Chapter 20
Am I pregnant?
Wendy
My future husbands’ family was larger than I thought.
Nitochi held my hand under the large table as Baelor moved around, getting big dishes from his parents. He smiled at the rest of his family every time they patted his shoulder.
Dozens of aunts, uncles and even more cousins, all walked around, bringing more food and congratulating us—but being particularly friendly toward Baelor.
“They do not know that I am the lead yet,” Nitochi explained.
I gave him a puzzled look. “Why not?”
He shrugged. “It was always supposed to be Baelor. They have no reason to think otherwise.”
Nitochi looked suddenly anxious—no matter how hard he was trying to hide it. My hold tightened around his hand and when his eyes met mine, he smiled, squeezing back. “I care for Baelor just as much, but I’m happy it’s you,” I said.
His dark eyes gleamed brighter as his eyebrows rose. “Are you not worried?”
“Why would I be?” I asked. “I’m not familiar with the whole lead system, but I do know you care enough about me to be the one.” I lifted my free hand to cup the side of his face. “You already proved to be quite the stubborn protector.”
His face softened at my words. He placed his hand over mine and leaned into my touch.
“I was never meant to be the one leading our family,” he said softly.
“But I will make sure I am worthy of the role you have given me. Of the affection you are gifting us every day.” Nitochi leaned closer until our foreheads touched and he let go of my hand to touch my stomach.
Butterflies. Damn it, get a grip Wendy…
“I will be the dasume our children need,” he breathed out. “The one they deserve. The one you will make me.”
His words sent shivers down my whole body.
I couldn’t help but wonder if him saying all of this now meant something more that I didn’t know.
Was I already pregnant and he could feel it?
I’d been here for barely over a week…The doctor who took off my birth control did mention that I’d be more fertile for the next few months, and both Nitochi and Baelor did spend most of the week fucking me.
Me being pregnant was absolutely a possibility right now… But them somehow already knowing?
“I—am I pregnant?” I blurted out, and I cursed myself for not controlling the pitch of my damn voice as everyone became silent around us.
Nitochi’s eyes widened. Baelor dropped something that clattered on the wooden table.
“Is she?” their mother, Nodala, asked.
Nitochi searched my gaze, confused—and kinda hopeful. “Are you?” he asked.
Shit, maybe I misunderstood the whole exchange.
“I don’t know!” I shrieked. “You just—” I paused, casting glances around. Everyone stared. Great. “You touched my stomach, I thought you felt something and…I don’t know! With what you were saying, I thought you could feel it or…”
My face was turning red. Not that I could see, but the burning feeling in my cheeks was enough to tell.
“We do not know,” Baelor said as he sat on my other side, shielding me from their family’s curious gaze. “But we are supposed to bring you to the human base for a health check-up soon. Maybe they will be able to tell.”
Nitochi groaned, sliding an arm around my waist to pull me closer. “I did not agree to—”
“John and I managed to get you an authorization to join,” Baelor cut him off sharply. “Do not make a scene now, or she will still go and you will not be allowed to come with us.”
“I—”
“It’s fine, Nitochi,” I said, catching his head between my hands again, turning his face so that he’d focus on me and only me.
“I will be fine. We all will. I want you to come, so please…be there in silent support?” He frowned, looking hurt.
It quickly vanished when I added, “If I am pregnant, they might even be able to show it to us in my belly at some point…” I let go of one side of his face to make sure his hand was firmly placed on my stomach as I said it.
“It’s not something you’ll want to miss. ”
He searched my eyes for answers to questions he didn’t voice.
Considering the way they lived, I doubted Gemins' pregnancies were checked the same way the humans were. Except when they were used by John and his team, I had yet to see them handle any sort of developed technology. Once again, I couldn’t help but wonder if all the planets in this system were in a similar situations.
Were all the worlds clear and pure from pollution? From technological advancements?
“What do you mean by ‘show us in your belly?’ Is it—are they—” Baelor stuttered, his head slightly tilting to the side.
Their whole family’s attention was still on us and words ended up stuck in my throat. Why are they all staring? Is it not rude for them to stare like this?
At my reddening and gaping face, John cleared his throat, pulling the attention away.
“We humans are very thorough when it comes to pregnancies and fetuses’ development,” he explained.
I still wasn’t sure what he was doing here, but damn I was grateful for his presence right now.
“We used to do echographies—and still do sometimes—but now, the pregnant woman is scanned and a live hologram of the fetus is created. You can see it move and even hear its heartbeat.”
They all looked at him like he was insane. I thought his explanation was pretty easy and straightforward…
“What you said was filled with non-translated words, my love,” a beautiful Gemin female said, leaning closer to him.
Wasn’t she Baelor & Nitochi’s aunt? Wait. Did that make him their uncle or something?
“Oh.” John’s eyes widened in embarrassment. “What was not translated?”
“What is a…fetus?” she asked.
John nodded, relieved. “Before the baby is developed enough to call it a baby, we call it a fetus. So just an early baby,” he simplified.
“E—cho-gra—phy?” Baelor continued, his pronunciation unsure.
“An echography, yes. It’s a medical act. We use an electronic tool to look inside the body without needing to cut the body open.”
Baelor’s eyes widened before he frowned. “How?” he asked.
John let out a chuckle. “I’ll give you a book, it’s a fascinating subject but a little heavy for dinner conversation.”
“What is scanning?” Nitochi asked.
“The same thing, but a different device and technique,” John said.
Nitochi grumbled something under his breath before he continued with another question. “And ho-lo-gram?”
The way they pronounced these unknown words was just adorable.
John just smiled at this one. “You’ll see. At least, if you behave and let the doctors do their job looking after Wendy once you all are up there.”
“Is—ho-lo-gram dangerous?” he gritted out, his hold on me suddenly a bit too tight.
“It’s not,” I said, caressing his arm, his shoulder, his face, anywhere it could help make him more relaxed. “You’ll just see an image of the baby, as clearly as if it was in the room. Hear its little heartbeat. It’s a beautiful moment.”
I had been to one of my friends' doctor visits when she got pregnant. Her man had been held up at work and she needed someone to bring her there and back home—or maybe it was just someone holding her hand as she’d been living less than a mile from the medical center and had been walking perfectly fine.
No matter the actual reason, I still cried when the three dimensional image appeared.
“Will they be able to see the two babies?” Nitochi asked. “You keep saying the baby or—”
“It doesn’t matter how many there will be, you’ll see everything and everyone inside her womb,” John explained.
“Stop talking about my womb like it’s a five-bedrooms house please.”
John outright laughed at my comment, and most of the people around the table did the same. Some were loud, others just silently chuckling.
“Oh, Wendy…There’s a fifty percent chance you’ll have boys, which means there will be two fe—babies,” John corrected himself. “Plus, if the doctors back on Galleat did their job and took you off your birth control, you’ll be more fertile for a while. It increases the risks of multiple pregnancy.”
Oh. Oh shit. Did that…Does it? Oh god.
“What?” My voice cracked at the end. Damn it.
John gave me an encouraging smile as all the Gemins around the table remained silent, observing and listening to our exchange.
“I don’t want to alarm you.” Too fucking late for that.
“But you can be sure that your pregnancy will be closely watched. Maxwell will probably have me do some monitoring in between your appointments up there.” He pointed at the evening sky.
At the invisible space station I’d been supposed to visit before coming here.
“But you may not even be pregnant right now, so let’s just stop freaking you out,” he quickly added, chuckling awkwardly.
Nitochi wasn’t done freaking out. In fact, his arms were closed so tight around me that my back was plastered to his front and I couldn’t move nor turn to face him.
Baelor gave me a bright smile as everyone resumed their quiet conversations. “Does it mean there is a chance we will see all this next week when we go to the human base?”
I shook my head. “No. Even if I’m pregnant, it’s still too soon to see or hear it—them? Oh dear…”
“Everything will be fine, habanshi,” he whispered, coming to sit closer, making me feel once again like the middle part of a sexy sandwich.
Would it? “I’m human, how can we know that I’ll be…I don’t know, able to carry this many babies? Two is already something that doesn’t happen often in human pregnancies, so more? It’s terrifying!”
Nitochi seemed to agree with me when he held me tighter, burying his face in the back of my hair.
“We will be fine. I trust John,” Baelor said. “I know he will not let your pregnancy put you in danger.”
I wasn’t too scared about the pregnancy. The delivery was what terrified me the most.
“Are you born with wings?” I croaked.
“Yes,” Nitochi answered. “But they are small, featherless, and the bones in them are not fully formed for the first couple of years.”
Thank god. That was one less thing to worry about…