by Viola Grace
Toyo raised his hand. “Wait, wait. Are you saying that Beryl could be pregnant?”
“I am saying that if you and she had sex once in the last two weeks, then yes, you could have gotten her pregnant.” Loesh rolled his eyes. “And since you have been going at it three times a day since you mated, the likelihood has risen exponentially.”
Beryl looked at her mate and nodded. “My turn.” She was braced for whatever came up on the scans.
Loesh ran the scanner and Beryl watched the screen. When the scan moved over her abdomen and a small, bright light flickered where there should be empty space, her knees shook.
“Remain still, Bebe.”
The scan went down to her feet and then reversed direction. The little ball of life was still where it shouldn’t be.
“Well, it looks like the extension to the base to give you privacy cannot come soon enough.” Loesh grinned. “Do you want to know the sex?”
Beryl felt Toyo’s arms come around her as everything went dark.
She woke to find four very concerned sets of eyes looking at her. “What? Did my shirt fall off again? Geez, it happens once and no one will let you live it down.”
They all smiled at her, but the concern was still there.
Toyo took her hand. “I want you to see a specialist.”
“In pregnancy involving two races that have never collided before? Sure.” She smiled. “Make the appointment and I will fly myself there in case you are on assignment.”
The four grew wide-eyed in concert.
Toyo rubbed his thumb along her fingers. “If you get dressed, we will all go now.”
“All of us? Why?”
Drovin smiled softly, “Because whether you like it or not, we are family.”
That was good enough for her.
“Everybody out. I am going to get dressed, and I don’t need an audience.” She waited with her brows raised, and they didn’t move fast enough. “Fine. Audience it is.”
She swung out of the bed, whipped off her shirt and shucked her pants without looking at them. Beryl stalked across the room and opened the closet, reaching for a long tunic and contrasting trousers. When she finished tying the sash around her waist, she turned to find Toyo smiling at her.
“You know how to clear a room.”
She laughed. “Well, it isn’t the belching contest of last week, but I have found it to be effective.”
Toyo sighed and walked with her to the skimmer launch. “You shouldn’t be so proud of winning that.”
She giggled and joined the others for a family road trip.
Doctor Yumara was positively gleeful. “We surmised that Terrans could breed with W’lyn, but this is delightful. The baby is strong, healthy and the reason for most of your biological changes. It will have its father’s strength from birth, and you had to toughen up to manage it to term. It is amazing. The child reworked your entire body to be the perfect host.”
The doctor was in the pale-silver range, but his delight with her transformation irked her.
Toyo sensed her mood. “Doctor, perhaps you could be a little less delighted that Beryl lost her Terran characteristics. She might just slam you through the wall.”
Yumara looked at the scan display and winced. “Of course. It was insensitive of me. If you like, there are supplements available to help with the mood swings.”
The Guardians spoke as one. “Yes, please.”
Beryl snorted. “Pussies.”
Loesh sighed, “You can now punch your way through marble if you are so inclined. Having you throw a tantrum because you didn’t cut your sandwich at a right angle again could be devastating if Toyo is not there.”
She slumped back on the scanning bed. “It was round bread. The angle was everything.”
She realised what she said and lifted her head. She smiled at the doctor. “You mentioned supplements?”
He prepared an injector under Loesh’s and Toyo’s watchful gazes, and he pressed it to her skin. “This is going to be difficult as your skin has thickened.”
She gave him an arch look. “Do you have anything I can swallow? My internal organs are still designed to absorb nutrients.”
Yumara stepped back. “That would work, but it won’t taste good.”
“You can work on the flavour later. Right now, I am fixated on the fact that you were going to punch a hole in my arm to give me a vitamin. It is making me a little angry.”
Yumara took action and had a cocktail ready for her in two minutes. He handed it to Toyo, which showed that doctors can still learn after they leave school.
Beryl sat up and took the small cup. She tossed it back and gagged for a few seconds before the urge faded. Her body hummed happily, and she could almost feel the cocktail entering her system.
Toyo looked at her expression and sighed. “How much and how often?”
Beryl looked at the other Guardians, who had all shocked the doctor by trooping in to her scan, and noted that they were all paying strict attention. A flicker of remorse went through her and then she smiled. It wasn’t just like family; it was family. She was just going to have to get used to it.
Jim was staring at her. “Well, I can’t say that it isn’t a little weird.”
“I know. The shine takes some getting used to.”
He snorted. “Not that. You look great. The thing I need to get used to is you being married with a baby on the way, and I am just working my way up to the third date.”
She chuckled. “Toyo is here; did you want to meet him?”
“Of course. I need to see what guy is good enough for my little sister.”
She looked at her mate, and he sat at the second screen. The moment the signal reached Jim, she knew it because he said, “Good god.”
Toyo raised an eyebrow and spoke careful English. “It is good to meet the sibling of my bond mate. She is an extraordinary woman, and I am richer for her being in my life.”
Beryl blushed.
“Well, Toyo, Bebe hasn’t told me too much about you. What do you do for a living?”
Beryl stopped her cackle by pressing a hand over her mouth as she listened to Toyo explain the Guardians, the supernatural powers and fighting bad guys.
“It was during the job that I first met your sister. She ripped the ears off a man who had taken her hostage, and I was smitten.” He grinned.
Jim cracked a smile. “That would do it for me. Bebe has always been a very direct sort of woman. You never need to guess how she feels.”
Toyo and Jim continued talking. When Loesh came in with her supplement, she took her shot, gagged twice and Loesh logged it in the system. The alarm went off if she missed a dose, and so it behoved anyone passing medical to check the countdown clock. When they gave her her vitamins, the clock reset for another six hours.
Jim was concerned. “What was that?”
Beryl smiled, “Vitamin supplement that tastes like lima beans and grapefruit skin with a hint of onion.”
“Why don’t you just take a pill?”
“They can’t make one with a high-enough dosage.”
“Injection?”
She snorted. “My skin is too tough for an injector to get through. It goes with the increased strength.”
Jim raised his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Increased strength? How increased?”
Beryl looked at Toyo and he grimaced. “I can lift a van and smash it through concrete. I can’t fly yet though, so Toyo is lucky.”
Her brother paled in shock.
Toyo tried to calm him. “We do not know if the effects are permanent or related to the pregnancy. The child is strong with my skin density, so it was necessary for Beryl’s body to adapt accordingly and our bonding ritual made it easier.”
Jim perked up. “Bonding ritual?”
Beryl smacked a hand on her face. This was a subject she had hoped to avoid. “Toyo, you explain and I am going for a snack.”
He nodded a
nd continued speaking to her brother, explaining the blood sharing and the teeth.
When Beryl returned with a bowl of gashki, her brother looked a little unwell.
“Bebe, did you really?”
“Yup.” It was a fair guess that anything Toyo had told him was accurate.
“And he…”
“Yup. Blood exchange at a delicate moment.” She ate some of the beetles and smiled.
Jim scowled. “Uh, what are you eating?”
She looked at the bowl of de-legged roasted bugs and twisted her lips. “I am not going to tell you. It would freak you out more than the bond mate ritual.”
He leaned back and sighed. “Bebe, I love you and I am happy for you, but your life is weird.”
She grinned. “I know, isn’t it great? I actually have a life now.”
He laughed and Toyo smiled.
Drovin came in and whistled sharply.
Beryl sighed. “Sorry, Jim. Toyo has to go to work. I love you and I will talk soon. Promise.”
“Love you, too. Congrats on the baby, Bebe.” He winked and they shut their coms down together.
Toyo got to his feet and gave her a kiss. “I will be back as soon as I can.”
She relaxed, and the moment the Guardians were gone, she headed to the vid room to watch the slug documentary she had wanted to see for months.
She was more than halfway through the seven-hour miniseries on the Vaccuu slug when she heard a thump from outside and the base alarms went off.
She set her gashki down and stalked toward the sound. She heard something that sounded like mechanical footsteps, and she followed the noise of an intruder.
Beryl headed to the skimmer launch and found the invader in a mech suit and taking aim at the com towers.
She whistled to get his attention, and the guns turned toward her.
“Who are you?” The man snarled from within the suit.
Inside the base, her med alarm went off. A slow grin spread over her features. “That isn’t your concern. Leave or have that suit ripped to pieces.”
The targeting systems powered up and Beryl started moving. She didn’t remember much after that.
Sighing happily, she watched the closing credits for the slug documentary. The Guardians returned and approached her cautiously.
Toyo circled her. “Love, what is the man doing tied to a tree fifteen feet in the air?”
“I am guessing he is uncomfortable. He showed up in a mech and tried to take out the base systems while I was watching a vid.” She looked down at the grime on her hands and the slashes and scorches on her shirt. “I am guessing he got in a few shots.”
“Are you injured?”
“No. I took my supplement after I dealt with him. I think. Can someone check the countdown?” She sighed at the fuzzy memories.
Loesh sprinted to the medical area and then came back with relief on his features. “She took it.”
Toyo smiled and picked her up. “You have had a rough night. I think a hot shower and a nice night’s sleep will do wonders for you.”
She smiled and rested her head against his chest. “Sounds good.”
* * * *
Half an hour later, Toyo returned to the exterior of the building with the others as they cleared the debris. The peacekeepers had already taken the invader away.
Rand smiled. “She did well and she did not get hurt.”
Toyo nodded. “That is true. I am very proud of her.”
Loesh and Drovin nodded in relief.
Toyo looked at the scars on the bark and said, “There is just one thing that makes me very nervous.”
Drovin said, “What could that be? She took care of him and even tied him up.”
He looked at the other men and asked the question in his mind. “How the hell did she get him that far up the tree?”
Horror filled their expressions as the enormity of what he had said sunk in.
Beryl Wilkinson, mate to Toyo, criminal analyst, Terran and mother-to-be, could fly. Their lives were about to take on a new element of risk, but that is what family was for.
Author’s Note
Okay, Logic was just fun. I would like to say it wrote itself, but if that were true, all my other books were lazy bastards.
We will return to W’lyn, but I don’t know when. I am also due to be getting a new cover artist in a month or so, so bear with me during my adaptation. I have had the same artist for eight years and I hate change.
Thanks for reading,
Viola Grace
[email protected]
http://www.violagrace.com
About the Author
Viola Grace was born in Manitoba, Canada where she still resides today. She really likes it there. She has no pets and can barely keep sea monkeys alive for a reasonable amount of time. Her line of day job tends to be analytical which leaves her mind hopping to weave stories. No co-worker is safe from her character analysis. In keeping with busy hands are happy hands, her hobbies have included cross-stitch, needlepoint, quilting, costuming, cake decorating, baking, cooking, metal work, beading, sculpting, painting, doll making, henna tattoos, chain mail, and a few others that have been forgotten. It is quite often that these hobbies make their way into her tales.
Viola’s fetishes include boots and corsetry, and her greatest weakness is her uncontrollable blush. Her writing actively pursues the Happily Ever After that so rarely occurs in nature. It is an admirable thing and something that we should all strive for. To find one that we truly like, as well as love.