“I’m not surprised you’re already struggling with things like squatting, sitting, and getting out of bed,” Lualhati said. “You certainly appear to be measuring ahead of a human pregnancy.”
“I told you!” Darcy said, half in vindication, half in accusation. “The baby’s got your big-ass Zabrian head! I’m probably growing a freaking bodybuilder in here!”
“I am very sorry,” Fallon said, rather droopily. “If there were a way to control such things, you know I would.”
“Hey.” Darcy’s voice got low and quiet. She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it. “You know I’m joking. Our baby is going to be perfect, no matter what shape or size.”
“I agree with Darcy,” Lualhati said. Her eyes looked a little shiny now.
Tears?
I had not seen her cry before.
If that was indeed what I was seeing, she blinked them away so quickly I did not have time to whisk her out of the room to demand what could possibly be hurting her right now. And she was smiling again, so I supposed she must have been alright. But still, new agitation gripped me.
“I’m going to measure you and then we can do the scan with this.” Lualhati pulled a small tube with a metal tip from her pocket. “Could you please lift up your shirt?”
“I will wait outside,” I said.
Lualhati nodded in response, but surprisingly, Darcy told me not to go.
“I’m not modest,” she said. “And this is the very first human-Zabrian baby. We might as well all take a look now and learn whatever we can. Who knows, Warden. You might end up having to deliver one of these little guys out in some field one day. You should know what you’re up against.”
“Hopefully not,” Lualhati said. “That’s why I’m here!”
“Only for a year, though, right?” Darcy said. Her large eyes seemed suddenly keener, resting first on Lualhati’s face, then my own.
“Oh. Yeah. That is true,” Lualhati admitted. She cleared her throat, then motioned for Darcy to adjust her clothing. After measuring, she held the metal tube over Darcy’s protruding abdomen. With her other hand, she placed her data tab on the bedside table, propping it up so we all could see the screen.
“It should start transmitting a signal any second now,” she said, her red lips puckering with concentration. Then, they parted with a triumphant gasp.
Upon the screen was a tiny little face in profile, perfectly formed. An upturned nub of a nose, a miniature chin, a smooth, round brow. Two Zabrian-looking ears visibly twitched, as if the baby were listening to us.
Not that the little thing would hear much. Silence descended, broken only by Lualhati beginning to quietly – but excitedly – point out all the baby’s features.
“Obviously, that’s their lovely little face! Absolutely gorgeous,” she breathed, beaming. “Spine and organs look wonderful so far! Ah, there’s the tail, too! It looks a little nubby right now. It might end up shorter than the tails we’re used to seeing on Zabrians.”
“They have a tail!” Darcy whispered. This time, when I saw the human tears, I was sure of it. They spilled from Darcy’s eyes, down her lightly freckled cheeks. Fallon’s eyes were similarly affected, glowing fiercely, like hot moons as he took in the image of his child.
“Oh! Well, that’s that, then,” Lualhati said, quickly moving the tube around, distorting the image. “Do you want to know the sex? Because I definitely just got a good look there.”
“Yes!” Darcy said at once. She gripped Fallon’s hand so hard her knuckles turned white.
“Yes,” Fallon agreed thickly.
“It’s a boy,” Lualhati said. She was doing that shiny-eyes-blinking thing again. “You two are going to have a son!”
“A son,” Fallon murmured. His knees appeared to give out then. I reached to catch him, but he saved himself from falling by sitting heavily down atop the other bedside table. His gaze was brilliantly white, his smile dazed, nearly dreamy.
“Oh my God. I’m going to have a little babyyou,” Darcy said to her husband, laughing and crying at the same time. “I had a feeling it was a boy!”
“You were absolutely right,” Lualhati said. She sniffed, then continued on with pointing out various parts of the tiny creature’s anatomy. I listened as she spoke, noting a throbbing in her voice, the edge of something almost aching.
It made me ache, too. Though for what, I could not say.
Darcy and Falloninvited us to stay for an evening meal, or even stay the night if we so desired. But Lualhati politely declined.
“You two will probably want some time to yourselves after such a big day!” she said.
