The Blade Alchemist: The War
Too Fast
Jess POV
I woke up to a dark room, that I guessed was the hotel room. My husband was next to me, sleeping deeply with his hand on my stomach. I felt my stomach kick again and I knew what was coming. I eased his hand off, slowly got up, and ran quietly to the restroom for the hundredth time. I began vomiting and stopped long enough to get my hair out of the way. I felt my stomach move again, but this time it felt...different. It didn't feel like I was about to throw up. It felt like something was moving inside.
I placed my hand over my stomach and I felt it again. Was that… I waited for a minuet, and it moved again. It is! I waited again, and a few minuets later, I felt the movement again. Tears came to my eyes as I ran back to the bed and shook my husband awake. "Mmmm. Go away. Leave me alone. Just five more minnnn." he mumbled in sleep. I sighed and shook him again. "What? I'm tired, wolf." I was getting upset. I slapped his face and he shot up. "Ow! Damn it, wolf! What!?" He stopped when he saw my tears. "Whats wrong?" I smiled, grabbed his hand, and placed it on my stomach.
"Their moving! Feel it!?" I asked and he waited for a minuet. I felt the movement again and he smiled with tears in his eyes. "Their like you, honey. Jumpy." he smirked. I lightly slapped his face, kissed him, then grabbed him in a hug. "Their moving, hon. Our kids. Their moving." We held each other in bed with our hands on my stomach, feeling the babies jump around. After about thirty minuets, sleep took me back.
I was woken back up by Drake shaking me. "Come on, honey. We're going to miss the train." I got up and changed, then we left the hotel. We got lucky, cause we got there just as the train was about to leave. We walked in and the doors closed behind us. "Whew. Made it." he stated. We sat down in the booth and I layed down in Drakes lap again, falling back asleep. I woke back up to my stomach kicking and I ran to the restroom and vomited. Drake came up behind me and held my hair out of the way. "Hon, I'm getting really worried now. You're not holding anything down. Before we go to grannys, we're stopping at the hospital in Resembool to check on this."
I nodded and vomited again. "I agree. What the hell is wro.." I was stopped by vomiting again. "Wrong with me." I finished. I heard Drake sigh as I stood back up. "I don't know, hon. But we'll figure it out. Come on. Lets get you some rest." He walked me back to the booth and I layed down with my head in his lap, and my hand over my stomach. It was very odd. My stomach wasn't hurting, nothing was hurting. I was just throwing up. Was it the pregnancy, or a stomach bug, or what? I slowly fell back asleep.
I was woken up by Drake shaking me. "Honey. Wake up." I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What?" I looked around and saw that the train was stopped. "Uh, we're here, hon." I looked at him surprised. "What!? I slept the whole damn way!?" He nodded slowly and I face palmed. What the hell? How was I that tired that I slept for almost two whole days straight!? What is wrong with me!? "Come on honey. Lets go." We got off the train and checked the schedule for the next train to Resembool. Drake pulled out his watch and checked the time. "Eight hours, huh? Well, lets find somewhere to eat, shall we?" he asked and I nodded.
"Sure. I'm starving." He looked at me worried. "After all the vomiting you've been doing, I'm sure." We left the station and went to a sandwich shop. "What would you like, hon?" he asked as I looked at the menu. "A turkey sandwich, a ham sandwich, and an orange juice." I answered. He nodded and gave the order to the waitress. "How you felling, hon?" I placed my hand on my stomach and smiled. "I'm fine, dear. Better now." He smiled as the waitress brought our food out and he paid for it. "I'm thinking of going to the library after this. Wanna go?" I looked at him and nodded. "Of course. I feel like reading something and I finished that book."
"Okay. Sounds good." We finished our meal and walked to the library. "I'll be over here, hon." he said pointing at a book shelf. "Okay. I'll be around here." He nodded, we kissed, and went separate ways. I walked over to the fiction section and looked for a good book. I finally found one, walked over to a table, and started reading.
Drake POV
I waited until Jess went behind some book shelves, then sneaked over to the medical/veterinary section. I looked at the shelf book by book until I found one labeled 'Human Anatomy'. I grabbed that one and continued looking for another book, in the animals area. "Let see, lets see...ah, here it is." I mumbled as I pulled a book called 'The Anatomy and Species of Wolves'. I walked to a back room and sat to begin reading. I opened the human one first and turned to the chapter on reproduction. "Alright. Lets see here." I mumbled again.
I began reading all about pregnancy and what was to be expected during the stages of pregnancy. It turned out that morning sickness was supposed to ease up and stop around fourteen to sixteen weeks. But she was still vomiting like crazy, and getting worse. I turned to the wolf book and looked at the same area. It turned out that, although rare, wolves can get the sickness as well. "Okay, that covers the vomiting, but what about that tiredness." I mumbled. I checked the human book and read that some women do get exceedingly tired, but not anywhere near as tired as she was. And the wolf book said the opposite.
It turns out that the alpha female of the pack takes over the pack during pregnancy. And they really don't get tired. "That's not right. How is 'she' so damn tired. She's only been awake for about twelve hours in the past five days. What is going on?" I asked under breath. I continued reading until I happened to catch the part on wolf gestation. I read it closely and it said that wolves are only pregnant for about...fifty-five to sixty-five days!? There's no way! It's not possible!
I grabbed a pen and paper and started adding up the times and dates about Jess's pregnancy. I looked at the result, and I couldn't believe it. It matched perfectly. Her pregnancy rate seemed to be following that of a wolfs! I sat there completely shocked. How is this possible? This just can't be possible. But it all fits. A normal wolf would be at the same stage as her by this time. If this is true….then she'll have the birth in.. "Honey." I was shocked out of thought and I closed the books. I turned to my wife. "Yes?" She walked in and saw the book labels. "What are you reading?" Crap! I can't let her know, not yet. "Oh, I'm just doing some research for when the kids get here. We still have no idea what they'll be like when they do. So I'm reading both sides to prepare for it." I lied as she looked at me funny, but smiled. "You're gonna be a great father, dear." she said as she grabbed me in a hug.
"Thanks, hon." I looked at the clock and saw that the train would be here in an hour. "Well, lets get going." I stood up, grabbed the books, and put them back in the shelves. We left the library and walked towards the station. We passed the same sandwich shop and stopped. "Lets get a few sandwiches for the train, shall we?" I asked and she nodded. "Yeah. Good idea, hon." We ordered the sandwiches and continued to the station. We got there about twenty minuets before the train was due to arrive. "I can't wait to see granny again, Den too." she stated as I turned to her. "I thought you didn't like Den." I stated and she shook her head. "There are some things about her I don't like, but we do get along now."
My mind went back to the night she got drunk. She and Den both stood in the yard and howled at the moon. I laughed at the memory and she looked at me puzzled. "Whats so funny?" I looked at her and shook my head. "Nothing. I just remember the night you got drunk and you two howled in the yard together." She face palmed and moaned. "Please don't bring that up again." I laughed even harder. "Come on, even you have to admit it was funny." She glared at me. "No, I do not! It was not funny, freak!" I could see she was getting mad, but I laughed anyway.
The train finally arrived and we boarded, taking the normal booth. The train pulled from the station and the movement caused her to get sick again. She ran to the restroom and vomited again. I walked up to her and rubbed her back. "You okay?" I asked and she moaned. "I'm getting tired of this." I sighed and pulled her hair away. "I know, hon. I know." After a minuet, she stood up and we went back to the booth. We both sat down, me looking out the window, her looking at the stuffed wolf she was holding. "Drake." I turned to her.
"Yeah, babe." She kept looking at the stuffed wolf. "What if….what if they come out as wolves? What will we do?" I sighed, put my arm around her, and pulled her close. "We've been over this already, hon. We'll still love them as our children, regardless of what they look like. As long as they don't howl in the middle of the night." I heard her snicker trying to hold back a laugh, but she still had a frown on her face. "I'm scared Drake. I'm afraid that they might not be able to live normal lives. That they'll always have to be hidden and never have friends, or start their own family." Tears were falling from her eyes. I wiped them away and held her.
"It's okay, hon. It'll be okay. We'll figure it out when the time comes. For now, lets just be happy that we're blessed with two fine children." She looked at me and smiled. "Thank you Drake." she said as she pulled me down and kissed me. "Thank you so much." She layed down with her head in my lap, and slowly fell asleep. I turned to the window and thought about what I learned in the library. I wonder if she really is progressing at a wolfs rate. I need to discuss this with granny as soon as possible. My thoughts trailed off as my eyes slowly closed and sleep took me away.
