Nyx (Complete✅)

Chapter 78

Beth had had no idea that a human could grow so quickly in such a short time. Not only her own body but the much smaller one inside of her. She kept track of time mostly by the frequent visits she took to the doctor's office to ensure that the baby was growing as it should. She no longer had the structure of her exploration trips or any of the other work she'd been doing, and for that, she was mostly glad. Her back ached almost constantly with the weight of the child that had grown inside of her. She'd never really seen a pregnant woman very closely before, but now she was one, and it was a rather eye-opening experience, to say the least.

She stared in the mirror, marveling at the sheer size of her belly, running her hands lovingly over the bump. If she pressed gently, she could feel a knee here, or perhaps the head there. It seemed impossible.

She still remembered when she'd felt the baby kick for the first time. Such a strange sensation, entirely alien when everything alien had literally become her life. Tears had run down her face almost constantly and she'd made Liam come home from work immediately and in the middle of the day. That had been the day every anxiety had finally, truly left.

Sure, she'd long since lost the fear that she wasn't fertile. But something else just as bad—no, much worse—had taken its place shortly after. What if the serum in her blood, or some other complication, took her baby away before she ever even got the chance to see its eyes, feel its breath against her cheek? And it only grew worse until time went on.

Until the moment the baby began to move with an almost feverish intensity inside of her, almost as if the little one was excited to finally get out into the world. That moment had quelled the fears, locking them away where they couldn't harm her new family.

And now? She was huge, swelling up in almost every way to accommodate the new life within. The last time she'd visited Ruth, the kind older woman had informed Beth that the baby could be coming any day now.

Liam had taken to pacing whenever he was around her. It seemed even the sight of her rather planetary proportions worried him. He'd mumble questions about the baby and the delivery date, almost to her and almost to himself, never quite to either. The first time she'd felt the pain of the baby shifting inside of her, and he'd gone into a full panic, nearly fainting with fear that the baby wouldn't survive such an early birth. She didn't think he appreciated her laughing at him after the ordeal was over, but he eventually came around and realized that it was rather funny.

She laughed softly to herself and pulled a loose sweater a little tighter around herself, moving away from the mirror to sink heavily into an armchair. Even standing for such a short time was starting to become a challenge. She barely even needed Ruth to tell her about the baby coming—she could feel it herself.

She took a deep breath and leaned back in the cushioned chair. In a couple of days... she would have a baby in her arms; a child all her own that she had carried inside of her. She'd never, ever thought it was possible. It was the happiest thought that had ever popped into her head. But it was also just a tad bit terrifying. A baby. She would be a mother.

And Liam would be the best father ever to exist. She found herself tearing up. How had her life turned so perfect? She couldn't decide if it felt like decades or simply a few short days since she'd boarded the Starship Songbird, not only to escape her old life but to find a new one. She wished she could go back and tell that scared, anxious little girl how well things would eventually turn out... she'd changed so much in such a short time, and she knew, looking back, that she wouldn't rather have any other person by her side than Liam.

She let out a soft sob which was really partly a laugh. She couldn't rein herself in now that she'd started, and tears swam in her eyes before streaming freely down her cheeks and onto her swollen hump of a belly.