Again, the Greenford family launched into a weighty silence. Nobody spoke for a long time. Eventually, Uma walked out of the room, not saying a word.
Joel cleared his throat. “Well that went… about as good as could be expected. At least she didn’t yell. Or throw something.”
“The night’s still young,” said Adam.
“I’ll go talk to her,” said Clark. “I bet I can get her to come around.”
“I think we should just give her some space,” said William. “We should all take some time to cool off and process our emotions. This is a big change.”
Alex nodded. They all filed out of the kitchen one by one, until she was the only one left. She stayed at the table, contemplating her decision for a long time.
At some point during her contemplating, Alex must’ve fallen asleep. Somebody touched her arm lightly. Fingers were running through her hair. She woke up to find her mother sitting in the seat next to her, staring intently and smiling.
“Hey, sleepy head,” Uma said sweetly. “Let’s talk.”
The two of them stayed up late into the night, talking, crying, arguing, and laughing. Uma needed some time to think, but was quickly able to see why Alex made the decision she did. She also admitted that she trusted her daughter, and was done trying to control her life. Now that she’d done the hardest part, Alex felt more comfortable talking about the whole thing. She told her mother more about the brothers and also about the plan and its various mishaps, which Uma found to be incredibly entertaining.
“Stop laughing!” said Alex. “I think squatting in that closet gave me a permanent leg cramp!”
“That’s what you guys get for going behind your parents’ backs,” said Uma. “Speaking of, it worries me that their father is so against having a human carry his grandchild. Are you sure he isn’t going to, I don’t know, come after you or something?”
“No way. He was just shocked, that’s all.” Alex twiddled her thumbs, aware of the fact that she was somewhat lying to her mother. She too was worried about Bartholomew and what he might do, but she couldn’t let on that she was concerned. “Besides, the brothers are more than capable of protecting me if things go south.”
Uma pushed some of Alex’s hair out of her face. “Sometimes I forget how grown up you are. You’re a smart, capable, and strong woman. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel otherwise.” She sighed. “It scares me, what you are doing. It scares the hell out of me, but you know I will always be by your side, no matter what.”
Alex started to cry. “Thank you. I’m so happy to hear you say that. I’m scared too, mom. That’s why I need you.” Pete poked his head into the kitchen and Alex waved him inside. “You can come in. It’s safe. We aren’t fighting.” She looked back to her mom. “There’s a decent chance I am already pregnant, and I recently found out that weare babies grow like goddamn weeds. So you’re going to have to give me a crash course on motherhood.”
Uma laughed, softly. “I don’t know how much help I’m going to be... I don’t know anything about weare babies.”
“That reminds me,” said Alex. “I know somebody who may be able to help us.”
Uma frowned. “Who?”
“She’s a weare mom who I know is looking for a place to crash for a bit while she and her family find a new place to live. You actually know her, mom.” The corners of Uma’s mouth arched downwards with confusion. “It’s Hera. She’s alive. She’s a weare, and she’s a mom.”
Uma opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She muttered something unintelligible and stuttered a few bewildered “ums” and “uhs”. Pete grabbed her shoulders and steered her towards the front hallway. “Maybe you should head to bed, honey. You’ve had quite an eventful night.”
Uma yawned. “Yeah, okay. I’ll process all this better in the morning, once I’ve had my coffee.” She walked up the stairs and out of sight.
“I better hit the hay too.” Alex stretched her arms above her head. “I’m beat.”
“I just want you to know, I don’t approve,” said Pete.
“Noted.”
“I don’t trust them. Not a single one of them.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit spiciest?” said Alex. “Do you really believe there isn’t a single good weare in the bunch?”
“I’m not talking about weares.” Pete shook his head. “I mean boys. I don’t trust a single boy. Especially any boy who thinks he can just... breed with my daughter without so much as asking for her father’s blessing!”
Alex couldn’t help but giggle. Her small chuckle soon turned into a huge belly laugh, causing her to tear up and keel over. Once she got a hold of herself she put a hand on Pete’s shoulder. “I appreciate your concern, Pete. I really do. You’re a really, really good dad.” She hugged him. “And you’re going to make an amazing grandfather.”
Something’s Cooking in the Oven
Three weeks had passed and Charlie still hadn’t managed to convince Alex to move into the Armstrong mansion. He’d been insisting ever since they first discovered she was pregnant, but she kept claiming she wasn’t ready. Truthfully, she was afraid to be in the same house with Bartholomew. Even though her house had become quite cramped now that Hera and her family moved in, it was still better, in Alex’s opinion, to live with the constant noise and no privacy than it would be to live under the roof of a man who hated you and felt you were personally responsible for the destruction of his entire bloodline.
“But you’ll be so comfortable,” Charlie said as he, his brothers, and Alex drove home from her most recent doctor’s appointment. “We have the guest room already made up for you, and you’ll have access to twenty-four-hour chef and cleaning services. What more could a pregnant woman want?”
“What Charlie is trying to say,” said Xavier, “is that we would feel better having you in the house with us. It would give us piece of mind, knowing that you and our future child is being well taken care of.”
“And you don’t think my family is taking care of me?” said Alex.
Xavier shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sure your family is taking the best care of you. We said before, they could move in as well. We have a guest house.”
“They didn’t go for that.” Alex looked down at her slight baby bump. “Clark, Adam, and William are worried that if they are seen coming and going to work from the weare territory they could lose their jobs. Joel has been staying home with Hera’s baby while she and her husband go out hunting with Pete. My mom, she’s just... not quite there. They are all very comfortable where they are.”
“That doesn’t answer the question though,” said Teddy. “Of why you’re still living there?”
Alex twiddled her thumbs, ran her tongue along the backside of her teeth. “Has your dad said anything, to any of you, since you told him?”
“Not to me,” said Charlie.
“Me neither,” said Teddy.
Xavier was quiet.
“Xav?” Charlie looked curiously at his brother.
“We’ve spoken,” said Xavier.
Teddy gawked. “When?”
“Last night.” Xavier looked out the window. “He’s still very upset. He tried to convince me to change my mind, as if that’s even really an option now.”
“I really thought he would have come around by now,” Charlie said. “We’re putting into action what he preaches. I don’t understand what he’s so upset about.”
“Really, Charlie?” Teddy gave his little brother a sarcastic look. “You have no idea what dad is so upset about?”
Charlie avoided everyone’s gaze.
Xavier leaned over the space in between the two rows of seats, which faced each other. “I don’t know if anyone’s told you, Hera maybe, but our mother was killed when we were teenagers. Our father is convinced it was a human who did it.”
Alex nodded. “I’d heard something about that through the grapevine. I’m so sorry.” Charlie was sitting next to her. She took his hand. “This
is why I don’t want to move in. Your dad hates me and who knows if he’s ever going to change his mind? I can’t be around that negativity. I can’t walk around scared and stressed all the time. That wouldn’t be good for the baby.”
“He’s being such a child.” Charlie slammed his fist against the car door. “Our mother was the one who wanted to bring peace to Swan City. She taught him how to be tolerant, and now he’s marring her memory by being so closed minded and bigoted.”
“She would have loved you,” said Teddy. His sarcastic smirk had melted into a genuine smile.
“How about you move into the guest house?” Xavier suggested. “We will hire new staff who just work there. You’ll never have to go into the main house and run the risk of seeing dad. The guest house has its own driveway, so your family can come visit whenever they want, without dad even knowing.
Charlie perked up a little. “That’s a great idea!” He looked at Alex, his eyes pleading with hers. “It’s perfect.”
Alex didn’t answer immediately. She took a few moments to think about it. On the one hand, she’d be leaving the comfort of her own home and the warm embrace of her loving family. On the other hand, she’d finally have a cozy, quiet place where she could get some real rest and eat whatever she wanted. Also, and most importantly, she’d have her own bathroom, which was becoming ever more enticing by the day, as the baby’s weight pushed more and more on her bladder.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll move into the guest house.”
Alex had never felt so luxurious, so pampered in her entire life. The brothers had arranged everything with her move and ensured that she didn’t have to lift a finger. Once all her stuff was unloaded and unpacked, they called for a masseuse to come massage Alex’s aching muscles and relieve her knots. After that, Alex took a nap on her brand new pillow-top mattress, wrapped up, naked, in her Egyptian cotton sheets. The sun had already set by the time she woke up. A plate had been set for her at the small dining room table and there was a note that read, “Food is in the oven”.
The chicken parmesan tasted like heaven and the roasted veggies were swimming in a delicious sea of olive oil and rock salt. Alex tried to eat slowly, to savor each bite, but soon the baby’s ferocious hunger took over and she was stuffing her face. She popped the last piece of chicken breast into her mouth, and then, after checking to see if anyone was watching, she brought the plate to her face and liked it clean.
The brothers came to check on her a few hours later. Xavier, who she knew had been working at Council Hall all day, was dressed in a suit, but he’d taken off his jacket and loosened his tie. Teddy and Charlie were in jeans. Teddy matched his dark wash denim with a simple green sweater. Charlie was sporting a graphic tee. They all looked incredibly handsome, in their own unique ways, and Alex found herself getting a little drunk on the sight of them.
Charlie and Xavier made a fire in her living room while Teddy put on a kettle for some tea. They spent a while going over the logistics of her new life there, making sure she had everything she could possible need or want.
Alex felt a small tinge of excitement every time one of them would say her name. She’d been trying to forget about the breeding ceremony ever since it happened, knowing that if she allowed herself even a moment to remember the details of that afternoon, she would quickly lose her wits to lust.
Teddy was eyeing her back, giving off the same tense, flirtation vibe she was feeling throughout her entire body.
“It’s getting pretty late,” Xavier said once the fire began to die. “We should let you get some rest.”
“Oh, um. Okay.” Alex nodded. She looked down at her empty mug. “Or, we could make some more tea. You guys could stay a bit longer.”
“I would love to have some more tea.” Teddy smiled at her.
Xavier stood up. “No, Teddy, we can’t stay. You know we can’t.”
Alex frowned. “If Teddy wants to stay, or if any of you want to, I’m telling you, it’s perfectly fine with me. Honestly, you guys keep asking if there is anything else I need or want, and so fine, I’ll tell you. I want you.”
“I’m sorry,” Xavier looked down at his shoes. “But that’s not possible.”
Alex was taken aback. Suddenly, her desire transformed into hurt as she realized he didn’t want her. She knew on the surface the agreement had been just that, an agreement, but a part of her always assumed that they chose her because they had feelings for her. “Oh. I see.” She nodded. “I understand. I didn’t mean to make you guys uncomfortable. I know I’m just here to carry your baby.”
“No, Alex,” said Charlie. “That’s not it at all. Trust me, we, or at least I, would love to spend the night with you. Not being able to has actually been driving me crazy since the day I first laid eyes on you, but it’s not how things are done.”
“Ever since the plague hit our female population,” Xavier said, “we’ve had to be extremely cautious with our breeding and pregnancy practices. We don’t take any chances. Sex with pregnant women is strictly prohibited.”
Alex couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “That’s crazy! Prohibited by who?”
“By your doctor,” said Charlie. “By virtually all weare doctors.”
“What proof do they provide that having sex while pregnant is dangerous for the baby?” Alex stood up. “Besides, my doctor doesn’t have any authority over you or me!”
“I’m sorry,” Teddy stood up as well. “But they’re right. I think it’s ridiculous too, but we just can’t. We need to make sure we do everything in our power to keep this baby safe.”
Alex didn’t want to reveal how shocked she was over this news, for fear it would make her appear desperate or salacious. When she agreed to move in, there was a part of her which was excited by the prospect of being romantically entangled with one or all of the Armstrong men. She’d had sex before, but it had never been meaningful, or even really that good. It was always rushed and done somewhere uninviting, like the back of a car or in an abandoned barn. She longed for intimacy, physical and otherwise.
But that was not why she was there. She had a job to do, an agreement to honor.
“I understand,” she said, painting a smile across her face. “That makes perfect sense. I’m sorry for not realizing my true purpose here. Please, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go to bed.”
“Yes, of course, of course.” Xavier motioned for his brothers to lead the way out of the guesthouse. “Call us if you need anything. You have the main landline number, and the extensions for our personal room numbers on the list on your fridge.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“We know you will,” said Charlie.
“But if you do need to call, try me first,” added Teddy. “If you need anything. I’m a night owl, so I’ll be up.”
Alex nodded. “Will do. Goodnight.”
The three brothers said their goodnights and were gone. Alex felt a little underwhelmed by the whole evening. Here she’d been, bubbling over with sexual desire and attraction for weeks, thinking there would eventually come a time where some of the tension could be relieved, but instead, she finds out she is going to have to suffer through until the baby comes. And what about afterwards? Were the brothers going to find some other convenient excuse for why she shouldn’t be having sex while she’s breast-feeding?
Alex frowned as she brushed her teeth. Can humans even breast-feed weare babies? Will there be a wet nurse? She spat and rinsed. Leaning over the sink, she started filing through an endless list of questions she would need the answers to in just a matter of weeks. If the brothers weren’t going to be her stress relievers then she would have to calm her own nerves.
She decided she would call Hera and her mother the next day and the three of them would sit down and figure out all the details of this pregnancy and what was to come after the baby was born. Then, Alex thought as she happily crawled into bed and closed her eyes, us girls are going to do something fun.
Schoolgirl Antics
The brothers had all visited her at some point the following morning. It seemed they all felt terrible about the miscommunication of the night prior and wanted to make personal amends with the mother of their future child. Alex welcomed each of them and their apologies, but did not allow them to stay long. She needed to get ready for her girls’ day out.
She didn’t tell any of the brothers what her plans were for the day. When they asked, which all three did, what she was up to that afternoon, she said her mother and Hera were coming over to visit, which was true, and that they were going to see where the day took them, which was also true. She was pretty sure they would advise against her going out and hitting the town without them there to protect her, but she wasn’t scared. She’d have Hera and her mother there, who were the two toughest people she knew. Besides, she was dying to get out of the house and do something, and she’d never gotten the chance to explore the weare territory.
The brothers had spent the last couple of weeks ensuring her that she had nothing to fear by moving to their neck of the woods, insisting that weares were much more peaceful than humans liked to portray them as, and that it wasn’t uncommon for a human breeding partner to be seen out and about. They told her she should take the time to get to know her new home, but cautioned her about going out alone. There were still a few scuffles now and then, and since she didn’t know the area, she could easily wander into a bad part of town –– neighborhoods where it wouldn’t be safe for anyone, human or weare, to go traipsing through. That was where Hera came in.
“Oh, yay!” Hera squealed after Alex revealed to her and Uma what she had planned for the day. “Shopping trip!”
The BabyMakers’ Shared Property Page 8