Pregnant to an Alien King Box Set

by Gloria Martin

  Leila on the other hand, didn’t flinch at being a little nosy. However, she at least had the legitimate excuse of being the aunt. For the most part, most of her inquiries revolved around names and if she’d get to be the godmother. It was a far cry from old women that Gina didn’t know asking her how often she threw up or if she was often constipated.

  Even worse for Gina was when people would reach out and touch her without reason or warning. It freaked her out when a hand would suddenly appear on her abdomen. Yet it bewildered her that they would take offense when she asked not to be touched, as if she had told them they shouldn’t sit on a public park bench. It infuriated Gina, especially as the pregnancy progressed and her temper grew even shorter than it was to begin with. As her child grew inside of her, fewer and fewer people gave her the basic respect she deserved.

  Not only was Gina’s mundane life as a human unnecessarily stressful, but things were also strained in the realm of the supernatural as well. When they had returned from their honeymoon, Rafe had known he would be behind on his work and that it would cause a bit of a fuss. What he did not expect was for the entire world to stop revolving for two months he was gone. Without him there to direct the traffic, Rafe found that a good number of people in his offices simply did nothing at all.

  To make matters worse, the announcement of Gina’s pregnancy created a few very different reactions amongst the non-humans of the community. Most of the pack was joyful and supportive. They whole-heartedly rejoiced and were eager to lend a hand in any way possible to the newlyweds.

  Then there were the less supportive groups. Some were simply uneasy about how the mutt child would turn out and whether or not he would have stunted abilities if he had any abilities at all. Rafe and Gina could admit that this was a concern that they had considered when they realized that Gina was pregnant, however, they also knew that they would love their child whether he or she was able to turn into a full wolf or not.

  Still, the rumors nagged at the back of her mind. What if her child was born mundane? How would he or she take their place among the pack?

  These questions sometimes kept Gina awake at night, until Rafe would come to bed and wrap his arms around her. He would gently remind her that leadership was not about being the biggest wolf in the pack, but being able to wield authority over the biggest dog, and sometimes that required a more human touch.

  Gina would accept this and snuggle in Rafe’s warm arms, refusing to acknowledge the other group that existed, and their very dangerous ideals. Well, she would try to ignore them, but they made sure she was well aware of their presence and their belief that her child was an abomination.

  Blake was the most vocal advocate of this opinion. Not only did she make sure everyone knew of her disdain for the coming child, but also openly threatened the unborn infant, Gina, Rafe, and even those who supported their marriage and child. It was disconcerting how much support she had managed to drum up not only amongst the wolves, but also getting other supernatural creatures to side with her opinions as well.

  She was creating quite a mess politically and threatened a great number of Rafe’s diplomatic policies by stirring up strong opinions about the unborn mutt child. Gina could see in her husband’s eyes how weary he was trying to put out the political fires that Blake was setting with complete disregard to her entire pack as she rallied for attention and support to oppose the ideas of the pack leadership and their backing of Gina and Rafe’s family.

  *****

  Gina and Rafe were counting down the days until their new child would be coming into the world. There were only eight weeks left. Two months, before they would officially have their new son. According to the pack’s shaman, Gina’s child was to be a boy and a great prince.

  The nursery had been furnished and the baby shower was set to take place later this afternoon. Her mother had set everything up. It was going to be a quiet, yet fun affair at Gina and Rafe’s house with a potluck lunch.

  Gina did her best not to worry, but there were a million things about the shower, but mostly her baby, running through her mind that made her uneasy day in and day out.

  In her mind she heard the whisperings of the werewolves and what the fate of a mutt was. They placed bets on whether or not her child would even be able to turn. She worried that the other werewolves would not think that she was worthy of being part of their pack if she could not produce a child that met the standards of their bloodline.

  As she worried over all of these things, she watched her mother decorate the living room of her house. The light blue streamers hung down around the edges of the room and wrapped around the stair railing and banister. She could hear the clicking and whirring of the printer in the other room as it printed out sheets of games and trivia.

  Pacing back and forth, she began to bite her nails while asking herself if the game she had picked out would be any fun. Would they appreciate the prizes or would they think they were too corny? Would Leila be back with the remaining party favors on time? Would her friends be arriving on time? Would they have preferred she have the party outside in this nice June weather?

  “Gina.” Her mother’s strong voice called her away from her thoughts. “Can you go check on that cake in the oven?”

  As of late, she had been prone to these trains of thought that fell into cataclysmic spirals of despair. It was one of the reasons that her baby shower had taken so long to plan. Gina had insisted that she wanted to plan it herself along with Leila, but her anxiety kept her full of excuses to postpone. However, Leila had reached out to her mother and she had promptly taken over the affair so as to assure her daughter would not be depriving herself of the traditional party.

  “Hey, ladies,” Leila announced as she entered the through the front door, her arms laden with all of the last minute supplies Gina’s mother had sent her to fetch. She carried the shopping bags into the kitchen and the three women worked together to put everything where it needed to go.

  They popped open bags of little plastic figurines and cheap tablecloths. Leila sprinkled the festive confetti over the covered tables with enthusiasm and set up the prizes that their friends would be competing for.

  “When did you last check your registry?” Leila asked idly as they puttered about the house waiting for the guests to begin arriving.

  “Earlier this morning,” Gina answered. “Why?”

  “Oh nothing,” Leila said coyly as she rearranged the bowls of nuts and candies for the fifteenth time, “just that I’m probably the best sister-in-law ever, and my nephew is going to be the most stylin’ baby around.”

  Gina smiled. Although Leila didn’t have any kids of her own, she had been an infinite font of knowledge for all of her questions about having a werewolf baby, and what she wasn’t able to answer she directed to the pack shaman. Still, both Leila and the pack shaman had cautioned Gina that her little mixed-breed could be a whole different kind of kid, and they shouldn’t expect him to behave just as any other little were-baby would.

  After the party died down Leila sat with Gina and helped her write out thank you notes for all of the gifts she had received. The shower had been a lot of fun, and Gina had enjoyed watching all of her friends, both human and werewolf, get together and have a good time playing trivia and other games like the ‘Diaper Changing Olympics’.

  Rafe arrived home and carefully picked his way across the living room full of presents to kiss Gina. “How was the shower?”

  “Good,” she answered. “Tanya and her husband got something for you.”

  She held up a pacifier with a large mustache attached to it.

  “Awesome.” Rafe took it from her and jokingly stuck it in his mouth.

  Gina and Leila burst out laughing.

  “Told you he’d do it,” Gina said.

  The trio goofed off for a while before Leila excused herself to go get ready for the pack run that night. She hugged Gina and promised her extended womb that he’d get to join her soon enough for a run.

  A
fter closing the door behind Leila, Rafe pulled Gina close and kissed the top of her head as she rested it against his chest. “Did you have fun today?”

  “Yes,” she answered, “but I’m certainly worn out. How was your day?”

  “Same as always,” he said. “Just a bunch of bureaucratic nonsense and people who talk too much about nothing.”

  Rafe walked Gina back to the couch and sat down with her as she continued to go through the gifts and write the thank you notes. He’d joke about items and pretend he had no clue what they were for.

  “Don’t you need to get ready to go for your run tonight?” Gina asked when she noticed that the sun had already gone down.

  “Well, I suppose so,” Rafe shrugged. He rubbed a hand over her belly and asked, “You sure Junior doesn’t want to go running too?”

  Gina laughed, “Not while he’s still inside of me.”

  “Good point.” Rafe kissed her deeply and then kissed the top of her belly. “I shouldn’t be too long tonight. You going to be up when I get home?”

  “Most likely,” she answered as she got up to walk to the door with him. “This little tyke is always up when you go running.”

  Rafe laughed. “That’s my boy.”

  *****

  Gina sat in the dining room with the patio door open. In the distance, she could hear the howls of the pack as they congregated in the woods a few miles outside of town. The cool night air was welcoming and the chirruping of the crickets soothing.

  Gina read aloud to herself and the baby from a book of Brother’s Grimm Fairy Tales. She had just finished reading Bremen Town Musicians when her baby began to kick and move around quite animatedly.

  Taking a deep breath, Gina placed the book on the dining room table and stood. He was always active on nights when the pack went for a run, but tonight he was especially excited. She headed to the kitchen to make herself a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows to appease her craving.

  As she sat back down in her chair, a sound from the living room caught Gina’s attention. She stretched her neck to look around the doorway, but couldn’t see anything.

  “Rafe?”

  There was no answer and so she picked up her book again as she sipped her hot chocolate. She flipped through the pages looking for the next story to read when she heard the distinct breaking of glass.

  “Hello?” Gina stood and headed over towards the kitchen as a shadow moved across the doorway. She quietly slid the utensil drawer open as she called out, “Who’s there?”

  A figured appeared in the living room doorway. It was Blake.

  She was dressed all in black, her tangled brown hair suggested she had been with the pack at the run, but had separated from them to come here. Gina felt the handle of a steak knife in her hand and held it steadily behind her back.

  “That mutt in you is an abomination,” Blake spat at her. “Rafe should have never gotten involved with you.”

  “Well that’s your opinion,” Gina responded, “and you’re certainly entitled to it, but it’s not going to change anything.”

  “True, but since he clearly can’t be reasoned with, there are other ways to remedy the situation.”

  Blake’s hand began to vibrate as she began to shift and claws extended out of her fingers. Gina gripped the knife in her hand and took a defensive position. Outside she heard a chorus of howls much closer to her house than was comfortable. She could not discern whom it was letting out the call and assumed from Blake’s lack of reaction that it was not anyone who was going to protect her.

  Letting out a growl, Blake stalked towards her and Gina positioned herself so that the kitchen island was between them. In her womb, she felt her baby fidgeting nervously as if he could sense the danger that he was in.

  Taking a breath, Gina calmed her nerves and told herself that she wasn’t defenseless. She may not be a werewolf, but she was not about to roll over for one either.

  Blake let out a yell and charged. As she leaped onto the top of the countertop between them she shifted completely into her wolf form.

  Gina held up her left arm as the wolf sprang at her and slashed out with the knife in her right hand as she felt the teeth sink into her arm. She fought on pure instinct as she felt the claws tear into her. Her passive ways had completely disappeared in that moment and all she felt was the need to kill Blake to protect herself and her child.

  A sudden crash through the patio door interrupted the fight and Gina turned in expectation of fighting off another assailant. Instead, the small group of wolves who had come through the door attacked Blake.

  Gina stood still as she processed what was happening. Among the tumble of fur and teeth she recognized the black tipped ears of Rafe in his wolf form. She felt the drop in her adrenaline and suddenly realized that she was slick with blood.

  Just as the nausea set in, she felt a pair of strong arms around her and Rafe’s voice in her ear. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but as she looked down at herself she recognized the deep tears in her own body. Her breathing was shallow as the edges of her vision dimmed. She could barely feel the kicking of her baby as she closed her eyes.

  ***

  The beeping of machines greeted Gina when she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Rafe slumped over in a chair, his head resting on the bed next to her. After a moment she recognized that it was a hospital bed that she was laying in. The beeping machines she heard were hooked up to herself.

  As she tried to move, she woke up Rafe. He momentarily looked around the room as he tried to discern what was going on. When his eyes locked onto hers, he sprang up from the chair and his lips were upon hers.

  “Gina, I-I thought-” He fumbled as he tried to find the words to say.

  She ignored the aches of her body, glad to feel his arms around her. As his body pressed against hers, she noticed that there was something missing from herself. She breathed deeply and tried to speak. “Rafe…the baby.”

  He released her and just then the door of the room opened and Leila and a nurse walked in together. A smile lit up Leila’s face. “Oh, you’re awake.”

  In her arms she carried a small bundle of cloth. Beaming, she brought the bundle over to the couple and passed it off to Gina.

  Rafe kissed the top of her head. “Gina, meet our son.”

  The breath caught in her throat as she looked at the tiny face of her son, alive and well in her arms. She smiled as the tears streamed down her cheeks. Here they both were, strong and healthy.

  “I know we hadn’t quite decided on a name yet,” Rafe said. “We thought we’d wait for you to wake up.”

  Gina kissed her son’s forehead. “Aiden.”

  THE END

  Bonus Story 28 of 50

  Unbreakable SEAL

  Leslie ran her fingers through her curly brown hair as she sang in the shower happily. She did a little dance as she lathered the shampoo into her locks. She was excited, clearly. A very special person was coming to visit and she had been counting down the days and the day had finally arrived. This man was very important to her and she was determined to show him a great time.

  Robert Wolfe, her stepbrother, was a man that everyone adored. He was always standing up for others, and was strong and courageous. Not to mention he had killer looks. The ladies couldn’t get enough of his dark hair, bold golden eyes and strong jaw. The lady killer part Leslie wasn’t too pleased about, but what could she do? In any case, she loved Robert, and despite the distance between them he always supported her however he could.

  Leslie arranged to take the week off from work so that she could properly dedicate her time to him. Robert, who was in the Navy, was protecting their seas, and risking his life every day. The least she could do was take that week off to de-stress him. The decision to take so much time off was one that her fellow co-workers scratched their heads at. But what did they know? They didn’t understand how she felt about him and how he was a rock in her life.

  Leslie stepped out of the shower
taking a towel to the curly madness that was her hair and then to her bare body. She glanced at the clock; she wouldn’t be picking up Robert until later that afternoon. She would be going to lunch with one of her co-workers, Max, who happened to also be a very good friend of hers. Leslie stepped out of the steamy bathroom and went to her closet to pick out her outfit. Meanwhile she texted Max letting him know that she would be on her way to the restaurant soon.

  Leslie stood in front of her large collection of clothes wondering what she would wear. This would be the first time Robert had seen her in four years and she wanted to look her best. Removing the towel from her curvy damp figure and throwing it to the floor, the fresh-scrubbed, naked lady sashayed around her walk in closet gravitating towards the back of it.

  “Hm, I’m thinking, dark blue,” she said as she whipped out a long, dark blue sundress. She was happy with the spring weather where the sun was out but not blazing and the air was fresh. This weather was perfect weather in her eyes.

  Stepping back into her room, Leslie slipped on her underwear before slipping on the soft fabric of the sundress. She proceeded to do a very natural look for her makeup and settled on black sandals. Finally, she regarded herself in her full body mirror, and silently gave herself a nod of approval.

  Leslie heard her phone ringing on the soft mattress and walked over it to answer the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, I’m here. Where are you?”

  The man on the line was Max, Leslie pulled her phone away from her ear to look at the time on her phone. Her eyes widened realizing she had spent too much time getting ready and she was late. However she didn’t feel too bad, it was necessary she took her time. She wanted to look her best.

  “Sorry. I’m coming now.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said with a sigh as he ended the call.

  Leslie grabbed her purse and exited her apartment, giving her sleeping grey cat a quick pet before leaving. Luckily, the restaurant that Leslie had chosen was not far from her apartment.