Chapter 2 #3
I sigh and open it, expecting to find my brother. But there’s a beautiful human woman standing in the hallway with long brown hair, coffee cup in hand, wearing tech gear.
“Surprise.” She grins. “Oh, honey. You’ve got the shell-shocked new-girl face. I had it too, my first day. My name is Leah Hernandez and I’m your neighbor on this floor.” She points at a door down the hallway.
“Oh, really. Another human on this planet? That’s wonderful. I didn’t expect that to happen at all. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Mara Wilson. I’ve arrived with my brother, Andrew, he’s in the apartment next to mine.”
We chat for a bit and I learn that Leah is shockingly married — married — to one of the famed Margol Xylan Illibrium miners.
Amazing. She’s been living here on Timbur for years now and she’s even had a half-Xylan baby.
She’s a mine tech, which means the second I say the word grid her whole face lights up and we’re trading shop.
Within minutes I’ve learned more useful information about how this colony actually functions than the entire recruitment packet contained.
I learn there are actually quite a few humans who live and work on Timbur, which is nice to hear.
Eventually Leah’s child needs her and she waves a hand promising we’ll talk more later, and leaves. I go back into my new apartment and shut the door behind me. The room’s still small and unfamiliar but it feels a fraction less strange.
I let out a large sigh and plop down on the bed, allowing all my troubles to return.
Then I place a hand on my lower stomach, remembering how I felt nauseous when I stepped off that transporter disk.
My mind floods back to memories of my ex-boyfriend, Cole, who sent me a short breakup message two weeks ago.
What he wanted, it turned out, was the ability to propose to my cousin, Allie and move to Omega 9 so they could both work at that new casino.
The worst part is, they’d been together behind my back for quite a while, and everyone knew, except for me.
Embarrassing.
It would’ve been nice if at least one person had clued me into this travesty.
I’m not heartbroken. Really, I want that on the record. We needed to break up for good because we were using each other as stand-ins until something better came along. Mainly, I’m annoyed that I ignored the signs that he’d been cheating on me for quite some time. Ugh.
When Andrew sent me the contract for this job on Timbur, I said yes before I finished reading it, ready to get out of town and my mind on something new.
Another wave of nausea hits. Yuck. I’ve been queasy for a week and a half.
I told myself the stress was making me sick. But I’m beginning to realize this isn’t the problem.
I do the math while sitting on the edge of the bed.
I do it again.
The second time it comes out the same, because that’s how math works, and my stomach drops straight through the floor.
Could I be pregnant? How is this possible, considering I was always so careful, always on it with the birth control my entire adult life.
I dig through my med-kit with hands that aren’t quite steady, and there it is, a quick pregnancy test. I take it into the tiny bathroom and wait.
It’s probably the transport, it’s nothing, it’s stress, it’s…
The little screen blinks positive.
Oh wow.
I slide down on the bathroom floor and let out a nervous laugh. I’ve always wanted this, but I thought a pregnancy would happen because it was planned, and I’d have a husband who was just as happy as I was. But instead, this was an accident and I’m alone.
I bite my lip. There is a med lab on this planet, of course. I could just go down there and ask them to take care of this “mistake.” But… I take a deep breath and look around and…and…and I pause to think about this quietly and deeply.
I must be stuck in deep thought for a good thirty minutes, thinking through every aspect of this possible ‘motherhood’ into the future, to the last detail.
And then a smile breaks out across my face because…I’m going to keep this baby.
Yes, this will be difficult. It will be basically the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I’ve done lots of hard things.
Everyone back home will know it’s Cole’s and that he left me.
And most likely Cole will want no part in raising this child.
He’d always said he never wanted kids. But I can afford this on my own, I don’t need his help.
I can hire a nanny if I need so I can keep working.
And I can just stop taking jobs off planet and settle down to working only on New Earth. I wipe at my eyes and smile.
I’m going to be a mother.
Surprise.
I put my hand flat against my stomach. “Okay,” I tell the quiet room. “Just you and me, then.”
And then, because I’m still the woman who handles her own problems I decide I’m not telling anyone. Not Andrew, or a single soul on this planet. I’m barely along and I can still get this job done, the pregnancy won’t get in the way. In fact I’ll consider this my last off planet job.
I wash my face and look at myself in the mirror and square my shoulders.
I’ve got this.
I always do.