Leading me by the hand, Elias walked to the tent opening and pushed back the flap. We entered, and all movement inside stopped.
As if they were automated and synchronized, every person there looked up in our direction at once. Some were on beds, some in chairs, some just standing together as if they’d been chatting.
“Girls,” I wheezed, barely able to breathe from the shock. “They’re all girls.”
There were so many, of all shapes and sizes. Actually there were quite a few on the larger end of the size chart—their stomachs in particular.
I’d seen and even met a few of them before, but some I’d never seen once during my whole stay here at the Haven.
“Yes. You got that part right,” Elias grinned. “What they are not—is my harem.”
Overhearing him, the closest girl to us laughed out loud. “Right. Like the other guys here would stand for that. You’d find yourself banished from your own sanctuary if you tried taking away their mates.”
Elias just grinned. “Ladies, this is Mireya. She’s one of our new residents… and my future mate.”
Greetings rang out, and I gave a weak wave to the girls, still confused by what I was seeing. There was something here I wasn’t getting.
All the girls gathered inside the tent were presumably Gebbies. They had to be if they lived here at the Haven, right? But they looked older, so much more… womanly than my friends who’d accompanied me here and the girls back at the base.
I remembered reading about a phenomenon known as the “uncanny valley,” that occurs when people see something that’s hard to comprehend at first glance—a humanoid robot for instance.
They kind of look human, but something is a little off. There’s something not quite “right” about their appearance—they’re close but not the same.
Studying the girls inside the tent, I got that feeling now. What was it about them?
I turned to Elias, horrified. “So this is where all the other girls have been? Forced to stay up here, separate from the others while the guys run wild and free? Are they never allowed to leave this tent?”
Again there was a smattering of laughter.
Elias looked at me with sympathy. “They’re not forced to stay isolated all the time, Miri—except for in the very special case of your arrival here.”
Drawing me farther into the tent, he explained. “We set up this area when I got word you and your friends had arrived at the park. Our spotters knew you were Gebbies right away, but we weren’t sure what you wanted, and as you know, we weren’t sure if you could be trusted. We thought you might have been bait for a trap.”
I rolled my eyes. “I remember.”
“Until we were very very sure of you,” he said, “—and sure you’d stay and not leave again where you could be captured and pumped for information, we had to go to extreme measures to protect our greatest secret.”
I looked around at the faces of the girls, at their eager expressions, like they were waiting for me to get a joke and respond appropriately to a punchline.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “What is the secret? Why did you say I’d be shocked and frightened?”
“Come here.” He encouraged me to follow him to one of the beds where a girl reclined, her back propped up on pillows. She had a book resting against her bent knees—What to Expect When You’re Expecting.
Expecting what exactly?
“Melodie, would you mind?” Elias asked.
She shook her head and smiled. Then she set the book to the side and peeled away the blanket that covered her, straightening her legs.
I gasped. Her belly was enormous, rounded as if she’d swallowed a whole watermelon.
Looking around the tent, my eyes went to the midsections of several of the other girls. They were also distended.
“Give me your hand,” Melodie said.
I obeyed and she guided my hand to rest on her rounded abdomen.
“Wait for it,” she said. “It should happen soon. It does every couple of minutes.”
My heart whirred in my chest as I waited—for what I wasn’t sure. Then suddenly I felt it. Movement under my hand.
It was the strangest thing I’d ever felt, like her belly had a life of its own and was giving my palm a high-five.
Not only that, but I could see it. Melodie’s entire stomach shifted as if something was underneath her skin.
My eyes went wide, and I sucked in a breath. There was a buzzing sensation in my ears.
Melodie giggled and nodded her head up and down rapidly. “Yep.”
“You’re… you have a…”
The shock was so paralyzing it was hard to form words.
“You have a… baby in there?” I finally managed.
“She does,” said a different girl.
This one’s stomach wasn’t quite as large, but it definitely protruded in that strange, specific way that had thrown me off so much when I’d first arrived here.
“And so do we,” she said. “All of us—except for Sandrine and Uma who are just here to hang out.”
It took me a minute to respond.
“And that’s what the girls were doing when they disappeared all day long and came here? Visiting their friends who were…”
I had to swallow before saying the unfamiliar word. “… pregnant?”
“Yep,” Uma confirmed. “And to bring food. We’ve been having sort of a sleepover in here—a private party.”
“Believe me, it’s been no hardship to get away from those hairy knuckleheads out there for a bit,” Melodie said.
“And their never-ending requests for ‘cuddles,’” Sandrine added.
Sparkling feminine laughter broke out and filled the tent.
“Yeah, could we pretend you don’t know for a little longer? I’ve been enjoying the break,” one of the pregnant girls said.
Turning to Elias, I looked up into his serious brown eyes. “Now I understand why you kept this a secret. Gideon can never know about this.”
“Agreed,” he said.
“I would never, ever tell,” I vowed. “This is… a miracle. It’s wonderful. It’s amazing. There are going to be babies in the world again.”
A feeling of bubbling joy filled my body. I felt like I could jump up and touch the rafters of the tent—or maybe fly. This changed everything.
All the security precautions Elias and the other Haven residents had taken were absolutely necessary. Enough couldn’t be done to prevent the secret from getting out.
If Apollo Gideon were to discover that Genesapiens could reproduce… I shuddered thinking of it.
Did he even know it was possible? He had given us medication to keep us from developing into sexual beings. That might have simply been an effort to keep us under control.
I sincerely hoped he didn’t know. If he did, if he were to even hear a rumor of this, we’d be hunted non-stop to the ends of the Earth. He’d either want to wipe us out or use us on baby farms, taking our babies and selling them to infertile human couples.
Our babies.
That’s when it hit me—I could be like these girls. I could have a baby someday, too.
The possibility was nothing short of mind-blowing. I’d never even considered such a thing. But now… knowing it was possible, seeing the evidence, the idea was incredibly appealing.
I could be a mother. I could be the kind of mother I never had—involved, affectionate, unconditionally loving.
Elias, with his annoying habit of reading every emotion I seemed to have, gave me a tender, knowing look.
He held out a hand and said it was time to go. I told the girls goodbye, and we left the tent.
Just outside of it, Elias pulled me into his arms and dropped his forehead down to press against mine, looking deeply into my eyes.
“Are you surprised?”
I nodded. “Yes. You were right. I never could have guessed.”
His tone mellowed. “Are you afraid?”
“No,” I whispered. “I think it’s wonderful.” “I’d love to see the beautiful babies you’d have.” He stroked my cheek with his fingertips. “A pretty little girl with big light brown eyes like yours.”
Grinning, he raised one brow. “Or maybe a rambunctious little boy… who looks like me.”
My breath left me with a whoosh as I grasped his meaning. Elias was saying he wanted to have a baby with me.
He wants us to make a family.
It was exciting to think about and so moving that tears sprang to my eyes. It was also flattering to be wanted so much—in such a permanent way.
For the first time since arriving here, I saw a clear vision of a happy life at the Haven—with Elias. It really could be our own blissful little world.
Especially now that there were no more secrets between us.
“I’d love that, too.” I molded myself to him and kissed him to punctuate the statement.
When the kiss ended, Elias looked electrified, his eyes bright with anticipation—and maybe a little impatience. After all these weeks of waiting, I’d just confirmed I would be his mate.
“And you’re not frightened?” He bent to my level so our eyes met directly.
“What I mean is… do you… do I need to explain how it happens?” he clarified. “I mean, it’s not how we were made, and I know the base school didn’t educate you on topics like this. We should probably talk about it before we—”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to,” I reassured him. “I know how babies are conceived. I mean… I know how it happens with animals, and I assume it follows the same physiological principles.”
Elias threw back his head and laughed. “Well, if I’m being judged against the benchmark of squirrels, I don’t think we’re going to have any problems.”
Reaching up to wrap my arms around his neck, I lifted onto my tiptoes and kissed him.
“Of course, my understanding of the subject is based on textbooks,” I said when our lips parted. “I’ve always heard the best way to learn something is by doing hands-on research.”
His eyebrows shot up to nearly meet his hairline. “Really? Are you ready?”
I nodded. “Mmm hmmm. Do you have any free time in your schedule for some private tutoring today, Chief? Or are you too busy running the Haven?”
“To hell with my schedule.” He grabbed my hand and started speed-walking to the ladder at the edge of the platform.
“Right now?” I laughed.
“Right now. Short of the trees being hit by lightning and bursting into flames, nothing is more important to me right now than taking my mate back to our tent.”
