"I know it's not a resort or anything, but things aren't that bad."

This was the third time they'd moved in the last two weeks. It was actually the nicest place they'd been in so far, but that wasn't why she was in a mood. She was homesick...homesick for Lucy...and homesick for her boys. "It's great, Pree," she responded, not looking at him, trying to muster some semblance of contentment.

"Bitch, you better remember who you're talking to."

He saw right through her.

Between him and Bellus, there was no getting away with anything. If Bellus was tough on her, then Pree was there to smooth things over. She wondered if this was what Johnny felt like when she and D'av kept things from him and tried to protect him at every turn. Pree sat down on the bed next to her, his hand covered hers, and she looked up at him. "I'm sorry I'm being so-"

"Don't you dare apologize," Pree told her. "Don't think that I know you'd rather be out there with Johnny and D'av."

"I love you, Pree, you know that."

"I do."

"I just...I'm not used to being the one who doesn't have any control."

"Oh, Honey...we know."

Dutch smiled at that. "When do I get to start blaming things on hormones?"

"Two weeks ago."

She actually laughed at that.

"I've missed that."

She sucked in a breath and blew it out, the smile still on her face. She felt almost guilty for being happy in that moment. "How long do you think it'll be?"

"Until you pop or until they call for us?"

"Both...actually."

In all honesty, no one had any idea how far along she was. She was obvious months along, but she also hid it well. Bellus had kept going on about how Dutch might have felt like she was the size of Lucy, but that in reality she was tiny compared to other pregnant women that Bellus had seen in the bazaar on Leith. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, but it was just another thing that Dutch didn't know and it sucked.

"Bellus and I were talking about seeing if we could round up a doctor tomorrow," Pree told her. "This place looks fairly decent. It's just going about it and making sure that they're not compromised."

"You mean Hullen."

"I mean Hullen and I mean shady with an agenda," Pree corrected. "So, you can be sure that one of us will be ensuring that your doctor bleeds tomorrow before they can even get in the same room as you." He paused. "As for the other...I don't know… It all depends on Bellus' gut apparently. Of course, if we keep moving it makes it harder to be found...but at the same time...moving so much can get us caught. It's one of those fine lines that we have to toe."

Dutch just nodded and was silent for a long moment. "All I can think about is that if Pawter were here-"

"Oh, Red…" Pree breathed, clearly caught up with emotions. "I miss her. Every single day. Some days I'll look to the stairs and half expect her to walk down from her room. She might have been born on Qresh, but she was one of us."

"She was."

"And Johnny...I imagine it would have been perhaps slightly easier to let you go if he knew that Pawter was with you."

"He might have been more willing to come along as well," Dutch put out there. She was trying to think happy thoughts of Pawter instead of sad ones. They might have not gotten along at first, but Pawter was a good person...and she'd loved Johnny.

"She would have told him that he needed to stay with D'av, watch over him because you wouldn't be able to," Pree said with a shake of his head.

"You think they're okay?"

"I think they're arguing...and probably yelling...and drinking Hokk...and missing the hells out of you," Pree said. He paused for a long moment. "Yeah, they're okay." They were both quiet for a while, but Pree broke the silence as he stared at her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm scared."

"With those boys on your ship...I would be too...they probably don't pick up after themselves."

"I've trained them better than that," she responded, her mood lightening for a moment before turning serious again. "But that's not what I meant… I'm scared about the baby…"

"It's a baby…"

"What if it's not? What if it's some kind of Hullen experiment?"

Pree seemed caught off guard by this. He was calm, though, when he finally responded. "Sweets, we are going to find you a doctor...and we're going to get every single question answered before you're any further along… I don't want you to worry…"

"I can't not worry."

"Try."

She just stared at him. "I hate not knowing what she did to me, Pree. Did she just really get me pregnant with D'av's baby or did she do something else? You weren't in that lab. You haven't met her special crazy-"

"Whoa...whoa...okay," Pree said as he held onto her arms. "Okay, I get it. I'm just saying...try to relax until we can get you that doc. Bellus is going to make sure that it's someone we'll be able to trust-"

"Or someone disposable that's good for the short term."

TBC...