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“You can tell the exact day?” Zy asks.
She shrugs. “It’s an estimate. But given her conception period, you should be about six weeks away, though I’ve heard humans rarely carry minotaur babies to term.” She grins at Zy, who gulps. “You might be a dad sooner than you think!”
He nods, but I can tell it’s stunned him. He offers to walk Phemes out, muttering to her, but I’m not listening. I’m still thinking about what she said.
Forty two days, maybe less. It’s becoming more and more of a reality for us both, and I’m not sure either of us are ready.
Honestly, the approaching deadline doesn’t worry me because I will be a mother. I am more than ready to meet my child. I’m thrilled to have my own family, and the fact that it’s almost time has me overjoyed.
But I don’t know what will happen to me once the baby is here. Zy and I agreed for me to live here during my pregnancy, but after is more uncertain. And I have made the mistake of growing too attached to him.
He was supposed to be a handsome guard in a bar that disappeared after a few rounds. Instead, he’s a caring, fierce protector, one that I’ve come to rely on.
One I’m afraid I’ve fallen in love with.
But I only have forty two days left to love him from close by, and then it will be over. Our little life will be shattered by the reality of the world, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.
I also know that there is nothing more I can do, though. I manipulated him. I lied to him. And while Zy might have taken care of me for the past seven and a half months because of his child, that doesn’t mean he will want me any longer once I am no longer the one carrying the baby.
My time is running out, and I have no options. I’ve ruined my chances with the only man I’ve ever cared for, and now, I will have to live with those consequences. After forty two more days of denial.
“Do you want to eat something?” Zy asks as he comes back around the corner, and my heart sinks as I take him in. How did I not realize how hard I was falling for this minotaur until I am about to lose him?
He cocks his head as the silence stretches out, and I know that I have to let this go. We have a deal, and I won’t hurt him any further. I messed it up already, and now, he deserves to find a real family, one with someone that doesn’t wake him up screaming each night and needs to be protected.
I plaster a smile on my face and try to push off the couch. “That would be lovely.” He comes around to help me up, and I lean into his hold as he helps me to the dining area where we can overlook the city.
At least I have this for a little longer.
But what will I do when my time’s up?
15
ZY
The last few months have been an experience like no other. There I was, just a lonely city guard doing his job and minding his own business when Kyra came into my life. Soon, I find myself sharing many nights with her. That was the closest my life ever came to feeling like bliss.
That was until my heart got torn out, ripped in two and thrown to the ground. No one could ever have predicted this next chapter. I’m soon to be a father to Kyra’s child. She’s been staying with me for a while now as the due date approaches.
Most of the time, she stays inside the house. She helps me out with cleaning the place and doing the laundry, earning her keep while I go out and work. As time passes, I find the animosity I once held for her betrayal dissipating day by day.
I look at her now as she heads out the door with a basket in hand.
“I’m just going to get the laundry outside, I’ll be back in a moment,” she says.
Spending more time together has allowed us to mend our differences, to the point where we’re back to having regular sex, though not as much now that her belly grows with my child inside of her. Growing ever so slightly closer to Kyra had made me see her in a new light.
She makes me feel some type of way sometimes but I know better than to let it show. I’m not about to let myself get hurt, not again after what happened the last time I thought there was something special between us.
At the same time, it seems to me as though she has the same idea. Kyra’s also been keeping me at an arm’s length. It made for a strange dynamic in our friendship, if one could call it that. What we have right now is more like a business arrangement, due to run out once the baby arrives. When that day comes, I’ve no idea what’s going to happen then.
Just then, the door swings open. The basket of laundry falls through the doorway with a loud thud. Stumbling through is a clearly flustered Kyra, her skin red and flushed as though she’s been exercising. Keeling over, her hands rest on her knees as she catches her breath.
“Are you alright?” I ask.
“Yeah… I’m fine,” she mutters.
“Here, let me give you a hand with that.”
