Chapter 277: Where Are You All Going?
I got out of the captain’s chair and walked back to my quarters, still deep in thought.
A planet would be nice, just to be able to put down roots and know where you were. I didn’t see that happening on Jun Li. Sure, the kids would grow up having the adventure of a lifetime, but what happens once they get sick of it? And let’s face it, they would.
Would that send them into a tailspin? Not knowing where to call home? Would they wander the universe for the rest of their ridiculously long lives trying to find a place that felt like theirs?
No, I couldn’t do that to any children that I had. I wouldn’t do that to them. I would make sure that they had the space and security to grow up and be comfortable with who they were. If, once they grew up, they wanted to explore space, then there would be enough ships under my control that they could do that safely.
But they would have a place that protected their roots. A place they could go back to and call home.
Satisfied, I made a note to start looking at different planets. My criteria would be ridiculous, but that was fine. Only the best for my family.
I opened the door to my quarters, no longer stressed about the planet issue, only to find that all of my mates were waiting for me.
"Come," said Da’kea as he took my hand and gently led me to my nest. Guiding me down into the furs, GA came up and tucked my favorite white fur that he had given me all those months ago.
I pulled it up high enough so that I could rub my cheek on the softness and then buried my entire face in it, inhaling the scent of me and my guys.
"Star beam," said Midnight softly as he climbed into my nest and pulled me forward so that he could slip in behind me. Getting comfortable, he wrapped me in his arms and took a deep breath. "I think we should talk."
I will fully admit to freaking out at that second. No good conversation ever started with ’I think we should talk.’ In fact, I was willing to guess that 97% of breakups started with those words.
Was that what they were going to do? Break up with me? But—
"You fucking idiot," growled GA, ripping me out of Midnight’s arms, white fur and all. He settled down at the other end of my nest and started to gently rock back and forth until my heart rate calmed down. "We thought that you would be best to talk to her, but clearly you aren’t."
After giving Midnight a bit of a tongue lashing, GA gently hooked his finger under my chin and tilted my head up until I was looking at him.
"We know you are stressed. We can smell it. You need to know that whatever is going on with you, we are here to support you. You have six mates, use us. Our lives are yours," he purred. I could feel myself melting into his arms as all the stress and tension left me.
I guess that answered the question about whether or not they would be willing to live planet side with me and the baby.
"I don’t know if you are actually scenting my stress," I started slowly, not sure how they were going to react to my news.
"Your scent has significantly changed in the past two days. It makes sense that you were stressed about taking down the Alliance and Pippa," interjected Tha’juen.
"I’m pregnant," I blurted out.
I looked around the room at the six males, trying to get their reaction, but they...
"Guys?" I asked, looking at them weirdly. I was expecting a much bigger reaction from them. Whether good or bad, there had to be some type of reaction. Instead, they were looking at each other, a confused look on their faces as if they didn’t understand what I was getting at.
But that’s impossible, right?
"I am sorry, Sweetness," said Ye’tab, crawling across the furs until he was between my legs. "We don’t understand what this word... pregnant means."
"Seriously?" I asked, wide-eyed in surprise. Wait—I looked over at Midnight only to see him dazed and confused, almost as if he was frozen. Was he also becoming paler? Was he not happy?
Ye’tab nodded his head slowly, and I pulled his hand up so it was resting against my stomach. "I am pregnant," I repeated, but still, the look of confusion never left his face. What the hell?!
"Offspring," stuttered Midnight as he seemed to come out of his stupor and snapped his head in our direction. "She is with offspring."
The mass panic that followed his words made everything better, and it took everything in me not to laugh.
Ye’tab jerked his hand off of my stomach as if it burned him, and GA picked me up and set me beside him on the nest like I was a bomb ready to explode.
Then, as if they coordinated it, all six males jumped out of my nest and started running around my room.
"We have to—" started Midnight, his panic-filled eyes turning to Da’kea. In fact, all of the males’ eyes turned to Da’kea as if he had all the answers.
"But what—" interrupted Ye’tab, his fingers dancing over his wrist unit so fast that they were nothing more than a blur.
"We can live on my ship," said Raguk, his deep, rumbling voice setting off sparks in a place that it probably shouldn’t.
"We can go live on Sha Shou," interjected Tha’juen. "There are no other females on there but Princess."
GA nodded his head in agreement, and five of my mates rushed out of my quarters like their ass was on fire.
"Um," I said, looking at Da’kea, who was still in my room. It was the onions someone was cutting that was making me want to cry. It was the onions. "Where are you all going?"
