Her light green eyes widened. “Two?” Wendy nodded, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. “Dearlord. Do you get any sleep?”
Wendy sighed. “I donow. I didn’t at first.” Then, to our questioning looks, she added. “I’m pregnant. They’ve beenoverbearingever since I told them.”
Melanie’s smile widened but her eyes dimmed. “That’s awesome! Congratulations!”
“The doctors said it happened this fast because of the hormones I’ve been forced to take for a long time in my colony, paired with the fact that I’ve been freshly taken off my birth control.”
“Plus, there are two of them,” I cackled. “I mean, ithasto increase the chances, doesn’t it?”
Wendy muffled a laugh. “They’ve certainly put their hearts into the task.”
“What about you?” I asked Melanie.
And I regretted my question when I saw her face fall. “Well…Not yet. But we still have some time, right?” Wendy placed her hand over hers. “I mean…We’ve had a pretty rough start, in a way.”
“You did?” I asked.
“Sort of…Long story short, it took us some time to actually start trying,” Melanie explained. “So, we’ve only been trying for a little over two months. The docs aren’t worried,” she quickly added. “So I guess we’re not either.”
“It’ll work,” Wendy said, holding her hand now. “I mean, you wouldn’t be here if the tests hadn’t been promising, right?”
Melanie forced a smile. “I know. It’s just—”
“Don’t worry about it for now,” Wendy cut her off. “You should definitely enjoy your alone time with your green man instead…You won’t have much once a baby is born, right?”
“I guess you’re right.” Melanie’s smile wasn’t as forced anymore.
“Trust me, once you get pregnant, it’s ten times less sex, and you’re suddenly treated like a precious child.”
I winced. “Bummer. Hopefully Filbur and I will have a bit more time too,” I said, grabbing Melanie’s other hand.
On the other hand, I didn’t see any scenario that didn’t end up with me doing the next migration either heavily pregnant or witha newborn in my arms, and that was if I wasalreadypregnant and the summer was long.
Which was the worst? At least, with the second option, Filbur couldalsocarry our child.
Walkingweekswith swollen feet? Not something I was eager to try.
“Where are your men, by the way?” I asked Wendy and Melanie seemed grateful for the change in subject.
“Held by security.” She rolled her eyes. “Nitochipromisedhe’d behave but he still freaked out everyone when he grabbed the doctor’s wrist to prevent him fromleadingme away.”
My eyes widened. “Bysecurity?”
“I mean…One was scary, so two of them?” Melanie chimed in.
“You saw Baelor,” Wendy pointed out. “Nitochi is his mirror, but inblack. Without any social skills and a taste for violence.”
Melanie winced. “Not terrifying at all…”
“They definitely are,” I confirmed.
“But they’re not this bad.” Wendy waved her hand in dismissal. “They’re secretly big softies.”
“I’d say security doesn’t agree with you, Miss Winsbur.” The door slid fully open to let Maxwell in the room. He was followed by another woman wearing some sort of black elegant dress. Her skin was darker than mine and her extremely long, red butterfly locks reached under her ass. Where Filbur had woven some seashells into my braids, her locks were filled with dozens of golden rings.
She looked regal. In her appearance, but also in the way she held herself.
“Miss Matossi, Miss Traynor,” he said to me and Melanie, nodding in salutation. “Your…mentold me you were reuniting for ‘beverages, food, andgossip’. I assumed I would find you here.” He placed a hand on Wendy’s shoulder. “Still going for the lemon cakes I see?” She blushed, looking at her nearlyimmaculate plate—she didn’t lick it, but I’d seen the restraint in her eyes. Then to me he said, “I told the kitchen crew to keep you the last piece of brownie. Did they listen?”
