Honor Among Thieves || Book Two

~26~

The next morning, Sera woke up to find the Pearl's king-sized bed empty.

She had hopes that Jack would come some time during the night but he hadn't, apparently, and already guilt was starting to eat at her from the inside out. What did she expect him to do? Jump up and tap his heels when she told him she was pregnant? Even she didn't do that. No, she didn't even bother getting out of her bed for three whole days after she found out.

Besides, he had been faced with the hellacious delusions and elements of the Locker for however long he had been there. Of course he wouldn't be all starry-eyed when she told him.

And it was a complete and utter surprise. The thought of Sera being pregnant had certainly not even crossed his mind as it had not crossed her own until she started showing symptoms...

Sighing, she threw her legs over the bed and started dressing herself.

She tried sucking in her stomach as she attempted (very vigorously) to tuck in her shirt but ended up ripping the small section she had actually managed to get in out of her pants when she saw that the rest was not going in. She ended up having to buckle her belt on the side and twist it around her hips because her growing bump obstructed her view, and when it came time to slip on her boots, she threw in the towel.

Defeated, she laid back on the bed and started to cry. It was at that moment that Jack came barging in.

"Pardon me, love. I know you don't want to see me 'stupid, idiotic pig-face' any time soon, but I forgot--"

He stopped in his tracks when he heard her quiet sobs and saw her sprawled out on the bed frumpy and barefoot. "What's the matter with you?"

"I can't do it, Jack!" She wailed. "I can't even dress myself!"

His eyebrows shot up underneath his bandanna. "You look dressed to me..."

"It was hard! I barely managed to make it past my pants!" She held up her feet and wiggled her toes. "Now I can't even put on my boots!"

This must be the pregnancy hormones I've heard so much about. He thought darkly and truly, he had heard lots about them. Horror stories more often than not. Pinhead Pierre had said they were worse than a woman's "special time" of the month. Jack wasn't entirely sure about that (he had seen Sera then and this little episode was nothing, nothing compared to those days...).

"Let's give you a hand then, eh?" He bent over to pick her boots up off the floor but she stopped him with a shrill 'no'. The boots fell at Jack's feet with a loud thud.

"I can do it myself." She insisted, wiping her eyes with the collar of her shirt. "I need to get used to doing it like this, anyway."

He held up his hands and stepped back. "Have at it, dearie."

While he dug through his chest of drawers in search of a small, pearl-handled pocket knife, Sera was behind him still struggling to get her boots on. She managed to get her foot in one but it fell off.

"Damn this all straight to Hell."

Jack stopped pilfering through the drawer but was too frightened to turn around. "Still havin' trouble?"

"What do you think? Get over here and help me or I'll stick one of these straight up your arse." She sounded angry but there was a hint of laughter in her voice. Grinning, Jack knelt down and helped her slip on her boots one by one.

"I'm sorry about what I said last night." Sera murmured once he was finished. He smiled and adjusted his bandanna. "I have the slightest suspicion it wasn't you sayin' all those nasty things. I know you know me manhood isn't microscopic."