Free Mya

Part 8: More Trouble and a Tough Decision

Soon after the rather tense family meal, Lalavaya announced that she thought she too was pregnant. She refused to allow Gillian or Justina to examine her.

"Very convenient," said Daniel, after another (equally fraught) meal with Mya's family. "Suddenly, Lalavaya may be pregnant, so Tavruk gets served before me and Lalavaya served before you. Because you both might be expecting sons, and Lalavaya has been married longer than you."

"Are you jealous of their good fortune?"

Daniel laughed. "Of course not. I wouldn't care if Melanda served me last, after herself and you and Lalavaya. I wouldn't even care if she served me last of all."

"That would never happen. Always the men first and then the women. Don't you care at all?"

"No. Your mother always cooks plenty. I just wonder if Lalavaya might be... a little too optimistic."

Mya looked confused.

"Are you saying she may not be pregnant? Women know these things! Woman-things happen to them! Or" - she whispered - "some woman-things not happen."

"No, of course I don't mean that. It just seems rather sudden. After all this time."

"It is wonderful," announced Mya. "Our sons will grow up together. Or our son might marry Tavruk and Lalavaya's daughter."

"I'd really rather that didn't happen," said Daniel.

"I'm sorry," said Justina. "I've decided to go back to Earth. With Charlize, Trey, Gillian and, well, everyone but you. All the medical personnel want to leave. I will leave behind as much medical equipment as possible, with instructions, but I have to take some with me for the return voyage. There was a slight problem with their medical testing units."

Daniel guessed the bad news.

"There won't be the right equipment for me to perform DNA tests when the baby is born. I won't know whose baby she is."

"You might know," said Trey, "but only if she resembles you closely enough. I know your blood group and I know Mya's. A simple blood group test won't be any help, no matter what group the baby turns out to be. You're a particularly awkward combination from that point of view.  As you know, you are A positive.  Mya is B positive. Without being able to tell which recessive genes you may be carrying, we can't tell what the baby is likely to be. She literally could have any blood group. You and Mya might each be carrying an O gene and a Rhesus negative gene. Mya's daughter could be A, B, AB or O. Her Rhesus factor could be positive or negative."

"At least you and Mya are both Rhesus positive," said Gillian. "That saves us a bit of work."

"Would you have been able to cope if we weren't?"

"Yes.  We might have needed to give Mya an injection. If she was Rhesus negative and the baby Rhesus positive."

"The baby might have hazel eyes, like me," said Daniel. "None of the other men here have hazel eyes. Seth's are green, Mason's are brown and Trey's are blue-grey."

"Or your baby might have blue eyes. You might have passed on the blue-eyed gene you inherited from your blue-eyed mother."

"The baby had hazel eyes in my dream," Daniel mused. "Although there did seem to be rather a lot of Melandas in it, and they all looked like Russian dolls."

"What are you doing here?" asked Charlize.

"I have to know the truth. I am confused. I don't know what to think."