Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

L egacy ran the drill with a single-minded determination. The faster they dug this damned tunnel, the faster he could get back to his regular assignment. And Aeryn.

Why the company had decided to make him the lead drill on so many off-station jobs, he had no idea. Oh, he knew they thought it was a good thing, because he got bonuses and all that shit, but he wanted to be home every night with his omega. He didn’t want to be sleeping in a crappy prefab room with a cold-water shower and working his ass to the bone every day. The planet he’d been on from the station day to day seemed like paradise compared to this place.

Legacy sighed. He needed to concentrate, or he’d end up with more than a scar on his face. He might wind up dead. And then where would Aeryn be? He knew Aeryn had been okay before him, and would be if he disappeared, but the alpha in him wanted him to keep Aeryn safe, to protect him from the bullies and the hardships of a mining station.

He finished up the marked line and moved onto the next. When the whistle blew for the end of his shift, he shut down the drill, checked all the bits and lines, then put the equipment on its stand. An engineer always had to make sure his drill was functioning properly, that it was cleaned and that the bit was sharp. It could kill him otherwise.

Then he stripped off his helmet and goggles and gloves before heading up to the elevator with the other guys.

“Legacy. You want to go to get a drink tonight?” one of the other engineers asked.

“Not tonight, thanks. I’m going to head back to my room and eat and do a vid call.” He needed to see Aeryn’s face, to hear his voice. That kept him going.

“Ah. You have a sweetheart, huh?”

“An omega, yeah.”

“Well, good for you, man.” The guy, he thought his name was Fellos, clapped him on the shoulder. “Omegas are worth the trouble. So good on you.”

“Thanks. I totally agree.” He winked before he headed to the transport, then got to his room and took a crappy cold shower before calling Aeryn on his vid.

Aeryn’s smiling face popped up, pale as anything, his freckles bright, dark circles under his eyes. Gods, he’d only been gone three weeks, and Aeryn looked like crap.

“You look tired,” Aeryn said right off.

“So do you. Are you okay?” He hated the idea that going it alone was hard on Aeryn. Dammit, he should be there.

Aeryn’s smile went wistful. “I miss you. And I ate something last night that disagreed with me. Been super-nausea boy all day.” He waved a hand. “You know how that is.”

“Oh, that sucks. If you wanted to go to bed…” They were on the same chrono schedule. Drilling underground, it didn’t matter if it was day or night, so the company kept them on the station times.

“Not yet. I’m fine. I just had some broth and some lemon-lime drink. I’ll be great tomorrow, I bet.” Aeryn swallowed hard, and he could see how much it was costing his lover just to be upright to talk to him.

“Okay. I want to come home, baby,” Legacy said.

“I want you to.” Aeryn sighed. “It sucks. You know, they never sent you away before. But we finally get together, and they send you off for weeks at a time. We barely got three weeks together!” Aeryn’s voice rose, his cheeks red, and Legacy thought he saw the gleam of tears in those green eyes.

“Hey. Hey, it’s okay. When I get home this time, I’ll ask for a break from off-site assignments, okay?”

“Oh—okay.” Aeryn’s breath hitched. “I’m sorry. I’m all verklempt. I think it’s my stomach. Making me all tired. I hate being sick.” Aeryn wrinkled his nose, his tears drying up. So adorbs.

“No worries, baby. I’m just so happy to see your face; it doesn’t matter.”

“No. I know. I just miss you.” Aeryn settled on the bed in their room. He could tell from the art it was the bedroom and not the living room or the tentacle room, as they were calling it now.

“I miss you too. Are you sure you’re up to this?”

“I am.” Aeryn settled back against a nest of pillows, smiling wide. “I’m all set now. I have my soda and an anti-naus mist. Talk to me, love.”

So he did.

For hours.

Aeryn sat at his desk, his head down, breathing through his nose.

Gods. Why wouldn’t this nausea clear up? He’d been sick for like a week. And he was so damn tired. Legacy wanted him to go to the doctor, saying it couldn’t be food poisoning to go on this long, but the thought of getting poked and prodded, which had happened so much when they were still trying to fix his leg, made him want to cry.

“Hey.” His boss, a hard-faced, soft-hearted long-timer named Barbara put a hand on his back, bending to peer into his face. “You okay?”

“Still sick as a dog.”

“Have you been to med bay?”

“No.” He chuckled. “You know how I feel about that, lady.”

“I do, but you’ve been sick for days, kiddo.” She felt his forehead. “No fever. Tell me exactly what’s going on?”

“I’m puking. But no runs. And I’m so tired. And I can’t stop crying.” His lower lips quivered.

“Oh. Oh?” Her eyes narrowed. “Hon, haven’t you started having relations with an alpha?”

“Mmhmm. My roommate Legacy. I mean, he’s more than my roommate now.”

“Right. When did you start alpha and omega-ing with him? It’s important.”

“Uh. A while back.”

She snapped her fingers. “He was home for Valentine’s Day.”

Aeryn frowned. “Uh-huh. Why?”

“Well, I can’t be sure, but I think you’re pregnant, kiddo.”

Aeryn’s mouth dropped open. “No way! I’m on blocker. I didn’t have heat.”

“Are you sure?”

Aeryn chewed his lower lip. “I mean, he’d been gone for weeks. I guess it could have been…”

“That can trigger it, even on blockers. I tell you what, kiddo. Take a half a day. I won’t mark you down for it. But grab a test on the way home. At the shops. Okay?”

“Okay.” He took a deep breath, trying not to panic.

“Promise?” She squeezed his shoulder.

“Promise.” He would too. But that couldn’t be it. Could it?

“Good deal.” She patted that same shoulder. “See you tomorrow. Also? Buy some plain crackers and some ginger cookies or tea.”

“Okay.” He wasn’t sure what those were for.

“They’ll help with the nausea.”

“Oh.” That was cool. Because he was starting to feel weak, he was so hungry, but he couldn’t cope with food.

“Go on.” She waved him off, and he shut down his comp station, cleaning his desk before dragging himself to the shops, which were at least on the way back to his quarters.

He couldn’t be pregnant, though, right? He couldn’t. Legacy wasn’t even here. And they kept sending him away on assignments! And?—

Nausea hit him, and he had to duck into a restroom, flying into one of the stalls and retching until his head was throbbing and his heart pounding.

Great. Stress made it worse.

He got up and flushed before he went to the sink to rinse out his mouth and wash his face. “Okay. Okay, go get the test.”

He tried not to draw any attention as he pulled out crackers and ginger cookies, then a pregnancy test, but he felt as though he had a giant target on his back. Like he was saying, look at me! He used the auto cashier so no one would see, then stuck the test in his pocket before heading back to quarters.

He stared at it for a long while after he pulled it out of the box. Because he knew the timing was right. And he could have missed his heat because they’d been lost in each other for that weekend, just not even moving out of bed.

Well, from bed to bed.

The tentacles had really kind of helped there.

Would Legacy be mad? Happy? Would he care?

What if Legacy dumped him like a hot rock?

Finally, he stood, going to the bathroom. He did this thing, wondering why it was that pregnancy tests hadn’t changed in how many centuries. Maybe it was just the best, easiest way to tell. Oh, the doc could have poked him with a quick meter, but self-test wise? Still the same.

He waited for an agonizing amount of time, which was really just a few minutes, then looked at the plus sign that was clear as day.

Aeryn slumped down on the floor, breathing hard. “Oh my God.”

He was pregnant. And right now? He needed a ginger cookie.

Stat.