"Yeah, I know...but I think I might want it too."
"Even if he is a 'possessive, domineering Neanderthal?'"
"Are you -ever- going to let me live that down?"
"I doubt it," K'Leena laughed.
"Well?" Tessa prompted.
"It's the most incredible thing you'll ever do, Tessa. Trust me. Every ache and pain is worth it. I want to have another one next year."
"Really?!"
"I think I should be insulted," K'Leena complained.
"It's just...I never pictured you...."
"Never mind. I'm a little shocked at it myself," K'Leena admitted.
"I think we're shocking Sherise and Melanie. They aren't used to this yet."
K'Leena laughed. "Are we shocking you?"
"Hell no," Sherise smirked. "I've known your brother a -long- time. I think I'm shock-proof."
"What about you, Melanie?" Tessa asked.
"I was just thinking how nice it is that you all are so open and loving with each other," she replied. "My family isn't like that at all."
"We have to stick together, you see," Tessa told her. "Otherwise those men we sleep with would run roughshod over us constantly."
Melanie burst out laughing. "Over you guys?! I've never seen a group of men so firmly under women's thumbs as those three. They worship the ground you walk on."
"Yeah, but we don't let them know it," K'Leena whispered, conspiratorially.
There were tears in Melanie's eyes by the time she stopped laughing.
"What's up with you and Kyle, anyway?" K'Leena asked bluntly.
"What do you mean?"
"He's in love with you, you must know that," Tessa said.
"No, we're just friends. I'm only here because Deanna needed some help."
"I don't think so," K'Leena said. "Kyle wanted you here. He was worried you might be in danger."
"Why, we're just friends. None of what's going on affects me."
Tessa grinned knowingly. "If you say so."
K'Leena stood up with the baby. "I'm going to try and get this little guy to lay down for a while so I can take a nap," she told them before heading out.
*****
Tessa heard the baby fussing from the hallway.
Peeking past the slightly ajar door of K'Leena and Lucas's bedroom, she saw K'Leena sleeping on the bed, her hair still damp from the shower she must have taken before lying down.
Michael was in his little basket near the corner. With silent steps, she slipped into the room and picked the baby up. He quieted as she held him to her.
"Come on, little one," she whispered as she took him out of the room. "Your momma needs some sleep. Auntie Tessa has you."
She carried him downstairs and put a fresh diaper on him. He calmed down, content to just be cuddled. Holding the tiny baby against her chest she stood by the patio doors and watched the waves crash into the beach, singing softly to the baby.
Mike watched her as she swayed unconsciously to lull the baby to sleep. Her voice drifted to him, in the darkening room. He loved to listen to her sing. She didn't do it nearly as often as he would have liked.
After a few minutes he moved closer, sliding his arms around her waist from behind, pulling her back against his chest.
Tessa sighed, melting into his embrace. God, she loved this man. Tessa blinked in surprise. She did. She loved him. With all her heart. Tears gathered in her eyes.
Mike brushed his lips across her temple. One of his large hands splayed over her flat stomach.
"You know...," he whispered seductively. "I'd love to feel our child growing inside of you."
Her legs almost buckled at the rush of liquid heat his words and touch brought on.
"I don't know, Mike," she began breathlessly. "I think we should get married first, don't you?"
Mike went completely still. He swallowed with some difficulty. He was having trouble breathing. "You sure?"
"Have you changed your mind?" Tessa asked with a grin. "Maybe you don't want to marry me anymore, I guess I was being presumptuous...."
"Tessa?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up and kiss me."
She did.
"Quit that you two," Lucas interrupted them. "You're corrupting an innocent child."
Mike tossed a grin over his shoulder. "Any child of yours, Lucas, can't be very innocent."
"You should talk," Lucas grumbled and took the baby from Tessa.
"Where's K'Leena?" he asked.
"Resting," Tessa told him. "I took Michael before his crying woke her. She's really beat."
Lucas frowned. "Yeah, I know."
<
<
She flew into the room a moment later.
"I woke up and he was gone," she cried.
"I'm sorry," Tessa apologized. "You looked so tired I didn't want him to wake you. I didn't think of how worried you would be."
K'Leena took the baby from Lucas, drawing him into the protective circle of her arms.
"It's okay...just don't do it again, all right?"
"Sure. I didn't mean...."
"I know, Tessa," K'Leena reassured her.
Later that night, when Tessa crawled into bed next to Mike she was more than a little nervous.
For crying out loud, she'd been sleeping with him for more than six months. What the hell was the matter with her?
She lay flat on her back, stiff as a board, trying to steady her breathing.
Mike curled up along side of her and rested his hand on her bare stomach.
"What's the matter, honey?"
"Would you believe...I'm nervous about making love to you?"
Mike propped his head up on his other hand to look down on her.
"It's kinda like the first time all over again, isn't it?" he asked with a gentle smile.
"Yeah."
He bent his head to kiss her tenderly then pulled back to look in her eyes again.
"Good...I didn't do such a good job the first time I made love to you. I like having the chance to do it over."
Tessa frowned at his serious tone. "That still bothers you, doesn't it?"
"Hell, yes," he asserted. "Every time I think about that night, I can still hear you scream."
"You know what I remember most about that night?" she asked softly.
"The pain?" he asked grimly.
"No...I don't remember that part very much at all," she told him honestly.
"What I do remember is feeling like I was the most beautiful woman in the world. I remember gentle hands, soft touches. I remember whispered words of encouragement and comfort when I didn't know what was happening to me. I remember being taken so high it was terrifying, and flying apart in your arms. I remember wishing I'd told you. I hated seeing you so angry with yourself. I remember soothing words chasing the pain and fear away. I remember feeling so...cherished when you insisted on taking care of me. And most of all...I remember falling asleep in your arms wishing I could stay there forever, because with you I was just like everyone else. I was someone that could be loved."
"Gods, Tessa," Mike said hoarsely, tears threatening. "I think I loved you from the first moment I saw you."
"I think I did too. It just took me a while to admit it."
"How soon will you marry me?" he asked, sliding his body over hers to rest between her legs.
Trailing her hands over his broad shoulders, she licked her lips, considering his question. Mike groaned. She felt him enter her in one smooth deep stroke, stealing the breath from her body at the intensity of it.
"Tomorrow soon enough for you?" she asked on a small gasp.
Mike grinned in triumph. "I suppose I can wait that long."
Sometime before dawn Mike was awoken by a restless Tessa, trying to find a comfortable position. His large hands pulled her to him in a warm embrace.
"W'as wrong?" he asked sleepily.
"Cramps," she mumbled in reply.
He began to gently kneaded he
r belly in comfort. "Better?"
"A little," she nodded.
"Want a hypospray?"
This was nothing new to him. Tessa suffered greatly each month...but there was something about this time that didn't seem quite right. Something that he should know, but it was escaping him at the moment.
"Later," she was drifting back to sleep.
When Tessa woke again, it was morning. Stumbling into the bathroom on shaky legs, she felt as if she was wrapped in cotton wool, everything was fuzzy. Splashing cold water on her face, she tried vainly to clear her head.
Then the pain hit. Sharp and deep. There was no stopping the cry that tore from her lips. She gripped the edge of the counter for support. Then Mike was there, gathering her in his arms.
"Tessa, honey, what is it?" he asked, looking down on her anxiously. She was pale as a ghost and clinging to him for support.
"I don't know...," she met his gaze with clouded, pain filled eyes. "Something's wrong, it hurts...." Her hand moved to her lower abdomen.
"What hurts," he was starting to get very worried.
She didn't answer. The agony tore through her again, causing her knees to buckle beneath her. His arms were the only thing keeping her upright. Clutching frantically at his shoulders, Tessa looked at him with wild, confused eyes. A pained gasp escaped her lips as another wave of torture struck and warm, sticky blood rushed from between her legs. Mike swore viciously, catching her up in his arms.
"Robbie!" Mike yelled as he carried Tessa to the bed.
Robbie was in the kitchen with K'Leena and Sherise when they heard Mike's panicked cry. He was bounding up the stairs two at a time within seconds, to find Mike placing an unconscious Tessa on their bed.
"What happened?" he asked, going immediately to 'doctor' mode.
"I don't know, she said her stomach hurt then she collapsed...she's bleeding, Robbie," Mike told him, meaningfully.
As he said the words he realized the significance behind them. Realized what he'd been trying to wrap his sleep-fogged mind around last night. Tessa was pregnant. The cramps she'd had last night were out of place because she hadn't had a period last month.
"Sherise!" Robbie yelled. "Get my med...," he stopped to see her already coming through the doorway with it in her hands. Robbie spared a quick moment to smile his thanks as he took possession of it.
Sherise moved to the other side of the bed, knowing Robbie might need assistance. That's when she noticed the blood coming from between Tessa's legs.
"Mike, we need you to wait outside," she told him, but looked at K'Leena.
K'Leena's eyes widened, slightly.
"Come on, Mike," she grabbed her friend's hand and led him out of the room. "Let Robbie check Tessa out."
"I want to stay," he resisted.
"Out, Burns! Now!" Paris ordered. Mike had no choice but to obey. Reluctantly, he let K'Leena lead him to the living room where everybody had gathered, anxious and waiting.
K'Leena met Lucas' worried gaze.
What's going on?
I'm not sure, but I think Tessa is having a miscarriage.
Miscarriage!? I didn't know....
I don't think -they- knew, Lucas.
The implications of that struck Lucas square in the chest, sucking the air from his lungs. Of course Tessa and Mike hadn't known she was pregnant. Mike was diligent about his boosters, just like Lucas had been. You didn't play around like they used to and not be. It was just a fact of life. God...it was just like with Michael. Someone had messed with Mike's boosters. His shocked looked registered with Mike.
"Tom's office," he ordered Lucas. "Now!"
Lucas hesitated a moment then followed Mike. He closed the door behind them with a decisive click.
Mike was staring out at the ocean, his body tense and alert.
"She didn't even know, Lucas. I have to tell her she lost our first child, and she didn't even know she was pregnant."
"Mike...."
"Don't! It's not your fault. Damn! Why didn't we realize this might happen, Lucas!? We should have seen this coming! It's never been just you and K'Leena. It's been all of us, from the very beginning."
"Your boosters must have been neutralized at the same time mine were," Lucas commented off-handedly.
"No," Mike disagreed. "I've been thinking about that. They couldn't have been. Chances are I'd have gotten another woman pregnant before I met Tessa if my booster had been deactivated earlier. It must have been done *after* she and I hooked up."
Lucas frowned. "You're right. I wasn't with anyone else after K'Leena's shuttle accident, but you were still playing around."
"Not many people even knew Tessa and I were seeing each other before your wedding. And I think Tessa is more than two months pregnant, so it would have been the booster I got just after I *met* her."
Lucas sat down at Tom's desk and motioned for Mike to take the chair opposite him.
"How did you meet her, Mike?" he asked quietly.
Mike shrugged. "At the Officer's Club. I was having a drink after work, like I usually did on a Friday. We used to go together all the time."
"Yeah, I remember. It was pretty common knowledge that we could be found there if we weren't on assignment. But Tessa isn't much of a drinker. She never went to the Officer's Club. Did she ever tell you why she was there that night?"
There was a pause as Mike tried to remember.
"Hmm...," he thought. "I think she told me she was dropping off something for Admiral Gellis."
"Gellis wanted her to bring something to him at a bar?" Lucas found this hard to believe. The man was known for working his staff mercilessly and rarely socialized himself.
Mike went still. Snippets of conversations floated back to him. Feelings of unease whenever he'd been in the Admiral's presence resurfaced. His intense dislike of the man weighed heavily on his mind.
"How much do we know about Gellis' past, Lucas?"
"Not nearly enough, I'm beginning to think."
"Tom made a point of having Tessa assigned to him after the attack on Robbie, you know. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but now...."
"Yeah," Lucas agreed.
Mike lifted his gaze slowly and pinned Lucas with a hard stare.
"It doesn't stop with us," he reminded his Captain. "Robbie was attacked already and Kyle is sure he was being watched the day he got back to Command. How much do you want to bet neither of them have had a real booster in a while?"
Lucas' eyes widened. "Not more than I'm willing to lose, that's for sure."
There was a knock at the office door and Robbie strode in a moment later.
Lucas stood up and rounded the desk.
"I'll leave you two alone," he told Mike, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he passed.
They waited for Lucas to close the door behind him before facing each other.
"There was nothing I could do, Mike," Robbie told him, gently.
Mike nodded, unshed tears burning his eyes. He'd been hoping.... Well, it didn't matter now. There was no hope anymore.
"How's Tessa?" he asked Robbie, his voice gruff with emotion.
"Resting. She's upset, she didn't know."
"No, we didn't know. Is she going to be all right?"
"Yes, Mike. She'll be fine. You'll be able to have other children, but...."
"What?" he asked sharply, not liking the tone of Robbie's voice.
Paris gave him a pained look before continuing, "The miscarriage wasn't natural, Mike. It was drug induced."
The bald statement hung heavy in the air. Mike struggled to draw in a breath, his lungs felt like they would explode any moment.
"Induced?" he croaked. "Someone did this -intentionally-?"
"Yes," Robbie replied. "Do you know why...?"
"I need to see her," Mike cut him off. It was the most important thing in the universe right now. He had to be with her.
"Of course."
"Thanks, Robbie...for everything."
Paris smile
d grimly at him and just nodded.
Mike walked to the door and paused before he turned the handle. "Robbie...?"
Klingon Hearts 10 Exposed - In The Light of Evil Page 6
