by Poppy Rhys
The doctor, who was all smiles, lifted the wand and slowly covered the span of her belly. He looked up at the large glass sheet where her vitals were. Immediately, the vitals zipped out of sight and an internal display of her uterus lit the screen. Everything was outlined in blue, but there floated a sac and inside the sac was something with a little heartbeat.
Lucia squawked a sound of surprise and confusion.
“Oh dear,” Nova breathed as she stared wide eyed at the screen. Soren had left her side, standing closer to the glass and peering strangely at the blue graphic. He was still only wearing his sleep pants and the end of his tail twitched from side to side. Soren’s black gaze flipped back at Lucia, then to the screen again.
“That’s not possible,” Lucia said in denial. “Wade said Melier and humans are not compatible.”
“Wade was right,” the doctor said, putting the wand back in the cabinet. “And that’s why your body tried to reject it. I’m doctor Trex by the way. It’s nice to meet you Lucia.” Lu nodded, still waiting for an explanation. “I ran some of your blood and found a nifty quirk,” he smiled and Lucia was positive he loved his job. “It would seem you have some Yadana DNA running through those nice veins of yours and,” he continued, looking to Soren, then back at Lu. “Melier are definitely compatible with Yadana.”
Her mother fanned herself and leaned into her father.
“That still makes no sense,” Lucia tried to reason, not accepting that explanation. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m not a male. Did Soren provide and fertilize the egg? Am I incubating his clone?” Much to her chagrin, Dr. Trex chortled with amusement.
“That’s a very good question, Lucia. The egg Soren implanted,” he paused to give her time to deny Soren was the donor and her mother paled at the mention of ‘egg’. “Has been pulling DNA from you in order to fertilize itself, if you will; the fetus will be a product of both donors. The downside is, your immune system is viewing the fetus as an infection and what you experienced this morning was the onset of evacuation. Thankfully, we were able to stop it.”
Soren was pacing the other side of the room, growling and making everyone nervous with his hulking, half naked self.
“That’s-” Lucia blinked and shook her head. “That’s ridiculous! I can’t believe this!”
“Oh believe it,” Dr. Trex grinned, completely enthralled with the weird science of it all. “You’ll give birth in thirteen weeks.”
“What?” Lucia, Nova and Angus exclaimed simultaneously.
“Oh yes,” Dr. Trex nodded enthusiastically, making a few notes on the glass tablet he was carrying. He was just pleased as punch. “The fetus is growing at an accelerated rate. Gestation period is four months. It’s a female, by the way.”
Soren stopped pacing.
Lucia buried her face in her hands as she tried to soak everything in.
“Your body will continue to try and evacuate the fetus, however,” Dr. Trex frowned for the first time. “My team is synthesizing a cell that will continue to trick your immune system and prevent it from trying to reject the fetus. Essentially turning off certain immune signals as would naturally happen in a human pregnancy. Fascinatingly enough, this cell is derived from certain fruits including wexna, yuli, seetkut, roshka, so on and-”
Lucia cut him off by laughing, which turned into hysterical laughing and even Soren began to chuckle knowingly.
“What’s funny?” Dr. Trex looked curious.
Lucia went on and on until she was having a hard time breathing. She just couldn’t believe the irony of it all. The cell his team was trying to synthesize was sitting in a basket in her family’s pantry. She went on to tell the doctor this when she finally stopped for a breath.
“That’s fantastic news!” he exclaimed. “The cell in its natural form would be much more effective than the synthesized version. If you have enough, one fruit per day until birth should give you the dosage you require to keep your immune system cooperative.”
Lucia shook her head and collapsed back against the pillow. “But I haven’t experienced any symptoms. That can’t be natural,” she protested, realizing there was nothing natural about the entire situation. Frellie had experienced every pregnancy symptom known to science, yet Lucia felt nothing. Well, maybe a little emotional.
“That’s another interesting development,” Dr. Trex began. “I’ve never observed a pregnancy like yours, so I have no notes and none of my colleagues do either. In fact, we have no research on Melier reproduction with other species, only that certain species are compatible. Anything you experience, I would like for you to let me know so we may add it to research. It’s an exciting time indeed!” His enthusiasm about science would be funny, if she wasn’t part of that equation.
Lucia’s hand found its way to her abdomen and she wasn’t sure what to feel. She didn’t think she was ready to be a mother. She didn’t even have her own life together, how could she bring another one into the world? There wouldn’t even be time to properly prepare. These were all questions she was sure every woman asked herself.
“There’s so much to do,” Nova said from where she stood. She had her serious event planning tone and that made Lucia nervous. “Our Quar Loy family must be notified so they can be here for the bearing ritual and feast. Oh! The feast! I’m sure we can get rasq beast this time of year, it will just take a little more work to find a supplier. So much to do…” she prattled on, her eyes lighting as she went into her zone. This was the kind of thing her mother lived for.
“You never did do anything the proper way, lass,” her father grinned and leaned in to kiss her forehead. He held out his hand across the bed to Soren who slowly took it and gave it a shake before Angus pulled him into a hug above Lu. He gave him a rough pat on the back and that was all that needed to be ‘said’.
Soren’s eyes were still black. He nodded in this wordless conversation they were having and then Angus ushered a still babbling Nova from the room, the doctor trailing behind them.
Immediately Soren sunk to his haunches beside her, looking like he didn’t know if he should touch her, jump for joy or puke into a bucket. Lucia huffed amusement and reached out to place her hand along his cheek.
“In a few months, you’re getting diaper duty.”
Soren’s brows furrowed in confusion and Lucia just snickered away.
Well shit.
Chapter 12
The days flitted by and usually consisted of everyone fussing about her. Soren was like a constant shadow, not allowing her to lift anything or go anywhere alone. He woke her every morning with a glass of water and a seetkut fruit and waited until she ate the whole thing. That part of her day wasn’t so bad, since the fruit was tasty. Its yellow skin, that was once green, was tight and smooth. When she bit into the palm sized fruit, it gave a satisfying crunch. The flesh was crisp and sweet, reminding her of the golden sap merchants collected from the small, black fexlo trees in the dense forests of the territory. The inside of the seetkut was dark peach, and she even joked she hoped she didn’t turn orange like the Sanruki’s by eating the fruit. Soren didn’t find that funny.
News of her pregnancy spread quickly, thanks to her mother and Dr. Trex. Some people were appalled, some were curious and some were just happy another life would be brought into the universe, as was expected. The territory hadn’t really warmed up to Soren yet, especially since that drama with Quinton had reached every residence globally. Soren was strange, scary, and alien, even in a universe of various species. Curra was a territory that was far enough from the capital, it didn’t really get too many visitors or residents of a different species.
Lucia had researched what she could about Melierun. You could find facts about their planet, their species, their reproduction and even their government, but there were still important facts missing. There was no information on their deity if they had one and very little was public knowledge about their customs and traditions. They were technologically advanced, more so than quite a few planets, includi
ng Dor Nye.
When her parents had questioned Lucia about Soren’s family, she could honestly answer that she had no idea and neither did he. To her surprise, Nova had teared up at the realization Soren had no clue who he was back on his planet. She’d left the room in a huff of fabric.
Which brought Lucia to her next order of business; getting Soren’s memories back. She hadn’t told anyone yet, but the night she was in the hospital, she’d spoken to Dr. Trex alone and told him about Soren’s memory wipe. He was very familiar with the process, since one of his colleagues’ researched mind wiping extensively. There was very little experimentation on memory retrieval and it was a dangerous procedure. They risked the chance of damaging the brain permanently or erasing what little memory the patient had acquired since the last wipe. Even the positive results didn’t include full retrieval, only a percentage. The news had given Lucia small hope, but some was better than none at all. She’d asked Dr. Trex to keep what she’d asked to himself.
The more Lucia wondered about Soren and who he really was, the more irritable she got and by the time a week had passed since her day in the hospital, she was ready to blow.
“Soren, we need to talk about the real you,” Lucia began, standing in the middle of the den. They were alone. He looked up from the book he was reading and his brow furrowed. He’d been devouring every book within the house pertaining to Dor Nye laws, and the Assembly, and traditions and customs of the various territories and their residents. Soren was soaking up everything about her world that he could.
“I am the real me,” he said with a hint of mockery, which made Lucia snarl in frustration.
“I liked you better before you understood sarcasm,” she huffed and then began to pace. The weather had been stifling and just pacing was making her sweat. She swiped a hand over her temple to brush away some of the liquid. Lu had been wearing as little as she could get away with and today was no different. She wore a teyo top, which was similar to a scarf sewn together at the ends. It wrapped around her back, up over one breast, around her neck and down around the other breast. It made something of a figure eight about her body. A thin skirt hung to her hips, held up by a sash, and flew about her ankles with every step. “There’s a procedure that could bring back your memories. I spoke-”
“No,” Soren said with finality and then went back to reading his book. Lucia wasn’t deterred.
“I spoke to Dr. Trex,” she continued and began her pacing once more. “He said it could be done, there’s just a lot of risk involved.”
“I said no, Loo-Sha.”
Lucia tossed her hands in the air and huffed with frustration. “And why not Soren? What if you have a mate or younglings of your own-”
“I said no,” he growled and stood, tucking the book under his arm. If she had any good sense, she may have been intimidated by his size alone, but she knew he wouldn’t harm her.
“I asked why,” Lucia snarled back, fisting her hands at her sides.
“Because I said no.”
“That isn’t a reason!” Lu hollered.
“Yes, it is!” Soren hollered back.
“I do not accept that reason,” she countered.
“You do not have to.”
Lucia shrieked, taking an ounce of pleasure in seeing him wince. “You stubborn, hulking baboon!” she yelled, tossing her hands in the air and pacing faster. “It’s unfair that you won’t even consider it when you could have a family out there who’s searching for you or a mate that cries for you or younglings that want their father to come home!”
“I am not a baboon!” he thundered.
“That’s all you heard in everything I said!”
“It is not, it is simply the only thing I chose to acknowledge.”
“UGHHH!” she screeched and kicked a small pillow that had fallen to the floor. “Why can’t you understand I wouldn’t feel right bringing our youngling into the world not knowing if we’re keeping you from another family you may already have?”
“Maybe you should have considered that before you consumed the seetpa drink,” Soren threw, his tone dripping with derision. Lucia stopped, her mouth falling open in shock. A strained sound died in her throat and her lips bobbed for a stretch of seconds.
“Oh no you didn’t!” she shrilled, pointing a finger at his face. “I just asked you to fuck me, not lay a goddamned egg, you beast!”
“It stopped you from mewling and rubbing along the carpet with your ass in the air, did it not?” Soren was now grinning with sick delight that he’d gotten under her skin.
“Oh my gods!” Lucia roared, fuming from the ears. Her already hot face flushed with anger and embarrassment. “How dare you! You know I had no idea what that drink-”
Lucia was cut off by someone clearing their throat.
“When you two are finished,” Grams said from the archway. “Our guests are waiting for you. Oh and, your voices are carrying, in case you two would like to yell some more. Quietly.” Grams winked and disappeared.
****
Third meal was an awkward affair and Lucia was sweating through the entire thing, even with her sweet Grams fanning her. They were in the gathering room, seated on pillows and rugs around a very large low laying table. A few servants milled about, keeping Lucia’s cold water glass filled to the brim. She was sure her insides were melting and she’d soon be a puddle of goop on the floor. She dragged the back of her hand along her forehead to keep the sweat from getting into her eyes.
If she hadn’t been so embarrassed that her family and their guests had heard her and Soren’s argument, she would have been much more talkative. As it was, she was sure the story of her youngling’s conception would circuit its way along the gossips of the territory, especially since one guest in particular was aunt to the reporter who had interviewed Quinton.
The conversation rose and fell in volume and they talked about everything from the Assembly to the upcoming trip to the capital and of course, the weather. When the conversation steered toward partnership and Quinton came up, Lucia stifled a groan. She took another long swallow of her water.
“Oh yes,” one of the flighty females delighted as she popped a nutty piece of cheese into her mouth. “He’s announced his intentions to partner with Penna from the Wasden residence.”
Before Lucia could stop herself she snorted, clamped a hand over her mouth, apologized and then snorted again. She couldn’t seem to control herself as her shoulders shook with mirth while she tried to smother her laughter. Penna was beautiful and came from a great residence, but everyone knew she had shit for brains and couldn’t carry on a mildly intelligent conversation with a youngling. Of course Quinton would partner with her. He could control her so easily.
Lucia gave up trying to control herself as her mother chided and sagged onto her space of the table, just cackling and howling at the hilarity of it. The hilarity only she seemed to see, since everyone else just looked at her like she’d finally cracked.
“I’m sorry-” she wheezed and held her shaking chest, tears wetting the corner of her eyes. “That was r-” she snorted, bringing on a fresh new peel of laughter as she slapped the tabletop repeatedly. “That was rude of me,” she coughed and giggled again. Lucia sighed and made sure she was done laughing before she tried to speak again. “Ahem,” she cleared her throat. “What’s for dessert?”
****
The group moved to the den to have dessert, since it was much cooler in there with the evening breeze flitting through the many windows. Soren had taken over for Grams and was now fanning a soggy Lucia. Her skirt was scrunched up around her thighs as she lay on the cool floor with her head on a pillow in the middle of the room where she’d been pacing earlier. She moaned, lifting her head to drink from her glass. “This heat is going to kill me.”
“Don’t be dramatic,” Frellie said, lying down next to her but far enough away that her extra body heat wouldn’t boil Lucia.
“When is Rafe going to be finished updating the cooling system? This
is cruel and unusual punishment,” Lucia whined, signalling for Soren to fan faster.
“It will be soon,” Soren said, amused. He wasn’t sweating at all and Lucia wondered if he even had that capability. “Patience, Loo-Sha.”
“Don’t tell me to be patient,” Lu gulped more water. “It’s been two weeks. I’m growing a mini you and it’s burning me up from the inside.” That was partly true. No one else was sweating the buckets she was.
Her hand strayed to the growing bump of her belly. It still spooked her slightly to see how much it had grown in just one week since she’d noticed the pouch in the mirror. Dr. Trex told her that was natural as far as natural could go in a very strange pregnancy. Lu worried if the infant would be too big for her body, since Soren was so huge. How big were Melier infants? There wasn’t much on Melier birth, only that the women had the ability to carry multiple eggs at a time. Were they live births or did they hatch the eggs? So many unanswered questions had plagued Lu’s mind all week.
She couldn’t help but grin when Soren laid one of his hands on the swell of her stomach as well. He was so curious about the way her body was changing, as he’d never seen a pregnancy of any kind that he could remember.
“So what’s seetpa?” Frellie asked loud enough to be overheard.
Soren’s fan stilled for a moment before he resumed. His lips split as he debated answering the question. Lucia gave him a warning glare, which only seemed to spur him on. His comfortability around her family was turning him into an open book.
“A drink made from the seetkut vines,” Soren explained.
“Soren,” Lu warned.
“It had some adverse effects on Loo-Sha,” he snorted, all but evilly cackling. “She was trying to claw her way out of my arms to join the orgy.”
“Soren!” she shrieked and drowned her grumbling by drinking the rest of her water. Grams ‘oooh’d’ at the mention of an orgy. She was learning her Grams was a bit of a freak. “Some things are better left unsaid.”
“No they’re not,” Frellie sat up, wanting to hear more. Her father sighed, as he’d already learned and seen more about his daughter’s sex life than he wanted. It was a good thing Zan had already been put to bed.