19. Skylar

Chapter nineteen

Skylar

I woke up with a hangover from hell and barely made it to the bathroom before vomiting everything I’d ingested the night before into the toilet. I tried to recall all that I’d drank: a daiquiri by the pool, a couple cocktails at the bar, and a nightcap when we’d arrived back at the motel, which was only about a third of what Monica had, and I’d been eating steadily and hydrating throughout the day. Surely, it wasn’t enough to make me feel this miserable?

My head throbbed and my mouth tasted mossy as I stared down at my chest. Why were my nipples so puffy?

“You all right, boo?” Monica asked, peeling the loose hair from my sweaty neck a little too late. “Did you get any on you?”

“Do these look swollen to you?” I asked, pointing at my chest.

“I don’t know. Does this hurt?” she asked and twisted my nipple savagely .

“Ow, meanie.” I rubbed my poor nipple and a surge of… sensation rippled through me. “Something’s wrong,” I told her, assessing myself in the mirror. This was more than a hangover. My skin felt strangely tender all over and my stomach wasn’t right either.

“Shit, let me see your face.” Monica gripped my chin and scrutinized me closer. “No blemishes, a faint sparkling glow, flushed and rosy cheeks.” She studied me head to toe. “Skylar, are you sure you’re not pregnant?”

“What?” I exploded. I turned back toward the mirror and frantically inspected my abdomen–still flat, not that it mattered. “No way, Mon. That’s not even a little bit funny. Stop fucking with me like that.”

She smiled wickedly. “Calm down, Skylar, it’s not good for the baby.”

“Monica Rose Merriweather,” I growled.

Still laughing, she said, “What? You said you wanted him to breed you. Well, it looks like he has.”

I shook my head. “This cannot be happening to me. I have a neutralizing implant.”

“Sure, but aren’t those designed to neutralize fae sperm? You’re not fucking a fae, baby cakes.”

My eyes widened. Fuck, I hadn’t even thought of that. “How could I be so stupid?” I wailed.

“You weren’t stupid, Skybear, you were just dick-matized. It happens to the best of us.”

“What the fuck am I going to do now? ”

“Definitely not drinking.”

“Monica,” I whimpered, tears springing to my eyes. Not the hormones already! I’d finally found a nice man who wanted to take care of me, and I was going to shackle him with this responsibility? Nothing made a man run for the hills faster than an unplanned pregnancy, nor did I want him to feel obligated to me. Hiero said he wanted kids, but there was no way he’d want them with some messy bitch like me.

“Breeding kink… is a… fantasy… not… reality,” I said through my hiccupping sobs.

She drew me into her arms and patted my messy, puke-stained hair. “I know, sweetheart. It’s a lot to take in, but it’ll be okay, I promise. Whatever happens, you have me, don’t forget. And besides, until you take a test, we don’t know for sure. It might just be a hangover.”

I nodded and tried to pull myself together, praying to the Goddess Imogen that my best friend was right.

We ate breakfast down by the pool, but my stomach was so upset that I could only manage a few nibbles. Then we made a trip to The Magic Shop, the closest thing to an apothecary in Dragonback Mountains .

“I don’t even know if they have doctors here,” I said as I perused The Owner’s selection of at-home pregnancy tests, trying to find one that was made specifically for fae.

“They must. Midwives at least. There are children everywhere.”

She was right about that. The shifter’s young ran wild in good weather, seemingly with very little supervision, but there was usually an adult pack member nearby. Would the Wolfsbane Clan accept a half-fae, half-minotaur child into their community, or would they be ostracized from society as I’d been?

“Get out of your head,” Monica said. “You might not even be pregnant.”

“Are congratulations in order?” The Owner asked as I paid him his coin.

“No,” Monica and I both snapped at him as I scooped up the box and stuffed it in my bag.

Twenty minutes later, we had our answer.

“Definitely preggers,” Monica said, not at all trying to hide her delight.

“What are you so excited about? This is a disaster,” I said glumly, staring at the pee stick where the two bright lines sealed my fate.

“Skylar, do you know how lucky you are? What are the chances you’d ever conceive with another fae, much less a minotaur? That’s like, unheard of. Your child will be a marvel. ”

“But what if they don’t fit in? What if the other kids bully them for being different?”

“Well, you know I have a soft spot for those too.”

By now it was late afternoon and Church would be opening soon. I had the night off to spend with Monica, and all I really wanted to do was eat junk food, lie in bed, and wallow, but if I was going to tell Hiero, I needed to do it soon. I didn’t want to blindside him while he was at work.

“I should tell him,” I said, trying to psych myself up for it.

“Are you sure you don’t want to sit with it for a little while? You’re under no obligation to tell him until you’re ready.”

“Not telling him would feel too much like lying. And if he doesn’t want it…” If Hiero didn’t want it, and I carried on with the pregnancy, then I’d have to raise the child alone. My parents would be no help whatsoever, and though Monica was a great friend, she had her own life to live.

I dragged myself out of bed, braided my hair, and fixed my face, wanting to look presentable for when I told him, trying to think about the best possible way to break the news, praying that this wouldn’t be the end of us.