once.” He studied her face carefully. “You had my scent on you and I know I’m not the father. You had Brass’ scent but you but you obviously haven’t had sex together.” He sucked in air. “You had Slade’s scent on you too. It was strongest but I assumed that was because you’d been alone with him for days and— Of course. Slade is the father.”
She let her head drop. “Please don’t tell him.”
“I’m sorry, Trisha. I must. He’d want to know. He has a right to protect and watch out for you since you are carrying his child.”
She allowed the tears to fall when she looked up. “He never contacted me, never called me, never once tried to see me in the weeks he lived here after he returned.
Please don’t tell him. I can’t see him.”
Justice softly cursed. “You thought there was more to the sex than it being casual and his actions hurt you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He didn’t want to be with me anymore once we were rescued and I sure as hell don’t want him trying to spend time with me now because of this pregnancy. He made his choice.”
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He studied her for a long time. “I understand but I have to tell him, Trisha. I will make your feelings known to him and I will tell him that he blew it.”
She wiped at tears. “Yeah. That’s a good way to put it.” She stood. “Thank you for taking this so well.”
“Thank you for—” Justice moved and hugged a surprised Trisha. “For being pregnant and giving all of us hope of having children. I’m sure everything will work out and that this baby is going to be born healthy. We’re a hearty bunch and tough to kill. This baby will be half New Species.”
She cried while Justice held her. She hugged him back, admitting she had needed someone to comfort her all day, since she’d realized she was pregnant. The shock had been that great. Justice rubbed her back and pulled her closer, consoling her.
“I’m sorry for the pain you are in. Slade should know how special you are and he never should have let you go, Trisha. I wouldn’t have if you were mine. This should be a happy occasion and he has hurt you.”
She sniffed and pushed away from Justice. He released her as she wiped at her tears again. “Thank you. That’s the nicest thing you could have said to me.” She looked up at him. “There is one more thing I want to ask of you.”
“Anything.”
“I’d request for you to tell Ellie and Fury that I’m pregnant. They haven’t conceived but they probably could. I know they want to have a baby. It might just be a simple problem with low sperm count or Ellie just might need a little help with producing her eggs. One round of fertility drugs might help her get pregnant. I can order tests that I’m sure they’ll agree to have once they know. They will know they have hope of conceiving. They are the only other full human and New Species couple and they are the only two who need this information. Both of them are trustworthy.”
Justice nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll do that. Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it all and I’ll have Dr. Ted Treadmont handle their tests. I know it’s not his field but he can do some simple testing, right?”
“He’s trustworthy. Yes, Ted can handle that.”
“Good.” Justice handed Trisha tissues from one of his desk drawers. “Here. Blow your nose. You can use my bathroom to clean up. We don’t want anyone to get suspicious and you crying would tip off someone that something is wrong.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re emotional. I hear that’s normal with pregnancy.”
“Yes, it is. God, I hate to imagine what a nutcase I’ll be in five or six months.” She shook her head. “I already feel sorry for my security detail.” She walked to the bathroom door and then stopped, turning. “I feel so bad about Brass. Do you think he’ll still be my friend?”
“He will be. He was disappointed but I didn’t see real hurt in his eyes. He’ll get over it.”
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She hoped so. She walked inside the bathroom and closed the door.
Justice heard water running. Full humans didn’t have their keen senses. He always had to remind himself of that fact, taking his own hearing for granted. He sat down at his desk. He experienced joy and sadness over the fact they were able to breed. He wanted to have a child one day but the fear of how the humans would react if they found out made his gut twist. He dialed the headquarters office at Reservation and asked for Slade.
“Hi, Justice. You actually caught me inside the office. I just had a meeting with one of the builders. The security fence is finished. It will be fully functional by next month with the motion sensors and electronic surveillance. They were grunting and groaning over the deadline for the clubhouse but it’s on schedule. In two months they should be finished with it. There’s nothing else to report.”
“I have news for you, actually.”
“All right.”
“I’m sending Dr. Trisha Norbit up to Reservation.”
