Chapter 10 #2
“Actually, I could go for a drink. Killing off that fat slug worked up a thirst.” Cronus nods enthusiastically.
“Hail us when you’re ready to get this show on the road, Lila.
Until then, we will be catching up with our old friends and grilling your other partners.
” He grins wickedly, and I see Cas gulp with nerves, but Xavier just slaps him on the back.
“Don’t worry, my dad is all talk. He’s really a big softy,” he tells my kraken, leading the group out of the med lab. “And we can always use the children to deflect. They will have him wrapped around his fingers within seconds.”
“No, it’s Xylene they have to be careful of,” John mutters. “Are you okay, Lila? Do you want one of us to stay?” He gestures between himself and William, but I shake my head.
“No, I have Link, you go ahead. We probably shouldn’t stress him out any more than he is, considering the state he’s in,” I say quietly, unsure if Nikos can hear us or not.
“We won’t be far away if you need us,” William says, and they both take their leave. I love the fact that they just trust me to get the job done. It is a big boost to my confidence that they have faith in me.
“Okay, Doc, what do we need to do?” I ask him, and he moves over to a screen and presses a few buttons before an image of a pregnant Aquilian appears on one of the screens.
“As far as I can tell when I compare the date that you and Nikos had your swim with the average gestation of an Aquilian, I would say Nikos is due to give birth in the next week or two. Ideally, I’d like to scan him, but they can’t shift out of mer form when pregnant, unlike lightning cats or Fluxx shifters. ”
“So you need to strip and get in there with him?” I ask, and he looks from me to the pod where Nikos still floats with his eyes closed, looking pale and drawn.
“Yeah, I would say so, but it would probably help if you were in there too. Judging by the looks of him, I would say not only is he malnourished, but he seems to be suffering from antenatal depression, probably stemming from the one-sided mate mark.”
“Antenatal depression?” I ask, not having heard the term before.
“Yes, it’s similar to postnatal depression, but it occurs during pregnancy.
A one-sided mating is difficult on the mate.
The hormone that would be present if you had bitten him and sealed the mating is missing.
From what I can read, Aquilians do not have fated mates, and his mate bite will fade on you, but until it does, he will always long for you to return the bite.
If you decide not to go ahead, I would suggest that we send him and his child back to Aquilia and arrange some kind of visitation schedule with Nixie facilitating the swap over, because it would be cruel to prolong Nikos’s yearning by having to see you constantly even if you do share a child.
” He doesn’t say this with any judgment, just straight facts, which I appreciate.
“He also looks pale. I don’t think he’s seen enough sun like he should have during his pregnancy.
Pregnant Aquilians like to sun themselves while pregnant on special platforms provided specifically for this.
It allows them to bond with other expecting parents, and there is something in the sun of Aquilia that aids fetal growth.
Nikos is too pale to have been doing this, which may have affected your child’s development. ”
Simultaneous emotions hit me—fury at the former King of Aquilia and guilt for my role in all of this.
If only I had kept my temper in check, but I treated him abysmally.
It looks like he had about as much choice as I did when we swam that day.
Now I only have myself to blame if something is indeed wrong with our child.
“Is there anything I can do?” I ask him, a lump developing in my throat that’s hard to talk around. He can obviously tell, because he moves away from the console and wraps an arm around me, drawing me into his chest.
“What do you want, Lila?” I start to answer, but he places a finger over my mouth, stopping me.
“Just take a moment and think. I don’t want to hear what you think you should do or what you think others, including me and your other mates, might want.
What do you want? It’s okay if you don’t want to make Nikos one of your mates. We will work everything out.”
“Is divorce common in the galaxy?” I ask while I think about what he just said. He’s quiet for a moment.
“Not for races with fated mates. Most of the time, probably eighty-five percent of the time, fate, or whoever controls those mate bonds, gets it right. Occasionally it doesn’t, and there is a way out of most fated matings that doesn’t involve the death of one of the partners.
There is a magical race of beings at the end of the galaxy—I think we’ve told you about them before—called the Seiomann.
They have subjugation powers, and they can break a fated mating for a price. ”
“And for the other races who get to choose? Like you?” I ask quietly, because although I have complained about all these fated mate bonds, they are reassuring in that I probably won’t be hurt by the men who have them with me, but neither Link nor Nikos do.
I worry they will grow tired of having a relationship with me, especially when whom I add to this group is out of my control and with no end in sight.
“Probably a forty percent chance they will break up or something will happen, but hey…” He lifts my chin so I can look at his gorgeous silver eyes. “That won’t be you and me.”
“I don’t want it to be me and Nikos either,” I tell him, feeling tears well in my eyes.
“I feel like this has all happened the wrong way. How am I ever going to get him to see that I want to explore the growing relationship between us? That I want him and our child to stay and see what we can become? I can’t make promises I can’t necessarily keep. You know what we were like together.”
He chuckles. “Yes, you two are volatile, but I think you will find that given the chance, he will be a different man now that you have opened your eyes to what could be between the two of you.”
My eyes drift over to the pod. He’s floating with his eyes closed, his golden hair floating around him like seaweed on the currant. Even his beautiful gold and green scales are dulled.
“Can he hear us?” I ask Link, and he shakes his head.
“No, the speaker is switched off. I didn’t want to make him any more uncomfortable or sadder.”
I go over to the pod and hold my hand up to the glass wall.
Nikos must feel my presence, because his eyes crack open.
He peers at me for a moment, his pretty eyes cloudy and unfocused, but then they widen minutely, and he slowly reaches up, placing his webbed hand against mine.
I press my forehead against the glass too, and he flicks his tail just slightly and does the same thing, his large belly also pressing against the glass.
Holy crap, that’s my baby in there. I feel a rush of joy, overwhelming pride, and no small amount of desire.
I think I know exactly how Caspian felt every time he looked at my pregnant belly.