
Mekoi bowed his head and his tail drooped. “I see.”
Abby decided that the time had come to intervene. “Hrebec told me that you’re making preparations in case one of the girls goes into labor before we reach Trevelor.”
“That is correct.” He gestured to an open door on the far side of the room. Inside, she saw Kwaret working on some type of machine. “Kwaret has been most helpful.”
TeShawna wandered over to the room and raised her eyebrows. “You’ve got enough equipment in here to choke a horse. My granny gave birth with nothing but a pot of hot water and some string.”
“Water? Why do we need water? Or string? Those were not on our list.” Mekoi’s face assumed a panicked expression.
“The hot water was to sterilize everything, and the string was used to tie off the umbilical cord,” Abby explained. “And TeShawna, you know that there was a lot of equipment at the hospital.”
“Just saying.” She shrugged.
“Everything will be sterilized,” Mekoi assured them both. “And we have clamps to separate the umbilical cord. I just wish I knew more about the process.”
“Then it’s a good thing I brought TeShawna along. She can describe the procedure when she gave birth,” Abby said cheerfully. “Why don’t you see what they have set up, TeShawna?”
The girl made another face but disappeared into the room, and a moment later, she could be seen questioning Kwaret intently. Mekoi went to join them, but Abby stopped him.
“Dr. Mekoi, are you familiar with birth control? To prevent pregnancy?”
“Of course I am familiar with the concept.” A shadow crossed his face. “It has been forbidden o
n Ciresia since the third year of the Red Death.”
“I can understand that, but now we have humans and Cires in, um, close companionship. I wouldn’t want any unexpected consequences.”
“You mean that humans and Cires can mate?” he asked eagerly. “But this is wonderful news.”
“I don’t know if they can or not,” she said quickly, her cheeks heating. “But we don’t need to find that out accidentally, either. We’re returning to Earth, remember?”
His eyes went to TeShawna, and he bowed his head. “I cannot forget.”
“And we don’t want anything unexpected showing up once we get there,” she said firmly. “A half-Cire child would not be treated well on our planet.” She shuddered to even think what would happen if the government got involved.
“I understand. Most Cires are not forgiving of differences either.” He finally dragged his eyes away from TeShawna. “You wish for something to prevent pregnancy?”
“I think it would be smart, yeah. Elaina and Jedan are sharing a cabin.”
“So are you and Hrebec.”
Her cheeks were definitely hot now. “Nothing has happened between us,” she said quickly, then sighed. “But if there’s one thing I preach to my girls, it’s that it only takes one slip. It’s better to be prepared.”
“Are you at a fertile time?”
She did a quick calculation in her head and decided she must be about three weeks into her cycle. “I should be past it for this month. Why?”
“I would like to take a blood sample.”
“Great.” She made a face but held out her arm. “Go ahead.”
“It won’t hurt,” he assured her.
Remembering how easily he had injected the translators, she tried to be optimistic about the procedure. He was true to his word; she only felt a brush of cool air and a slight pressure before he pulled back with a small vial of blood.
“I will see what I can determine,” he said, but as he took the vial to a counter, Abby noticed that his gaze wandered back to TeShawna. He placed the vial in another device and entered some information into its control panel.
“I think sooner—rather than later—would be best,” she said, and he shot her an amused look.
Mama and the Alien Warrior Page 12