by April Zyon
“Hardly, but I’ve become very good at guessing what you might need. You tend to give me hints from time to time,” he said. He squeezed her hand as they walked to the doors of medical. Going inside, he pressed a hand to the small of her back as they waited for the doctor to spot them.
Adira’s feet were bare. She had stopped wearing shoes two weeks earlier because of how swollen her feet were. “Perhaps today our son will allow us to see him face on?” The little brat kept his back to her far more often than not in the imaging. Something that always made her grin, funnily enough.
“Maybe he’s shy,” he said. “I fully understand the sentiment. I hate having my image captured. Perhaps he does take after me more than I’d realized. Not a bad thing really,” he told her. Squeezing her fingers, he cleared his throat. The doctor finally turned to look at them, smiled, and waved them over to a table.
“He’s very much like you,” Adira said with a smile. “And that lovely baby of ours is very shy. I adore that about him but I truly do want to see him.” The imaging scanners that the people had on the ship were amazing. She could see every single part of the child.
“Then you’d better have a chat with our boy, and let him know that his mother wishes to see his face. Because they are wheeling the scanner over here now, and time’s running out to sweet talk him.”
“Good point.” She placed her hand onto her belly and smiled. “I love you, my sweet little man. I really do want to see you, honey. Will you please ensure that you show yourself to the scanner so that I can see you, my darling boy?”
Fintan helped her up onto the table, then down to her back. He moved to stand by her head, her hand in his as the doctor and an assistant got the scanner in place. “Think he’ll show us his face today?” he asked her while the doctor pressed a couple of buttons on the scanner before moving to pick up her data pad.
“He had better or I’m going to be a very grumpy momma when he finally comes out.” She was stroking her hand lovingly over her belly. She loved knowing that her child was safe and happy as he was. She could all but feel the joy from their son. “I can feel all of his emotions and that makes me so happy.”
“He’s trying to woo you into forgetting he’ll be showing us his ass soon, and only his ass,” Fintan muttered.
“We’re ready to go, Lady Daykin. Lay back, hands at your sides, and relax. Shouldn’t take more than a moment or two before we get a good look at your son.”
Fintan snorted at that. Giving her hand a kiss, he settled it by her side and eased out of the way of the scanner.
“I know, which bothers me. I love the kid but it’s bugging me that he’s always showing us his backside.” It was as if the boy was mimicking his father as much as possible. She loved her child already but it was the wildest thing, the way that he always turned his butt to the scanner. “Please show us yourself, my little man.” She spoke softly to her baby, begging and pleading with him as best she could.
The doctor was talking quietly to the assistant as they both squinted at the data pad the doctor held. The assistant pointed at something that had them both narrowing their eyes more and tilting their heads one way, then the other.
“What has you two so confused?” Fintan asked from the side.
“The same reason I had you come back in today. We’re picking up a shadow that shouldn’t be on the scan,” the doctor muttered. “Let’s get her up on her feet. We’re putting her into the full-body scanner. One way or another we’re going to get a look at whatever your son is hiding from us, little devil.”
Adira felt a little terrified. “What do you mean?” she asked, reaching for Fintan. “He’s healthy, right?” she demanded. “Please, tell me that my son is okay?”
“Your son is perfectly fine, from the view we’re getting of his little bottom. But he keeps moving with the scanner, his back to us at all times. So we’re going to do a full-body scan, all sides at the same time, so that he can’t keep doing that. I didn’t want to do it before because it’s a horrid use of power, but your son is pushing me to it. Sorry, General, but the little guy isn’t playing fair.”
Fintan rubbed a finger to his nose. “Like mother, like son,” he said for Adira’s ears only.
She snorted. “Like father, like son,” she muttered. “And you’re certain that he’s okay?” she asked the doctor as she stepped into the full-body scan. “And the drain of power, it will be okay, right, Fin?” She didn’t want to do anything that might cause them all injury in the long run.
“We’ll be fine,” Fintan assured her. He leaned in to press a kiss to her lips. “Let me alert the command deck before they think the dining hall is plugging in something they shouldn’t and send a squad down to scare them. Again.” Stepping back, he tapped the earpiece he rarely ever didn’t have in place and passed along the word of warning. “You’re good to go, Doctor.”
“You may want to close your eyes, Adira. Same with you, General. It lights up pretty brightly at the beginning and can be hard on the one inside of the full-body scanner, and any Craegin. Once you hear the hum, though, you can open your eyes again.”
Adira nodded and once more placed her hand protectively over her belly. “And you are certain that this won’t harm my child?” When the doctor told her no, she took a breath, gave Fintan another hug, then stepped into the scanner. She closed her eyes. “It’s going to be okay, my little man. Mommy will never let anyone hurt you, I promise,” she assured her child. “I love you, my little man. Now, be good?”
“Starting up the scanner,” the assistant called out in warning. Through her eyelids, Adira could see the bright lights as they clicked on. A few moments later a hum started, and the lights died down to a much lower level.
“Okay, there’s his head,” the doctor muttered. “And look at that, he’s got himself a little button nose. Nice to finally see you, Little General.”
“Doctor, you seeing this?” the assistant said.
“By the stars,” the doctor said softly, her voice filled with wonder. Then she began to laugh.
“Can I see him?” Adira didn’t open her eyes, she simply asked that question. “I want to see my little man, please?” She was anxious and desperate to see her child. “Doc, please?”
“In a moment. Let us finish the scan and then you can step out and see him.” The doctor and assistant held another whispered conversation. A few minutes later the scanner shut down. “All right, Lady Daykin, you can come out. If you’ll have a seat I’ll show you the images we managed to capture despite your son’s best efforts to avoid getting his image captured.”
She looked to Fin and saw that he was slightly pale. “Fin?” she asked with a frown. “What’s wrong?” She moved to settle onto one of the beds that he offered her, his arm tightly around her middle and his breathing coming in small gasps. “Please, talk to me? What did you see?”
The doctor chuckled and handed over the data pad. “He saw the reason your son’s been so adamant about avoiding giving us a frontal. Have a look,” she offered. When Adira took the pad, the doctor stepped back with a huge smile on her face.
Adira looked at the scan and dropped it. She couldn’t help it. “Wait, no. That’s not possible.” She was looking now at Fintan. “Two? By the heavens and stars, Fin, we are having twins? That’s not possible. My people haven’t birthed twins in thousands of years. Multiple births aren’t something that occur with my people. Are they with yours?” She was panting now, a fat tear falling from her eyes. “Are they okay?” She now looked at the doctors. “The babies, both, are they okay?”
“They are both perfectly healthy,” she said. “Your son has been hiding your daughter from us. A protective instinct obviously he’s already got ingrained. She’s a little smaller, as tends to happen with multiples, but is equally healthy. Your husband, though, may need a chair.” She waved her assistant to wheel a chair over. “Multiples don’t usually happen in Imarian births, or Craegin. It seems however when you put an Imarian with a Craegin, or vice versa
, it happens. Since they don’t live in your culture, you’d have likely never known about it. The Imarians tend to be a little less than welcoming with a Craegin around.”
“Oh my. No we had always been told that Craegin and Imarians couldn’t procreate and that we weren’t even genetically and physiologically compatible,” she whispered and put her hand to her belly once again. “My poor Craegin husband.” She looked to Fin and smiled. “I’m so sorry,” she murmured and reached out for him. “I never once would have dreamed that our having a child would have ended in a multiple birth.” She brought his hand to her lips and kissed the back of his hand lightly. “What do we need to do?” she asked the doctor without looking up. “To ensure that our children are well cared for?”
“What you are doing right now. Eat when you’re hungry, take in plenty of fluids, and sleep as much as you can. The vitamins you’ve been on are still good for multiples. But now at least we know for sure why the additional weight gain. Your son is big, but he wasn’t responsible for everything, and now we know the balance is on your daughter’s little shoulders. I will have you come back in a week. Hopefully by then your boy isn’t being quite so protective and we don’t have to start up the full scanner again. I somehow doubt anyone would be happy with that.” The doctor waved a hand in front of Fintan’s face. “Do you want a hand with him back to your quarters? I’m afraid he’s in shock at the moment.”
She shook her head and looked to the doctors. “Could I get a moment alone with him, please?” she asked softly. When they left she looked over at Fintan. “Fin, honey, talk to me? You are seriously terrifying me right now. I’m scared enough as it is because of having two babies but you are really freaking me out right now. Please, please talk to me?”
“Two,” he whispered. “There are two.” He finally blinked, and lifted his head to look at her. Getting to his feet, he moved to stand in front of her, his hands on her legs where he squeezed her thighs gently. “I swear I didn’t know, Adira. If I’d known I’d have warned you of the possibility.”
“I never would have dreamed that we would have two.” She put her hands onto his cheeks and pulled him closer. “Believe me. Multiple births have never occurred in my race, not in thousands of years.” She was shaking, weak, and she was scared shitless. “I’m terrified,” she told him bluntly.
Instantly he wrapped his arms around her, stepping in closer to hold her. “Damn it, that’s my line to use, Adira. Now what am I going to say?” Fintan rubbed her back gently, and squeezed. “We’ll be okay, little wife. We can do anything as long as we stick together. But I think we may need to get a few more items before our children make an appearance. Sadly I fear we won’t have enough of anything at this moment.”
“You are going to tell me that you love me,” she told him with a nod. “And you are going to assure me that no matter what, this is all going to work out. Right?” She needed for it to work out. She was desperate for it all to work out. “Promise me that this will work? Oh God. Your men. Shoot. Markus is going to laugh his proverbial ass off, isn’t he?” He was already giving Fintan a hard time because of just how pregnant Adira was and how virile that Fin obviously was. Now this was going to add to it even more.
Fintan let out a low growl. “Woman, there is no need to point out that obvious fact. Maybe I should send Markus to work with Bracken for a time, would serve him right. By the stars, Bracken is going to have a fit,” he muttered with a groan. “Let’s go get you a snack, and then hide out in our quarters for a time. I’m not ready to face the hordes and give them the news that we’re having two babies. I say we allow the rumor mill to do its work on this one.”
She had to laugh. She couldn’t help herself. “They won’t know yet, right? Please tell me that they won’t know about the babies yet.” She wasn’t ready for them to all know and give her those looks. “Already the guards that you have assigned to me look just a bit pale each time that I might stumble.” She gulped. “Oh heavens. They are going to ask to get alternate duties now, aren’t they?”
Helping her off the table, Fin wrapped his arm around her waist and took her hand in his other hand. “They won’t ask. They happen to adore you, Adira. As everyone on my crew adores you. For you they’d likely mutiny if you asked—don’t ask, by the by.” Walking out of medical, he rubbed her knuckles with his thumb. “They’ll know soon enough. This is very good news after all, so they’ll likely know before we get to the dining hall.”
“Oh I’m sure.” She took a deep breath and sighed. “I hope you’re right. The poor men sometimes look as if they are terrified being there around me. They look as if they’re about to fall over when I trip and may the heavens help them if I fall to my knees. I swear that I steal years from their souls when I do that.” She didn’t try, it just happened.
“They’ll be fine,” he assured her. He sent a look back over his shoulder and sighed. “I may have been a little harsh on my instructions, though. I was quite clear what would happen to them if anything were to happen to you, even through no fault of their own. They take such things very seriously.”
She was walking along with him and laughed. “So maybe you should tell them that if it’s something that they can’t stop you won’t skin them alive, please?” she wanted to know. “Keep them happy?”
“Perhaps I will,” he muttered. Giving her a squeeze, he let out a breath. “I’ll speak with them tomorrow, and revise my instructions slightly. Maybe they’ll stop looking so nervous all the time at the very least.”
“I could hope so,” she told him with a nod. She lay her head on his chest as they walked. “I love you, and we are having babies.” She was sad, though. “Have you heard anything at all from Petr on the message that you sent to him? It’s been months. He should have received it by now, right?”
In the lift he rubbed her back slowly. “I’m always willing to change my mind on something. Especially when my little wife is the one asking me to do so. And when she’s right, she is right. Which I freely admit. Hold on,” he muttered. He pressed his earpiece and listened for a moment. “We’ll meet you there. Sorry, Adira, no snack for you right now. Your surprise is early so we’re heading to go see it. Thank the stars,” he muttered. Reaching out, he tapped the lift controls until they slowed, and again so they changed direction.
“Okay, but when my belly starts to growl I’m so blaming you.” She was rubbing at the side of her belly as they walked. “Two. Holy mother, I can’t believe that we are having two,” she whispered softly. “Now, where are we going?” They weren’t going to the command deck, so where?
“I’ll have one of the guards run to grab you a snack if it comes to that. I’m sure they’ll even argue about whose turn it is to get out from under my attention.” Fintan stepped off the lift onto a part of the destroyer she didn’t recognize. Likely one of the areas she wasn’t permitted to go to if she had to guess. “These are the landing bays,” he said when she gave him a look. “We’re meeting a ship. One that holds your surprise, actually.” He led her to a large door that slowly lifted to let them through.
She frowned and cocked her head to the side. “The landing bays? I thought you said that I was never supposed to come down here, that it was too dangerous?” She stepped into the landing bay and, seeing the crawler, she jerked. “What is this?” She then saw him. She saw Petr standing there in front of his men. “Petr?” She moved away from Fintan and toward her brother. “Petr, is it really you?” she asked and moved to the edge of where the Craegin men were lined. For a moment they refused to allow her past until Petr’s guards stepped back as well. “Please, I need to touch him.” She didn’t care that she was crying everywhere. Her brother was there, so close to her, and she wanted to hug him.
Fin nodded, and with a hand on her back he pushed her gently forward. “Let her through,” he ordered the men. Once a path was cleared, he let his hand fall from her back. “You don’t have long, little wife, so go to your brother.”
Petr stayed where he was, but he
opened his arms to her.
Adira didn’t hesitate. She ran for her brother and tossed herself into his arms. She hugged him tightly and cried huge, soul-wracking sobs. “Petr.” She whispered his name and simply clung to him. Finally, however, she pulled back and smiled. “You’re here. How? I thought for sure that you hated me when you didn’t reply to the communication that Fin sent.” She turned slightly and held out her hand. “My husband, Fintan Daykin. The father of my children.” She introduced her husband to her brother softly. “Fintan, this is my brother, Petr van Jahnsen.”
“I couldn’t reply immediately,” Petr told her. He stroked a hand over her hair lightly. He looked past her to Fintan as he walked up to take her hand in his, lacing their fingers together. “The general and I have met, on more than one occasion. Though this is the closest we’ve been,” he said.
Fintan cocked a brow up, then looked around. “Clear the deck,” he ordered. All the men hesitated a moment, but soon they were alone in the landing bay. “We’re running short on time, Adira. He needs to get back across the border before the satellites sweep back around and see that Bracken’s destroyer hasn’t moved.”
Adira nodded and licked her lips. “I’m so happy that you’re here,” she said softly and hugged her brother once more. “Petr. I love you so much. I miss you,” she said with tears in her eyes. “Please tell me that you will somehow, someway keep in touch? How can we? I don’t want you to miss at least knowing that your niece and nephew are born.” She put his hand on her belly and grinned. “Two. Can you believe it? Two babies.”
He shook his head before giving Fintan a dirty look. “I thought multiples were a myth,” he said. “I am pleased you are doing well, Adira. When I got your message I was shocked, to say the least. When the facility told me you had been forced to help a dangerous patient I was frantic, searching for you everywhere I could, all to no avail. Your message at least let me know why I couldn’t find you anywhere.” He caught her hand in his and pulled her in for another hug. “I’ve missed you, little sister. And while I’m not thrilled by your choice in husbands, you appear happy, healthy, and rather radiant…so I will attempt not to give in to my baser instincts to strangle him.”