Maddie glanced uncertainly across the tea table at Alice, Francis's girlfriend, the two of then were having tea but Maddie felt uncomfortable without Gilbert there due to her slave training.
"You should calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. Gilbert mentioned that you were trained as a slave, just remember that Gilbert is in the same building, and take a few deep breaths," encouraged Alice.
After Maddie followed the other girls advice she felt a lot better.
"Thanks," she said.
"No problem," replied Alice adjusting her glasses, "I have a brother who's lawyer; he gets nervous some times and he taught me that trick."
"You have a brother?"
"I have four older brothers, the oldest one's in charge of our family business, one's a lawyer like I said, another's a doctor and the youngest is training to be a vet. But even if I could get a better job then them my parents would all be like 'Alice, a woman's place is in the home with the children or in your case cooking and cleaning'," said the now depressed green-eyed blond sipping her tea.
"You can't have kids?" Maddie asked trying to not sound rude.
"Not as a human. When I was younger my Nana and I were in a car wreck. Nana died that day and I would of joined her if they hadn't removed my womb that was causing internal bleeding. When I turned thirteen my Mama took me to get hormone therapy so I could 'properly attract a husband' course I turned into a slut and a punk," replied Alice making Maddie choke on her decaf tea.
Alice laughed, "Surprised? I have an ability that allows me to see auras so I could tell if someone had a STD or was carrying one. Pretty handy really. My parents really didn't like that I didn't act like a one of those house wives who just cooked, cleaned and were basically slaves. I was pretty low down and depressed when I met Francis, I had lost hope in love. I might of killed myself if I hadn't met him. He's so kind. I bumped into him and he apologized even though I spilt my drink on him when we ran into each other he even paid for a new one. I was shocked because no one other then my brothers had ever been so kind to me before."
"You must of hung around with jerks," stated Maddie.
Alice laughed again, "That's what Francis said when I told him that fact about my brothers. Do you have any siblings?"
"Yeah a twin sister. We were raised in an orphanage so we've always been the only real family the other had. I really miss her," Maddie answered.
"I miss my brothers too. They all moved away, but I know they know I miss them and they miss me too," Alice told the pregnant young woman patting her hand.
"So who's idea was it for you two to take it slow?" asked Maddie changing the subject.
"Mine actually. I never had a real boyfriend before and I wanted to savor it. I know is sounds silly but it makes me happy. He will turn me if we ever plan to get married this way I'll grow a new womb and be able to become a mother," Alice stated with a hopeful smile.
"You really love him don't you?" said Maddie smiling.
Alice nodded, "You really love Gilbert too. I can tell by your aura. It's very happy and full of love."
"You ladies seem to be hitting it off awesomely," said Gilbert coming in and kissing his wife's cheek making her giggle.
"Hi Gil."
A pair of hands covered Alice's eyes, "Guess who."
Alice pretended to think, "Ronald?"
"Guess again," said Francis smiling.
Alice guess wrong three more times before getting it right.
"Who are Ronald, Marlin, Henry, and Vincent?" asked Maddie before their guests left.
"My elder brothers, what Francis and I do is normal for us. A kind inside joke," Alice said hugging her new friend, "Next weekend wanna cruise the mall?"
"Totally!"
Maddie's pregnancy progressed smoothly over the next four months, her belly rounding out, she cried when she could no longer wear normal clothes but Gilbert got her lots of nice maternity clothes so she calmed down. Alice and her became close friends and hung out every weekend since that fateful tea party they had while their boyfriend and husband talked politics.
"It's a strong kicker," Alice commented as the two girls and Filomena had a kinda slumber party in a guest room, Alice's hand on Maddie's six month belly.
"Trust me I know," Maddie said with a smile, "Gilbert and I decided that if it's a girl he'll name it and if it's a boy I will."
"Like, what would you name it if it is a boy?" asked the female centaur who had given birth to a son named Cerek, which meant lordly, some months before.
"I was thinking Percival," Maddie replied.
"Like the knight?" asked Alice blinking.
"Yeah, I like those stories," replied Maddie smiling, "It's a nice name."
"I, like, think it's a totally adorable name," said Filomena blowing on her nails.
"How's Cerek doing?" Maddie asked the female centaur.
"He's good, he and Toris are totally having a boys night in watching a few kiddy movies like Finding Nemo. I, like, wasn't sure about my coming at first because I've never been away from my baby this long before but now I'm totally glad I did. The boys are having some Father-son boding time and I get some me time," replied Filomena as Alice slipped a British soda she brought with her.
Maddie glanced at her newer friend and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry Alice we didn't mean to alienate you. How about you tell us what its like to date a vampire?"
"Dinner dates are tricky in the human world cause we have to avoid garlic. So far the best bets are Pancake/waffle houses, sushi bars and certain sandwich shops. There's even garlic in guacamole," Alice told her two friends.
"Which is why Toris has totally bad breath after he eats it," pointed out Filomena making the other girls laugh.
"It kinda sucks that I can't eat foods with garlic in them. I mean I have to be super careful cause think about it Francis could get really sick if I eat garlic and then kiss him," said Alice checking the ingredients in the chips.
"The bag like says vampire and garlic intolerant friendly," pointed out Filomena, "you should know you brought it."
"Sorry force of habit. I have to check everything I buy to make sure it's safe. I kinda forgot I bought this here," Alice admitted sheepishly.
"It's ok, we totally understand. My darling Toris is allergic to mustard so I have to be totally careful when at the market."
Alice blinked at the centaur, "Mustard?"
"It's a real allergy Alice. I had a foster mother who was allergic to it," Maddie chimed in before yawning.
"I think it's time to get to the slumber part of this slumber party," said Alice helping Maddie stand.
"Not sleepy…" mumbled the pregnant fairy who was enjoying her first slumber party ever a lot.
"We can totally have another slumber party someday," offered Filomena.
"Kay…" said Maddie as she got into the guest bed she was using that night, the other girls settling down in for the night.
Maddie fell asleep smiling slightly, the only that would of made that night better was if Amelia had been there.
TBC
