Unfortunately, Jude’s state of zen didn’t last for long. A brutal contraction ripped through him, and he yelped, tensing up and instinctively bearing down as the pain reached its zenith. When it passed, he reached for Al, who had been hovering nervously near the bed, and held on to his hand tight as he tried to catch his breath. “I think they’re coming.”
Al squeezed his hand back, but otherwise, he didn’t waste a single second. While Jude groaned his way through another contraction, Al helped him to remove his pants and underwear, stripping them off right as Ezra rushed into the room, a single cat scratch marring his cheek.
“How can I help?” he asked breathlessly.
“Youknewabout this?” Corbin exclaimed, speaking for the first time in nearly fifteen minutes, which was probably the longest he’d gone without talking since infancy.
“Yeah, Al’s an alien.ObviouslyAl’s an alien.”
“You’re insane. All three of you are insane.”
“Do you really think it’s more likely that a gorgeous Greek engineering student randomly showed up and immediately moved in with Jude?Here?”
Corbin glanced around at the shoddy rental house and murmured, “When you put it that way…”
“I canhear you,” Jude grumbled, but his protestation was cut short as the urge to push came over him again. “Al!”
“I am here, Jude,” Al said with great affection and tenderness. He took Jude’s hand again and gave it a soft squeeze. “You need not feel fear.”
The pain was getting worse, and Jude was helpless against it. He squeezed his eyes shut and clamped onto Al’s hand, not wanting to let it go for anything. “What if I can’t do it?” he whimpered, then clenched his teeth against a scream as his contraction doubled down. “I don’t think I can do it. It hurts too much.”
“You are the most excellent of humans, Jude,” Al said earnestly. “You are the most excellent of all species.” He kissed Jude’s knuckles. “You will do excellent in birthing our offspring, I feel certainty of it. Now, do not fight it. Listen to your body, it is aware of what needs to occur.”
Al didn’t want him to fight it?
Jude laughed bitterly, crazed, feeling absolutely out of his mind.
How was he not supposed to fight it? It felt like his own body was trying to crush him from the inside.
But as the pain receded only to crash up against him again, those bitter thoughts gave way to instinct. His bodydidknow what it was supposed to do, and it made Jude throw his legs wide open and curl up on himself as he bore down on that low and painful spot inside of him.
In earnest, he started to push.
“Nope,” he heard Corbin say, and the door closed behind him as he fled the room.
Al did not flee. He stayed next to Jude, holding his hand even though Jude was not being gentle with him. “Very good, Jude,” he said.
“Yeah, man, you’re killing it,” Ezra said from off to the side, sounding awkward, but supportive nonetheless. He snapped his fingers a few times—a nervous tic—then declared, “I’m gonna go get some towels.”
Jude didn’t care about towels. Towels were the last thing on his mind. In that moment, the only thing that mattered was getting the eggs out of his body. The first of them was descending now, stretching him open, and the pressure it was putting on him was so intense he couldn’t breathe.
With the last of the air in his lungs, he screamed and pushed down, feeling it crown. The pain made him see spots, but then, suddenly, there was relief. Blissful, merciful relief as the egg slipped out of him safely onto the bed.
“Oh, Jude,” Al said in awe, untangling himself from Jude’s crushing hold in order to pick up the egg. He cradled it to his chest and held it with so much care that Jude’s heart ached.
The egg was not what Jude had expected.
He’d spent more than a few sleepless nights scrolling through the google image results for “alien eggs” and had prepared himself for something way more slimy, veiny, and Xenomorph than the egg Al now held in his arms. This egg was smooth and leathery, and would have had the shape of a normal bird’s egg if it hadn’t been so adorably squat, all wide and round at the bottom. It was small enough to fit comfortably in his cupped hands and about the length of a toothbrush. As far as coloration went, it was mostly an off-white hue that reminded Jude of beach sand, but it seemed to have some darker markings that formed a pattern Jude couldn’t quite discern from where he was on the bed, and when Al very sweetly caressed its shell, those markings seemed to shiver and, to Jude’s astonishment, turned a rosy shade of pink.
“The egg is healthy,” Al declared, smiling at it in the same way he smiled at Jude. He brought it to the bedside so Jude could inspect it, too, squatting next to Jude to let him see it. When Jude, dazed from the sight of it, came closer, Al kissed his cheek, and for a flash, the only thing Jude felt was pure, unadulterated love and adoration.
He couldn’t tell if it was his or Al’s, or if it belonged to them both.
“You have done so well,” Al whispered to him, letting the very tips of their noses brush together. “One healthy egg is a mighty accomplishment indeed. Can you do it again for me, Jude? Can you lay another?”
Jude’s heart fluttered.
In that moment, he would have done anything for Al. His perfect partner. The father of his eggs.
