by Marla Monroe
“Lacy. I’m not sure you’re my friend right now.”
The other woman’s laughter flowed over the radio speakers once more. “Hannah. I promise I am. I don’t want you worrying over this. Our children are so much more than what we would have dreamed. It takes some getting used to and a lot of adjustment, but Julie is the joy of my life.”
“I know,” she said in almost a whisper. “I’m scared though. It really does feel like I’m losing control at times. Do you think if I told him to stop it, he would?”
“I’m not sure he has that much control yet, Hannah. He’s probably only reacting right now and not actively directing you to do things. Talk to him though. Maybe in a few weeks you’ll be able to actually communicate with him. Wouldn’t that be amazing!”
“It would be something, all right,” Hannah murmured.
“If he can communicate with you on some level, he can tell you if something is wrong or if he’s having trouble. He might even be able to tell you when you’re going to go into labor.”
While Lacy’s enthusiasm was nice, it didn’t help Hannah’s feelings much. The more she listened to the other woman, the more she wished she hadn’t radioed her after all. Being ignorant sounded like a real blessing right about then.
“Don’t worry, Hannah. As soon as you can go back to the space station, have the men take you to see Dr. Jeff to get a sonogram. Then you’ll know about how far along you are.”
“Okay. I’ll do that. Thanks for talking with me, Lacy.”
“I’m not sure you really mean that right now, but I understand. I’ve had a lot longer to get used to strange things here. Just call me up if you need me,” Lacy said. “Out.”
Hannah set the microphone back on the desk and slumped back in her chair. Was Lacy right? Was her baby reacting to her needs and influencing her to make sure she was eating and drinking when she needed to? Was that why she felt like someone was taking her over?
She needed to talk to the guys about this as soon as they got home. The thought that they might think she was crazy crossed her mind, but she would just make them call and talk to Lacy if they acted like they were worried about her sanity. She looked down at her belly and frowned. She had a little rounded poof there, but it was normal for her. She’d never had a flat belly to begin with.
“Listen, you. No more making me do what you want. If you think I need something to drink or eat, suggest that I’m hungry or thirsty. Don’t try and make me follow orders like you’ve been doing. It’s spooky as crap. Um, forget that word. You don’t need to remember that word.”
She shook her head and sighed. This was crazy. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try reasoning with the little thing. She might as well get comfortable if she was going to have a long talk with her yet-to-be-born son. It was nearly four and the men would be home around six. Dinner was in the oven so all she had to do was heat it up once they were ready to eat. That meant she could relax on the couch and if she fell asleep, them coming in would wake her up.
Hannah refreshed her glass of juice and settled on the couch on her side with her head on a pillow and her bare feet curled back. She lay there silent for several long minutes before finally gathering her courage to start.
“Hey there, butterbean. You know your daddies are planning to call you piggy if you don’t stop making me eat all the time. I want you to know my voice, but I would like it if you wouldn’t try and force me to do things. It really scares me.” She sighed and lay there silently waiting for something to let her know if he understood her.
Lacy had told her that he might not have that much cognitive thinking yet. He might just be reacting to a need and not really understand what he was doing. How could she reason with him if he wasn’t able to reason yet? Hannah didn’t think she could handle the feeling of being taken over all the time. Not only was it annoying, it scared her that she’d do something she really didn’t want to do. Losing control was frightening.
“Look, butterbean. I’m going to try to hold it together for a little longer while you develop some more in there. Just as soon as you understand me, remember not to try and make me do stuff. Suggest it or ask me or something. Don’t just push me to do it. It’s rude and it scares me.”
She didn’t have a clue if she’d made any headway with the munchkin, but she was leaning more and more to calling him mini-me instead of butterbean. It seemed much more fitting considering the issues he was causing. Of course, she hadn’t talked to his fathers yet. They might laugh at her and brush her off. If they did, no more sex for them. She frowned. That meant no sex for her either. She didn’t much like that punishment at all.
She got a strong urge to take a nap and cursed under her breath at the little minion. No doubt he was working his magic again and her little straight talk hadn’t helped one bit. He was either ignoring her or flexing his muscle so to speak. Either way, Hannah was done for. She sure as heck hoped the guys had an idea of how to deal with the little dictator. Not even born yet and already she was waiting until his dads got home to take him to task.
Chapter Fifteen
“Are you serious?” Porter asked.
Hannah could tell he didn’t believe her. She glanced over at Edward to see a similar expression on his face. Neither one of them believed her. She had hoped they would at least give her a little credit. If she had to get them to call Lacy and talk to her, she was going to be very pissed.
“Look. I’ve been having these urges, more like insistent demands, to eat or drink something off and on for a couple of days now. I even fell asleep last night without tossing and turning like I normally do when I’m wide awake. I mean as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light,” she said.
“We did have some pretty amazing sex, honey,” Edward said with a knowing grin.
“Dammit! Listen to me. I’m not kidding. Something is going on with me and I think it’s the baby. Your son is trying to control me.” Hannah heard herself and had to admit that it sounded crazy.
She sighed. “Look, you can call up Lacy and talk to her. She and I discussed it this afternoon and it’s the only thing we can come up with to how I’m feeling.”
“Baby. He’s too young to be controlling you like that. I mean he hasn’t even been alive for more than about four days,” Porter said.
“Don’t you think I know that? It’s freaking me out.” She sighed and put down her fork. She wasn’t hungry anymore.
“It’ll be okay, honey. Just relax and don’t worry so much about everything. I’m sure finding out how advanced the children seem to be here has you on edge. I mean having little Julie telling you that you were pregnant already and that it was going to be a boy was wild enough,” Edward said around a mouth full of the beef brisket she’d cooked.
She sighed and decided to just pretend she agreed with them for now. She wasn’t going to convince them when it wasn’t their body being bosses around.
“Eat, baby girl. You need to keep up your strength,” Porter said with a frown.
“I had a late snack. I’m not very hungry right now.” She retrieved the pitcher of tea from the fridge and refilled their glasses.
Hannah sat down and watched as they ate. She hadn’t really asked them about their day yet. She’d jumped on them as soon as they’d sat down to eat with her issues with being taken over by a butterbean. Now she felt guilty. She should have asked about how things went in the fields and what they found out about the creature they’d seen.
“Did you ask Cam and Phillip about that creature?”
“Yeah. They hadn’t seen it as closely as we have but knew about it. Seems that they’ve had trouble with it uprooting their plants at first but now it doesn’t do much damage at all. They think it might actually be helping with the pollination,” Edward said.
“Did they have a name for it?” she asked.
“Not really. Until now they’ve assumed it was a mole like creature and called it that. Now that we have a better description of it, it probably needs a name,” Porte
r said.
“I want to name it. I just can’t decide between platypig or a platymole. With that yellow skin and duck-like bill, it should have a unique name.”
“Um, platypig? I don’t know, Hannah.” Porter looked amused.
“I know, but it isn’t any worse than a muskie. I can’t even being to understand that name,” she said with a frown.
Both men laughed. She would think about it a little harder. If she got up in the middle of the night again, she’d see if it had come back and watch it. A name would come to her. She was determined to be the one to name this one.
Before she even realized it, she’d reached out and stabbed a piece of meat from Porter’s plate and taken a bite off of it. She nearly choked on the expression that crossed Edward’s face.
“Did you see that?” Edward asked.
Porter only nodded his head. Hannah had a feeling they might believe her now. The baby had decided she needed to eat again and she’d been ignoring it since she was depressed about their reaction to her announcement. Mini-me didn’t seem to care what her state of mind was. Dammit, she needed to eat.
“Hannah? Are you okay, baby?” Porter asked.
She sighed. “I told you. I’m sorry I grabbed food off of your plate. I honestly didn’t even know I was doing it until I’d already put it in my mouth.”
“I believe you, baby. Your face was totally blank when you grabbed the meat. I don’t freaking believe it.” Porter sat back in his chair.
“Does it hurt when that happens?” Edward asked.
“No. I just sort of space out for a second then find myself getting something to eat or drink or wake up from a nap. It’s annoying as hell.”
Porter stabbed a piece of meat and cut it up for her on her plate. She sighed and stabbed a piece with her fork. It looked like she didn’t have a choice when it came to the necessities. The baby was going to get his way one way or another. She’d have to learn to pout a different way.
After all of the dishes had been seen to, Hannah started to curl up on the couch while the men talked, but Porter seemed to have a different idea. He picked her up and carried her over to his recliner where he sat down and positioned her across his lap. Edward walked over and pulled her T-shirt over her head before she could think to protest.
“What are you guys doing?” she asked with a laugh.
“Having a talk with our son. You just sit here and be quiet. This doesn’t concern you right now,” Porter said.
She covered her smile and leaned back, amused that they suddenly believed her now. Let her go all possessed on them and suddenly she was telling the truth.
“Okay, butterbean, we need to have a chat, son,” Porter began. He laid a gentle kiss on her belly. “No more taking over your mom’s body. That’s not nice. You can’t go around making people do what you want them to do. You have to let them make their own decisions.”
Edward cleared his throat. “We understand that you are only trying to take care of her and yourself, but it isn’t the right way. Just let her know some other way that she needs to eat or get something to drink. Can’t you make her stomach growl or something?”
Porter made a face at Edward. “Her stomach already growls on its own, man.”
“Have you got a better idea?” he asked.
“Guys?”
Hannah was barely keeping it together. She was on the verge of bursting out laughing, and she was sure that would not go over well with them.
“Son. Let’s have this talk every evening after we get home from work. Ed and I will always be here for you. We don’t want you to ever think we aren’t available. Now be a good boy and back off on the creepy shit…”
“Porter! Language! He can obviously hear you. Do you want the first word out of his mouth when he’s born to be ‘shit’?”
Edward did lose it then. He started laughing until he ended up on his knees next to the chair. Porter frowned at him then turned his glare toward her when she started giggling as well.
“I’m sorry. It’s just so surreal to be talking to a baby that isn’t even a week along yet. I know he’s probably three weeks according to when he’ll be born, but this is crazy,” she said with a chuckle.
“You’re the one who started it, baby. Now deal with it.” Porter kissed her belly again then settled his chin on top of her head. “I love you, baby girl.”
She stilled in his arms. Had she really heard him say that? She was scared to believe it.
“He’s not the only one, honey.” Edward kneeled up and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I love you, too.”
“I don’t know what to say. I was so afraid you’d never care for me like I do you. Then I realized it was more than caring for you. I love you both so much. You make me so happy,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry I was an ass in the beginning. I don’t deserve someone as special as you, Hannah. If it takes me the rest of my life, I’m going to make it up to you,” Edward told her.
It was all she could do to keep from launching herself into his arms. Instead she pulled him down to kiss him, opening her mouth to his and reveling at the taste of him. He settled her where Porter lifted her up. She had the best of both worlds all rolled up in an amazing package. How had she ever gotten so lucky as to end up with two men who turned her inside out like they did?
“Okay. Enough of that, guys. I’m right here, you know.” Porter’s amused voice trying to sound disgusted finally penetrated their embrace.
Hannah wrapped one arm around his neck and turning, buried her face there. She nipped him there then released him and smiled.
“I might have tricked you into being my men, but unless it’s freely given, I never would have had your love unless you truly wanted me. Thank you both for giving me the chance to earn your love.”
“Hannah, you had us wrapped around your finger almost from the beginning. Now it looks like someone has you wrapped around his little finger. I can’t wait to see what the future holds with you and our very talented son,” Edward said with a wink. “Let the fun begin.”
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marla Monroe has been writing professionally for about eleven years now. Her first book with Siren was published in January of 2011. She loves to write and spends every spare minute either at the keyboard or reading. She writes everything from sizzling-hot contemporary cowboys and dangerously addictive shifters to science fiction ménages with the occasional badass biker thrown in for good measure.
Marla lives in the southern US and works full-time at a busy hospital. When not writing, she loves to travel, spend time with her cats, and read. She’s always eager to try something new and especially enjoys the research for her books. She loves to hear from readers about what they are looking for next.
You can reach Marla at [email protected], or visit her website at www.marlamonroe.com
My blog: www.themarlamonroe.blogspot.com
Twitter: @MarlaMonroe.1
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marla.monroe.7
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