13. Rake

Chapter 13

Rake

F ive months later…

"Can you believe that I've lived on Tarvos for six months now? Pretty crazy considering that before this, I'd never been to another planet."

I lean back in our bed, against the pillows and stretch out my legs, tired after a long workday. "I know," I answer, "and I like it."

She laughs and taps on her glass screen.

Stella looks gorgeous as usual and her stomach is huge under her pajamas. Our son has grown to the point where I can sometimes see and feel him move and kick under her skin. It is surreal that my female is growing an entirely new sentient being inside of her. She says often that she can hardly wait for this child to be born because the weight is uncomfortable. I agree, mainly because I want to be finally assured of her safety as well as our son's.

But she complains often about how big she has grown. This also makes me wonder what she will look like carrying my offspring, if that will make her stomach grow even more swollen. I do my best to keep her comfortable. Luckily, she isn't throwing up every single morning like she used to at the beginning, but she does often have aches and pains and she does tire easily, especially now towards the end.

Every single evening, after we've eaten and we're resting in bed, I always spread her thick thighs and lick at her swollen nub until she screams out her pleasure. She used to enjoy leaning over me and putting me in her mouth too and swallowing my come. But now she is larger and more tired so she helps me to jerk off on her stomach.

She has not requested that I penetrate her while pregnant. "Let's wait for that part," she whispers, "to make it more special."

So I wait.

"I was reading all the legal documents that Erid has given me and I've learned that normally, the moment a Hyrrokin female gives birth to a live child she is legally that male's bound for life. It makes me wonder about our own situation. You tried to adopt our baby when we went to the courthouse but the judge wouldn't allow it without that live birth."

I cross my arms behind my head. "I will verbally proclaim the baby as mine upon birth. And that is the loophole."

"Yes," she smiles. "That's what Erid said today. He found it in the law and sent me a copy to read. It's some old law from ancient times."

"It's a different way to adopt because it does happen that there will be a female who is pregnant, and sadly, her mate passes away before the birth. This is why there is a loophole for verbal confirmation of adoption after a live birth."

She turns to look at me. "I don't want you to think I'm pressuring you to adopt our son. I'm just curious about laws and legality. This is a curious case to me that I want to understand."

I smile because I don't think she realized she said "our son."

When I took her to the med lab here at the ranch for her first appointment, we were there together, holding hands, and found out that it was a boy. We also vid message with an Earth doctor who specializes labor and birth. It's probably not strictly necessary for this extra input, but I like listening to what the human doctor has to say, because it teaches me a lot about what is happening with my female and the child she carries.

I've been reading and educating myself on human births. And there are my niece and nephew, so I know exactly what half-Hyrrokin, half-human offspring look like, but I don't know anything about fully human offspring. I haven't said this to her yet, but I do worry about the fact that our son will not be able to flash flame. But the Flagstones will teach him in the ways of old and we will figure out how to give him a way to flame. I have been working on this already.

Coco jumps on the bed and snuggles next to me for a quick nap. Boots is already curled up on the foot of the bed.

Stella likes to work in the barn with me each day and brings the cats in their cage so that they can be close. My female seems to really like the riding beasts. I put her on the seat of our most gentle mare and we've gone for slow rides in the pen and around the house and on a few easy trails. After she recovers from the pregnancy, I plan on helping her to become a proficient rider, which seems to be her greatest wish.

She says there is a similar animal to riding beast in tales mythology of the original planet that humans came from, except our beasts are bigger and breathe fire.

She is also in awe of the pyrotaurs, out here every day with me tending to the animals. I think she likes to be able to care for something or someone. If it isn't her students, then it's them. Also, she has bonded with Lucy over their shared love of the cats and has begun to leave with Burl's bound on quick day trips back to New Earth. She's been able to facilitate meetings, community events and cat rescue auctions, which is highly enjoys. Who am I to stop her? I do hope that one day she can do all these things here on Tarvos. I'm sure she will find her way.

Stella places her hand on her swelling stomach. "I can't believe my due date is soon." She glances out at the already dreary skies. "And rainy season starts tomorrow."

"We are all ready," I remind her.

She taps on her screen and looks at her checklist, which I find hilarious. I've done rainy season every year my whole life. I don't need a checklist.

"We have all the food we need? All the ranch hands have enough supplies too?"

"Yes."

"The portable power unit is ready?"

"Yes."

"Did you message your mother to let her know we're ready?"

"I will do that."

"All the animals are gone? I haven't seen the barn today, but it's really empty?"

"We let them all free and monitored the herd as they progressed to the caves."

"I still can't believe that."

"The animals know how to protect themselves during the storms and I am closest to the mountains. The caves have already been laid out and we've stocked food in the caves for them. They like it there. They can get in and out if they need and the caves go far back. It's where they naturally shelter. There are other animals in there too, but we made sure we put them in an area where there were no predators, an area we've used many times before. The predators are farther up and hibernating at this time of year."

She bites at a soft nail on the tip of her finger. "Wonderful."

I look at her. "This is a vacation."

She takes a deep breath and calms down. "Well, I know for the rest of you rainy season is a vacation of some sort but I'm going to have a baby during this time. Maybe in the future I'll be able to think of it as a vacation."

I smile. "The future?"

"Yes," she huffs. "I'm staying. You know that."

My female is very independent. She doesn't want to be beholden to anyone. Stella wants to make her own decisions. Which I respect.

This wasn't a woman I coerced. Originally I was going to pay for a possible mate, but it pleases me that even though she was sent here under duress, she didn't have to remain. She understands that I would have immediately sent her back after I had figured out where I could return her that would be safe. I like it that in the end. Stella will choose to stay because she knows this is good for her child. She's a teacher and is going to be an excellent mother. I can tell that already. She wouldn't stay somewhere she considered unsafe for her child.

Also, I believe she loves me as much as I love her. Not that either of us have proclaimed this out loud yet, but one day we will.

She tosses aside her tablet. "I can't get Julia to answer any of my messages."

"Julia?"

"My best friend from the school. She was the teacher next door and we used to talk every single day. We ate lunch together. I thought we were close. But I've been trying to get in contact with her and she's ghosting me."

"This means you need to let it go. You've done all you can."

She pouts at me.

"You're starting here fresh, amongst a new group of beings who are your real friends. This is better. It's a good thing."

"I still feel bad that I didn't get to say goodbye to the students and they were left mid-year without the correct instruction."

"But that wasn't your fault. I believe you were set up with that red paint. In essence, there were other members of your community who caused the lack of instruction for the students to occur, not you."

She brightens. "Oh, that's true. They chose to start that chain of events and didn't care if my firing would hurt those students. I didn't do that, they did. That does make me feel better. I can't believe how you're normally such a quiet guy, but you're good at counseling me."

I let out a snort of white smoke and roll over to kiss the top of her head. Then I whisper in her ear. "Ready for your nightly relief?"

She smiles. "Ready."

I toss out both cats, lock the door and service my female.

The next day the rain starts.

Stella squeaks with surprise at the heavy downpour that doesn't relent.

"This is just a drizzle," I comment. "This building is reinforced and the landscaping and drainage system is set up to prevent the flooding. We are used to this. We've always done this."

She stands at the windows with her brow wrinkled with worry. "I was born and raised on New Earth, which is a semi-arid planet. This much water falling from the sky does not happen. There are parts of the planet that get a reasonable amount of rain, but the majority of the planet is pretty dry. There are lots of places where it's just sand and it's much more extreme and water is cherished and saved. I've never been in a rainstorm like this in my entire life and especially one that lasts for a whole month long."

"I am glad that you are here with me during the season. Everyone on Tarvos is legally able to decide how they will choose to shelter."

"Where did you usually shelter?"

"I sheltered with my family at the main ranch, but now that my own ranch is here I've sheltered in the bunkhouse. I did that one month. And then when my house was built this last time I stayed here alone."

"You were alone the whole time. How was that?"

"It wasn't so bad. I enjoyed it."

"Are you okay with having me as your partner to shelter with for a whole month?"

"I love this idea. How do you feel about being with me?"

"I am happy that I have you with me to ride out this storm." She puts her hand on her stomach. "I'm just nervous because the due date is soon. Lucy and Mica said that the med labs are wonderful and I shouldn't worry, but I can't help but worry just a little."

I nod. "Everything is ready. The only thing that concerns me is that the med lab is not embedded in the house and we have to go outside to access it. But I have my utility vehicle in the garage if necessary. If the storms get too bad I've also got these two arms and these two legs to carry you there. I remember once during rainy season having to carry my brother in the same way. He had broken his ankle and was passed out. I found him like that, in the middle of the night. He was playing rough and had fallen down the stairs in our house. This is my youngest brother. I didn't even wake my parents, I carried him myself in the rain, through the lightning to the bunkhouse where I knew the ranch manager had all the equipment to fix his broken leg, in the ways of old."

"So you have done this before, caring for someone during the rainy season?"

I drape an arm around her small shoulders and pull her in close. "Yes. This is not my first season."

One week later we sit together in our bed, eating human food.

My female looks relaxed, with her back propped up with pillows. The bedroom door is open, but both Coco and Boots are in the room with us, playing on the floor with a small ball of rope.

We watch another Hyrrokin reality show on the screen. Often there are shows that last exactly one month during the rainy season, because they know that's when they will get the biggest audience. We're watching one of the most famous shows called Fire Savers, about a team of Royal Hyrrokin firefighters.

She places a hand on her swollen belly. "The baby is moving a lot."

And I reach over and put my hand on her stomach too. "I can feel it move."

"Ouch," she says.

I look at her quizzically.

"I feel a pain."

"Is it time?"

"I don't know. It could be nothing." She looks outside. "It's raining so bad. And the wind is so strong I can feel the walls vibrate. Is that lightning?"

"Yes. It does happen to be the time of the month when the storms are becoming the most intense, at their peak. They start out slower, very intense. And then start to trickle down until they finally taper off."

Later, after a break in the show, I look over and see her panting.

"I think I'm having cramps. This might really be starting. I'm so sorry." She starts to look weepy. "Why does this have to happen during rainy season?"

"Females all over the planet give birth during the rainy season. It has happened for all of recorded history. They have survived even before med labs existed."

"Thank you, I needed that reminder."

She's out of breath and takes my hand.

"I'm going to get our bags and take you to the med lab." I stand and turn off the wall screen.

"I guess I'm worried we're going too early. And then we'll be over there for too long. Also, we'll be outside in that." She points out the window at the dark, raging storm.

"It doesn't matter." I tell her. "It's comfortable over there. Remember we've set that lab up ahead of time. What matters is that we're there because I don't want you to be in pain."

She smiles. "I don't want to be in pain either." And then her features harden and she bends over, grabbing onto the bedding, moaning.

I swiftly gather the bags that were already packed and waiting, just for a moment like this, and I make sure her human foot coverings are on her feet.

"Don't forget Coco and Boots," Stella cries out.

"Dammit." I race back and round them up and make it back with the cage filled with two hissing cats.

We reach the top of the stairs and then two things happen at once. This storm is indeed getting more intense. I can hear it outside and the entire building shakes. And then there is a huge lightning strike that flashes right in front of the window in the front of the house and lights up the whole room.

"I think my water broke," my bound says.

I look down and I can see indeed a puddle of water at her feet.

I sweep my female into my arms and race for the garage and the utility vehicle. I gently place her in front passenger seat. I open the garage door as another lightning strike hits.

Stella screams.

The rain is so hard I hand her a raincoat for the drive.

Thunder echoes outside as I race back inside the house and up the stairs and grab the cage and all the bags. I heft all of it back downstairs and safely load the cats and supplies into the back of the utility vehicle.

She slips on her raincoat and puts a hood on and secures it. "What about your rain gear?"

"No time," I yell out.

Luckily, it's not cold. It's warm rain.

Stella slumps back into her seat, gripping the side bars of the vehicle and moans in pain.

I turn on the engine and drive for the med lab.

The distance is close, but the terrain is dangerous. It's dark outside and the only light is from the two beams of light at the front of the car.

And another lightning flash strikes and it hits a tree, splitting it in half and it comes crashing down.

Stella screams again.

I swerve to the right barely missing the log and branches. I cut through the mud and rain and find the road and make our way to the med lab. We arrive quickly and I press the remote. The garage door for the med lab opens and I shoot inside and come to an abrupt stop. The door closes behind us and I turn off the engine.

I scoop Stella back into my arms race into the adjoining med lab which is thankfully empty.

I order all the equipment to turn on. It recognizes my commands and lights up and whirrs to life. I set her down on the nearest med bed and take off her coat and foot coverings.

She's panting with fear and pain.

"Take care of her pain," I growl at the med bot.

The pain reliever announces injection.

And soon after she lets out a sigh of relief and sags back onto the bed. She blinks up at me. "Oh my gosh, the pain really is gone. I mean gone. And it didn't even hurt to have the pain gone. That's a miracle."

"You're safe," I rasp.

She grabs my arm. "Rake?"

"Yes."

"Can you check on Coco and Boots."

"Yes," I chuckle. "Yes. I can."