The Mating Games

Chapter 29: Princess party

Chuckles awkwardly.... well this is a long chapter to make up for me hardly ever writing haha whoops

I had come to the conclusion that my mother was crazy, not just a little quirky but crazy. I had only given her the news earlier that day and she had packed up the car, along with my youngest brothers and driven hours, across pack lines in order to personally congratulate me. I was happy to see her, don't get me wrong but after a long and confusing day, I just wanted to relax in the bath. After herding everyone back inside and putting the kettle put on, Theo had graciously taken the seat beside me and begun to fill out the long questionnaire my mother was currently berating him with; man had the patience of a saint, I'll tell you that.

"So how far along are you?" I tried doing the maths in my head, if I got pregnant in the forest then that would have been just over a month ago?

"Something like a month?" It came out a question. My mother searched my eyes, letting her piercing gaze rummage through the storm gathering under the surface of my skin.

"Hmm, have you been to see a doctor; I'd be happy to go with you, sweetheart. I can't believe it, my first grandbaby," she sighed wistfully. A churning started in my stomach, swirling around with emotion and hitting the back of my throat. I jumped up, clutching my hands in front of my mouth. I'm going to be sick. I hunched over the kitchen sink, desperately trying to will the nausea away but it wasn't helping. I could feel the abdominal muscles clench in force, heaving up that day's food and pouring out of my mouth. This is was worst feeling in the world. Gentle hands rubbed at my back, slowly circling around the dimples in my skin. Fingers delicately pushed my hair back and I was cradled into a body. I finally stopped heaving and washed it down the sink with warm water; the smell was like acid in my nostrils, singeing the small hairs and overwhelming my brain. I was haggered. Theo gently rocked my back and forth, letting the soft rhythm calm my aching stomach.

"Are you okay, darling?" He murmured into my hair. My body didn't feel okay, it felt like an achy old woman right now and all it wanted to do was rest. I could barely manage a nod but he must have seen through my crumbling façade. His soft voice poked through my subconscious but I wasn't listening, I couldn't focus enough on the words. He guided me to our room and opened the bathroom door. I leant against the cool wood, basking in the relief it provided; if this is how pregnancy is supposed to feel, then take me off the list because my body was ready to shut down.

"Baby? Lets get you into the bath," he helped me out of my clothes and pulled me over to the bath. The water was like a soft caress on my skin, like tiny little kisses as the bubbles popped around me. I wish I could live in this bath, forever let the water carry away my stress. Large hands massaged the tight muscles of my shoulder, rolling out the knots and pushing the stress away. Theo really was a life saver right now, he always seemed to know what to do even before I did. He placed a soft kiss to my head and murmured into my ear; "can I get you anything?" His voice was like silky velvet, caressing my inner ear and plump lips skimming the shell. He was simply delectable.

"Yeah," my voice faded away, pulled with the gentle motions of his hands, "my laptop," I managed to force out. Magic fingers left my body and I instantly regretted asking but it wasn't long before he had come back and placed my laptop on the small table across the bath tub lips. A bright screen flickered on and the picture of my family illuminated the dark circles under my eyes, I just knew I must have looked awful. Theo didn't seem to care as his hands once again found my shoulders; every now and again he would pause to kiss my head or lips but always continued his job. I moved lazy fingers over the keys, bringing up the site for uni; as much as I hated to look at deadlines and emails, they were necessary. All my classes were coming to an end and emails berated the inbox for study groups and tutorials for exams; ugh, why do they have to remind me? I clicked on the tab for all my courses, scanning through what I was enrolled in currently and what I would be taking next semester; I couldn't find the course for bio300 anywhere, how could I not be enrolled yet picked for the course? This wasn't making any sense. I scanned through the courses again: biomed, cellular biology, psychology and nutrition. I remember picking them, vaguely but 300 was not on the list. Professor Howard had known me, he called me by name when I've never even spoken to him. A random lady had given him MY name for a program I'm not enrolled in; this is the strangest thing to happen to me recently and that's saying a lot.