Chapter 44 #4
“They are?” She asked, frowning, eyes darting quickly to Scarlet who was giving the healer an odd look. “Anxiety and blood cravings aren't anything I associate with pregnancy symptoms.” Wasn't she supposed to get morning sickness and breast tenderness or something?
Donivi shrugged, unconcerned. “Every female is different. But the anxiety is from being separated from Atem.”
“What?”
“Yes. You need the scent of your mate to remain calm. You're quite lucky that you mated so quickly, or we would have had to take more drastic measures since the sire cannot be brought here.”
“What are you talking about?” Peony shook her head, not understanding.
“It's perfectly normal. And carrying females need more blood, so it's only natural that you would crave it. You will probably need at least one full glass a day. Although, again, I'm not entirely certain how that might differ with your offspring being human.”
The realization hit her hard. He thought she was pregnant by another human.
“Donivi,” she gave him a serious look. “I'm not carrying a human baby.”
“Certainly, you are. It's not a parasite. It's not an infection. Scarlet has identified the unknown hormone. I would like to study it, if you don't mind. Our females do not release a specific hormone along with their pregnancy. They only change their current hormone levels.”
“No, you're not hearing me, Donivi. I accept that I'm pregnant. I get that. Hundred percent on board. But if I'm pregnant, the only person who could have gotten me that way is Atem.”
Donivi scoffed, waving her words away without even considering them.
“Hybrids are an impossibility, Peony. The greatest scientific minds in the universe working together with the most high tech and advanced equipment have never managed to successfully hybridize two species. You are not carrying Atem's offspring.”
“No, but I actually am, because I cannot be pregnant with a human baby. Like, it's literally impossible, okay?”
Donivi gave her an odd look. She gave him a beseeching one. She could tell just by the way he stared at her that he didn't actually believe what she was saying.
Anger reared up in her chest.
It must have shown on her face because Scarlet came around the console and grabbed Donivi's shoulder, giving Peony a pointed look that very clearly said 'shut it'.
“Donivi,” she smiled at him. “Maybe can you explain to Peony what she should be aware of regarding her pregnancy. Any precautions she needs to take?”
Peony gave her a look that very clearly said, 'what the hell?'
Scarlet returned with her own that said, 'not now, just trust me,'
“Ah, yes. Very good.” Donivi cleared his throat and smiled at Peony, all business.
“Of course, you'll need to remain around Atem from now on.
The stress of him being gone for prolonged periods is not good for you.
That's likely where your stress ulcer has come from.
One glass of fresh blood a day, two if you can manage.
Preferably not in a shake or a jam or anything.
Just straight blood. It's better for you.
Try not to venture too far from your nest, either.
You're rather early, so I imagine you won't mind as much at this point, but as you get closer to delivery, you'll want to remain there in safety and that's perfectly normal.
If you feel the need to redesign your space or change something, go ahead.
It won't hurt you. I'd like to scan you at least once a tenday or so.
It will be a good opportunity for me to study a new species' gestation.”
“Yeah, sure,” Peony growled through her teeth at Scarlet's silent behest. “Can I go now?”
“Of course. You'll be wanting to return to Atem and your nest. But please, do think about the scans, hm? I would be honored to be the first non-human to study human reproduction.”
“I'll think about it,” she agreed quickly. Anything to get out of this room and away from the guy who refused to believe her when she said it was Atem's baby.
Scarlet and Holly were happy to pull her out and into the hall where Tilii was waiting.
The three of them were quiet on the flight back and, instead of returning to her nest, Peony, still enjoying the freedom from anxiety thanks to that medication, went to the girls' room.
She sent Tilii away and instead sat between the others and told them what had happened.
“You're pregnant?!” Hattie exclaimed excitedly, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, my gosh! Can you even imagine how cute those babies will be! I see a lot of kids roaming around, but no babies. I so want to see a domini baby, I bet they're adorable!”
Peony smiled, finally relaxing at how quickly they accepted her words.
Alanna, going through information she pulled up from the subnet on her combot, said, “Domini don't take their babies from their homes and away from the nest until they're about three. So, you likely won't see one until Peony gives birth.”
“Peony,” Scarlet sat down beside her on the lounge. “Don't take this the wrong way. I have to ask. Are you absolutely sure it's Atem's baby?”
Peony nodded once. “Definitely. Absolutely. The last human guy I slept with was three years ago! So, unless the ratchi did something weird while I was sleeping – and why would they? – it's his.”
“But Donivi said hybrids are impossible,” Holly said, sitting on her other side.
“Yeah, well, the mother of all separation anxiety and blood cravings aren't human pregnancy symptoms. Those are domini symptoms. I'm assuming, Scarlet, that's why you asked?”
Scarlet nodded. “Definitely not human symptoms. No morning sickness or anything though?”
Peony shook her head. “No nausea at all. Or dizziness. Or anything. Just those three things. The anxiety, the blood craving, and the strong as all heck nesting instincts.”
“Humans don't start nesting until way later in the pregnancy,” Scarlet said. “And that usually manifests as the urge to clean or redecorate, not literally build a nest.”
Peony sat back, folding her hands over her belly. It looked normal, but was there an impossible, first of its kind, hybrid really in there? It felt strange to think about, but...
“This morning, when I woke up, I snuggled Atem's pillow. Which, I didn't think was weird. I mean, I did that to my ex too. Who doesn't love smelling their guy? But, like, it was different. Smelling it made me feel so calm and at peace.”
“That's apparently totally normal for domini females,” Alanna said, still looking at her holodisplay.
“It says here that females need the scent of their mate or the baby's sire – whichever they happen to have.
Like, it's a physiological need. The nest maker needs to feel safe and to feel safe she needs her den protector. Pregnancy is the only time that adassi and domin are gender specific terms.”
Peony frowned. “And that blood... It tasted so good.”
Scarlet hummed thoughtfully. “That one worries me a bit.”
Peony's eyes snapped to her. “What? Why? What do you know?”
“Well, humans can't drink blood. Blood has a lot of iron in it and iron is toxic at too high a concentration.
But, on the other hand, domini have a much higher iron requirement than humans.
I was reading about it in my studies. The reason they're blood drinkers is because they need all that extra iron.
They use the iron as part of the camouflaging process.
It's vital to their diet. So, your fetus needs the extra iron, but the iron can be toxic to you.”
“Great,” Peony grumbled. “And my doctor doesn't even believe it's a hybrid baby.”
“Can you blame him?” Hattie chuckled. “I mean, it's apparently impossible.”
“Not for humans, I guess,” she mumbled, rubbing her flat belly. “Scarlet, what am I going to do?”
“Well, you're not going to like this, but you're going to have to go back and get scanned.”
“Isn't that what I just did?”
“You didn't let it finish. When the scan goes deep enough, it starts to read the DNA. Donivi hadn't gotten to that part with the fetus yet. Once he reads it, he'll be able to see that it's Atem's baby.”
Peony gnawed her bottom lip. “Dang it. Can't anyone just trust me when I say it's Atem's? They'll figure it out when I push it out and it starts changing colors anyway.”
Scarlet shook her head apologetically. “Peony, I get that you hate this, but it has to be done.
Not just to prove you're right, but because, if you are right, then this is the first hybrid baby to ever exist. No one knows what to expect.
It has to be monitored closely. I'd even say that you should be scanned every five days, not just once a tenday.”
Peony whimpered, her head falling back. “Crud. Double crud.”
Holly chuckled, nudging her side. “You know, the quickest way to get over a phobia is through exposure. So, maybe this will actually be good for you.”
She groaned, long and exaggerated, making the others laugh.
“Okay, fine! I'll go. But I want to talk to Atem first.” An excited smile pulled at her lips.
“He never said anything directly, but I know he wishes he could get me pregnant.
He's going to be so psyched! And I'll probably be a lot calmer if I have him there for the scan thing. And he deserves to be there, too.”
Scarlet nodded, agreeing with her. “Great.
I'll spend the night doing research and learning about domini pregnancies.
I wish I could look up human ones again just to compare textbook to textbook, but I'll have to go off memory.
We'll meet up to speak to Donivi about this tomorrow.
We'll get the full scan done then and see where we go from there.”
Peony nodded. It was a short to-do list, but it made things easier just to have it.
“Okay,” Hattie waved her hands at them, “we've got the serious stuff out of the way. Can we now be excited that Peony's having a baby?!”
A laugh bubbled up in Peony's throat as she sat up. “It's crazy, isn't it?”
“Crazy exciting! I'm so happy for you, babe! You're going to be such a good mom.”
Peony giggled, bouncing a bit on her cushion. “Yeah? I haven't even had a chance to process it yet.”
“You are excited, right?” Holly asked, watching her carefully.
Peony took in a deep breath, thinking about it for a second, before nodding. “Actually, I think I really am. Like, it's unexpected, but Atem said it would never happen, so it literally happening is so incredible!”
“That's the spirit!” Hattie beamed.
“And besides, Atem said that his people aren't very fertile, so this is probably like a once in a lifetime thing. The stars happened to align just right, you know?” She stroked her belly lovingly. “If I don't love this baby now, I might not ever get another chance.
Scarlet cleared her throat carefully. “I, er, hate to be Debbie Downer over here, but, realistically, Peony, maybe you should wait a bit before letting yourself get attached.”
Peony frowned, giving her a betrayed look. “What? Why would you say that?”
Scarlet held up hands and continued quickly, “I'm not saying don't be happy!
And it's a great thing, and if you're happy, I'm happy for you.
It's just still super early. At the very latest, you can't be more than two months along, right?
You're not even out of your first trimester yet, and that's the most delicate time even for fully human pregnancies.
You're carrying a hybrid. Who knows if its genetics are even stable?
Or if it will even survive as it grows? I'm sorry. I know that sounds really harsh and cold and no expectant mom wants to hear that but...”
Peony smiled gently, reaching out to cover her hand. “I get it. Thank you for telling me. I know that can't be easy. I'll manage expectations, but I still want to be excited. Okay?”
Scarlet seemed to relax a bit and she nodded once. “Thank you for understanding. I hate to be 'that guy', but I felt like someone had to say it.”
Peony nodded, appreciating her skepticism, even if she wanted to be positive about all this.
“Okay!” Hattie clapped her hands loudly. “No more science and no more managed expectations. Let's just be excited about this for a minute!”
Peony laughed, nodding along eagerly. This wasn't what she expected, and she still wasn't entirely sure what she should be doing or what it meant, but Hattie was right. For a little bit, she just wanted to be happy and not worry about the 'what if...'s or 'why...'s.
The only thing she knew for sure was that she couldn't wait to tell Atem.
She knew he was going to be excited.