I woke up in a strange, dark room and a strange bed, having trouble sleeping without my sister's body to keep me warm. About the only familiar thing was a full feeling in my uterus.
After a few minutes, I realized where I was, why I was here, and I noticed the bubbling pressure in my stomach.
I quickly got out of bed, and ran to the bathroom, turning on the light as I entered the room.
I managed to hold it in just long enough to seat myself upon the bowl before my now-burning bowels forcefully evacuated themselves. I whimpered from the pain.
The noise and smell was enough to awaken my master, who staggered into the bathroom, and looked at me groggily.
"Whatever it is that you ate to get like that," he said "you're never eating it again."
I tried to shrink away from his half-asleep glare, but all I could do was pull my knees up, which only let the horrible smell spread.
He then flipped a switch which turned on a ventilation fan, and staggered out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
About fifteen minutes later, I had cleaned myself up completely and emerged from the bathroom, having shut the light off and closed the door behind me.
My master was laying in his bed, wearing a pair of glasses and reading a book using a light on his nightstand. Afraid of being rejected for my near-accident, I still tried to avoid his gaze.
Of course, this meant he looked up from his book, and straight into my eyes the second he heard the door close. It was an annoyed look, but not an angry one, or so I hoped.
"Marie," he said, "what do you think gave you the runs?"
I held my hands behind my back, and tried to think back to dinner for a second. "Master, I think it was the 'Cold slaw'." I said, probably butchering the name of that hellish food. "I've never eaten anything that burned like that before. It was so bad Kelly gave me a glass of milk because she said it'd help the burning."
"That figures." master said, "You're probably just lactose intolerant. Don't drink any more milk."
"Yes master," I said, "I'll do my best to avoid milk from now on."
I doubted that could be the case, since I'd regularly had milk when I was in the facility, and hadn't had any problems, but it was an order from my master, and in his eyes I was probably still just a worthless, pitiful thing. But this was my life now, and I wouldn't be going back to Saint Amelie's Academy. I'd just have to prove myself to him, and then maybe I would be allowed to have that wonderful white liquid again.
"Anyway, it's two AM," master said, " you have a long day ahead of you, and you don't have to be up till six. Go back to sleep Marie."
"Yes master," I replied before crawling back under the sheets of my bed.
"Master," I said, "Kelly told me to call her Mama Kelly. Do I have to do it?"
"Yes," Master groaned, "it's her way of trying to adopt you."
"Adopt me?" I said.
"Yes, like you're a lost kitten or something." Master said, somewhat annoyed, "Now please Marie, just go the fuck to sleep, and we'll deal with everything in the morning. Good night."
Master then closed his book and shut off his lamp.
I tried to fall back asleep after my master did, but I couldn't without my sister there, so I just laid awake for several hours as he slept softly not two meters away.
Eventually, I heard the bedroom door open, and I squinted to see the head slave, Kelly standing in the doorway, already in her uniform, gesturing for me to come with her.
I got out of bed, and grabbed the 'nightshirt' she had loaned me before following, having gently shut the door behind me. I would put the shirt on in the hall, where I could actually see something, and wouldn't trip over one of Master's misplaced books.
Kelly then poked her head in what I guessed was Constance' bedroom. Curious to see the room of the young mistress, I crouched down, and peeked in the doorway as well. With just the light from the hallway, I could make out that there was one person sound asleep in the larger bed, and another two bodies in the smaller one.
I focused in on the smaller bed, and squinting, I could see that in it one of the other slave girls was sleeping naked, and that she was cuddling up to a pale redhead that could only be Jimmy. I felt a strange emotion wash over me, and I noticed I was crying.
Kelly tapped me on the shoulder, and I backed out of the way before she closed the door. Kelly was smiling wider than I had ever seen any adult smile before, being obviously pleased by this discovery.
She looked over at me, and after seeing my face, she gave me a hug, and I ended up sobbing quietly into the taller woman's ample chest as I worried about my sisters and what they were going through, especially A1386J. She just stroked my head, and with a soft voice said "It's okay Marie, Mama Kelly is here and everything is going to be just fine. Now can you come with me so we can get on with our duties. I'm sure your sister wouldn't want you to be punished because you were worried about her."
I snorted, and looked up at Kelly before nodding.
After I had mostly stopped crying, the two of us made our way down to the slave room, where Kelly had me put on a spare apron in place of the loaned night shirt, and then we arrived in the kitchen, where strange smells were mixing in the air, and the final slave of the house was found. It was of course a particularly sleepy looking Anne, was sitting in her uniform and listening to the radio while drinking a cup of something hot.
Anne looked me straight in the eyes and spoke, "So Steven was that bad?"
"No, Master was very gentle because it was my first time, I just miss my sister is all." I said, pouting "Master is very kind, even if he did tell me I'm not allowed to have milk anymore after I got the runs."
Anne looked away from me, and down at her cup. "I swear everyone around here is getting some but me." She pouted, "It was fine when it was just you and Jimmy, Mama, but Grace has been insufferable since Constance told her she was going to have Jimmy knock her up in time for her birthday, and now even the new girl is getting some."
Of course I was. How else was I supposed to give master children and prove my worth to him? It's not like people just have artificial insemination kits hanging around.
"Wait," Kelly said, as she removed a bowl of something from the fridge, and placed it on the counter, "Marie, what was that you said about milk?"
"Mama Kelly, remember how you gave me the milk after I ate some of the cold slaw at dinner last night?" I replied. "Well, that cold slaw gave me the worst gas I've ever had and the runs. Master thinks I'm lactose intolerant, but they gave me milk all the time at Saint Amelie's because I needed the calcium, but I never had a problem with it."
"Honey, my coleslaw can't give the runs to anyone. You're just freaked out because you've never had spicy food before." Kelly said staring back at me, "When exactly did they give you milk when you were at Saint Amelie's?"
Anne had by this point finished her drink and had moved on to preparing breakfast.
"When I was pregnant obviously." I replied.
Anne stopped her mixing in shock, and a whisk dropped to the floor with a loud clatter. Kelly just stared at me.
"That'd explain it." Kelly said exasperatedly, "Marie, most women who can't have milk regain the ability to digest it while they're pregnant and nursing. You probably just never got a chance to put everything together till now."
So, I decided that was another reason I absolutely had to get pregnant. I simply could not imagine a world where I wasn't allowed milk.
"Can I still have carrots," I said, "or do I have to get pregnant to keep eating those too?"
Kelly put her head in her palm and sighed. I took that as a no.
Anne just stared at me for a good minute or two before finally speaking up. "Wait," she said, "How did you get pregnant if you've never had sex? What kind of hell did you come from where you got all the morning sickness without the fun?"
I really hoped everyone wasn't going to keep asking that question. Still, I had to respond. "I was artificially inseminated, like all of the other mothers at Saint Amelie's." I said, "It's standard practice for the industry since there are so few unfixed male slaves."
Anne simply nodded, before retrieving a new whisk from a cabinet, and I put the old one in the sink before washing up and helping prepare breakfast for my master's family.
Maybe a half hour later, The Master and Mistress of the house were the first ones down for breakfast, and I was put to work bringing them a platter of bagels, cream cheese, some onions, tomatoes and a few things that I didn't know the names of, as Kelly brought each of them a cup of that same hot drink Anne had been drinking earlier.
As I retreated to the kitchen, and Kelly headed upstairs with a beaten-looking pot and a hammer, I noticed that the two, still bleary and half-asleep readily accepted the beverage, and had begun to dress up their bagels.
As I sat down at a stool by the prep table, I heard a loud banging upstairs, followed by some very rude language, which continued well after Kelly returned to the kitchen, still holding her pot and hammer and smiling.