“You are thinking loudly,” Ghenie murmurs, taking a sip of his drink, giving me a knowing look.
“Just a lot of my mind. Newly mated and all that.”
“Don’t think too hard,” Christian says, setting a dish down onto the table. I breathe in the delicious scent, my mouth instantly watering. It looks like Miles has made some sort of poultry dish with a sauce over it. “I thought I smelled something burning in the kitchen but apparently it was just you overthinking in here.”
I look up at Christian unimpressed. In turn he rolls his eyes at me. I look over at my friend, finding the tiniest smile on his lips as he watches Christian. If I wasn’t so worried about my own relationship I would be teasing Ghenie about this almost thing he has with Christian.
Christian sits in his seat beside Ghenie while Miles sits beside me. His hand goes to my thigh and I can’t help but smile, the heat of his hand filling my belly with fluttering. My tail snakes across the distance between us, draping itself across Miles’ lap.
He smiles up at me, leaning over to kiss my cheek before digging into the food and dishing it to each person’s plate.
“It’s weird,” Christian says, poking at his food. “It’s kinda likechickenbut also not quite.”
“What’schicken?” Ghenie asks curiously.
“It’s like a bird type animal. It has feathers and a beak. But it’s not like this,” Miles explains. “This came from a rather large animal. Whilechickensare smaller.”
“Very interesting,Dorshkah.Thank you for explaining.”
“Hey,” Christian suddenly says, pointing his fork at me, his mouth full of food. “What’s that word you always call Miles?”
“Dorshkah?”
“Yeah, that.”
Ghenie snorts from his place beside Christian, shaking his head. “It’s a term of endearment. It’s because Miles has golden hair.”
Miles tilts his head. “Really?”
“There’s a bit more to it,” I say defensively. “You’re my golden, delicious nugget.”
Christian’s mouth hangs open for a moment before he’s snorting in amusement in a way I don’t understand. “Awesome,” he says with a shake of his head. “Your alien pet name iscorn, Miles.”
“No, it’s not!”
“It totally is!”
“Don’t ruin my mate’s nickname for me, Christian! You’re such an ass!”
“And you’re such acornon the fuckingcob.”
Knowing they’re teasing each other, I sit back and smile, listening to the two of them fight. I have no idea whatcornis but Miles just called me his mate to his friend. Of course he’s called me his mate since our mating, but that was just between the two of us, usually whispered while we made love. This feels different, cementing our relationship and declaring it for anyone to hear without an ounce of hesitation or embarrassment.
“Stop smiling,” Miles says with a pout, shoving his elbow into my side.
“Be careful!” Ghenie says, his voice coming out harsher than Miles is used to. We all look to myToralleh. My eyes widen. “Be gentle with your mate while he’s carrying, Miles.”
Christian makes a questioning sound but I only have eyes for Miles, taking in his face, looking for every reaction. It’s Christian who asks, “carrying what?”
“Yeah, Timalah,” Miles whispers. “Carrying what?”
Ghenie curses under his breath. “I’m sorry. I assumed he knew, Timalah.”
“Oh my gods,” Christian whines. “Knowswhat?”
The room is still, waiting for me to answer. It’s like all the air has been sucked out, leaving only tension and anticipation. Not wanting to put this off any longer, knowing putting it all on the table at once is the best way to move forward, I tell mymatron. “I’m pregnant.”
There’s a long pause where no one speaks and I’m positive that if a needle fell to the ground, we’d all hear it. There’s a stillness to the room as everyone processes this news. Miles’ eyes widen for a moment in shock before his features all smooth out.
