Six Weeks In
"Zoe."
"Huh?" Zoe had been dreaming peacefully when she'd heard Kyle call her name.
"Zoe," he said again.
"What is it?" She sat up in bed, noticing that the space next to her was empty. She looked up to see Kyle standing in front of their dresser's mirror, viewing himself from the side.
"I'm officially fat."
"Ugh." Zoe laid back down. "You're not fat. You're pregnant."
She wanted to go back to sleep, but was sure that Kyle would not drop the subject. He never did.
"I can't even see my toes."
"It's the baby, Kyle. Come on, it's like six am. Come back to bed."
Kyle frowned and posed in a different way, looking at himself from another angle.
"Is this why we haven't had sex?"
"Oh, god," Zoe mumbled. She forced herself to sit back up. "I literally came on to you last night and you said you weren't in the mood. We're not fucking because you don't want to, Kyle."
"How can you expect me to be in the mood when I look like this?" Now he was starting to sound angry. Zoe instantly felt empathy for every husband with a pregnant wife.
Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose.
"This conversation is going to go around in circles. If you want sex, come here, lie down. I'll get on top."
"Because I'm too fat to get on top."
"Because it will be easier if I get on top," Zoe replied, doing her best not to sound annoyed.
"Well I'm not in the mood now."
"Then why even bring it up?! Good god, Kyle…" Zoe wasn't able to hide her anger that time, and Kyle noticeably flinched at her tone.
Zoe sighed.
"Look, we have to go see Cordelia in two hours for a checkup. Why don't you just try to rest until then. We'll discuss this afterward."
Kyle said nothing, but picked up one of Queenie's shirts, threw it on, and stormed out onto the patio, intent on watching the sun rise.
00
Zoe went down to eat breakfast with the other witches and returned to Cordelia's room in time for the exam. She was pleasantly surprised to see that Kyle had already shown up. Another witch was there as well.
The girl's name was Dee. She was young - fifteen, maybe, but had healing abilities. She could also sense when a person or animal was unwell. She had been present for all of Kyle's exams, and the group had grown to trust her. She had yet to say a word about Kyle's condition to anyone, despite the increasing obviousness of it.
She had Kyle lie down on Cordelia's bed and remove his shirt. Then she held her hands above his abdomen and closed her eyes to concentrate.
"Hmm… Seems fine. The baby, that is. I can tell what sex it is, if you want to know."
Zoe and Cordelia looked at each other.
"That's your call, Kyle and Zoe," Cordelia said, though Zoe could tell that she wanted to know.
"It's a girl, right?" Kyle asked.
Dee smiled.
"I knew it! Told you it was a girl," Kyle said to Zoe.
Cordelia smiled as well, though she couldn't help but feel pain did truly want a child. She would have loved a little girl of her own, but she got the feeling that Kyle really wanted to keep it.
"Alright, let me finish," Dee said, softly.
She moved her hands above Kyle's body, studying varying parts.
"The baby is fine, as I told you. Kyle needs more nutrients. Vitamins. You'll have to change your diet."
"I can get him some vitamin pills," Cordelia offered.
Dee shook her head.
"Those will help but he needs to eat more than bread." She noticed that Kyle was staring at her, stunned that she knew that little detail about his dietary preferences.
She rolled her eyes.
"Your body tells me everything, Kyle. Less bread. More fruits, vegetables, other types of grain."
"...Fine," Kyle agreed. He wasn't happy about it, but whatever.
"Anything else?" Dee asked the group.
"Yeah," now Zoe was speaking. "When it comes time… You'll be there to help us get the baby out?"
"Dee will be there, yes," Cordelia answered. "As will I."
"Yeah, about that. I'm not, like, going to have to push it out of somewhere, am I?" Kyle sounded nervous.
Dee and Cordelia couldn't help but laugh.
"The baby will be removed by a cesarean section. Dee will heal you after it is done."
"Oh. Good."
Dee nodded, "If that is all, I'll see you in a weeks time."
With that, she left the room.
