"Mhal," I say easily. It needs no further explanation.
She chuckles. "That'd do it, yeah." Rachel glances around, putting a hand to her lower back. "Hate to ask, but can I sit somewhere? All this baby in my stomach is hell on the hips."
"Oh, gosh, of course." I rush forward, cleaning my crap off of one of the chairs we have scattered about the love shack. I pick up my stack of fabric and move it to the other end of my favorite pink couch. "You sit there," I tell her, indicating a large, overstuffed brown chair we swiped from a hotel. I sit on the pink couch, and Mhal immediately thumps down beside me in a billow of obnoxiously bright cape.
It takes everything I have not to giggle, because he's like the world's most garish wizard in that outfit.
Jurik watches us for a moment, and then crouches next to Rachel's chair, his arm resting on one side of it. Rachel, meanwhile, wiggles deeper into the cushioning. "God, this chair is nice. Where did you get it? I want to drag one back to Fort Dallas. Feels like everything I sit in lately is uncomfortable except this…which means I'll probably never be able to get out of it." She sighs deeply and pats the top of her belly. "Three cheers for accelerated pregnancy, right?"
I bite my lip, curious. "Exactly how accelerated? Can I ask? Or have I just completely lost track of time since we left?"
She thinks for a moment, then glances over at Jurik. His eyes whirl with varying shades of gold and I know he's answering her, and then she turns back to me. "I'm about two months along, I think?"
My jaw drops.
27
JENNY
I stare at her belly. At her very rounded, very pregnant belly. Rachel's tall and slender, so the fact that she's that pregnant seems insane to me.
Is this not a normal time for a female to carry young among your people? Mhal asks, reaching over and tugging on a lock of my hair. His arm rests behind my back, and I'm pretty sure his cape has fallen open again, but Jurik's casual nudity makes me feel a little silly to fuss over Mhal's.
Reading my thoughts, my dragon discreetly moves a corner of the cape back over his dick. Better?
I bite the inside of my cheek, trying not to smile. Thank you.
"I know," Rachel says. "Two months. We're supposed to give birth around three. Luckily the whole breathing fire and shape-changing thing doesn't happen until they get older." She glances at her mate again. "Some sort of rite of passage back on their world."
Receiving your fires, Mhal agrees.
Oh wow. I didn't even think about fire-breathing or shape-changing when it comes to babies. I can only imagine the havoc that would wreak on my insides if I got pregnant, and I touch my stomach in worry. "I guess that's…good?"
"Seeing as how I have a big, active baby in my belly? I like to think so?" Rachel chuckles. She rubs at her belly with the stump of her arm. She told me she lost her hand in the chaos and riots that followed the appearance of the Rift. You'd never know she felt the lack, though, because she's more capable with one hand than a lot of people are with two. "But I'm happy."
"I'm glad." I smile over at her, because she does look happy. Rachel's always struck me as scrappy and resilient, but now she seems…settled. Radiant, even. Utterly confident in herself and the world around her. And when she reaches over and Jurik touches her hand, it makes me happy for her. She's found peace and joy—two things hard to come by in this world. "You two will be great parents, I just know it."
Her grin widens. "Believe it or not, we didn't come here to talk babies. Or at least, not about our baby."
I pause, confused. "You didn't?" I couldn't think of a reason for her to be here, and part of me was wondering if she was dropping by to let me know about her pregnancy so I could be aware of what to expect if I got pregnant, too. Me…pregnant with Mhal's baby. A family of our own. I kind of like the idea, but I'm not sure this would be the right nest to raise a baby in. I'd like running water and a roof that didn't leak when it rained…
Do you want a baby? Mhal's thoughts pierce through mine, thundering through to the forefront. I will give you one. I will give you a dozen.
I'm still getting used to the idea of being mated and someone's other half. I never thought it would happen for me, not even when I joined the panty program. Not even when they told us the truth about what we were there for. It just didn't seem like something that would be in the cards for me. But a lot of things have changed in the last few weeks, and I allow myself to entertain the idea. Would I like to have kids? Would I like to be pregnant and glowing like Rachel? Even if there are no hospitals in this world and very few doctors? No schools? Very little civilization?