“Uh…what?” Iyanna shook her head, confused. “What are you talking about? I told you, he grew the whole first trimester in a few minutes—which means I only have two trimesters left.”
“Um, don’t you mean quadmester?” Liv asked, frowning. “I don’t know how different Monstrum are from regular Kindred, but I know most Kindred pregnancies take a whole entire year. So if you shaved three months off of that, you should still have nine months to go.”
“I do? No—really?” Iyanna shook her head.
“As I said, I’m not sure if it’s different for Monstrum. Why not ask your hubby?” Liv asked.
“I will!” Closing her eyes, Iyanna concentrated on the new mental link she had with the big Drake.
“Dra’vik, honey? Can you hear me?”
“Of course, I can, little girl. Is everything okay with the baby? You need me?”
His answer was immediate, filled with love and concern and an overwhelming feeling of protectiveness.
“Everything is fine,” Iyanna promised him. “I just wanted to know—how long does a pregnancy take when you’re carrying a Monstrum Kindred baby?”
“Twelve months of course—like any other pregnancy,” he sent back.
“What? No, that’s not right! Most human pregnancies only take nine months!” Iyanna exclaimed.
“They do? Well most Monstrum pregnancies take a solar year. Of course, yours will only take nine months, since our son got his first three-months worth of growth right after I bred you,” he pointed out. “So it’s a nine month pregnancy like a human one—you all right with that?”
Iyanna wanted to laugh.
“Am I all right? Actually, I’m better than all right. Thanks, honey.”
“You need anything else? I’m making that thing you like tonight for Last Meal—the round flat disk with the red sauce and the melty cow squeezings and all the other stuff on top,” he informed her.
“Oh, you mean pizza?” Iyanna sent back.
“Yeah—that. Let me know if you want anything else with it and I’ll pick it up before you get home.”
“I’ll get back to you if I have any strange pregnancy cravings,” Iyanna promised him. “Right now I need to get back to my friends.”
“Love you, little girl,” his growling mental voice said, and then she opened her eyes and looked at Kat and the rest of the women who were waiting expectantly.
“Yup, you guys are right. A typical Monstrum pregnancy takes a year but because I’m carrying a Drake Monstrum baby, it’s going to be nine months. And I still have almost the whole nine months to go!”
“You’re looking pretty happy about that,” Kat remarked. “I don’t know many women who are glad to hear they have three more months on the preggy train than they originally thought.”
Iyanna laughed.
“Of course I’m happy! All this time I’ve been thinking Dra’vik and I only had six months to get everything done to get ready to be parents and now I have three more months than I thought!”
“Well, it’s a good thing you got everything cleared up,” Liv said, smiling. “Can you image six months down the road if you didn’t know? You’d be wondering why the baby wasn’t coming.”
“Yes, you three definitely saved me from a lot of stress.” Iyanna smiled at all of them. “I’m so thankful for new friends. There aren’t that many women aboard the Monstrum Mother Ship—though more are coming every day.”
“Well, we’re only a viewscreen call away anytime you want to talk, doll,” Kat said, smiling at her. “So come on—are you going to show us the Dark Side of the Ship?”
Iyanna nodded.
“I will, but it’s not as dark as it used to be. The new upright glows have sprouted and bloomed—they’re everywhere. The Dark Side looks like a gorgeous night garden now.”
“Oh, I can’t wait to see it!” Sophie clapped her hands.
“Come on then—let’s get a carpet wole,” Iyanna told them. “But be careful once we get there—you never can tell what you might find on the Dark Side of the Monstrum Mother Ship.”
“Really?” Lauren’s eyes widened. “What should we look out for?”
“Just stay close to me,” Iyanna told them. “The Dark Side is home to Monstrum warriors no one on Earth has ever seen.”
Although perhaps, she thought as she led the others to the Transport Hub, more new Monstrum would come to light soon …
THE END?
OF COURSE NOT!