Corresponding Marks

In this latest chapter, I wanted to in some way to pay tribute to Pysch B. Mused and her great story “Finding Home.” If you’re not reading it, you should be! And leave her a comment too!

Chapter 3
The Quickening

For some reason Larena still expected to have sunlight shine across her face when she awoke each morning, even though there were no windows here deep within the recesses of the BPRD which housed Red’s dorm. Yet every morning she was certain something bright shined down on her face, only to open her eyes to the dusky twilight of rope lighting along the juncture of wall and ceiling which was timed to come on as soon as the sun rose, signaling morning. Maybe it was the baby that gave her the sensation of sunlight on her face? She’d only been carrying this child for what she estimated to be perhaps five weeks, and as Red had been her first lover, she’d never been pregnant before, but Larena could tell that this gestation, this baby, was different from all others, for reasons besides the obvious.

She’d noticed first that like its father, the child inside her repelled the spirits that otherwise imposed upon her. Likewise, the baby was warm inside her, radiating the same type of comforting heat that Red’s big body did. Red’s big body…Larena wondered how else this baby may take after its father, and what that would mean for the actual birth…C-Section? Of course, before any of that happened, she and Red had to announce that there was going to be a new arrival, and that she’d been here, secretly living with Red in his dorm for over a month, and that they were…well, they’d never actually acknowledged their relationship with any monikers…was HB her boyfriend? Did Red want to be called such? He was hardly a “boy” after all; he was so much more than a boy, or a man.

Boyfriend, lover, beau, baby-daddy, whatever Red wanted to be known as, when were they going to finally look everyone in the eyes and make this known? She and Red had been seriously discussing this for over two weeks now, he’d told her all about his father and Larena looked forward to finally meeting the professor and sharing the news about his grandchild to come. She could see Red’s eyes light up at that thought as well, but at the same time something made him so very hesitant to do so. What was it that always held him back? Red would never admit to her what it was that made him so uncomfortable and so she’d been forced to guess.

Larena understood why he was nervous about making this public, she was nervous too. Telling his father was difficult enough in its self, but telling friends, co-workers, people Red respected and who respected him was very different. And on her end, Larena worried because she knew no one here besides Red. Professor Bruttenholm sounded like a wonderful man, but how would everyone else react to news that she’d been living here, in a secret government complex, for as long as she had, and that she and Red were in love? Who was she to everyone here, after all? Would they be suspicious of her? Would they doubt or simply not understand what she felt for Red and what he felt for her? And what about this baby? Would they be happy, or would they be fearful? Red had assured her that she’d be welcomed by his father, said that the old man would be happy to know that his son had found someone like her. And in general Red also seemed to think that her life long hindrance of being a medium could actually find her a niche here in the BPRD itself. Red had no worries about introducing her, or for that matter introducing them as a couple to everyone, but whenever she asked about the baby, he became so distant. It troubled her.

It made more sense to tell his father first; that should be a little easier to do than telling everyone else, right? Well, maybe it wasn’t? Professor Bruttenholm likely saw his son as being too juvenile still for fatherhood, what with all the comic books, cartoons, junk food and curfew breaking he was into. Even one look around at the state of Red’s room gave more of an impression of teenage angst than it did responsible adult. Red and his “organizational system”…if he needed something he “knew it was somewhere on the floor…” well, maybe not any longer, as Larena had begun to pick up a bit when Red wasn’t around, and it always seemed she found yet another cat each time she moved something. Not that she minded the cats, she loved them as much as Red did, and she loved even more watching Red with all the fuzzy little beasties. Seeing him gently cradle a tiny, little, purring cat in his huge arms, cooing to it and softly kissing its fuzzy little head gave Larena all the assurance she needed as to Red’s fitness in becoming a father. He’d do fine, she knew he would. She only had to figure out how to convince him of that, and then hopefully he’d feel more secure making this inevitable announcement, right?

He would do fine; Larena smiled as she turned her head over her shoulder and looked at Red, still asleep, every thick muscle relaxed, but his stone hand still holding her firmly and contentedly against him, her back to his broad red chest. He was the model of tranquility and peace, all his brute strength well masked behind the soft features of slumber, and the inner gentleness, that sometimes embarrassed him to display, overwhelming what any outsider would likely describe as “demonic.” Larena shook her head at the thought and softly stroked her fingers over the stone forearm on her hip, the touch reaching through Red’s sleep, making him moan softly and snuggle against her even more than he had been, but he didn’t wake.

Larena however knew she should rise, get her shower, brush her teeth, be done in the bathroom before she woke Red so he’d have no excuses for being late to that Team Meeting Manning had scheduled for 0800 hours. If there were two things she knew Red hated, it was mornings and any kind of meetings, particularly when they were scheduled by Manning and dealt with things like new protocols for report writing and changes to the promotional criteria. But, if she were going to teach Red that he could be responsible, because fathers were responsible after all, then she had to deal with his griping and complaining about being up so early. But if it worked, if Red could see he was acting like a responsible father-to-be, then maybe he’d feel more like one, and telling his own father and the rest of the BPRD about the baby wouldn’t be so scary anymore, right? She had to try.

Carefully she slid from his grasp, which only tightened as she eased her way from beneath his heavy limb, but Larena managed to get to her feet before Red pulled her back against him again, still asleep, but a muffled groan of protest escaping him until she leaned over and settled him with a soft kiss to his forehead. She began to stride forward, noticing immediately that her weight was unbalanced, her step inhibited as if her feet were having difficulty centering beneath her and she felt as though she had to waddle instead of walk. She quickly glanced over her shoulder and the reason was discovered clamped tightly in Red’s thick stone fingers. The hem of the black T-shirt she’d borrowed from him as a nightgown, somehow without being conscious, he’d managed to snag it and hold tightly before she’d straightened, a last ditch effort to keep her close to him that had nearly succeeded.

“You don’t give up easily, do you?” She smiled, murmuring to herself as she plucked the material from his fist. She’d begun to notice that Red had some uncanny gift for finding where she was all the time. He’d said something inside him had drawn him to her the night they met, and now it had strengthened to an ability to know and feel where she was at all times. Larena resisted believing him about such a thing, but she had to admit that she was never far from his reach if he didn’t want her to be. Even in his sleep he managed to be possessive, protective and jealous, but Larena only smiled; it felt good to have such a connection with and mean so much to someone who meant just as much to her.

Finally free of his grasp though, she took a step forward, willing her legs and hips to straighten out the way they should, crossing the threshold into the bathroom, stepping over a towel and a washcloth. She might as well wait to clean them up, there’d only be more on the floor once Red woke and went through his morning routine…no doubt cranky and bellowing about morning, meetings and of course Manning the whole time, but Larena was braced for that. What she didn’t seem to be braced for was walking, what was going on with her hips this morning? It wasn’t odd for she and Red to become so lost in how much they desired each other that they got a little rough, and given his strength and overall size, sometimes it showed in her walk for a bit the next morning, but this was different. She felt heavier, but she knew she wasn’t, at least, she couldn’t be that much heavier it made her legs so suddenly unaccustomed to her weight, it didn’t make sense until…

“Lar?” Red woke in a flash, Larena’s scream going through him like a bolt of lightening. The first of his waking thoughts were informative, she was about nine feet away, to his left, around a slight corner. He didn’t remember getting out of bed or moving at all, he was just suddenly there, Larena held within his powerful arms, looking into the bathroom mirror with her. She was shaking, but he felt no obvious injury, what was wrong? Why had she screamed?

And then he saw it, staring back at both of them in her reflection, the baby! But only in a manner of speaking, Larena’s belly had been flat when they’d gone to sleep the night before. He hadn’t noticed any bulge there at all when he’d been above her, and their bodies had been pressed so close together that he’d have for sure felt any lumps or bumps. But now her belly protruded far away from her body, rounded out in front of her like a beach ball as though the child might come within a few days at the very most! Red stared with wide yellow eyes, words failing him despite how badly he wanted to reassure Larena. How had that happened? What was going on?

“Is this—“ her own stammering cut her off and she sucked in a ragged breath as she turned to face Red. “Is this normal? I mean, if I’m freaking out over something that to you is perfectly okay, now’s the time to tell me!”

The way she was shaking made him instinctively pull her against him closer, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. He wished he had an answer that would make her feel more secure. “I don’t know,” he closed his eyes and pulled her closer still, trying to compensate for the lack of emotional and mental shelter he could provide her with a display of his physical strength. Her body felt so different tucked against his now, her child swelled abdomen keeping them apart and yet making them feel so much closer than they ever had been at the same time. A mix of dread and joy battled inside him, but concerned perplexity held most of him. He hadn’t been ready for this, not so soon. And he had no answers for Larena, and when she needed them the most. What were they going to do now?

“Red,” Larena’s voice hitched suddenly and she hunched forward with an abrupt jerk, leaning against him more than before, almost in tears.

Red had never felt so inadequate. “Lar, babe, I’ll find out, I promise you that!” His words were rushed, wanting so desperately to be able to do something, to be able to tell her something that was what she wanted to hear, but he wasn’t entirely sure what that was. Abe, he needed Abe! Oh, but this was going to be a spectacle of a conversation! Red drew a deep breath, trying to settle himself. After all, how could he calm Larena down if he weren’t calm himself? “We don’t know anything yet, so just don’t be scared until we know something scary, okay?”

Larena’s head was shaking, her breathing heavy, fingernails of the hand that was against his chest beginning to dig into his skin and she groaned deeply, eyes squeezed shut with the agony that overcame her. “It’s not that,” she managed to say through pain clenched teeth. “I think I’m in labor!”

Red felt himself swoon for the first time that a hard blow to the head didn’t precede it. What a morning. “Oh crap!”