The Sea God's One-Night-Stand *Tides of Fate*

15)

"Strange love" by Halsey
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I expelled the contents of my stomach into the porcelain toilet, certain I had never felt worse in all my life. As soon as I woke up and tried to adjust, I found I was in a very unfamiliar place snuggled against pillows that had Ajax's sea-breeze scent. I then felt the overwhelming need to vomit. It had nothing to do with his fresh scent; it was merely sitting up too fast along with my stomach feeling queasy. I bolted for the bathroom in the next room, even pushing past the strangely pale man who had come into the room to see what I was up to. I slammed the bathroom door shut on his abnormally pale face before rushing to the toilet.

Now that I was recovered, I felt cold and clammy. I relished the idea of sleeping in until the horrible memory of yesterday hit me like a freight train. Walking over to the sink, I gargled some mouthwash I found sitting on the counter before washing my hands and cupping some cold water to splash across my face.

"So, how long have you been pregnant?" The pale man questioned beyond the closed door.
I took a startled breath before remembering I had no real idea of where I was. My last memory was seeing Ajax in his true form.

I trembled upon the insane memory of him owning a tail. It was a real-life shimmery one that reminded me of all the pretty fish at aquariums I had seen in my life. I could not determine the color given the darkness, but that didn't matter; Ajax still had a tail. The insanely sweet and beyond thoughtful young man I had come to know had a tail.
It was remembering what the stranger said outside the bathroom door that had me trembling. He couldn't know about the pregnancy; I didn't even officially know if I was truly pregnant.

I was personally hoping this was all a nightmare. Maybe I had been so incredibly nervous about starting a relationship with Ajax I imagined that he was engaged to a monster who tried to kill me. Maybe I even imagined he could disappear by magic and grow a tail while in the ocean. I slowly opened the bathroom door, trying not to tremble. A tall man with a beyond pale face stood behind the door with a raised eyebrow. He was utterly breathtaking to look at from his too white of face to his frosted white hair color. Maybe I died when that truck was coming at me and everything that happened since then is some type of normalness to happen upon death. "Are you an angel?"

The too beautiful of a man snickered. "You and my betrothed would get along fabulously. She uses the same terminology to describe me."
I did not know what to make of this so I said nothing. Quirking a brow, the man remained leaning against the door frame. "Now how about you answer, how long have you been knocked up?"

I shook my head rapidly, not even paying attention that the man seemed to be emitting an icy coldness similar to if one would stand in front of an open freezer. "I'm n-not..." I trailed off, covering my mouth with a hand. I nearly wanted to vomit again; it was as if my body was trying to punish me for her attempt at denying the obvious. The overwhelming desire to sleep the last two weeks, the tender breasts, the missed period....

I had plenty of experience of watching pregnant women due to aunts or cousins having babies. Still, it seemed too surreal that I could be expecting. Then again, I knew my ovulation cycle due to studying women's anatomy in a college course. Right around the time with Ajax I was ovulating, and we did end up having sex four times unprotected in one night...

It wasn't insane to assume one of those times was just enough to make a baby. I hadn't been on birth control. I had broken up with Tate a week before and he hadn't even wanted to touch me for months before that. I unintentionally made myself completely vulnerable to getting pregnant that one night with Ajax. There hadn't been condom usage either.

I barely noticed moving to the bathroom sink to spread some more cold water on my face. "I c-can't be..." I stuttered, unsure of who I was talking to; myself or this abnormally pale stranger.
"I'm gathering the impression you were not aware of this," said the man casually.

"M-maybe I'm not..." I tried weakly, willing this person to be wrong. What did he know? It was my body; he couldn't simply look at me and randomly guess I was pregnant. It wasn't as if I were overweight and showing in my stomach; I was slender, there was nothing obvious to give away being a little over five-weeks pregnant if I was. "Well then, if you're not a little bit knocked up, then I'm afraid to be the one to tell you that something is residing in your gut and has a heartbeat." The man nodded, looking bemused.

It was then that I stiffened, realizing that whoever this man was he did not have a strange appearance due to odd fashion choices regarding his hair and makeup usage. "Are you a m-mermaid, too...?"
A bark of hollow laughter escaped the man as he closed his eyes to laugh. "No. I would go into detail of what I am and watch your little eyes go wide, but I'm afraid there's no time. Ajax will probably be coming back soon to introduce you to his family. I'm not sure how they're going to handle the knowledge that you're expecting-"