I Am Not Your Master; I'm Your Partner Book Three

Seeds and Roots

"She's pregnant, Phil." He said it softly, out the side of his mouth. "She doesn't know yet." He added quickly, squeezing his hand.

Phil didn't second guess him. He didn't even consider a mistake. Dan said it with such certainty, so matter-of-factly, that Phil understood and accepted his husband's knowing without a moment's doubt.

There was no time to discuss it anyhow. Noah's young mother stepped out of the car. It could have been the sun, or maybe a reflection off the sparkling surface of the sea below, but Caroline's face was glowing.

Phil felt Dan's warm hand close more tightly around his own.

Noah ran to his mother in his cat-like way. He tumbled across the grass without tripping or losing his balance the way other children his age often did. Caroline crouched down beside the car and opened her arms wide. The little Neko fit inside of them perfectly. The girl's chin disappeared in her son's sandy-colored curls.

Phil felt Dan's weight against him. They sort of leaned into each other. It felt good to see their son reunite with his mother. Phil couldn't imagine a closed adoption, and he was thankful that Caroline had become more and more open to a more familial arrangement. It was important to Dan and therefore important to him as well. He thought Caroline looked more like a young woman and less of a girl. She stood several inches taller and wore her hair in a more sophisticated style. Phil also noticed the way her skin seemed to glow. It was something he noticed in Dan as well. Perhaps, he thought to himself, this was on account of the pregnancy of which his husband spoke.

***

It wasn't entirely clear how it all unfolded. Phil saw Caroline's eyes widen when Dan pulled her closer to his body for an embrace. She blinked rapidly, as if what she felt was not to be believed. When she pulled away, her pink lips were parted with awe. Dan smiled, and the girl smiled back. Her hands rushed to cover her face, which had darkened beautifully about her smooth cheeks.

"Is this...are you..." Caroline spoke in short, whispered phrases. "Is that..."

Phil giggled. He couldn't help it. It was funny the way that Noah's mother reacted to feeling Dan's swollen, pregnant abdomen against her own flat one, for it was not immediately apparent from the front, given Dan's choice of clothing.

"A baby?" Dan grinned.

Caroline squealed behind her hands and hopped back and forth between her feet. Noah laughed and copied her movements.

"Due in September," Phil added proudly. "Surprise."

Everyone laughed, and Caroline hugged Dan again. This time, she lingered a little longer. Suddenly, she missed the feeling of Noah growing inside of her own body. It was a strange thing, and she felt surprised by her reaction.

Caroline explained that she understood that some Nekos could conceive and carry. She read about it in an online article last fall.

"I try to learn everything I can about my son and others like him," she said. "I thought it was an incredible thing, naturally. I guess I never thought about it happening to someone I know. You must be so happy to have a child of your own."

"We feel incredibly lucky to share a baby," Dan agreed, "it's rare to be able to carry a child like this, so yeah. But please, you must know that this changes nothing of our love for Noah..."

"He's no less our son than this baby will be." Phil added for reassurance, though it really wasn't necessary. Caroline had no doubts as to the capacity of their love.

"Oh, I know that," she smiled at Phil and then at Dan before breaking out into sweet laughter. "I'm sure of it. I know who you are, remember?" She grinned and handed Noah to his barren father, who felt nothing but warmth on his face and inside his heart.