“So can I go now or do you need me?” she asked, completelydismissing the medical chart printing out.
Rodin and Tamin both faced her with huge smiles, whileclutching her printouts and gesturing to the paper.
“Poppy, we want to be the first to congratulate you andWheaton!” Rodin said as he put out his hand to shake.
“For what?” she asked stupidly, automatically shaking thehand in the air.
“Your match has resulted in the first human hybrid baby in anew line of warriors!” Rodin said in an excited rush. “We did not want to presumethat you had started sexual relations, but from your scan we can tell you thatthey have been successful,” he said, while pumping her hand.
The words seemed to echo in her head. Sexual relations.Successful. Successful sexual relations. Oh dear god, they thought she waspregnant. It took a minute or two but she realized that her hand was nowhanging in his grip and he was staring at her with a face filled with panic.
“Poppy, you have lost all your color and are swaying on yourfeet. Let’s sit you down.” Putting an arm around her shoulders, he led her tothe chair next to a desk in the room.
“Tamin, please call back Dathrow. She may need a friend’scounsel right now. I do not want her to go into shock,” he instructed the otherman.
“No…no…don’t call Dath. I just need to sit for a minute andwrap my head around this.” Rubbing her hand down her face, she took a few deepbreaths and realized her mouth was dry.
“Can I have a glass of water?” she said in a weak voice.
“Of course, Poppy. Let me get that for you,” Tamin said ashe quickly moved to get her a drink.
Once he was back in the room and sitting down, she turnedher chair slightly to face both of them. Feeling slightly better now that shewasn’t standing, she focused on breathing evenly.
“First, how the hell can you tell I’m already pregnant? Our‘relations’ didn’t happen until a couple days ago.” Now was not the time tostart blushing so she willed her cheeks to cool while she eyeballed the twodocs in front of her.
“Well, the regen machine is extremely sensitive and candetect changes in the body almost immediately. New life is growing in yourwomb. It is in the beginning stages but can be detected,” Rodin explained.
“Wow. Okay. Wow.” Poppy sat stunned. Realizing she was stillholding a full glass of water, she took a couple gulps and felt a couple dropsdribble down her chin. Wiping her face with her hand, she didn’t care if shecame across as a hot mess.
“Okay, fellas, let’s have a chat, okay?” When the men leanedforward as if she were going to share secrets, Poppy smiled at them both. Thesetwo were so excited about this pregnancy. She had a feeling she was going to befollowed around every second of the day for the remainder of this pregnancy.
“I don’t want to burst your bubble, but this pregnancy is sonew it may not take. On Earth women are told not to share news of a pregnancyuntil they’re out of their first trimester. Miscarriages happen all the timeand I have had many friends have them.”
Poppy didn’t want to be a Debbie Downer but she had to be realistic.Right now, whatever was there was so new there was still a chance it might notdevelop. She remembered an unexpected pregnancy Pixie had had a couple yearsago. At first, her sister had been in shock but quickly come around andembraced the idea of becoming a mother. When she had miscarried at nine weeks,it had been heartbreaking. Pixie had been devastated and Poppy had felt thepain right along with her. That was when she had learned the first trimesterwas always the trickiest, with the chance of miscarriage being the highest.
Poor Pix had spent some time blaming herself for themiscarriage. It had taken an intervention from Poppy with the statistics forher to understand it was extremely common and she hadn’t done anything wrong.It had been hard for Pixie to move on emotionally from the miscarriage andPoppy was sure she still thought about it from time to time.
“I’ll tell Wheaton about the baby but I don’t want anyoneelse to know as of right now, okay?” she said, noting the disappointment on themen’s faces.
“But, Poppy, I am sure that the Council would be pleased toknow that we have had a successful pairing,” Tamin sputtered out.
“Right now, the Council can go fuck themselves,” shemuttered softly but apparently loud enough for the men to hear her.
“You do have some allies on the Council, Poppy andthis may help your case with the undecided,” Rodin said.
Poppy had to admit that Rodin had a point. She really wantedto keep this news just between them until she was further along, but if this wouldget Hannah the Horror out of Wheaton’s apartment then it might be a good ideato let them know about it sooner rather than later. Leaning back and closingher eyes, she took a moment to think. No. It would be better to wait no matterthe chance of it giving her bonus points.
“No, my decision is to wait. It’s still too early and,guys…” She paused, hoping that they understood where she was coming from. “Whatif something happens?” Poppy asked in a sad voice. “If I lose this baby, theymay have more reasons to get rid of me than they do right now.”
“That is a valid point,” agreed Tamin reluctantly, noddingat his friend.
“We will wait,” Rodin added.
Still leaning forward, she felt like they were in a huddleat a football game and were strategizing their next play.
“Okay here’s the plan, guys. I’m going to start volunteeringhere and you can monitor what’s happening with Wheaton Jr. without anyoneknowing I’m pregnant. Okay? That way you can see me every day and
