Conclave (Hypernaturals 3)

Ring Around the Sagans

After the extended breakfast, my parents adjourned to their RV. They needed to fully connect it up to all the 'shore' services, clean the black water tank, collect dirty clothes for the washer, and since they arose early to hit the road to get here, get a nap.

I started their clothes going in the washer, collecting them from the RV and over-riding mom's protests that she knew how to work the machine and is not helpless.

"Mom. Go have a nap. I got this." I told her. "It's not like you only stop by my house when you need your laundry done."

Mom grinned, saying "Ok. You are a good person, Adrian. I'm proud of the way you turned out. Do you know that?

"Thanks, Mom. I hope you always feel that way." I could not help but think about her two grandchildren on the way, with different mothers, and wonder if that pushed the bounds of her acceptance. I know it didn't, but at the same time, it is hard not to wonder what she will think. Like Danny? That I cheated on Jessica? Is that 'Well, at least thank the gods it is Helen' or is that 'You got her BEST FRIEND knocked up? are you a fucking soap opera star?'

Once the wash was going, I returned to the kitchen table, where Lori, Helen, and Jessica sipped fresh coffee and conversed in low tones.

"Your parents are like no one else's, Adrian." Lori noted

"Amen." Helen agreed, with a happy sincerity rarely heard. She patted her tummy, and I knew she is thinking about how those people she loved are the grandparents of her baby. Lori saw her do it, looked at me.

"That, Helen Sagan, are the grandparents of your little baby there." Lori reached out and laid her hand on top of Helen's tummy too. She has permission after all.

Helen touched Lori's hand and smiled. "I know. I said I wanted to be part of this family. Now I am in a way they would never have suspected."

"Only bad part is that now we have less time for sex," Jessica said. A bit of a non sequitur

"How do you figure?" I asked "It's not like we screw 24/7. We can't I'm only a boy."

"The more pregnant I get, the more I want to. Between getting ready for the Conclave, and spending time with your parents, that leaves less time for sex."

"Or sleep." Lori told her. "You can pick one or the other."

Helen laughed "Not really. Sleep is required now too. Lots of it."

"By the way. Pregnant is a binary state. You're a doctor. You know that you are not getting 'more pregnant'" I told her.

"Spoken like a man who has never been pregnant." Jessica said. She patted her slightly upward curved belly and defied me to say anything about it with a look. "This little one is getting less little all the time. Therefore: I am getting more pregnant."

Lori tilted her head "So, you're what... six or seven more weeks along relative to Helen?"

"At a guess. I don't have a due date because as a Vampire, I had no cycle. My first ovulation in forever intercepted and run back for a touchdown." Jessica looked over and told me "That's a sports reference, my love. I'll explain it later."

"I know that! Geez. I wasn't born yesterday. "I fake spluttered. "It's from that game they play here in the US in the fall. Where they wear all those pads and shit. Hand-Egg."

"Yeah. That's it exactly." Back to Lori, Jessica said "In any case, I am hoping this isn't Ectopic! I only decided to take a pregnancy test when I felt very odd and it kept getting odder all the time. Once the baby is bigger, I'll ultrasound and get some measurements and try to make some better guesses about the due date."

Lori reached out and lightly touched and rubbed Jessica's abdomen and looked thoughtful. Where Helen is completely flat, hip to hip, Jessica has always been rounder. She is not really 'showing', even being farther along than Helen. The changes are minute. Lori is built with a physique similar to Jessica's and used her left hand to compare her belly to Jessica's.

"I can't tell you are pregnant yet any more than Helen. That's not a baby bump but your lovely earth mother natural shape, and you have those Vampire-steel muscles. You are barely entering the second trimester at the very latest. Good thing this Conclave is coming on fast. Even as big as you are, you are going to be showing soon." She looked over at Helen's much smaller lower abdominal area. "Helen might actually show first. When is that ultrasound getting here?"

Jessica held Lori's hand down to her body, pressing. "Soon. Any day. Maybe today even. I paid a fuck-ton of money to expedite. She told Lori: "I am glad you will be here to help me with this."

Helen stood up, stretching like a small blonde cat. "I hate to go, but I need to get out to the Resort. Makes sure everything is going as designed. What's the plan for the evening?"

I frowned. "Not sure what you all are doing, but I'm at The FireHouse. Usual Siren meeting with Larry. Same Bat-time. Same Siren bar. Yea?"

"Have fun with that." Helen said, with great insincerity.

That needed a response. "I'll tell Vera you said 'Hi' in a low, sultry tone. See if she'll change which side of the street she walks on, if only for you."

"That bitch. She's smarter than that. No way she'll believe you, even with you saying it." Helen said and headed for the stairs to go get dressed for the outside world.

She is right. Vera wouldn't. Vera did not exactly understand why Helen does not like her, but she is very clear that there is no love lost there.