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LACRIMA AMARE - Chapter 6
"Put that back," Krit said as Jondy dropped a tub of chocolate mocha ice cream into their shopping cart. She fixed him with an odd look and put her hands on her hips. He glanced at her; now that he knew what to look for he could see the delicate swell of her stomach, but it was still only very slight.
"Why?" she asked him. "Look, it's like 160% fat. You said I needed to gain weight."
"High-fat foods aggravate morning sickness, which you're might have as long as three weeks into your second trimester," he informed her.
"I haven't had any yet," she told him, fixing him with a very odd look.
"Oh, that's good. I guess X5 pregnancies are different that way." Jondy stared at him curiously.
"By the way," she asked. "How the hell did you know that? You aren't hiding any nieces or nephews from me, are you?" He smiled conspiratorially.
"No," he said. "Now put it back. You only need 300 more calories than you should normally eat when you're pregnant."
"Seriously," she said. "How do you know all this?" Krit's olive skin darkened slightly as she blushed; he reached into his jacket and pulled out a book, passing it to her. She looked down at it.
"Pregnancy Week by Week: Eighteenth Edition," she read aloud, and raised her eyebrows at him. He shrugged. She flipped through the book and saw that much of the first few chapters had already been studied and some places were even marked on. She looked at him; he was standing there sheepishly, not looking at her.
"You are so into this!" she cried, grinning; he met her eyes in surprise.
"No I'm not..."
"Yes you are!" She pointed at him, giggling genuinely for the first time in weeks. "Oh, Krit, you're absolutely adorable." A slow smile spread over his face and he took a step toward her. He turned the pages of the book in her hands.
"Well, look," he said, pointing to a picture of the baby in the mother's womb at ten weeks. "Look how cute." She gazed at the little blob of life and smiled.
"Yeah," she said softly. "It is kind of cute." They were passing the children's clothing department of the small everything-and-more store, and Jondy suddenly stopped as she caught sight of a tiny powder yellow sleeper. It was roughly the width of Krit's hand and the length of half his forearm.
"Could anything actually fit into this?" Jondy marvelled, touching the soft material with an expression on her face that Krit could only describe as maternal.
"Get it," he said. She hung it back up, shook her head. He took it off the hanger again and handed it to her.
"It's okay, I'll buy it."
"With what?" she asked. "You said we hardly have enough money for food."
"I have some."
"Not your savings..." She bit her lip.
"It's okay," he said. "This is my niece or nephew, right? The kid's got to be dressed, so let me buy the first present." Jondy gazed down at the tiny sleeper. She smiled.
"Okay."
"By the way," Krit asked as they browsed the rest of the shelves. "What do you want, a boy or a girl?"
"I'll be happy for just a normal child," Jondy said. She looked at Krit. "But it won't be a normal baby, will it? It'll be an X5." Krit hesitated.
"I think so," he said. She glanced away.
"Great."
"It'll be okay." His voice was gentle. "You won't be alone. And Zane-" She turned away.
"No," she said. "I'm... I'm not ready for that yet, okay?"
"Okay," he said softly. "One more makes no difference. We all look out for each other, right?"
"Like Tinga looked out for her son..." Jondy trailed off, looked at him. "I know he was the reason she died." They both knew instinctively to wait a few moments out of respect for their sister's memory before Krit spoke again.
"She loved him."
"Yes," she said softly, gazing down at the sleeper and caressing the downy-soft material in her hands. "She loved him." Krit touched her shoulder.
"Come on," he said, gentle. "Your doctor's appointment is soon. We don't want to be late."
I hate doctors," Jondy complained as they headed to the cashier. She shivered slightly, remembering being experimented on as a child.
"Me too," Krit said, knowing exactly what she was thinking about. She smiled weakly at him as he took his wallet out to pay for their groceries.
"I'd say you're about thirteen weeks," the doctor told her half an hour
later as she laid on the uncomfortable examination table that reminded her
painfully of Manticore. Luckily the testing was out of the way now.
"That's what I figured," she told the woman, her voice slightly nervous.
"Do you want to hear the baby's heartbeat?" she asked gently, sensing her discomfort.
"Can I?" Jondy asked, wide-eyed. The doctor smiled.
"Well, you're more than far enough along. If you'll just wait a few moments I can do it right now."
"Would you do me a favour and get my brother first?" she asked. "He's in the waiting room. Krit." The doctor smiled, nodded, and left. A moment later she returned and Krit stuck his head into the room hesitantly, staring at the floor. Jondy rolled her eyes at him.
"I'm decent," she said. He looked at her, smiled and fully entered the room, straddling a chair next to her.
"What's up?" he asked; the doctor pushed Jondy's shirt up slightly and covered her stomach with transparent goo. Krit made a face. "What are you doing?"
"We're going to hear the baby's heartbeat," Jondy explained; he brightened.
"Really?" The doctor smiled and pushed the ultrasonic device over Jondy's stomach, searching. They waited for a few moments and then a strange fluttering sound filled the room, which gradually turned into two successive chugging sounds, one after another, as the doctor centralized on the heart.
"That's my baby," Jondy breathed; Krit took her hand and listened.
"It's loud," he remarked. The doctor smiled.
"That's a good sign," she said; Jondy beamed and reached up, giving Krit a tight hug, her eyes blurred with happy tears. He smiled down at her, marvelling at the tiny life growing within her.
"Look at all this stuff," Jondy remarked as they headed to the car,
sorting through a stack of pamphlets and informational booklets the doctor had
given her. She remembered Krit's book and smiled. "I guess we have a library
now," she said wryly. Krit rolled his eyes at her good-naturedly as they climbed
into the car. When they arrived home Jondy groaned about helping put away the
groceries but did it anyway, and after they were finished she grabbed a pamphlet
and Krit picked up the phone. The odd dial tone told him there was a message
waiting for him on the voicemail he'd set up.
"Jondy," he said. "Someone called." She stood up slowly, swallowed, and wrung her hands together.
"So listen to it," she told him after a long silence. He nodded, dialled the voicemail box and punched in his code to hear the message.
"Hey," Syl's voice came; Krit nodded at Jondy and she swallowed hard again. "I guess you guys aren't home, but I just wanted to let you know that I finally tracked Zane down. This guy can be elusive when he's sad. Anyway, we're on the road and we've covered a ridiculous amount of ground in just a few days... I guess that happens when someone-" Krit got the feeling that Zane was in the room with her. "-drives about a thousand kilometres over the speed limit." She laughed softly. "I've made him stop for the night because he fell asleep at the wheel and nearly killed me; he's conked out now, of course. 'I want to talk to them,' he said. 'I'll stay awake,' he said. Yeah, right." She laughed again. "Anyway, we're in Indianapolis, but we're going to leave early tomorrow morning. We should be at your place before noon. Well, as soon as you give me the address, anway. It is Pittsburgh, right? Anyway, you know my cell number, so call me back. Love you guys." Krit hung up the phone and turned to Jondy, dreading her reaction.
"They'll be here tomorrow morning," he said. She stared at him, sat down hard on the sofa, nodded weakly. He took a seat beside her and tentatively touched her shoulder. "Are you okay?" She looked at him.
"You'll be here?" she asked softly; he nodded. He suddenly remembered the first day she'd learned to drive a car, how proud she'd been. Her half-inch of blonde hair had caught the sun filtering through the trees of Manticore's forest. She'd grinned and said, You'll watch me, won't you Krit?
"Of course," he told her gently, echoing his childhood response.
"I'm being stupid," she said. "I know."
"No," he told her; he pulled her into a tight, safe hug and felt her immediately relax. "And I'll be here," he whispered into her short, soft hair. "For as long as you need me."