Sarai, стр. 29
Alekyn, hisnostrils were filled with Jamie’s enticing scent, couldn’t helpreaching for him, pulling him into his arms, his mouth finding hissarai’s soft lips, sucking his tongue. He groaned and shifted hisbody over his sarai’s and then was stunned when with a quick flickand twist of Jamie’s strong legs he found himself heaved into theair. He landed with a thump that whooshed the air from his lungs.He stared at Jamie, mouth opened in shock.
“Yeah, big fella, feels a bit strange,doesn’t it, being on the receiving end of a not very nice surprise?Serves — ” Jamie leaned forward laughing, “ — you right,furball.”
There was a heartbeat’s pause and thensuddenly Jamie’s face changed, almost comically, as he fell backagainst the bed, grabbing at his stomach. “Shit! That hurts.Alekyn, something’s not —”
Alekyn wason his feet in an instant, his rising anger subsiding as he took inhis stricken sarai’s face. “Jamie, my love, what’swrong?”
“My stomach,” Jamie panted, his face whiteand blotchy with sudden tears, “It hurts, Alekyn, it really — ” Hebroke off with a scream, his head lolling backwards.
Alekyn scrabbled through the muddle of theirdiscarded clothes. His com was in here somewhere, for gods’ sake.He found it and pressed the emergency medical call button, thenyelling for his pardmates, he lurched to his feet, grabbing a sheetto wrap Jamie in. His beloved was unconscious but moaning, withtears running down his cheeks, and Alekyn had never before in hislife been so afraid.
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“IS THE PARDLING LOST?” Bram put his armaround Alekyn’s shoulders, hugging his pardmate leader, giving himas much strength as he could. Alekyn shook his head, his eyestormented.
“The nursehealer said the babe’s all right, but I thought I was going to loseJamie...”
He choked down a sob. “It’s my fault,” hewhispered. “I was too rough —
“Rubbish,” interrupted a stern voice. Theyglanced up. Tiff was standing beside them. “You had sex, which isnormal and healthy at this stage in a pregnancy. No, this was notyour fault, Major Alekyn. This was just circumstance. In any event,the pardling is safe, as is Jamie.”
“Thank the gods,” whispered Alekyn. “Butwhat happened?”
Tiffsnorted. “I’d say it was partly a reaction to the shock of beingkidnapped and partly because throwing your full grown, considerablylarger Sarat onto the floor can cramp abdominal muscles, somethingyour obstreperous sarai is currently realizing.”
“He doesn’t even believe he’s pregnant,”murmured Bram. “So he doesn’t realize there are things he shouldnot be doing.”
“Within reason he can do almost anything atthis stage but engaging in wrestling matches is not advised.” Tiffharrumphed, “We will need to show Jamie his child — he must acceptthe reality of his situation.”
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JAMIE STARED AT THE PORTABLE device with itslarge screen. Just like an ultrasound machine, he thought, and thenMaist, his hands gentle, smoothed gel over his tummy. What the hellwas with this sudden swelling? Did he have a tumor? Just as wellthe Naferi could cure cancer.
“Seriously,” still he felt obliged toinsist, “it’s not hurting anymore. You really don’t have to dothis.”
Maistsmiled. “Not up to me, Alekyn-sarai.”
He nodded at Alekyn, who was holding Jamie’shand as if he would never let it go. He looked deeply distressedstill and Jamie felt a stab of compunction.
“Listen, I’m sorry, Alekyn — I was justteasing you and then, I dunno, I must’ve pulled a muscle orsomething.”
His saraishook his head. “Not a muscle, dearest one” he murmured, “Ourchild…”
Jamie’s face reddened. Not this again, hethought crossly. He just couldn’t convince them that he wasn’tgoing to be carrying any children, not unless they were in his armsand he was carting them around. His attention was caught by aflashing green light.
“Ah, were ready to go,” Maist positioned asmall wand against Jamie’s belly and started to move it slowly.
Jamie’s eye’s widened. “What the hell?”
Naferi medicine was extraordinarily moreadvanced than human medicine. The image showing up on the screenwas not fuzzy nor did it come in a range of gray shades. Jamie wasstunned by the clarity of what he was seeing, almost before herealised what he was seeing. Jesus, if that was his insides, they’dbeen seriously rearranged. The image sharpened yet again and thenhe whimpered…dear god, that looked like —
“Yes,” whispered Alekyn, bending near tosmooth a kiss under his ear, “that’s our child, Jamie, ourpardling.”
Jamie’s mouth opened and closed, but for thelife of him he couldn’t say a word. He just stared in amazement,his whole view of himself and what it meant to be a male shiftingon its axis.
He grabbed the wand from Maist and ran itover his belly once more. Yep, kidneys, large intestine, bowel,stomach, baby…
Baby.
He was pregnant. The wand dropped from hishand and was scooped up by Maist, who nodded at Alekyn. Jamiecouldn’t take his eyes from the screen.
“That’s…that’s a child,” he splutteredwildly. “In there…in me! That’s a baby!”
Alekyn chuckled. “Yes, my dearest one, it’sa baby — our baby, our little pardling.”
Jamie pressed his hand to his tummy, hiseyes still shocked. “Not so little,” he breathed out. “It’shuge.”
“You’re four months pregnant, Jamie,” hismate responded, “and Naferi pregnancies only last seven months—”
Which seemed like a helluva long time toJamie, but he guessed it was all relative.
“Baby,” he repeated, shell shocked, hisdisbelief disintegrating in the face of the scan and the tinymoving image. A little hand waved from the screen and he had tostop himself waving back. Then a small foot flexed and Jamie feltthe kick. He stared down at his belly and watched a slight ripplerun across its surface. “I’m pregnant,” he breathed, and a hugesmile wreathed his face as he gazed up at his Sarat. “Ourchild.”
A tear ran down Alekyn’s face. “Yes, mylove, our child.” Then he overreached himself, “The first of many—”
“Hold that thought,” Jamie grabbed him by anear and hauled him close, “until this one’s born and I decidewhether I want another one.”
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JAMIE HAD BEEN SPENDING most of the timereading in the garden, his belly getting bigger by the day, but nowNaferis” seasons were turning. All the rose-like flowers had meltedaway into sad little dried clumps of brown that were being tumbledto the ground by increasingly