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Chapter 32 - The Blueberry

Samuel rushed through a dark hallway. The light ahead showed an open doorway. He stopped and knelt down against the wall. A person behind him did the same thing.

Samuel put his hand on the floor and felt movement.

He looked back and held up three fingers to tell them that three men were in the room ahead.

A bright light flashed and Karen lay on a bed sleeping peacefully with a bright white duvet over her. The sun shone in the room and she looked absolutely more beautiful than Samuel could remember seeing her. He gently sat next to her and saw the tiny little head of a baby lying on her chest. His heart swelled seeing them both together.

Karen looked up at him and smiled. "Hey Daddy."

He whispered, "Did I wake you?"

The baby stretched the tiny hand out and took Samuel's finger. He leaned down and kissed the baby's soft head.

A bright light flashed and Tony Tyler was holding his nose. He looked at Samuel in shock as his nose started to bleed. Samuel felt a hand on his chest.

"Okay, I deserved that." Tony told them as he continued to hold his injured nose and leaned his head back.

Samuel was furious. "You think?"

Arles spoke, "I'll get you a towel."

Just then, the Doctor walked into the room. "Hey, you lot….what is this?"

Samuel ran his hand through his hair. "Ah, nothing."

The Doctor looked at Tony's nose. "Why is he bleeding?"

"Because he's an idiot!" Samuel shouted.

Arles handed Tony a towel, which he quickly put to his nose. "It just started, John. Don't worry."

The Doctor put his hands on his hips. "Interesting. I've didn't know that idiocy caused people to just start spontaneously bleeding from the nose."

Arles cleared his throat. "I think it's a rather new phenomenon, Dad-"

"Right." The Doctor said, clearly unconvinced.

A bright light flashed and Samuel was standing, looking at Karen just as she took off her dressing gown to reveal her nudeness.

He cleared his throat. "So, errr….I noticed you're kindof naked. Is that intentional, or-"

His words were stopped as she began to kiss him.

He relaxed as the sensation became strong in his hand and flowed up his arm.

"Samuel." He heard her voice say.

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He opened his eyes and saw Karen's frightened face that had shaken him awake. "Samuel. Please wake up."

He rubbed his eyes and sat up. "Karen?"

It was 5:12 am and Karen had turned on the lamp beside of the table. She wore Samuel's dressing gown.

"It's Arles. He's hurt."

Samuel's heart leap into his throat as he pulled the duvet back. "What? Where is he?"

"He's in the kitchen. Come on."

He rushed out of the room to the kitchen. Arles sat at the bar with a towel to his head. He looked up at his brother. "It's not so serious that you can't put on some trousers, mate!"

Samuel, in his pants, rushed over to his brother. "What happened?"

Arles groaned, "Oh, I did something stupid. Really stupid."

Samuel slowly pulled the towel back and saw the wound. Arles forehead had been busted open. The pink skin around it had already started to turn purple. "Damn. Blow to the head."

Arles groaned. "Yeah. And I'll sit just here, while you put on some clothes-"

"Shut it." Samuel insisted. "You're lucky I'm wearing anything."

Arles sighed and looked back at Karen. "Do you know what you're getting yourself into with my brother?"

Karen stood behind Samuel and looked at Arles' head. "I didn't know what to do."

"No, you did the right thing." He told her. He looked into Arles' eyes. "No concussion. That's good."

Arles nodded. "Yeah. A chair to the head."

"Bar fight?"

Arles sighed. "Close enough to one."

Samuel chuckled, "Sounds like a good time. Be still. This should be rather easy."

Karen watched as Samuel ran two of his fingers across the opening of Arles' head. It healed immediately, leaving no mark.

Samuel's voice startled her. "Karen."

"Yes?"

"Could you please go back into the bedroom? There is a small, black, plastic box in my top drawer that I need."

She nodded her head as she slowly walked away, not taking her eyes off of Arles. "Yeah. I'll get it."

After she had walked out of the room, Arles grinned. "I think you might have frightened her."

"Why?" Samuel asked as he looked at the freshly put back together wound.

"I don't think she knew you could do this."

"Ugh! What have you told her?"

Karen rejoined them and handed Samuel the small box. "This?"

"Yes. Perfect. Thank you." He opened it and took out a small, silver cylinder. He turned it on and ran a red and blue pulsating light across the bruising on Arles' head.

Arles looked back at Karen. She stood behind Samuel and watched as the bruising began to fade.

After a few minutes, Samuel turned off the device. "Alright. Anything else?"

Arles rubbed his head where Samuel had repaired it. "No. Thanks Sammy."

Samuel put up the cylinder device and closed the box. "So, a fight?"

Arles sighed. "I….just…..really." He groaned, "Damn, that was stupid."

Karen put her hand on Samuel's shoulder. "I think he needs his brother. I'm going back to bed."

Arles propped his head on his fist. "Thank you, Karen. I won't keep him long."

Samuel looked back at her and smiled. "Alright. Night, Baby."

She kissed his lips quickly and pointed at Arles. "Get some sleep."

Arles watched her walk out of the room. "Thanks, Karen."

Samuel turned back around to face his brother. "A fight?"

"Well, that's what happened." He told him. "Well, the entire story-"

Samuel grinned as he jumped up, "Hang on! This needs tea!"

Arles rubbed his face and laughed. "Yes, it does."

Samuel danced in his pants, at the food replicator. Arles smiled and shook his head. "Oh, wow. And trousers."

Samuel handed him a cup of tea and sat his on the bar. "I'll get trousers. Be straight back."

Arles sipped his tea and Samuel was back wearing a pair of jeans in seconds. "And dressed. My nakedness shall not be so distracting. Go!"

Arles began. "Remember the two girls?"

Samuel sipped his tea and nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, she texted me and had another girl there tonight."

"So, three girls?" Samuel grinned.

"And they thought it would be fun to handcuff me to the bed."

Samuel rose his eyebrow. "We're keeping this PG, right?"

Arles nodded. "Yeah. Well, as soon as one of them did that, another one….well. Never mind. I was having a good time."

Samuel grinned. "Yeah?"

"I asked her to take off the cuff, but she refused. She said someone else was coming. I thought another girl, so I just….continued."

"Okay."

"And then it started to hurt. The handcuff on my wrist. It had been a while, and they said that someone was coming that I had to keep it on."

Samuel looked at his wrist and took back out the device to heal the bruising around it. "Metal, huh?"

"Karen and I had chatted about someone possibility…doing something to me under the ruse of me meeting these girls. She told me that they didn't like aliens and had spoke a lot about….well. All of that came back into my head as they continued to refuse to unlock me."

Samuel sat the device back down and nodded. "Understandable. She makes a good point."

"So, I grew frightened. I knew I had to get out of it. Then, I….it was like being a kid again. I just….phased all over the room."

"Wait. You phased?"

"I couldn't control it. But, it got me out of those damn handcuffs."

Samuel sat his tea down and looked at his brother in shock. "And they saw it?"

"And shouted like I was killing them. Holy shit. I'm sure it was frightening for them. One of them hit me with a chair. My back is letting me know about it."

Samuel went behind Arles' and pulled up his t-shirt. "Yeah. This is bruising. Hand me that…"

Arles slipped the box back to brother. He heard the unmistakable sound of the device being used on his back. "Damn it. That was a good thing we had going there. And now they know who I am. And what I am."

"They only know you as my brother."

"But, now I've put you in danger as well as Karen."

"Don't worry about us."

"That's my job!" He insisted. "Granted, she would say the same thing."

"That worrying about you is her job?"

"She really has….created an entire new definition of what this 'One' is."

Samuel smiled. "Sounds like her. She might have saved your life."

Arles nodded. "I know. And she may have just got into my head and wrecked that really good thing I had there."

Samuel grinned. "She's made you more aware of your surroundings. That's not a bad thing. Are you cross with her?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm cross with myself. Not her. She's dropped those classes, but I don't feel as though it's safe her going back now. I mean, they will think she's an alien for sure."

"She might be."

"So, she told you about that. Damnest thing, huh?"

Samuel sat down the device and ran his hands slowly across Arles' back. "I'm going to do a Heritage Test on her."

Arles nodded. "I'd be interested to know. I'm willing to bet, she's human."

Samuel pat his shoulder, "You're fine. Let me know if anything else hurts."

Arles watched as Samuel picked back up his tea and sat down in front of him. "So, what's your bet?"

"Karen?" Samuel asked and sipped his tea.

"Yeah."

"Well, who else knows?"

"I don't know. But, I'm happy it just being between us."

Samuel thought. "Let's let her made the wager."

"Okay. Well, that seems fair."

Samuel smiled. "I'll ask her to come up with something good. But, I bet the computer won't be able to tell."

Arles crossed his arms. "Ha! I have this one. Dad couldn't tell. He believes she's human, and he's the best at that."

Samuel laughed, "You're on."

They shook hands and drank the rest of their tea. After they finished, Arles smiled, "Thanks, honey. I'm going to bed."

"Good night, dear." Samuel grinned as he watched Arles walked into his room.

Samuel put the glasses in the sink, turned off the light, and returned to bed. As soon as he lay down and got comfortable under the duvet, the lamp snapped on. Karen turned to look at him.

"Ummm. Yeah, Arles told me you didn't know about that. Sorry." He started.

She sat up and looked at him. "Samuel. That was…"

"Weird? Frightening?" He asked.

"Interesting. How do you do that?"

Relieved she wasn't completely freaked out he lay back on the pillows, laughed and rubbed his face.

She played with the hair on his chest. "Samuel?"

He ran his hand through his hair and looked at her. "So, you're alright with this?"

She smiled, "Of course. I just didn't expect it. That's all."

He looked her up and down. "I'm not tired."

She straddled his waist and leaned down to kiss him. The electrical current seemed to radiate from his lips where she kissed him. "I asked you a question."

He grabbed her bum and laughed, "Yeah, you did."

She smiled at him. "Is it something you can explain?"

He held up his hands in front of her. "These, are like….umm….I can feel what's under the skin. I've been able to do it since I was a young boy."

She smiled as he put his hands under the cloth of her jimmy jams and rubbed her bum again. "So, you can see under my skin?"

"Yeah, but…only if I want to. I'm not looking right now."

"At my butt." She teased.

He grinned, "At your bum. It's lovely, though. I love feeling of your skin. You're so soft."

She giggled, "And you can heal just by touching?"

"Dad says I'm using telepathy to move things, within and under the skin. It's how I do that. That's why I became a Doctor. I didn't like people being cut into unless they really had to be."

She smiled proudly. "That's amazing, Samuel."

He rubbed her hips, slipping his fingers under the material of her knickers.

"When did you put these back on?"

"I got up to go to the restroom. That's when I heard Arles."

He smiled. "Oh, this current. Can you feel it?"

She leaned down and kissed him. "I love how that feels. The more you touch me, the more it runs through my entire body."

He rubbed her back with both of his hands, under her shirt. She giggled at his touch and took off the shirt, exposing her bare breasts to him.

"Oh. I wish things below my belt would rise to this occasion." He told her.

She smiled encouragingly. "It will, Samuel-"

"Oh, how I wish it would now." He said and rubbed her sides.

"I think you're the one with the raging libido." She teased.

He laughed.

She closed her eyes and relaxed as she sat on his waist. "That feels so good, Samuel."

He whispered, "Tell me what it feels like."

"Goosebumps, all over my skin. Are you looking under my skin?"

"No." He told her as he moved his hands up her chest and cupped her breasts.

"I wonder if it would feel different." She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Would you like me to?"

"Yeah." She told him and watched his face.

He grinned. "And I'm giving you an examination, right here in our bed."

She giggled. "Our bed. I love this bed. I feel like a princess sleeping in a castle."

"With the huge, four poster bed." He smiled. "You are a princess. We should pull these curtains and have a camp-out sometime."

"Clothes optional." She giggled.

"It needs that quilt of yours on it. We'll get it tomorrow." He told her as he moved his hands down her sides.

"We have a full day planned already. We don't need to add anymore."

He told her quietly. "It won't take but a tic. Does it feel different?"

She shook her head as he continued to move his hands on her. "No. It hasn't changed."

"We'll go to your flat after dinner tomorrow and…."

He moved his hands between her breasts and moved down her chest. His expression on his face changed as if he was suddenly listening to something.

"What is it?" She laughed. "You look like you found something."

"I think I have." He told her and moved his hands to feel more closely.

She smiled, "What? Grapes? That's the last thing I ate."

"Smaller than a grape." He told her as he continued to listen. "Maybe the size of a blueberry. Gosh, that's tiny."

"I haven't ate any blueberries."

He looked back up at her, "Okay. Us being engaged is the biggest news I'm missing. Are you certain?"

"Well, you know now."

"You're completely sure?"

"Yes." She laughed.

He propped his hands up behind his head. "And we've had sex, without using a condom?"

"Yes. Where are you going with this?"

"How much have we done that?"

She giggled, "Since you returned from Caihiri."

"So, a lot? And I was good?"

She leaned down and kissed his lips. "You'll recover and we'll get back to that."

He smiled under her kiss. "I know, Baby. I'm just trying to understand. Three weeks ago, we made love without using anything."

"I had the shot." She rolled her eyes.

"And it didn't work." He told her in a teasing voice.

"What do you mean?"

He pointed at her stomach. "There's a baby in there."

She sat back on the bed and shook her head. "That's not even funny, Samuel."

He rose up and quickly held out his hands. "There is! Why would I joke about something like that?!"

She pulled back on his shirt as she got off of the bed. "Damn it. You are crazy!"

He stood up on his knees and laughed. "This is brilliant! Don't you see?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Samuel-"

He walked over to her and took her hands. "You're going to be a Mum."

She looked up at him and shook her head. "No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are!" He laughed as he stood up in front of her. "I felt it! Wow! This is wonderful! Are you not happy?"

She closed her eyes. "That's just not possible. Samuel. I had the shot-"

"It's not completely effective-"

"We used stuff before then-"

"That's not completely effective, either. Maybe, I just have some strong swimmers!" He wagged his eyebrows at her.

She laughed under her breath. "You are so -"

He held her hips. "There's only been me. Right? I won't be cross. I need to know."

She sadly looked in his eyes. "How could you ask me that? You know you are."

He held out his hands, "Sorry. I've just….need to know. Wow. I'm going to be a Dad! This is so great!"

"No. Just stop! Samuel. It's not true. I don't believe it."

He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Why not?"

She pointed at him. "You are still recovering. I think you are wrong. Samuel, there's just no way! We were careful-"

"Doesn't matter." He grinned.

"We've not known one another long enough-"

"To be pregnant? To be engaged?"

She groaned. "Samuel. This isn't what that is."

He nodded. "Get dressed. We're going to the ship. I can't sleep anyway."

She sighed as he walked away from her. "Samuel, you need to sleep!"

"Ha!" He insisted as he walked to his dresser to pull on a shirt. "A simple test will sort this entire thing out. And we'll go ahead and do that Heritage test, too."

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