Adira's Mate (16 page)

“
I do have a question.”
Adira
shifted and moved slightly toward him. “Why have you
had guards following me and why are they still following us? Not that I’m upset
about it. I’m just curious.” Bracken had refused to answer her question. Now
she was curious if
Fintan
would as well.

“
To keep you safe until I’m back
to my usual self,” he explained. “Initially it was precautionary since I wasn’t
completely sure everyone would accept you were now
Craegin
both by our marriage and by the lashing. Then it was protective when I
considered it may upset some
Craegin
that I was being
lashed to guarantee you citizenship. After I got home it was to keep an eye on
you while I recovered.”

“
Thank you,” she said with a smile
and squeezed his hand.
“For telling me.
Also, thank
you for being here for me. For loving me as you do. Your people weren’t all
that happy with me,
that’s
for sure. But I learned to
deal with it fairly quickly. Bracken helped, as did the guards you sent to
watch over me. Not that anything replaces you, having you here with me.”

“
Where else would I be?” he asked.
“I told you that I would be with you for the rest of our days. I meant that.
While we may not always be side by side through each moment, I will never be
far.”

That had her smiling and she
nodded. “It’s enough, knowing that you’re on my side.
Knowing
that you and I will walk this path, together, forever.
We are good
together.”

“
That we are,” he said. He gave
her a small wink before picking up his menu. After a few minutes a waiter came
to their table to take their orders. Once he headed off,
Fintan
reached over to take her hand in his. Lacing their fingers together, he stroked
his thumb slowly to her skin while they waited.

Chapter Fifteen

Three
weeks later
…

Adira
ran her hands over her face and
panted. God, she hated being sick. It had to be being in space. She knew that
was it. With her back to the cool wall she reached out and grabbed a wash cloth
and rose to shaky feet. Wetting the cloth with cold water, she wiped it over
her face and felt her stomach roll once again.
“Spirits.”
She felt as if she could be ill again, if she hadn’t already lost the contents
of her stomach.

Fifteen minutes later,
Adira
was walking toward medical. She had to get something
for the space sickness now. “Greetings, Doctor,” she said when the door slid
open. “Please tell me you have something for space illness?”

The woman blinked at her for a
few moments. “I haven’t had one of those in a very long time,” she said.
“Please, take a seat. I’ll have to give you a quick checkup to ensure it’s not
something else. It shouldn’t take all that long, Mistress Daykin. I will only
be a moment while I gather what I need.”

“
Thank you.”
Adira
took a seat and leaned back against the table. When the doctor walked back,
Adira
said, “I’ve felt ill each morning after Fin leaves me
for the deck. I think that it’s because he’s no longer in bed to keep the
miniscule movements of the ship from bothering me.” Her Fin was always able to
make her feel better.

“
Only in the mornings?” the doctor
asked. “Not that one can tell for sure when
it’s
morning or night on board a destroyer. Thankfully they always dim the lights
when it’s night back
home,
otherwise I’d never
remember when it was time to go to bed.” Moving closer, the doctor held up a
few bio-pads. “I need to place these on your skin, over your heart at the front
and back, and then one on your inner left wrist.”

“
Certainly.”
Adira
moved so the doctor could do as she needed to.
“The late
evenings as well.
Fin was a little worried for me but I told him not to
worry. He’s going to be beside himself when he finds out I came to get
something for the space sickness. I’ve never fared well on long space trips,
part of why I was nearly always on one world instead of traveling to others.”

“
You’ll have to tell him
eventually, mistress. If you’re unable to withstand the time he is on the
destroyer, then you’ll have to remain on
Craegin
. Which
I don’t think the general will be very happy with. At least that is my
impression of the situation,” the doctor muttered. Stepping back, she picked up
a data pad and frowned down at the readings. “Your pulse is a little fast, but
nothing out of the ordinary for someone not feeling well.” Her frown got deeper
as she tapped a finger to the pad. “Odd,” she murmured.

“
No, I will be fine once I’ve had
some medication. Once I’ve gotten used to being on the ship I will be perfectly
fine.” She looked at the doctor and frowned. “What’s odd? I know that tone. I
know that look. So please, what’s happening?”

Shaking her head, the doctor
moved behind
Adira
, got her to lean forward, and
adjusted the monitor pad. “That’s better,” she said. “I must have had it too
low. I was getting an odd echo on the readings. But now it’s nice and clear.”
She came back around the front of the table. “I’ll have you lay down now,
please. I’ll run a full-body scan to check for anything else, just to be safe.
Mainly because I happen to like my job, and really wouldn’t like to
get on the wrong side of the general when it comes to his wife.”

She smiled at that and laughed.
“He’s very protective and I love him all the more for that. He’s such an
incredible man.” She lay back and closed her eyes. She shifted on the bed
slightly and laughed. “I swear these beds are so uncomfortable.”

“
I believe it’s a requirement in
the design specifications that a hospital bed must be uncomfortable for all who
lay on them.” The doctor called to one of the assistants. They pushed the
scanner into place, and the doctor moved to pick up her data pad. “Nice and
still, keep your breathing steady and, if you could, keep your hands by your
sides but slightly away from your body.”

Adira
knew the drill well. It was
funny, no matter the
species,
medical always seemed to
work similarly. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to drift. She woke with a
start when the doctor placed her hand on her arm. “Sorry, I must have drifted
off and didn’t even realize it. Now, can you give me something for space
sickness so that I can go meet Fin for lunch?”

Helping
Adira
sit up, the doctor gave her a funny look. “Unfortunately, mistress, I can’t
give you the medication. In your current condition it would be detrimental to
your well-being.
Yours and your child’s.”
After
dropping that bomb, the doctor smiled at
Adira
.

Adira
just looked at the woman and
shook her head. “I’m sorry, what?” She had to have misheard the doctor. There
simply was no way that she was with child. It wasn’t possible, right? Their
species were so different
…
yet similar. The
Imarian
leaders had always said that interspecies breeding
between the
Imarian
and
Craegin
wasn’t possible. She had never studied anything with
Craegin
physiology because before
Fintan
she had never met
one. “I’m. Oh, heavens. Fin is going to have a fit.” He was protective to the
nth degree with her now. She couldn’t imagine how he would be once he found out
about the baby. “Please don’t say anything to anyone? I need to tell him
first.”

“
Of
course, mistress.
But may I be the first to offer congratulations. The general is going to be
pleased,” she said. Moving to a cabinet, the doctor pulled out a vial, a
needle, and a bottle. Returning to her side the doctor handed her the bottle.
“Some vitamins for you to start taking.
I’ll give you a shot
to help ease the motion sickness. It won’t harm you, or the little general. If
you come back tomorrow I’ll have some in tablet form for you to take whenever
it gets particularly bad. It might be part of the reason you’re having such
horrendous bouts of morning sickness.”

“
Thank you.”
Adira
smiled and held the bottle close to her chest. “Little General. I like that.”
She was happy. Even with her worries, she was beyond happy. “For everything,
thank you.” She waited until she had been given the shot,
then
scooted off of the table. Once she had cleared medical she looked up to her
guard and asked, “Where is my husband?” Once he told her, she nodded and said,
“Let’s go see him, shall we?”

Five minutes later,
Adira
was on the command deck and waiting rather
impatiently for
Fintan
to finish talking to Markus.
She waved at the man,
then
grinned at her husband. “A
word please, husband?” The men and women on the ship had gotten used to her and
how she acted around her husband. She had become friends with most of them and
was happy to be on board with his extended family. This was no different.

Fintan
gave her a nod, though she
detected the slightest of frowns on his face. He said a few more words to
Markus before the other man took the data pad
Fintan
had in hand and walked off. Coming to her side, Fin slipped a hand to her back.
“Let’s go into my office,” he said softly with a light push toward the doors
off one side of the command deck.

She let him take her into his
office, never losing her smile as she stepped into the private room with him.
Once he sealed the doors she threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.
“I love you, husband.
So very much.
You have given me
so much over our short time together. I’m happy, so very happy, especially
since I’m going to be giving you back something as well.” She pulled back
slightly and pulled his hand to place it over her belly. “I think in about
seven months I should have your gift ready?” She waited for him to catch on to
what she had just told him.

“
That seems like a long time to
wait for a gift. It must be something truly amazing, so I will await it with
bated breath.” He was giving her a confused look that seemed to get more
confused when she tapped her fingers to the back of his hand on her belly. “And
I’m missing a point here, given the look on your face.” It was clear that the
man was coming up blank, his facial features showing his confusion. “I’m sorry,
little wife, but I think you’ve stumped me.”

“
Well how is
this.
”
She stepped closer, her hand keeping his on her belly. “The doctor referred to
this gift as the Little General,” she said, hopeful he would key in. “I went to
her this morning because I had been feeling ill the last week or more after you
leave me in the mornings. Yet, in the evenings I’m starving.
Any
ideas?”

“
The guard reported your visit to
the doctor, though not the reason for it.” He was back to frowning again.
Adira
could practically see his mind working through the
clues she’d given him. Then his eyes went wide, and just like that she knew
he’d gotten it. “A baby?” he asked on a wheeze of air.

“
Yes.
A baby.
Our baby,” she told him with a smile and stroked her fingers over the back of
his hand. “What a wonderful way to express our love for each other,” she confessed
and reached out with her free hand to put it on his cheek. “Are you okay with
us having a child this early in our relationship?”

His lips were moving, but no
sound was coming out. For a moment
Adira
was pretty
sure he was in shock, given his expression and slightly pale complexion. Then
he scooped her up in his arms, hugging her close while he dropped kisses on her
face. Every now and again one even landed on her lips. “You’re having my baby,”
he whispered.

Settling her back on her feet,
Fintan
shocked her by going to his knees. The kiss he
pressed to her belly, though, stunned her. Then he rested his cheek to her
belly, sliding his arms around her, and held her gently.

She had her hands in his hair and
smiled. “Yes. I am having your baby. A little general just like you,” she said
with happiness filling her. “You are going to be the best dad ever in the
history of ever,” she told him as she let her fingers run through his hair. “So
I take it that you are happy with this illness that seems to be plaguing me
right now?” Her lips were twitching as she said that.

“
Much happier now that I know the
reason for it,” he said. He gave her another gentle squeeze, another kiss to
her belly,
then
got to his feet, dislodging her hands.
Catching her hands, he kissed each of her palms lightly. “Give me a few minutes
to pass along some orders, than you and I
are
going to
go and have lunch. After that we will go to our room so you can have a nap. No
arguments,
Adira
. You haven’t been sleeping very well
since we got on the ship. Now you need to get all the rest you can.”

“
I haven’t been sleeping well but
now I know part of the reason,” she said and hugged him tightly once more. “God
I love you, Fin.
So much.”
She kissed the bottom of
his chin and pulled back. “Now, go and leave your orders so that we can go eat,
because I’m starving. I am, after all, growing a baby.” She snickered. “And are
you going to tell them the good news?”

“
Not yet, it’s bad luck to say
anything too early in a pregnancy. We’ll wait for the first three months to
pass before saying anything, if you’re all right with that of course. It’s
mostly superstition passed down through the generations, but I’d really rather
not do anything to jinx us or our child. Silly, I know.”

“
Nothing is at all silly when it
comes to you. You make me happy. We are in this together. Just know that likely
everyone will know about our child before we tell them, simply because of how
you treat me.”

Fintan
drew back to look at her. “Are
you saying that you think I’ll be even worse than I am now?” he asked. Arching
a brow, he gave a haughty sniff. “Sadly you may be right, but you are my wife
and it’s my right to treat you as I see fit. Even if they guess, they wouldn’t
be crass enough to mention anything until we give the announcement.
Tradition and all.”

“
Fin, you know that I love how you
act around me. How you treat me. Yes, I know that you will be worse now that
I’m carrying the Little General, but I’m good with that as long as you are.
Now, you said something about food? I’m hungry, love, and I’m now eating for
two. Feed me?”

“
Yes, little wife, I did mention
food.” Shaking his head, he gave her a kiss before drawing out of her arms. He
took her hand and guided her out to the command deck once more. He left her
near the guard while he went to attend to what he needed to. It didn’t take him
very long to get everyone moving with their assignments. Then he was back at
her side again.