Episode 170: Pregnaparty (Greg)

For the first time, he felt like he had a shot at being useful to someone besides Aadya. Not that he was useful to her, except on an emotional plane, but that was better than nothing.

So far, day one of forever was setting the bar pretty high. Tomorrow he’d need to be disappointing in someway or he was going to give himself anxiety over always wanting to be helpful.

Today she was holding his hand in public. It somehow meant more than all that kissing at the wedding the other night. Kissing was passion, hand-holding was something else. He loved it. He drummed his fingertips against her palm while they waited for the others to arrive: Niels, Talise, and Zero.

Niels and Talise came first. He liked them. Niels was very in-your-face about everything, but he was good at what he did. Good at Talising, good at training to be king, good at inspiring people at the festival. He was a fabulous dad too.

And Talise, with all her complaining. It was almost adorable, the way she whined and then did a better job than anyone else would have done. He was excited for the day she and Niels would be in charge. Their reign was going to be intense and interesting.

Niels raised his eyebrows as soon as they sat. “Pregnaparty?” he asked.

“Greg had an idea,” Aadya said.

Greg had a second where he realized that blame and credit were almost the same word, with vastly different implications. Aadya, for better or worse, was giving him both.

“He believes,” Aadya continued, sitting up straighter, “we should birthe our babies now, before the attack.”

From the doorway, Zero paused mid-step. “That may be wise,” he said after he considered it. “I’ll need to scan both of you, to see how their lungs are. I can induce both of you now.”

“I can go first,” Aadya offered. “I’m prepared for this.”

Zero glanced at Niels and Talise, who were looking at each other, having some kind of couples’ conversation.

Someday, sooner than later, he would have that connection with Aadya, that ability to look at each other and speak without words. Soon. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back under the table.

“Is there any risk?” Niels asked Zero.

“There’s risk, but they’re Dragons,” Zero assured him. “She’s past the point non-Dragons can deliver with a decent success rate. 80% for a non-Dragon.”

Niels and Talise shared another look.

Talise set her fingers carefully on the table in front of her, spread out like she was playing piano. “Can I have like two minutes?” she asked.

Aadya sat at the examining table. She looked more relaxed than she probably felt. “You don’t have to do this, Talise,” she said. “And you can decide any any point before the attack.”

Which would be great, if they knew when the attack was. As it stood, sooner was better.

Talise’s eyes explored the space behind her lids. “Okay.” she muttered.

“Does it hurt the babies to prep their lungs either way?” Niels asked. He watched Zero set up the scan and lift Aadya’s shirt up around her ribcage so he could do the ultrasound.

“It won’t, no,” Zero pressed the wand against Aadya’s left side. “I’ll have to get the steroids out of realm.”

“I can get them,” Nell offered solemnly from the doorway. His wings spread out so they blocked the door and fanned into the hall.

Talise stood up.

Niels did too, because they were such a unit. “Let’s go see if Indigo got any new movies worth borrowing.”

“Okay…” Talise panic-muttered.

Greg watched them go, a little amused and a little sorry. Amused because it was obvious what they’d choose. It was the only choice, it wasn’t really a choice at all. Sorry, because they shouldn’t have been here.

But they were, they had an actionable plan and a guy capable of carrying it out, and a ton of support around them. They’d be fine.

Greg turned his attention back to Aadya. As relaxed as she seemed, she held his hand tightly, anxiously, too anxious for someone this far along unless she’d lost a baby in the past. He’d have to ask, unless she volunteered the information.

“They look strong,” Zero told her. “I think this is a wise choice for you.”

Again, the choice thing. Even Greg preferred to call it a choice apparently, although he regretted it now.

Aadya sucked in some air. “I agree,” she said. “Do I need the steroids or should we induce me now?”

Zero looked at the ultrasound machine, either studying the frozen image or thinking, or both. More likely both. “When do you see the attack happening?” he asked.

“Soon, any day,” Aadya said, soft.

Two days or fewer, and all their lives would change forever.

It was too soon. He had Aadya, this Aadya. Dying would change her and in some ways they’d be starting over again because he’d have to get to know a different version of her.

“I think,” Zero said. He switched the machine off. “We should induce you now, so I can focus on Talise. She needs the steroids, and even then her babies may need some additional help.”

Aadya looked at Nell. Greg decided that was technically more impressive than the Niels-Talise eye conversation because 1) Nell could read minds and 2) they weren’t technically a couple. It made it more interesting.

Not a couple maybe, but they worked well together.

“Okay,” Aadya said. Greg had no idea if that was to Zero or Nell or both.

“I’ll get you the doses for one,” Nell offered.

He waited while Zero compiled a list of necessities on paper. “All these things too,” Zero requested.

Something new. Greg studied Nell, the assumption that Nell would get them. Aadya’s inexperience with money meant that she probably didn’t handle out-of-realm purchases, but Nell? Really?

Greg had him down as another thief, not a purchaser.

“I’ll take care of it,” Nell promised. He did a little bow to Aadya. “Do you need anything? Crepes?”

She laughed. “Snow cones? No alcohol.”

“What’s the point in that?” Nell teased. He crossed the room and kissed her head and for a second, the tiniest sliver of time, improbably, Greg realized they’d actually had sex at some point. Nell and Aadya.

It was impossible to imagine, but that might have just been his mind rebelling against the idea.

“Anything for you?” Nell offered to Greg.

“No, but thank you,” Greg said. He was surprised to realize he meant it. Whatever was going on with Nell and Aadya, whatever had brought her to the point where she was about to deliver Nell’s babies, there was definitely a tender affection between them.

He had a lot to learn about her.

He watched her watch Nell leave, a sort of wistful expression on her face, and then Zero stepped closer to her. “I think we should do this here, instead of your room,” he told Aadya.

“Or my room,” she suggested. Her tone was so mild it almost didn’t sound like she was saying no.

Zero ran his hand along his jaw. “Show Talise this isn’t scary,” he urged. “She’s used to her room too. I can set up some guest rooms even, side-by-side, but I need supplies and your room is a longer walk from everything.”

Translation: You matter less than Talise right now and I don’t want to waste time walking to you just so you can have your own room.

Greg got it. It was hard on Aadya, but Greg understood.

“Okay,” Aadya breathed.

“I can get you anything you need from your room,” Greg offered. “Except the ceiling,” he added, as a joke because she needed to be laughing, he thought. This was big, scary, unplanned, immediate.

Other big words.

It was hard to believe it was the same day she’d met his mom. That felt like a lifetime ago.

“I’ll try and think of something,” Aadya joked, like he was the one who needed to be distracted.

“I’ll get everything ready,” Zero stated in a methodical, confident voice. He unplugged the machine and wheeled it into a corner of his office, folded against itself and out of the way.

“If Talise doesn’t induce, Aadya can be in her room, right?”

Zero stayed in the corner, hand on the machine. “We’ll see,” he said. “After Daphne, I’m not sure we should risk it.”

So she had lost a baby.

If a fernleaf could unfurl as it grew into a frond, Aadya did the opposite. “I understand,” she told Zero.

“Daphne?” Greg pressed. He was damned if he was going to let Aadya go through this alone. Why she would be secretive, when he’d lost all of his kids, was beyond him.

“My daughter,” Aadya explained. “She died.”

No shit.

“Something happened with her soul,” Aadya continued, “and it wouldn’t return to her body. She’s the baby I had at thirty weeks.”

So this was an intense situation and he was practically a stranger as far as Zero was concerned, even if he was planning to rob him. Greg needed to calm any concerns in that department. “I’ve delivered a baby before, if extra hands are needed,” he offered.

“They may be,” Zero mused.

Some guys flinched at the idea of seeing their wives deliver, but Greg didn’t understand why. What was a little blood, for new life?

“I’m going to speak with Indigo while you get comfortable,” Zero told Aadya. He pulled out a green cotton dress, with snaps in the front and back, that would be knee-length for Aadya if she wore it standing. Greg could see that there were openings in the front for breastfeeding too. “Tanji made this just for you,” Zero said, passing it to Aadya.

Aadya held it up and surveyed it. “I’ll have to thank her,” she said.

Zero nodded his head and left, and then it was just the two of them.

Greg took the opportunity to steal a kiss, while Aadya’s eyes were still on the dress.

“I’m sorry I didn’t think of it sooner,” he told her.

“On the day we met or the day we elixired?” Aadya teased. “You’re terrible for not fitting more into your time.”

He laughed. “I meant more, what if the attack already happened?”

“What if is a waste of time, when they are healthy right now,” Aadya pointed out.

“I guess,” Greg said. Worst case scenario, the attack happened while she was in labor. Luck thought she was safe, for now. “So…newborns to dinner with my mom tomorrow?”

It would be great. Maybe he could work in that he’d helped with the delivery, just to increase the awkwardness with his mom.

For now, it was Aadya’s time. Whatever she wanted, whatever she needed, he would be there.

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