Addison's POV

I rode on Zed's back for about the millionth time this week, not that I'm complaining. I love wrapping my arms around his neck, laying my head on his shoulder, kissing the skin above his shirt collar.

"Stop it!" He playfully scolds. I giggle as I pull my lips off his neck.

"Sorry." I say, obviously not sincerely. He chuckles.

"We're almost there." He tells me softly, rubbing my thighs with his thumbs. I shivered against his back.

As promised, it didn't take long before we reach Eliza's house. She was waiting on the porch and as soon as she saw us approaching she jumps to her feet.

"What the hell Zed?!" She shouts in frustration as she stomps our way. I pat Zed's shoulder and he sets me down on my own two feet. Eliza has rushed up to us just as I step beside Zed and grab hold of his hand. "You owe me an explanation!" She yells, pointing in Zed's face accusingly. He scratches the back of his neck and glances down at me nervously.

"Yeah, about that. Sorry, I kinda freaked out." He apologized, squeezing my hand for support.

"There was an incident and we were hoping to talk to your mom about it." I offer to take some of the heat off my boyfriend. Eliza shoots Zed another glare with a pout.

"You could have just told me that." She huffs turning back to me with a raised brow. "I'm surprised you let him take you out of the house in that." She said indicating at me from head to toe. I realize I still just have on one of Zed's long sleeved shirts and I pull the bottom down as my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Zed takes a side step to slightly block me with his body.

"Can we just go inside now?" He asks in irritation. Eliza shrugs and turns to head back to her front door. We follow close behind. Eliza continuing to grumble about how at least I'm not hurt this time and other similar comments to make Zed feel bad about being rude to her the whole way into the living room.

"Mom! Zed and Addison are here! Apparently, it's not as urgent as he made it sound!" She called down the hall with heavy sarcasm. Zinnia emerged around the corner seconds later with a bowl of herbs in hand as she smiled warmly at us.

"Oh good! I was a little worried when Eliza frantically ran down the stairs in a panic!" She mused with a laugh. Eliza snorted and plopped down on the couch.

"I wasn't that worried." She grumbled more to herself than us. I smile fondly at our friend for her concern over us.

"Come! Sit, sit, sit!" Zinnia encourages, waving towards the loveseat. As soon as we're seated, Zed's arm wraps around my hip. I lean into his side slightly and rub his knee to comfort his growing anxiety. Zinnia sits in her armchair and sets the bowl of herbs on her side table before turning to us fully.

"Now! What's going on?" She asks, leaned forward to give us her full attention.

"Addison had a reaction to lime." Zed said outright. But Zinnia and Eliza looked shocked.

"A reaction?" Zinnia asked for clarity. Both of us nod.

"Zed had poured a lemon-lime soda for me to settle my upset stomach but when I took a sip, it felt like my insides were on fire and I couldn't breath!" I explain. Zinnia sat back and rubbed her chin as she deliberates the problem.

"What made it stop?" She asked.

"I drank some water from the sink then immediately puked it up." I say.

"No wonder you freaked out." Eliza said quietly in amazement.

"I've been nauseous for about 3 days or so. But I've only got sick Sunday and today." I continue to explain. "I thought it was just a stomach bug going around, but I guess not." I trail off at the end in thought.

"Hmm. That is interesting." Zinnia mused, staring at me intensely. I fidget under her scrutinizing gaze. Then, she suddenly stands and waves for me to follow her as she heads to her work room. Zed and I both get up but Zinnia puts a hand up.

"No, you stay." She points at Zed and then back to his seat. I look back at him and I can feel his anxiety as he reluctantly sits. I give him a reassuring smile before turning to follow Zinnia.

"Make yourself comfortable, dear." She says, motioning towards the chair from last time. She closed the door and pulls another chair up to sit in front of me. "Now Addison, I want to start by saying I want you to feel comfortable talking with me. I may not be a professionally trained doctor by human standards, but I take your privacy very seriously. Anything you don't want me to share, I won't. Even to Zed. I can assure you of that, my dear." She says with a smile. I smile back and nod. "That being said, I wanted to ask you how you've been feeling? Physically or emotionally." She leans back in her chair.

"Well, I have been having a lot of nauseous and dizzy spells ever since the Cheer Championships on Sunday. And I've been so exhausted, even if I've just been lounging around all day." I start.

"Have you been able to eat when your nauseous?" She asks.

"That's weird too. The only stuff I can for sure keep down is brain flavored things that Zed makes for himself. After I get something like that in my system, I can eat some normal food for a while before I start getting nauseous again." I explain. She looks surprised but doesn't interrupt me. I twiddle my thumbs and stare at my hands nervously.

"What's bothering you?" She finally asks, seeing my nerves.

"Well, all these weird cravings, nauseousness, exhaustion, I thought," I pause and bite my lip for a second. Debating if I should share further, but I does feel good to get all this off my chest to someone other than Zed. "I took a pregnancy test." I glance up and find Zinnia's expression hasn't changed much.

"It was negative. I don't know why I thought it would be different. With the whole marking thing, my body is just going through something to do with that. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions!" I say with a disappointed laugh. Zinnia leans forward and places a hand gently over mine on my lap.

"It's ok to want a child, Addison." She told me kindly, assuringly. My eyes widen a fraction and tears start to well up in them.

"R-really?" I stammer out. She smiles warmly at me.

"Of course, dear! I'm not necessarily saying you should act on those feelings at your age. Because what kind of adult would I be if I told all the teenagers in town to go have babies! But," she drawls with a small pause to wink at me, "it wouldn't be the end of the world if you did." Her words make me want to cry and smile and scream all at the same time. My heart feels so happy.

"Besides! Zed is like the son I never had! I'd love to be Auntie to a sweet little hybrid baby!" I giggle as she lets out a hearty laugh. Then she claps her hands together. "Now then! Let me just give you a little exam and see if we can figure out what's going on with you, shall we?" I nod my agreeance.

She comes up to check my mark on my shoulder, which is fully healed, tests my range of motion with my arms and reflexes with my legs, shines a light in my eyes to check for dilation discrepancies, checks my throat for any abnormalities. All basic check up stuff.

"Hmmm. Nothing seems out of order." She muses. "So you did take a pregnancy test?"

"Yeah. Two actually. But they were negative." I confirm. She taps her chin as she thinks for a moment. "What?" I ask. She raises an eyebrow as if she has a theory.

"You took a human pregnancy test, yes?" I nod, unsure of where she's going with this.

"Will you sit up on this table and lay back for me?" I do as I'm instructed but in total confusion.

Once I lay flat on my back, she places a gentle hand on my stomach and closes her eyes, like she's feeling for something with her mind. She moves her hands around and occasionally presses down slightly as she goes along my lower belly. She finishes feeling my stomach and has me return to my seat. As I'm hopping off the table she opens the door and calls sweetly for Zed down the hallway. He rushes in the room and is quick to come to my side, hugging me affectionately like he hasn't seen me in days.

Zinnia closes the door again and turn to us with a grin. We both look at her wearily.

"Did you find out what's wrong with Addy?" Zed asks anxiously. Zinnia seems to smile wider.

"I have." She says cheekily. My hand instinctively goes to my stomach and my eyes widen. Zed doesn't notice, he's to intrigued with her words.

"Well...?" Zed drawls sarcastically for an answer. Zinnia looks at me and her face softens, my confirmation.

I turn to fully face Zed and put my hands on both his cheeks to make him look at me. His eyes search mine in confusion, and I press our lips together. He makes a sound of surprise but doesn't fight me as he puts his arms around my waist. It's not a long kiss but it's enough to pour my love out to him. We pull back and the tears are already spilling over my lids.

"Zed, I'm pregnant!" I cry happily. His eyes widen like mine had and he looks quickly to Zinnia, who nods, then back to me.

"Addy!" He exclaims, scooping me into his arms for a tight hug. "I'm gonna be a daddy!" I nod, afraid of the sound that might come out if I speak. He sets me on my feet and drops to his knees, kissing my belly affectionately. I sight makes my heart swell and the tears of joy flow freely, I swear it feels like my cheeks might split from the wide grin I can't contain too.

We are a bundle of laughs and cries, consumed by our sheer joy of the news. He makes me sit back down and huddles close to me still on his knees. After a good handful of minutes, I pull sharply back from Zed's embrace, holding him at arms length by his shoulders. He looks jarred by my sudden shift.

"How are we going to tell everyone?! We could throw a party! Oh! Should we tell our parents first? Then our friends? Or them first, then our parents?!" I ramble out in questions. He chuckles and pulls me back into his arms, holding me with a loving gentleness that makes me feel like I'm his most prized possession.

"Whatever you want Baby." He whispers. I snuggle into his chest and smile. We both look to Zinnia again, she is smiling fondly at the two of us.

"You wouldn't mind, um, keeping this a secret, would you?" I ask timidly. She laughs.

"Of course not! Just don't wait too long because I am entirely too excited to keep it to myself!" She teases.

"Thank you so much for everything! We can't thank you enough." I sincerely say.

"It's no problem! Really! That's what I'm here for!" She chuckles.

"I should probably get you home to rest." Zed says, offering a hand to help me up.

"I do think that would be wise." Then she becomes slightly more serious. "I would like to help keep an eye on you the next few months. You need to see a human doctor as well, however. This is the first hybrid baby between a zombie and a human after all!" She says excitedly. I giggle and it makes Zed tighten the arm around my waist slightly.

"I suggest having a few servings of brain food a day, but not solely. In theory, the baby needs both kinds of nutrition. Also avoid ingesting anything with lime. We don't want to risk hurting you or the baby by accident. And, like any normal human pregnancy, no strenuous activities or lifting anything heavy." She lists off instructions. She gives both of us a congratulatory hug before we make our way out into the living room hand-in-hand. Eliza immediately stands.

"So? What's up?" She asks anxiously, trying her best to not seem overly worried. Zed looks down at me and we both smirk.

"Should we just tell her if she swears to secrecy?" He teases.

"Tell me what?! Just spill!" She demands.

"We're having a baby!" I say cheerfully through my giggle. Her face shows her complete shock, but she just as quickly rushes us and wraps and arm around each of our necks to pull us in.

"Oh my god guys." She almost whispers. I could swear she sounds choked up. I glance at Zed over her shoulder and he looks like he might cry again. I hug Eliza a little tighter.

"You're gonna be an Auntie!" I tell her excitedly and I hear a choked back cry in response. We stay like that a few more minutes to let her get her emotions under control. When we do finally pull back, I plaster my best serious face on and stick my fingers in front of her nose warningly.

"Remember. Secrecy." I can't keep in the smile that tugs at the corner of my mouth. She laughed, pretending there's a zipper over his lips and locks the edge before throwing away the key. We smile wide as a fit of laughter escapes us.

"Really, congratulations guys. I'm so happy for you!" She says genuinely.

"Thanks E. But I really need to get Addy home." He urges, sprawling a hand over my belly and rubbing it softly. I put my hand over his and I look up to meet his eyes. He leans in and pecks my lips. "Let's go." He whispers, his breath fanning over my mouth, he's so close.

"She's already pregnant, damn!" Eliza huffs, turning to match back to her seat on the couch. We both laugh and head for the door, calling back a thank you and see ya later as we go.

"Another piggyback ride?" I ask, indicating to my bare feet.

"You know it!" He teases, bending down to let me climb on.