For the next several months, Reyna enjoyed the company of the soldier. They always met the second he was off duty and stayed together through the night, but they kept it at cuddling and nothing more.
That night, Reyna's 18th birthday, she was determined to make something more happen. She had read up on basic human biology and learned a bit from Myrrah and watching the Drones with the Berserkers, but this would be a completely new experience for her.
That night, Reyna was putting the final touches on her hair when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Reyna said. She had never gotten into the habit of locking her door, since the Locust always knew better than to intrude on the Princess.
The door opened and Reyna smiled at the person standing there. "Hey Diaz," she said, taking the flowers in his hand and placing them in a vase.
He kissed her on the cheek and said, "How's the birthday girl?" he asked, kissing her again.
Reyna laughed a bit before saying, "I'm glad you remembered."
"How could I forget? Are you ready to go? I have a special evening planned for us."
"Let's go."
After the birthday celebrations that Diaz had planned for Reyna, she lead him up to her room. "Thank you for tonight," she said as he kissed her on the cheek. "It was amazing."
"No problem. I better head back now."
"No, wait! Can you stay tonight? Just for a bit?"
"Sure. Just like always?"
"Not exactly. It is my birthday. Do you want to make it special?"
The soldier's eyes widened a bit and he said, "Only if you're alright with it."
Reyna smiled and pulled him onto the bed, kissing him passionately on the lips as he fell over. "I am," she said as she kissed him again.
The next day, Reyna woke up and smiled at her bed partner. Neither of them were wearing any clothes but were both covered up by a thin blanket. The soldier was still sleeping, muttering as he did so.
Reyna felt his arm around her waist and carefully tried to disentangle herself from him without walking him up.
Once the former princess succeeded, she quickly grabbed some clothes from her closet and darted into her bathroom.
Once she was dressed, she opened the door and noticed that the soldier was sitting up in her bed. "Hi," he said, still covering himself with the blanket.
"Hi," Reyna said, smiling as she bent down on the ground and tossing him his pants. He smiled at her and Reyna said, "Last night was amazing. Thank you."
"No problem. Last night was great for me too."
"Not bad for my first time."
The soldier's eyes widened and he asked, "That was your first time?"
Reyna nodded slowly, regretting saying anything. "Don't worry about it," he told her. "I'm glad I was your first."
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you were too."
He then looked at the clock and gasped. "Is that clock right?"
"I think so. Why?"
"I got to get to work!" He quickly pulled his pants on and grabbed his shirt. He kissed Reyna on the cheek and said, "Sorry I can't stay long. I'll see you after work."
He then darted out of the room, Reyna smiling as he did so. She then proceeded to gather the linens that had fallen off the bed throughout the night.
A few weeks later, Reyna smiled as the door to her bedroom was knocked on. She always insisted he didn't have to knock, but he always did anyways.
She opened the door and smiled as the soldier pulled her in for a kiss. "I've got the whole day off," he told her. "What do you want to do?"
"I'm not sure," Reyna responded. "I've never met your family. Can we go see them?"
"It's actually just me and my brother. My dad died in combat and my mom was killed on E-Day. But we can go see Oscar if you want. He actually has the day off too."
"Great! Let's go…" Reyna trailed off as she felt something stirring in her stomach. "Be right back."
She then ran to the bathroom and proceeded to empty her stomach. "Reyna?!" the soldier shouted through the door. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine!" Reyna shouted back before leaning over the toilet yet again.
The soldier opened the door and held Reyna's hair back as she threw up some more. "I think you should go see a doctor," he told her, patting her on the back gently. "We can visit my brother some other time. Come on. I'll walk you to the doctor's office."
Reyna nodded to him before leaning over the toilet yet again, ready to completely empty her stomach.
Reyna sat in a doctor's office a few hours later, leg bouncing in anticipation. The back door then opened and Reyna's doctor, an old woman with white hair tied in a bun. The doctor looked at her notes and then up at Reyna, not changing her expression one bit.
"Well Miss Reyna," the doctor said, looking back at her chart. "I have never seen you before, and that is horrible. I'm sure that on Azura you had all the best medical care, but according to this you've been malnourished for most of your life and have also had indecent exposure to sunlight. It looks as though you never once went outside for years."
"Is that why I'm sick?" Reyna asked.
"Don't interrupt. But no, that's not the entire reason. According to my tests, you're expecting."
"Expecting what?"
The doctor sighed and looked Reyna straight in the eyes. "Miss Reyna, you are pregnant. You're only two weeks along, and your baby will be due in early Frost."
Reyna opened her mouth in shock, not believing what the doctor said to her. "I'm pregnant?!" Reyna exclaimed. "That's impossible!"
"Apparently not. Do you remember ever having unprotected sex?"
"Not really, unless...My birthday!"
"Well there you go. This must be shocking news for you, but please sit down. There are some things we need to discuss."
Reyna sat down and the doctor sat down across from her. "Now, normally we ask this of people who are expecting to be parents, but since you're barely pregnant, there are still ways of doing this."
"Doing what exactly?"
"Have you ever heard of Gene Therapy?"
"No. What is it?"
"Gene therapy is when we take the best genes of both parents and use them to make a healthy, perfect baby. It is a bit more complicated when the subject is already pregnant, but still manageable if they're barely along. Now, I'm not allowed to state my views on the subject, but what do you think?"
"So you basically want to control how my child turns out?" Reyna asked, appalled. "That is one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard! I refuse!"
She then pushed her chair away and proceeded to walk towards the door. "Thank you for your time Dr…" Reyna trailed off as she realized she didn't know the doctor's name.
"Hayman," the doctor said. "And please reconsider. Our reprogenetisits will be waiting."
Reyna then walked out if the room, slamming the door as she did so.
Once outside the room, the soldier hugged her and asked, "Are you okay? What happened?!"
"Um...I'll tell you later," Reyna said, not wanting to trek him what happened quite yet. "Now, can we go see your brother?"
About twenty minutes later, they both arrived at the barracks that the soldier's all stayed in if they didn't have a family to live with. Reyna smiled as the soldier as he held the door for her and they walked in together.
A female soldier with straight black hair and thick glasses walked up to the pair and said, "Good to see you back Corporal. This must be that girl you're always talking about."
Both Reyna and Diaz blushed at this, with Diaz chuckling awkwardly. "Well, you certainly were right about her," the soldier with glasses said. "She really is pretty."
"Thank you so much," Reyna said before her stomach started to feel upset. "Where's the nearest bathroom?"
"Right this way." The soldier with glasses then guided Reyna towards a series of bathroom stalls. Reyna proceeded to run ahead of her and empty her stomach into a toilet yet again.
"Are you feeling alright Sweetheart?" the soldier asked.
"I'm fine," Reyna said, leaning over the toilet yet again. "Just a little bit nauseous. I think it's something I ate."
"Well, if it's just that, alright. I'll be waiting in the main entry way with Corporal Diaz when you're done."
Reyna then exited the bathroom minutes later and saw the soldier with glasses talking with Diaz. "How are you feeling?" Diaz asked immediately upon seeing Reyna.
"I'm fine," Reyna said. "I think I just ate something bad. Now, where's your brother?"
"Lieutenant Diaz?" the female soldier asked. "He's down at the mess hall playing cards with some other Gears. By the sounds of it, he was losing too."
Diaz chuckled and grabbed Reyna's hand. "Follow me," he said, gently pulling her along. "Thank you Private Soto."
The soldier with glasses smiled at the couple as they left. They walked until they could hear the sound of loud laughter coming from behind a pair of large doors. "I think he's in there," Diaz said, opening the door.
They walked in and saw several Gears in casual civilian clothing sitting around a table, all holding cards. Diaz walked up to one of them, a man with a long beard and long hair tied back into a man bun, and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey Oscar," Diaz said, causing the man to turn around.
"Hey Squirt!" Oscar said, pulling Diaz into a headlock and ruffling his hair. "What's up?"
"I wanted to introduce you to somebody," Diaz said, gesturing to Reyna. "This is Reyna, my girlfriend."
Reyna timidly waved at him and Oscar's face lit up in a large smile. "Damn Squirt, she's even prettier than you described her!" Oscar said, surprising Reyna by pulling her in for a hug. "I'm Oscar by the way. I'm this trouble maker's older brother."
Reyna was slightly shocked at the boldness of this man and her nose crinkled at the strange mix of alcohol and sweat that he produced. "Nice to meet you," she said, wanting to escape the hug.
"Oscar, I think you're crushing her," Diaz said jokingly. Oscar then released Reyna and Diaz said, "Why don't we all get out of here and go around town for a bit?"
"Sounds good," Oscar said. "I was just about to whoop these guys' asses, but I think I can leave."
All of the soldiers around the table chuckled and one of them said, "Oscar, you haven't won shit all day."
Reyna laughed a bit at this as she and Diaz went towards the main exit.
As they walked through town, they passed by a few DeeBee sentinels and Reyna shivered. "Those things creep me out," she said, moving closer to Diaz.
"Same here," Oscar said. "I kind of want to drive my Lancer through those things, but Dyer would have my head."
"I honestly hate it here," Reyna confessed. "I miss my old home. But I can never go back there."
"Why, because of all the Locust crystals?" Diaz asked.
"Something like that."
"We don't have to stay you know. We could just leave."
"Leave the COG?" Oscar asked. "Did you get hit in the head or something? Nobody leaves the COG."
"People did a while ago. Like the Stranded."
"That was during war times, when we weren't using soldiers as police. Besides, the Stranded were mostly found and either told to join us, or executed."
"I heard that there are still some out there, but they go by a different name."
"You really think they're gonna take two exmilitary and someone who lived pampered her whole life? No offense Reyna."
"There have to be other places we can live. Think about all the places outside New Ephyra that the COG doesn't use because of the Hammer strikes. There has to be someplace we can go. What do you think Reyna?"
Reyna thought about the question and remembered the doctor that had wanted to change how her baby would turn out. She thought about everything the COG had done for her and her family. The COG was the reason that Reyna could no longer live in the Hollows. The COG were the reason her mother was dead. The COG was the reason she had no more family. Reyna then made up her mind. "I think we should do it. We should leave."
Just as an FYI, Dyer is the name of the First Minister shown in The New Ephyran, a magazine collectible found in the Fenix estate during Gears of War 4. I'm not sure if that would be the First Minister at this time, b