MARS
It was hard to walk with this stomach and these idiots roughhousing me wasn't helpful... and me being sick didn't help either. The guards led me down the hallway and we got to another hallway going perpendicular to one we were in. Dad went one way and the guards started taking me the other direction.
"Let him get cleaned up and then bring to my office."
They nodded and led me down the hallway to some bathrooms. One of them handed me a towel and the other guy had some clothes in his hand but when I went to reach for them he moved them away.
"With your new grotesque stomach, you'll need to have bigger clothes. We'll leave them on the hook for you outside of the baths."
They left and I made a face. I should really just try to escape, but there was no way that I was going to be able to get Max out of here as well in the condition that I was in; plus, I feel grotty from being in bed so much from before I was even brought here and I felt nasty and sore. I walked in found individual pods that looked like a bigger version of a public restroom but smaller than a regular bathroom. I got in a turned shower on, stepping into the warm water and letting it run over me. The warmth felt nice (since I was freezing) and it was like melting all my troubles away. Relaxing, apparently, wasn't something my body was used to and as soon as I did, I felt like I had to vomit. I did, vomiting in the corner of the bath, but there was traces of blood in it.
I stared at the marbled redness and leaned against the wall of the shower, touching my newly grown stomach. I can't believe I was able to stave the baby off for so long, but I know that I've done something to myself. The rapid growth messed me up, I know it... I coughed and when I pulled my hand away from my mouth, it was sprinkled with blood. I sighed as I felt a ripple inside of me, the baby shivering or something. I could tell it was almost apologizing... I put my hand on my stomach and rubbed it softly.
"It's not your fault, okay?"
I knew there wouldn't be an answer, but I just knew the baby understood. I wonder what gender it is? From what I gathered while up on the ship, Elbaskins do have genders, so was my baby already programmed or would it become whatever I thought it should be or what?
A banging noise startled me.
"Yo, hurry up in there, Freak!"
I rolled my eyes and finished washing. Now I know how Max probably felt all that time he was pregnant with Kasai...
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Once I was dressed, I was led to my dad's office by the two guards who had taken me to the baths. The steam from the bath made me woozy and I hadn't eaten in a while... One of the guards knocked on the door and then opened it.
"Here's your kid."
Dad looked up. "Good, thank you." The guards pushed me into the room and I sighed. Dad looked at me. "Sit down."
I walked over to the seat he was pointing to. If I wasn't so exhausted, I would have been my usual asshole self and denied him. He was on my shit list right now.
"The guards said you won't eat when they tried to bring you food. Are you trying to prove a point?"
"I'm just not hungry. I have no appetite."
"Funny how usually when people are with child they usually can't stop eating."
"Yeah, well, I'm not normal."
"Either way, you need to eat."
"Thank for the tip." I grumbled. Dad just stared at me. "Why am I here? You just take me and dump me in that room. I haven't seen you in weeks."
"I've been negotiating regarding what they want... until this happened." He said, gesturing to my bulging stomach. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"It's none of your business, that's why." I growled, crossing my arms.
"Stop being so childish, Marsden."
"Hey, screw you! *You took me from Mom and threw me in that room without really asking me what I wanted or telling me where I was going. You left me and never came back! You didn't even check up on me! Besides, out of everyone, why the hell would I tell you about anything regarding my alien encounters? You never believed in me anyway."
"I never said that."
"Bullshit! That is complete bullshit and you know it! Every time me or Mom would bring something up about Max or the Elbaskins or anything about aliens at all, you acted like I was crazy. Only Mom believed me and even then, she took it too far, but at least she friggin believed me."
"I couldn't exactly tell you because there are and were extenuating circumstances."
"Who even are you?" I asked, leaning forward. "I mean, I barely know you as a person, much less my father. You've always been out of reach and gone."
"I know I haven't been the best of fathers to you, but I've done everything I know how to to provide for you and Adah."
"Providing and nurturing are two different things." I said, leaning back and crossing my arms over my stomach. "I'd have rather you had been there for me than whatever you've been doing. Maybe I'd have turned out better."
"Are you blaming me for this predicament that you got your own self into?"
"Maybe if you had been there, I could have had a little more advice and not gotten myself into it."
"Well, Father of the Year I'm not."
"Damn skippy."
Dad sighed and took off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"You are exasperating."
"I'm aware." I said with a grin.
"So what the hell happened? How come you're pregnant all of a sudden and when did you know?"
"I got into a fight with a person on the ship while we were in an active laboratory. He must have injected me with something when I didn't notice... That's all I can think of. I figure out I was pregnant when I had a particular dream."
"Then how is it that you just started showing?"
"I told it to wait."
"Told what to wait?"
"The baby."
"You... told the baby to wait?"
"Yes."
"You told the baby to wait?"
"Yup."
Dad glared at me. "Are you shitting me right now?"
"No..." I shook my head, feeling dizzy. "I have a headache; can I go?"
"You need to eat. Let me get you something."
"I don't want anything from you." I growled.
Dad sighed and ankle on his knee, leaning back and crossing his arms.
"Marsden, you have to eat. Whether you like me or not, your child has to have food. That's common knowledge; your baby will not survive if you don't eat. Do you want that to happen?"
I felt tears well up in my eyes but I tried to keep them in.
"No..." I sniffled. "I'm just not hungry."
"As parents, sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do for the good of our children."
"Which one of us is the pot and which one is the kettle?" I snapped.
"You weren't supposed to be here! I was trying to get Max!"
"Max? But why? Because he was abducted?"
"Precisely..." He sighed and leaned forward. "Now that this has happened to you, I don't know if they'll even want Max anymore. You're physical proof that we can study now..." He ran his hand down his face. "Shit, Mars..."
"Well, so-rry. For once, I didn't plan this to happen. I'm pissed off that it happened but there's nothing I can do about it now. Cat's out of the bag, so to speak... I guess in this case, the rabbit died." I said, pointing to my stomach.
Dad flicked his eyes to my stomach and then back to me.
"Does it move?"
"Maybe."
"Could I..." he gestured to my stomach.
"Fuck you." Dad's eyes widened in surprise. "You're trying to play the saint now when you practically kidnapped me and you didn't believe me when I told you about all of this from the very beginning. When Max was abducted, you weren't there, when he died you technically weren't there. My whole life, you've been on the outskirts of my life; hardly involved and barely accountable as a parent. So. No."
Dad nodded and then leaned back his chair.
"Well, I guess I can try to stall them with what they want to do but once they know you're pregnant they won't let me go easy on you. You still need to eat though."
"Fine. Can I go back now?"
He nodded and I got up to leave. "Mars?" I turned back. "Please understand that I truly never meant for it to be this way."
"When Mom divorces you, I'm picking her. No hard feelings, eh?"
"You'll be almost eighteen anyway; so your choice."
I snorted. "Can't even fight for me..."
The guards were there and they too me back to the room. I was crying all the way though. Dad has never been there for me, he doesn't even want to fight for me... and I shouldn't have expected any different.
*******************
They took me back to the room where Max was. Max was coughing into a blanket on the floor. The guard sort of pushed me in and I made a face at him, walking the rest of the way. Max looked up with the door closed and moved the blanket from his mouth, where I caught a glimpse of red.
"You're back..." he said.
"Yeah."
"What did they do?"
"They let me have a bath and then I got to talk to my dad."
"That's it?"
"I think he was trying to measure his options. He said that if this hadn't happened, then maybe he would have been able to let me go. They wanted you originally..."
"I see... I'm so sorry, Mars."
"No sweat."
"Don't act so carefree about it, Mars. If not for me then none of this would have ever happened."
"Dude, it's been almost two years going now for that mess. We've both paid for our idiocy involved in all this. Once the Elbaskins get here, I can start telling them what my plan is."
"And... what exactly is your plan?"
I walked to the wall and tried to sit down, but it was really hard to do on my own. My stomach was feeling weird and not just because of the baby. Max got up and helped me sit down and then slid down beside me. He coughed into the blanket that he has been coughing into earlier and leaned his head back.
"This is balls... So, what's your plan?"
"It's not the most extraordinary thing, pretty simple... I just need them to speak with the world leaders and make an ultimatum of some sort that will be effective everywhere."
"An ultimatum?"
"Yeah... instead of invading Earth and basically using it as a sex-slave planet, do something that allows a better system."
"Like a draft or something? Volunteers?"
"I don't know; kind of... More like..." I moaned at the pain in my stomach. "More like... well, an ultimatum. Like, if we did the draft thing, if you go to be in the military and you fail an exam or something then your only alternative to serve your world is to participate in a program set up by the Elbaskins or something like that. It would go by each country and... the- the details are fuzzy..." I said, breathing heavy, feeling like I was run over by a freight train.
"You okay?" Max asked, looking concerned.
"Something's wrong... something is really wrong. It's... it's like my organs..."
Max made a face. "Um, you might want to forgo hating on your dad at the moment so that you can get some proper help."
I shook my head but my brain felt like it was stuffed with cotton. I felt like complete shit. It was like my blood suddenly drained and I started shaking, so cold. My eyesight was fuzzy and I felt nauseous. I felt something on my forehead and realized it was Max.
"Do I feel hot to you?" I said, breathing hard.
"You're on fire but you look like you just got all the blood sucked out of you. I think you're dying, Mars."
"I'm glad I'm not the only one." I said with laugh. Max frowned. "The baby wasn't supposed to happen... I wasn't supposed to be pregnant... I think Zylith told them not to experiment on me not as a courtesy, but a warning."
I coughed, feeling like my torso was being ripped to shreds and the blood I felt in my mouth only proved my point. Max's eyes widened and he stood up.
"You're bleeding internally. I'm getting your dad."
"Wait... wait... Max..."
I tried to reach out to him to stop him but it was like I couldn't control my hand. I went numb and the darkness in my peripheral was getting smaller and smaller. The last thing I saw was Max banging on the door, screaming. I had lost all hearing and my dizziness kicked into overdrive.
I guess there were worse ways to go.
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oh no! 😱