Poppy was unable to speak for a moment. Her nervousness attelling Val about the baby wasn’t due to trust. Poppy knew she could trust Valwith anything, especially after what had happened with the bridal matches. Itjust hit her that the more people she told about the baby, the more real itseemed to get.
“Well…I’m pregnant.” The words seemed to tumble out of hermouth.
Val reached behind her to feel for the bed before sittingdown with a flop.
“Pregnant?” she asked, shock evident on her face.
“According to Tamin and Rodin and that nifty regen bed, yes.Apparently Wheaton was virile enough to hit a homerun our first time at bat,”Poppy confirmed with a grin.
“Wow. That’s just…wow.” Apparently Val was a little stunnedbecause she didn’t say anything for a few moments. Just sat still, as ifshell-shocked.
“You doing okay, Val?” The expression on her face had Poppyworried. Valerie was always on her game. Now she seemed out of sorts and thecolor had drained from her face.
“Um yeah, I guess I expected the brides to take longer toget pregnant. Not sure why, maybe it’s because they were cloning so much Ifigured that their juice wouldn’t be as potent,” she rambled as though she wasnervous.
“No…that’s not all. I can tell. There’s something morethat’s bothering you,” Poppy said, calling her out. “It’s your turn to spillit. Now.”
Valerie flopped back farther onto the bed with a groan andscrubbed her hands over her face.
“Mmmpfffftherbnnn,” she mumbled.
“What?”
Taking her hands from her face, she let them drop to hersides on the bed while staring up at the ceiling.
“I said…I slept with Thorne,” she repeated with a groan.
“What?” Poppy yelled.
“Keep your voice down!” she hissed, leaning up on herelbows. “I don’t want the whole ship to know!”
“You slept with Thorne?” Poppy whispered to amiserable-looking Valerie.
“Yes.” Sniffling as if she might cry at any time, Valcontinued on, “And it was amazing.”
“Then what’s the problem, Val?” Poppy asked, unsure wherethis was going.
“Well, according to the bun in your oven, I might have oneof my own baking.” And there it was. A tear slid down Val’s face.
“Well…fuck.” Unsure what the ramifications were of Val beingwith Thorne, she didn’t know what else to say.
“Yeah, ‘fuck’ is right.” Standing up to pace, Val went on,“What if I’m pregnant? I’m pretty sure Thorne put his name into the pool to beselected for a bride. What if he wants to be matched with Miss Perfect and doesn’twant whatever it is we have going on?” Stopping to stare at the door with a sadface, she went on, “We bicker all the time and this wasn’t something Iplanned…it just happened.”
Always one to see the bright side of a situation and make aplan, Poppy thought for a couple seconds.
“Okay, let’s break this down… First, you slept with Thornewhen he might have a bride being matched. You just need to talk to him ASAP andsee where he stands on the bridal match now you’ve hooked up. I’m not sayinghe’s all hearts and roses over you, but from my experience with these big guys,when they see something they want they go after it. In this case, it was you.And I’ll tell you something right now, Thorne was looking at you pretty hardthe first time you visited me.”
Seeing Val nod at her with a hesitant smile, she continued,“Second, you may not even be pregnant. Wheaton and I may have just beenextremely lucky on our first shot. Just because I’m knocked up doesn’t mean allof them are this fertile.” Poppy noticed Val blushed and her gaze skitteredaway.
“Why do I have a feeling there is more to the story?” sheasked.
“Well, it wasn’t just one time…” Valerie admitted in a softvoice. “We’ve been going at it like bunnies this whole week.” Her face was nowcompletely red.
Poppy let that sink in. “Okay. Still, it could be badtiming. Don’t start picking out baby names until you visit the medical unit foran exam. That regen bed they have can pick up a pregnancy almost immediately.As my mom used to say, there is no point in borrowing trouble.”
She gave Val a half hug and moved over to the door. “Nowlet’s eat, this baby is starving.” Seeing Val glance down at her stomach, shelaughed. “I know, I know. I’m barely pregnant, but since I am, I’ve decided I’mgoing to blame every donut or hamburger on this baby and say fuck it.”
Their dinner ended up being relaxing considering all theshenanigans going on around them. Poppy noticed Thorne seemed to touch Val orsmile at her throughout the night. The slight touches on the shoulder or aquick brush of hair behind her ear managed to make Poppy slightly jealous.These were the small things she hadn’t been able to share with Wheaton sinceHannah had arrived.
“So, I had lunch with Wheaton and Hannah today.” NoticingVal’s mouth drop open, Poppy admitted, “She actually isn’t that bad. We had amoment when I thought I could have happily pulled out every strand of her silkyhair while cackling like a mental patient, but I think that’s been taken careof.” Val was now staring at her as if she had lost her mind. “Really. I think Imay have diverted her attention to another warrior anyway.”
Poppy noticed Behyr’s gaze snap up when she added that lastpart. Trying to hide her smile, she turned to wink at Val.
“What warrior?” Behyr’s question came out gruff anddemanding.
“Well, it seemed as if she enjoyed lunch today with the guysso I’m hoping there may be romance in the air.” Not wanting to give too muchaway, she hinted to Val and noticed her catch on to a possible match in themaking.
Val figured out what Poppy was doing and offered her ownobservations. “She is very attractive,” she said, while nodding at the men.“I’m sure she’ll get snatched up quickly, considering we’re unsure when morebrides will be called. Right now, it’s
