Brida Pact

by Leora Gonzales

  “Plus, you can keep my big guy calm while we wait. He’s more nervous than I am if that’s possible,” Val whispered to Poppy once she’d caught up to her in the exam room.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Val’s screening was just as easy as Poppy’s had been. As they waited for the results, Poppy tried to distract Thorne with questions.

  “So…I thought you guys were going to be here earlier this morning. What took so long?”

  Thorne jumped when Val elbowed him to get his attention, and then appeared sheepish as he realized that Poppy had been talking to him and he had ignored her.

  “Sorry, I am just…anxious,” he explained.

  “So, where were you?” Noticing his gaze still hadn’t left the doctors who were staring at the screen of the regen bed, she tacked on, “You know that watching them like a hawk won’t make it go faster, right?”

  “Of course, of course. Sorry. We were held up in Council meetings.” Surveying the room now, he seemed to realize something. “Where is Wheaton?”

  Now Poppy was confused. “What do you mean? Wheaton was at the Council meeting all morning.”

  The weird expression on Val’s face didn’t make Poppy feel too good about what was coming next.

  “No, he wasn’t, Poppy. Both Hannah and Wheaton were absent this morning,” Val replied, squirming under the scrutiny.

  Poking her head out of the exam room, Poppy yelled, “Behyr!”

  He came running into the room, which he scanned as if he were checking for an enemy. Finding no one was in danger, he relaxed slightly. “Why did you yell for me? I thought something was wrong.”

  Waving her hand at him, which she knew he hated, Poppy brushed off his words. “Where is Hannah today?”

  She could see he was confused at her question but he answered, “At Council meetings,” then became confused at both Val and Thorne shaking their heads at him.

  “Apparently not. These two just came from the Council and said that neither Wheaton nor Hannah were there this morning.” She nodded to the pair.

  Now everyone was confused. But at that moment the regen bed beeped, letting them know the scan was complete. Thorne practically barreled past Poppy to get to the doctors. If Poppy could guess based on the smiles on their faces, she had a friend to schedule playdates with. Her suspicion was quickly confirmed when Thorne turned and raced across the room to lift Val up and hug her so tightly that her back should have popped.

  “So yes?” Val whispered.

  “Yes,” Thorne answered in a soft but happy voice.

  “Yes!” Poppy couldn’t help but exclaim with a fist pump into the air.

  “Yes what?” Behyr asked, watching everyone apparently celebrate, but not knowing why.

  Thorne turned with his arm around a beaming and slightly crying Val and announced to everyone within earshot, “Valerie is having my baby!”

  The entire scene made Poppy laugh. Thorne seemed pleased as punch that Val was pregnant. Val was happy as well if her beaming smile was anything to go by. The docs were patting each other on the backs as though they personally had had a hand in the baby-making while Behyr was stunned, his confusion apparent on his face.

  “You and Valerie?” he said, pointing between the two of them. “But you weren’t matched…” Unable to get out what he was trying to say, he stopped and then asked, “Does the Council know?”

  Thorne nodded and hugged Val tighter to his side. “We met with them this morning and explained the situation. I have petitioned for a match with Valerie and it has been approved. Now we are waiting for the paperwork to be signed.” He sent Poppy a grateful smile. “Poppy had suggested that we point out it would be to the benefit of the Council to have a liaison stationed here and it worked to our advantage. They did not want an unattached female on the ship permanently, but a liaison who is also a bride was perfect.”

  Walking forward to give hugs and congratulate the couple, Poppy whispered to Val, “I’m so happy for you.”

  Sniffing back her tears, Val laughed a little. “It’s a bit hard to take it all in. I mean, I came up here to help you out and then go home. Instead I met Thorne, we’re getting married and now we’re pregnant. I’m overwhelmed but so happy I feel like I could burst into confetti at any second.”

  “No bursting please.” Poppy laughed, wiping her own eyes that had teared up. “Speaking of bursting,” she added, “We should ask Tamin or Rodin about something to ease morning sickness. That shit can hit you quick but they might have something to deal with it.”

  “Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Val replied, holding her hands up to her smiling cheeks as she took a deep breath. “Do you ever feel like things happen for a reason?”

  Poppy took a second and then nodded at the men in the room. “Yeah…I do.”

  While Thorne grilled the two doctors about what Val could and could not do, it seemed like the ideal time for Poppy to steal Val away to the main medical room. Behyr followed them, obviously having some questions and knowing that he wouldn’t be able to get answers out of Thorne for a little while now.

  Poppy ushered her now-pregnant friend to a seat at a round table where they all made themselves comfortable even though Behyr seemed tense.

  “So, where the hell are Wheaton and Hannah?” Poppy blurted out, trying to solve the puzzle in her head.

  Valerie shook her head. “I’m not sure, Poppy. When Thorne and I arrived at the Council meeting, we looked for Wheaton. We wanted him on our side when we broached the subject of our mating with the Council. After asking a couple Council members, we were told that neither he nor Hannah were available this morning.” Glancing back at the exam room, she frowned. “Now that I think about it, one of the members whispered something to Thorne but I didn’t hear what was said. I was too nervous about our petition to pay much attention at the time. Maybe they told him something they didn’t want me to hear?”

  Now Poppy was hoping Thorne would hurry the hell up before she had to yell again but Behyr beat her to it.

  “Thorne!” Behyr’s voice was so loud Poppy had to shake her head to stop the ringing.

  Smacking his arm, she frowned at him. “Warn a girl next time, will ya? You almost blew out my eardrums.”

  He sheepishly grinned as Thorne shot into the room as if there was a fire.

  He ran immediately to Val and twirled her around in the chair.

  “Is everything okay with the baby?” Thorne’s hands were cupping Val’s nonexistent belly.

  “Yes, big guy, everything is fine.” She motioned over to Behyr with a nod of her head. “They want to know where Hannah and Wheaton might be.”

  Thorne grimaced and glanced between the two of them. Letting out a sigh, he sat down at the table next to Valerie.

  “Well, a Council member said they were discussing their bridal agreement with a few senior members and finalizing some paperwork.”

  Poppy jumped when Behyr’s fists hit the table with a hard thump.

  “That is not possible,” he gritted out with a clenched jaw, his fangs showing slightly.

  Never having seen Behyr angry before, Poppy now understood how scary the fangs were when you took in the whole package of a furious warrior of his size with teeth bared.

  Thorne raised his hands to show Behyr he wasn’t a threat. To calm him down he said, “I am not saying that they were upholding the contract, my warrior brother. It could be that they were finalizing it being dissolved.”

  Keeping a protective arm around Val, Thorne watched the Skrammon closely before speaking further. “Demascus was also absent from the morning meeting,” he added.

  Behyr stood quickly and nodded at all of them. “I am sorry if I scared you, Valerie, but I could not help my reaction.” He pledged, “I will control myself better when around your female. I am sorry I upset her.”

  Valerie shook her head. “It’s not a problem, Behyr. I would have had the same reaction if someone had hinted Thorne was possibly mating with someone else,” she assured him, g
iving him a quick peck.

  “If you will excuse me, I am going to find out where Hannah is at,” Behyr said. He paused in his path to the door when Poppy called out to him.

  “Can you tell Wheaton to check in please? I want to make sure everything is all right,” Poppy asked. She knew everything had to be okay. She wasn’t sure how she would deal with things if it wasn’t.

  Nodding his head in agreement, Behyr left quickly. As the remaining three friends sat around the table, both Val and Poppy teased Thorne about what questions he might have asked the doctors and why it had taken so long. Thorne turned bright red when Poppy hinted that maybe he had been asking sex questions. At his telling blush, both of the women started giggling like crazy.

  “We are going to work on an information packet explaining how to handle a pregnant bride,” Rodin declared, entering the room with Tamin following closely behind.

  At his statement, the group around the table burst into laughter. Both of the doctors jumped, startled before Thorne explained what they had been discussing just moments before.

  Val and Poppy had some suggestions when it came to what needed to be on the list and it included foot rubs and lots of chocolate, which the men took seriously and jotted down on a sheet of paper. As the women glanced at each other with smiles on their faces, they seemed to both be thinking the same thing: it couldn’t get any better than this.

  After a while, the doctors had to get back to more serious work and disappeared into the exam rooms. Thorne reluctantly admitted he had more work to finish and excused himself, leaving Val in Poppy’s care.

  “If I am not back in time, then I will meet you back in our quarters. Do not leave without an escort. That is an order,” Thorne said seriously, making sure the pair nodded before he left.

  Upset that the brides were going to be no-shows for their appointments, Poppy couldn’t help but wonder what the deal was. This was the first time they had all scheduled actual appointments and had not canceled nor let anyone know they wouldn’t be able to make it. Tamin and Rodin had messaged their warriors, trying to see what was causing the delay, but had not received any responses. It was odd but the doctors both shrugged it off.

  Poppy and Val were unable to hide their disappointment, so Rodin took pity on them and tossed a couple of pregnancy books onto the table for them to read. Poppy had to admit that the What to Expect book was full of information she didn’t know. For instance, were they getting all the nutrients the baby needed to grow right? She wasn’t sure how the replicator worked but assumed that some of the ingredients were legit. At the very least she hoped she wasn’t feeding her baby space slime disguised as a hamburger.

  Busy flipping through the books, the women were surprised when the door chimed two hours later. They hadn’t realized how much time had passed as they’d been chatting about their futures.

  “My butt can definitely tell how long we’ve been sitting, Poppy. I think one of my cheeks fell asleep,” Val joked while rubbing her behind.

  “No kidding. I think my foot is asleep too. Remind me to request some cushions for these pieces of space plastic they call chairs.” Picking up the books and tucking them away from prying eyes, Poppy then went to the door to answer it, to be greeted by two warriors she did not remember having seen before.

  “Hey, guys, do you need to see the doctors?” Poppy asked as she stepped aside to let the men into the med center. Usually when a warrior arrived, he came in with something bleeding from a sparring session that had gotten out of control, but these two appeared fine.

  “We are here as an escort for Poppy.” One held out his hand to shake.

  “I’m Poppy and this is Valerie,” she said, shaking the first warrior’s hand and smiling.

  “I am Cannon and this is Leo.”

  The warriors smiled back at both of the women while shaking hands for longer than necessary. Poppy thought she should maybe suggest a human-warrior relations class to teach them how to shake hands properly. Handshakes with the new guys always seemed either too quick and jarring, or hard and slow. Filing that away to talk to Wheaton about, she hollered to Rodin.

  “Rodin, I’m heading out for the day. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He mumbled a goodbye from the second room, and Tamin poked his head out of the first room.

  “Later, gator. Tomorrow I’ll bring donuts.”

  Tamin smiled at the promise of a treat and waved back.

  Oh, the warriors hadn’t mentioned escorting Val back to her apartment.

  “Can Val come too? I would appreciate it if you could walk her home once you’re done with me so she doesn’t have to wait for another escort,” Poppy asked.

  Both men nodded as one but only Cannon spoke when he said, “Of course.”

  Poppy grabbed her bag and swung around to speak to Val. “You ready to blow this popsicle stand?”

  Both men seemed worried by what she said.

  “It means leave. I asked if Val was ready to leave.” With that said, she linked her arm through Leo’s and walked with him out the door as Val followed, talking to Cannon.

  Leo stiffened slightly when she touched him but started chatting with her as soon as she started with her “get to know you” questions. Poppy was so engrossed in talking to Leo and finding out what type of warrior he was she didn’t realize they were on an unfamiliar floor. She paused and looked around. Gripping his arm, concerned that they had gotten lost, she stopped in her tracks and caused Val and Cannon to bump into them.

  “Are we going to Val’s first?” Poppy asked.

  “Ummm, Poppy, I’m only one floor beneath you. This is a completely different part of the ship,” Val replied, sharing in the confusion.

  Leo shook his head at the women. “We were instructed to escort you here, not your quarters, Poppy.”

  Poppy noticed more warriors here than she usually encountered while walking the halls. Most were carrying parcels or bags and seemed to be moving very quickly. In fact, most of the warriors paid no attention to the women, which was strange as Poppy was used to the stares of interest she got when moving about the ship from one place to another.

  “Where is ‘here’ exactly?” Poppy asked while continuing to walk, this time at a slower pace.

  “The intake floor. We received orders from the Council that you were to have a meeting here and they sent us to escort you. During the meeting, you will be briefed on life on Phaeton Prime and how to adjust.” Nodding behind him at his friend and Val, he added, “We will escort Val to her quarters once you have been dropped off.”

  For some reason, Poppy’s Spidey-senses started tingling. The warriors seemed nice enough but not knowing where she was going was triggering something inside her. That combined with not having heard from Wheaton all morning didn’t sit well. Trying to remember where they were walking and how to get back if needed, she started paying attention to the symbols on the doors she passed. This was one of those times she wished she could pull out the cheat sheet Dathrow had drawn for her.

  Reaching the door to their apparent destination, Poppy hoped to see Wheaton on the other side of it, but was disappointed when she was shown into an empty room.

  “We were told to have you wait here, Poppy,” said Cannon. He turned to Val, who had followed Poppy into the room, and held out his arm for her to take. “We can now take you to your apartments, Valerie.”

  Seeming uncomfortable with the situation, Val looked from warrior to warrior and then back at the empty meeting room. “Actually, I think I’ll wait here with Poppy and keep her company. After all, I’ll be going to Phaeton Prime too, so any information she needs then I’ll need as well. I’ll have the next escort take me back to my rooms when they walk Poppy back.”

  Both of the warriors seemed fine with her request. Bowing quickly in unison, they nodded at each of the women.

  “It was nice to meet you, Poppy,” Cannon said.

  “And you too, Valerie,” Leo added, then turning as if he had forgotten something, he paused. �
�We were told that there is an antibiotic that you need to take. It’s there on the table. It’s just a precaution. You should find a pill inside the small cup.”

  Walking to the table at the back of the room, he picked up two medicine cups from a long row of them sitting on the table. He handed both women one. They both had a purple pill inside.

  Valerie glanced at Poppy before asking the men, “What exactly is this for?”

  “We were instructed that it is an antibiotic that humans need to take prior to arriving on Phaeton Prime. Something to do with a disease that you may catch that we are immune to. Since you will be accompanying us to our home planet then you should take it as well, Valerie.” Cannon walked back to the table and found two water bottles in a cooler beside the table. He handed each woman a bottle and the warriors excused themselves and left the room.

  Alone in the empty space, Poppy and Val stared at each other.

  “This is totally weirding me out… Do you think this is safe to take while pregnant?” Poppy asked, staring into her cup.

  “Something doesn’t seem right,” Val agreed. She shook hers around. The pill made a small tinging noise in the little plastic container. “Let’s wait to ask Rodin or Tamin before we take any meds.”

  She reached for the pill Poppy hadn’t taken and shook it and hers into a tissue she pulled from her pocket, which she then put into her messenger bag. “I’ll hold on to them until we get the okay from the docs.” Dropping the empty cups onto the table, she opened her water bottle and took a swig. Valerie walked to the table in the corner of the room and picked up a file folder.

  Poppy nodded at the papers Val was leafing through. “What is that?”

  “These are consent forms for something―”

  Both women stopped their snooping when the door beeped. Without either them opening it, it swished open, revealing Demascus with four warriors.

  The bad tingles that Poppy’d had in her stomach earlier moved to full-on earthquake mode when she saw him smile.

  “Oh great,” she let out on a soft breath.

  Val was standing so close to Poppy that when she gripped her arm, Poppy could feel her whole body tense.