Hormonal Surges

Lorchan met me in the lab as usual and we pecked in greeting and walked hand in hand to his apartment. I could hardly contain the news but at the same time dreaded telling him about the baby. We snuggled up on the couch, I had brought a book of well-known fairy tales to read to him so he could learn how to read English and not just speak it. I thought it ironic, now that I knew that I was pregnant that we were reading children's stories. I could imagine him reading to our child in that rich Mataisan accent. We were in the middle of reading Hansel and Gretel when I caved and couldn't keep it a secret anymore. I laid the book down on my lap and looked into his glacier blue eyes.

"So...I have something to tell you..." I hesitantly started.

"I figured as much since you have been acting strange today." He replied.

Okay, here goes I thought. "I'm....pregnant." Part of me wanted to look at his face and other part was scared to see his reaction. But I had to look when I saw that glorious smile light up his face and had to give him a little one of my own.

"Are you sure?" He whispered.

"I took two pregnancy tests and they were positive and that must be why I've been sick lately but I need to get a blood test to be sure." I answered. He kept that beautiful smile plastered to his face as he leaned over and gave me a scorching kiss. He then pushed me onto my back on the massive couch, his mouth never leaving mine. Our tongues dueled as he wrestled my pants off and then his. He had to break the kiss to slide our shirts off but then quickly returned to kissing me. He started to nibble down my neck and I felt myself begin to grow moist. The amazing things he was doing with his mouth took my mind off all of the other worries I had earlier and I got to just relish in our happiness. Before long he had worked his way down my body, before he dove between my legs to drive me crazy he placed a gentle kiss on my lower stomach and I felt my heart flutter at his actions. But then he got back to business and began teasing my clit mercilessly causing me to writhe and moan and try to bring his head closer to my center. After just a few minutes I couldn't take it anymore.

"Please Lorchan, I can't take your teasing anymore, I want you inside me," I exclaimed breathlessly. I could see the wheels turning as he translated what I said which always took longer when lust clouded his mind, I could tell when he understood because his eyes burned. He came further up my body and hooked my left leg over his right arm to give himself better access. He slowly, tortuously, amazingly, slid into me until he bottomed out inside me. Before pulling out he ground against my clit causing me to gasp and him to grin. He was so gentle when he began thrusting and he held me so close to his chest wrapped in his arms. I was so used to him being all dominant and demanding in bed that it was an unexpected but pleasant change of pace. He kept giving me these gentle kisses and looking into my eyes and I wanted to cry. I buried my head against his shoulder to hide my glistening eyes from him. But when he leaned down to my ear and traced it with the tip of his tongue and whispered those three perfect words every woman wants to hear in my ear I came with tears streaming down my face. I felt him tense above me moments later and felt his cool ejaculation fill me.

He collapsed on top of me while I quickly tried to get myself to stop crying but he caught me when he rolled off of me when I started shivering. He wrapped a blanket from the back of the couch around me and noticed me drying my eyes.

"Whats wrong? Did I hurt you?" he asked with panic in his eyes.

"No no, I'm fine. I just.......love you....and I'm happy."

"You're crying because you're happy?" he asked me with confusion. "That doesn't make any sense, people only cry when they're in pain." He explained.

I gave him a little chuckle, "It's a human thing." That seemed to calm him even though he ran his hands over my body checking for injuries anyway which just made me laugh and him frown. After his inspection was through and my eyes had dried he picked me up in his arms and carried me into his bedroom. He gently placed me on my side of the bed and cleaned us both up. When he got into the bed I rested the upper half of my body on his chest. He plugged his ear buds into his ears to listen to his English lessons. I few minutes later I could tell by his deep breathing that he was asleep. All of my other fears from earlier came rushing back suddenly.

Where were we going to live? Would my family love the baby even though it was part alien? Would Lorchan take me away from Earth? I took a few deep calming breaths and just thought about Lorchan holding our baby and fell asleep in his arms thinking that I would worry about everything else when the time came.

I set up a meeting with both a human and Mataisan doctor for our day off and was so nervous and worried about how the tests would go. Work barely distracted me because it was so mundane that I found my mind drifting thinking about the baby and the future. I had been writing my family and friends letters for the past few months but had never mentioned Lorchan for fear of how they would react. I really wanted to talk to my mom about my pregnancy but I knew it was too soon and there were too many things that I didn't know yet.

When my appointment finally rolled around I was more nervous than ever. I brought Lorchan with me for support, not that he would have had it any other way. He didn't really like the idea of another man looking at my body. A human nurse collected both a urine and blood sample from me to be tested as Lorchan and I waited in a traditional looking examination room. Finally the two doctors came in. The human was probably in his mid forties of Hispanic dissent with a thick head of hair and fairly tall for a human. The Mataisan doctor was tall and thinner than most Mataisan males probably from being a doctor and not training all of the time with the rest of the men. He looked young so I placed him at about 60.

"I'm Dr. Rodriguez and this is the Mataisan reproductive specialist we have on site, Chalis. According to your urine test you are pregnant and we have put a rush order on your blood test to confirm this. We are going to proceed for now on the assumption that you are pregnant. I'm going to ask you some basic questions we have compiled and then we'll see where we go from there, okay?" He seemed nice enough and I began to calm down a little. I nodded my consent.

"How long have you and your mate been sexually active with each other?" started off the list.

"About 10 weeks," I answered.

"Have you been using any kind of protection, birth control or condoms?"

"No."

"When did you start suspecting that you were pregnant?" Dr. Rodriguez continued while a translator translated what I was saying into ear buds in Chalis' ears.

"Well earlier this week I realized that I had missed my period but there were signs for a few days before that, I've been having morning sickness." He made a note of that and continued.

"Have you been in any pain?"

"No."

These questions continued on for some time. Neither doctor said that any of my answers were good or bad, they just took note of them. Finally a nurse came in and handed Dr. Rodriguez a piece of paper and quickly exited the room. He passed the paper to Chalis and looked at me and smiled. "You are indeed pregnant. Although you and Lorchan are not the first mated human and Mataisan, this is the first case of a pregnancy between the species. We are not exactly sure what to expect but we will continue to observe you and monitor the baby. I do want to say there are some morphological differences between humans and Mataisans and these differences could cause....fatal abnormalities. I just want you both to be aware of that incase that is what happens. We also will be keeping this from the press for now and only authorized people are to be told, so Kimberly please refrain from telling your friends and family. Well, unless you have any questions, we're done for the day. We'll see you back here in a week to do a preliminary ultrasound."

I nodded my consent and they left the room quickly and quietly. I slid off the examination table into Lorchan's arms. I managed to keep my tears at bay but worries for our child overwhelmed me.

"Everything is going to be okay." Lorchan whispered into my ear, I was scared but at least I wasn't alone, I had Lorchan by my side and we would get through whatever we were going to face. I leaned up and gently pressed a kiss to his lips. We laced fingers and walked from the examination room and I went to my room and Lorchan to his. Since we were mated and no Mataisans reported having a personal problem with me I was allowed to permanently move in with Lorchan but he still wasn't allowed into the human compound so he couldn't help me move. A few guards helped me transfer my few belongings to Lorchan's apartment. He helped me put my things away and placed the photos of my family and friends throughout the apartment so it would feel homier for me. When everything put away we went into the kitchen. Lorchan had made dinner, my newfound favorite Mataisan dish. It was called Bantash, it reminded me of Caesar salad only it was more filling and heavier. It had a sauce that tasted just like creamy Caesar dressing which was my favorite.

"How long is the gestation period for Mataisans?" I asked out of the blue in the middle of dinner.

"The what? I don't know what that word means? Another science word?" he asked with a smile. I had stumped him a few times with scientific terms just because I forget sometimes to not talk like a dork.

"Gestation period is how long a woman is typically pregnant for" I explained.

"Oh, I believe it is 48 weeks, I've never come into contact with a pregnant woman on Mataisa before but I'm pretty sure that is what I've heard. What about humans?"

"40 weeks, I wonder if the baby will be human or Mataisan with that respect. Wait...how big are Mataisans when they are born?" I asked with fear in my voice, if they are that big when they are fully grown how massive are they going to be when they are born?

Lorchan laughed, "very small, remember we develop very slowly so being in the womb for 48 weeks we are probably born smaller than a human is born." This gave me some relief but brought with it a new list of worries. Would the baby be born underdeveloped? Or be too big if it had the Mataisan gestation period but grew like a human? What about after the baby was born, would it develop at a human rate? I guess Lorchan could see all of these thoughts flowing through my head.

"Hey, stop worrying, we will figure it out." He said while placing his huge hand on top of my much smaller one. I nodded and gave him a little smile. I took deep breath and told myself what I always told myself in situations like these. Don't worry until you have to. I didn't know what was going to happen, and therefore I had nothing to worry about yet.

I helped Lorchan clean up the dishes and we changed and got into bed together. We were both too tired from the day to do anything other than cuddle. I fell asleep on his chest while he soothingly rubbed my back in small circles. As I was just about the drift off I heard Lorchan whisper "I love you". I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

The next morning started with a vomit, as did every day the rest of the week. It was amazing how I could go from feeling awful one moment to feeling perfectly fine the next. Lorchan always helped me into the shower afterwards and often we didn't always just shower. I often found myself between Lorchan's spread legs making him fall apart with my mouth. I liked how I was in control of his pleasure but at the same time he was in control by moving my head how fast he wanted it and gripping my hair tightly. Other times I found my hands planted on that little bench while Lorchan held my hips still and thrust into me from behind. And yet again other times I would be pushed against the wall with my legs wrapped around his waist while we kissed passionately and as he pumped away. One time he even showed me the movable shower head and its many amazing settings. In fact he insisted upon showing me...in great detail all of the ten settings so I could determine which I liked the best. We were late for work that day.

I had assumed that when I became pregnant that those pesky hormonal surges would go away, and while the painful urge to mate was gone I was more than ever attracted to Lorchan because he was the father of my child and because I loved him. Overall it was a good week although on the back of our minds the whole time was the next doctor's appointment. We tried to make the best of everything and lived our lives as normal. I discovered that Mataisans are ticklish, or that at least Lorchan is. I would often walk up behind him while he was talking with his fellow guards and grab his sides. He would immediately start giggling involuntarily but look so angry. I thought it was so cute how he blushed in embarrassment. But he always punished me for it later, not that I minded.

Eventually our next appointment rolled around and we walked hand in hand to the same examination room as last time. A nurse took my weight and other measurements and then left us to wait for the doctors. A few minutes later they came in together. They asked me questions about how I have been feeling and if there had been any changes since the last time I had been in. They told me that they were going to do a preliminary ultrasound to check for placental development and to come up with an estimate for when I became pregnant. They told me that since I was not very far along to not expect to hear a heartbeat and that because of that he was going to turn the volume off so I wouldn't be worried.

I lay back on the table and lifted my shirt to expose my belly. Lorchan took my hand and held it firmly in his. Dr. Rodriguez squirted the jelly onto my stomach while Chalis observed. Dr. Rodriguez spread the jelly with the ultrasound wand and began looking for the placenta. After a few seconds he found it. He nodded and I took that to be a good sign. He shifted the wand a few times and took some photos. The anticipation was killing me, he needed to say something.

"Okay, so here's the placenta, it looks very good, and right here" he pointed to a small lump inside the placenta "is the fetus. From the looks of it you are about 8 weeks pregnant. We should be able to hear a heartbeat so I am going to turn the volume on. I watched him slowly turn the knob while praying to hear a rapid fluttering. And then I did. I smiled wide and blinked my tears back so that I wouldn't worry Lorchan like I did last time.

"Sounds healthy. I am going to print a copy of the ultrasound for you both to keep and then I am going to do some calculations to give you an estimate on when the baby should be born, it won't be very exact but it should be close." He took the wand away and turned off the machine after printing out a few copies of the ultrasound. He gave me some paper towels and while I cleaned off my stomach he did some quick math.

"I believe the baby should be fully developed in mid April, this is longer than the human gestation period but shorter than the Mataisan one. We're just going to keep a watch every week to see how quickly the baby is developing but right now it's looking like it is developing at the speed of a human." I smiled at this news because I knew my body was supposed to handle a human baby. I shook both of their hands, as did Lorchan and then they exited the room. We went back to our apartment and I used a magnet to hang up the ultrasound picture on the refrigerator. Our baby.

A few days later I received a letter from my brother and it hit me. In his letter he was telling me about the homecoming party they were planning to throw for me in a few weeks and telling me happy birthday. A few weeks? Happy Birthday? I ran to the calendar I had placed in the kitchen. I was alone in the apartment since Lorchan was in the Mataisan gym sparing with his fellow guards. The calendar said that it was August 1st; my 20th birthday. And I was scheduled to go home in two weeks, a week before I was supposed to return to school. Somehow in all of my excitement and fear about my relationship with Lorchan and my pregnancy I had totally forgotten about my other life. What was I going to do? I needed to talk to someone. I didn't want to be separated from Lorchan but at the same time I didn't want to be stuck in this underground bunker for the next two weeks let alone longer than that. This reminded me of how Lorchan lived underground all of the time and probably couldn't withstand the sun. And that was in the rare chance that they would actually let him out of this place to live with me. And even if they did where would he stay? I had a lease for the fall but he couldn't live with me there. I flopped onto the couch and tried to breathe. I was terrified he wasn't going to let me leave or that I would have to leave him behind. Would they let me leave now that I was pregnant with the world's only hybrid? I was still sitting on the couch shell shocked when Lorchan returned from the gym and sat down beside me. He could sense that I was upset but remained quiet for now and just put his arm around me.

After a few minutes of silence I said "It's my birthday" in a monotone voice while staring at the ground between my feet.

"Is that why you're upset? Because I didn't know it was your birthday?" He asked while trying to make eye contact with me and failing.

"I didn't even know it was my birthday. My brother told me." I said while continuing my staring contest with the ground.

"Your brother?" he asked in confusion.

I shook the letter in my hand, "He wrote me a letter saying Happy Birthday, and saying that he'll see me in a few weeks. Because my internship is over in two weeks. I'm supposed to leave." I trailed off and I could feel Lorchan tense beside me.

"I don't even know if they'll let me leave and I want to leave.......not that I want to leave you," I said suddenly finally turning to him. "I don't want to leave you, I love you, but I can't stay here and I have a life I need to get back to. Don't be mad. I don't know what to do." I added exasperatedly and leaned my head on his bicep.

After a few minutes I felt him move and begin to rub my back slowly. "I'm not mad; I know I can't keep you locked up here forever. I just...don't want to lose you. But we'll figure something out. I don't know what, but we'll find a way to be together." At this he leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. In unison we leaned back on the couch and took simultaneous deep calming breaths. I knew that he said we would find a way, but I didn't see how it could ever work. I was terrified about our future and our baby's future more than ever.

I chuckled while hiding my tears, "Some birthday" I said aloud.

"We'll do something for your birthday if you would like, I don't really know what birthdays are like but we can try to do something."

I smiled up at him, "That's sweet but all I want for my birthday is to be alone with you" I told him.

"Wish granted" he said as he kissed me on the lips and we cuddled on the couch and thought about our future. After sitting on the couch for a few hours just talking and snuggling my stomach started growling.

"Let me make you something" Lorchan said and went to stand.

"Wait, I want you to try some human food. Have you ever had human food?" I asked him while looking up at his towering figure.

"No, how would we get the food though? I only have Mataisan food here to cook." He inquired.

"I'll go to the human kitchen and grab some stuff, they probably won't mind. Okay?" He nodded and I started contemplating what to make. Mataisans don't eat much meat other than shellfish so I decided to go with something vegetarian for fear of how he would react to the difference. I slipped on some shoes, planted a kiss on Lorchan's cheek, and headed out the door to go rummage through the human kitchen. As I walked down the hallway I saw some familiar Mataisan faces. They nodded and smiled and moved out of the way so I could get by easier. Things weren't quite that way when I crossed over into the human compound. I knew that there were a lot of people who saw the Mataisans as scientific specimens and not as people. These people and others saw my relationship with Lorchan as something akin to bestiality and made their opinion of me very clear. Not that they really said anything out loud but the hateful looks they gave me sent me the message clearly. I never told Lorchan about it because I didn't want him to be angry or try to keep me from coming here.