CHAPTER 35 - THE ANNOUNCEMENT
"Elizabeth, are you coming?" Jack called out in exasperation. He had been waiting by the door of their small living quarters for five minutes.
Elizabeth opened the bathroom door and stood in the doorway. "You're not going to believe this," she said incredulously.
"What?" Jack's voice was a mixture of boredom and frustration that she was taking so long to get dressed. He looked at his watch and frowned. He was supposed to be playing racquetball in the transporter's fitness center before dinner. Although he was currently in fourth place, a few more games over the next month and he might just win the ship's tournament.
"I think I'm pregnant," Elizabeth said with her eyes wide in wonder.
"You're just now figuring that out?" he said with raised eyebrows. "What was the clue? The positive blood test? The ultrasound? The heartbeat?"
"My tight shorts. The ones you like best. Look," she said as she stood in front of him wearing a pair of tiny shorts.
"What?" a clueless Jack asked. "What am I supposed to see?"
"Look how tight they are!"
"They're always tight. That's why they're my favorite," he said with a shrug.
"Today they're really tight! I think I gained at least two pounds!"
Jack stared at Elizabeth body. "Turn around", he said as he motioned with his finger.
"Yeah, they're tight," he admitted. "Maybe it's all the strange food you're eating."
Elizabeth turned back around after having shown Jack her backside and slapped his arm. "It is not the food. It's the baby. I'm finally pregnant."
"Sweetie, you've been pregnant for eight weeks."
"But now I finally notice it!" she said happily.
"Great. Can we go to the fitness center? Seth's waiting for me."
"Okay, okay. I'm ready," Elizabeth announced as she lowered her tee-shirt down over her waist. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and hurried out of the room.
As they walked down the hallway, Jack put his arm around Elizabeth's waist, and then moved it a bit lower. And a bit higher. Feeling her body.
"Yeah, maybe you're getting there, " he said with a smile.
It was three weeks ago that they had heard the baby's heartbeat and since then, they could almost have forgotten Elizabeth was expecting. At two months pregnant, Elizabeth hadn't had a single symptom. Unless you counted the time she had called Jack a moron when they had moved into the crew quarters, or her crying when the doctor had called their baby a blob. Elizabeth began to wonder if even the fatigue which she had experienced was due to staying up late reading rather than her pregnancy.
The couple had kept their pregnancy a secret from the passengers and crewmembers. Only Jack, Elizabeth, and the doctor knew the true reason behind her healthy menu which was heavy on the fruits and vegetables, the stringent exercise regimen, her weighted shoes, and the lead apron which she wore when she was on the outer sections of the transporter.
Jack had told Elizabeth that she could chose when to tell people. Whenever you want, he had said as he had stroked her hair as they lay squished together in one of the single berths of their living quarters one late afternoon. She had argued that they both should agree about the timing, but Jack had given her the choice. You're the one having to deal with the doctor's crazy rules while I've had it easy, I'll leave it up to you, he had said.
She had kept quiet. Allowing the rumors on the ship to eventually slow down. Trying not to feel guilty when Abigail gave her worried looks. Laughing when the students had asked how her 'science experiment' was going with the ship's doctor.
Now she finally was seeing a difference in her body.
Elizabeth looked around the Cafeteria. The round tables which could hold easily hold ten diners were all full. This was always a busy time as day-workers had finally finished their shifts, and passengers were meeting to recap their days and make plans for socializing in the last few hours before lights out.
Jack, his hair still damp from a quick shower after his game, sat next to her. A smile appeared on his face as he heard the Captain's announcement over the transporter's intercom.
Everyone in the crowded room stopped talking at the same time. Not during the boring reminder not to use excess power. Or during the announcement about Friday night's movie. Even during the listing of tomorrow's morning menu, the talking had continued. It was the next announcement that caused forks to drop and tongues to stop.
They had stopped eating. Stopped drinking.
They had all stopped what they were doing to look at Jack and Elizabeth. Jack, taken off guard by the Captain's words, couldn't stop the smile from staying on his face.
While an hour earlier Jack had been hitting a ball which was 2.25 inches in diameter, Elizabeth had skipped the treadmill to talk to Abigail. And then the Captain and First Officer.
If she was at home on Earth, Elizabeth's pregnancy would have been announced in the family home, and at a girlfriend's house, and to squeals of delight at her school. The other teachers would have swarmed around her and asked if she was due over the summer break. There would be hugs and glasses of champagne- and a sparkling nonalcoholic drink for Elizabeth at her home. Sparkling apple cider was the best. Not the white grape kind of sparkling drink. She had always found that disgusting when she had been at her parents' fancy parties and given a crystal glass to toast a special occasion.
If she was on Earth, she would have gone window shopping at "Baby Bump" or "Bundle of Love". If, through the glass, she had seen an adorable outfit, she would have found herself drawn inside the store. The bell jingling as she stepped over the threshold and immersed herself in tiny clothes. Soft clothes with little yellow duck designs and flowers and tiny trucks meant to make grown women melt at the idea of a baby.
But Elizabeth wasn't toasting with crystal stemware or shopping at expensive boutiques. She wasn't on Earth. She was on a metal ship traveling through space. With a juice box in a cafeteria.
And so, her pregnancy was broadcast over the intercom between an announcement of tomorrow's menu and a reminder that the swimming pool would be closed tonight for inspection. And then once again.
"And just to recap, in case you missed what I said, Officer and Mrs. Thornton are expecting a baby. So, all of you that were hoping to get rich from the betting pool, get back to work. Because NOBODY guessed this."
Finally a murmur carried across the Cafeteria. Elizabeth could hear snippets of the stunned voices.
. . pregnant? . . . in space? . . .
did he say pregnant? . . .
. . .is that even possible? . . . I thought women . . . .
A hearty chuckle interrupted the whispers.
Seth shook his head as he laughed. He stood up and reached an arm across the table to clap Jack on the shoulder.
"Wait until I tell Carl. He's going to regret extending his tour and missing this. He always said she'd be pregnant nine months after returning to Earth. You even beat his prediction," the geologist said with a large grin. "Congratulations."
More people approached the table and soon Jack and Elizabeth felt themselves enveloped in happy hugs and good wishes.
When the last of the well-wishes had gone back to their own tables, and a blushing Elizabeth had delicately explained to Seth, Colette, and the rest of her table about the x-ray being contraindicated, she and Jack had made their way to the communication center.
"We've got some big news, Mom and Dad", Elizabeth said as she and Jack sat in front of the computer's camera. She hoped her family would be thrilled. She also suspected that immediately after viewing the message, her mother would dial up the city's best OBGYN and demand information on the dangers of space pregnancy.
When they had finished taping and dispatching the hologram, the couple made a similar one for Jack's mother. Elizabeth suspected that immediately after viewing the message, her mother-in-law would pull out her knitting needles and start making a baby blanket.
The communication center was on the same hallway as the security office. When the door slid open, the couple walked in and Elizabeth waited for Jack to lay down the thin mattress which he kept propped against a wall. He had had the quartermaster's deliver it weeks ago.
Whenever the couple wanted privacy, they came here.
The screens around them displayed muted images carried from throughout the ship, and occasionally a voice came across the intercom requesting Jack to handle a matter.
Elizabeth loved this time. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they kissed, sometimes they did more.
She was barefoot; having taken off her heavy shoes and socks so she could feel the cool floor on her feet. She liked to imagine it was the cool dirt from her garden back home. The one she liked to plant every spring with her jeans cuffed up and wearing a baseball cap. She could hardly wait to get back to Earth. To see a real sunrise. A real sunset. To ride horses with Jack through open fields. To feel the waves of the ocean as they lapped up on the beach.
"When we arrive back on Earth, I'll only be just over four months pregnant. That's barely even showing. I'll still have five months of pregnancy to share with my family," Elizabeth said as she nuzzled Jack's chest. "Thank goodness I only got pregnant just a week or two before we left Coal Valley. Can you imagine if I was stuck on this transporter and nine months pregnant or in labor?"
Jack started to respond but then turned his head when he heard a beeping on his desk.
Extricating himself from Elizabeth, he stood up and reached his arm to one of the computers. He pushed the blue button and watched as the report appeared on the screen.
"Everything okay?" she asked as she tilted her head to look at him.
"Yeah. Just the evening head-count. One hundred and nineteen. Everyone's healthy and accounted for."
"Good. You can come back here and pay attention to me," she said with a smile.
"We're going to get caught one of these days," he said. Despite the warning, he moved towards her anyway.
"Then you're just going to have to be quick so we don't."
Except for her socks, a smiling Elizabeth was still fully clothed but she was decidedly looking forward to being in a more natural state.
"I am anything but quick. In fact, I plan on going exceedingly slow just to prove it to you," he noted as he knelt down in front of her. His hands pulled off her shirt and his mouth moved to her bare skin. "Exceedingly slow," he practically purred.
Her body reacted to his touch as he slowly pulled off her shorts. One inch at a time. His warm lips trailing along her flesh.
His fourth night aboard the transporter, the man with the slight limp had stolen a crew uniform. It made it much easier to move about in the cargo areas. He had also figured out which night-shift workers were lax enough to never secure their living cabins. Glancing in a bathroom mirror, he ran his hand through his ash blond hair and scrutinized his face. He was a bit thinner. But that was to be expected. It had become harder to mix in with the passengers and crew in the cafeteria. He realized that as the voyage continued, and the passengers and crew became more familiar with everyone, it would be even more difficult to remain unnoticed. He was surprised that he had lasted this long but that was because he always went at a different time, ate quickly, and avoided eye contact.
He rinsed his mouth and spit into the sink. Once again, he was grateful that on his seventh day he had overheard two passengers talking and had memorized one of their EC numbers. One week without a shower had been bad enough, he didn't want to imagine how bad he would have smelled after four months.
He walked from the bathroom into the sleeping area. He had slept well.
The man looked down at his feet. The crew trousers were about an inch too short but so far no one had noticed. Next, he looked at his watch. Five forty-five. The occupants of these living quarters would be returning soon. Glancing around, he ensured that he hadn't left any evidence that he had been there. He had made the berth exactly as he had found it. Even fluffing the pillow.
The corridor was empty as he quietly walked to the stairwell.
Being a stowaway had been easier than he had imagined. He might even take in tonight's movie.