CHAPTER 53 – THE WEAKER SEX
Jack was beyond upset. He was somewhere between queasy and disgusted.
"He's going to sew you up," he needlessly reminded Elizabeth as he stood next to her in the infirmary. "Are you sure you're okay with this? This is . . . well, it's just . . . it's got to be painful", he told her with a grimace.
"It's going to be fine. He's going to numb me. For goodness sakes, Jack, it's not that big a deal." Elizabeth remarked as she lay with her back on the examination table.
Once the doctor had explained that he would be putting just two stiches in her cervix and that they would be removed at her first check-up on Earth, Elizabeth had remarkably calmed down. In fact, the more nervous Jack became, the more her maternal instinct kicked in, and she took charge.
"He's putting that thing inside of you," an unsettled Jack noted as his eyes took in the stainless-steel instrument that looked like it was going to be used to pry his wife open in some form of medieval torture.
"It's called a speculum," the doctor announced in a bored voice. "And I'm guessing your wife has had one inside of her on a yearly basis."
Jack's face drew back as if the doctor had insulted Elizabeth and insinuated that she had some immoral medical condition that required treatment. He was about to defend her honor, when Elizabeth spoke up.
"Every year since I was about twenty-one. Just like recommended," Elizabeth remarked, leaving a clueless Jack to realize that he may not know as much about women's bodies as he had thought.
"Feet in the stirrups, please," the doctor ordered as he moved between Elizabeth's legs.
"Oh, God, I can't watch," Jack moaned. He let go of Elizabeth's hand and wiped his brow.
Elizabeth turned her head sideways and gave him a look which conveyed humorous scorn.
"If you cannot handle watching me get two stiches in less than a minute, how are you going to be there to support me in childbirth? You are planning on being there, aren't you?"
"Of course, I'm going to be there. This is different. He's sticking a needle in your privates." Jack shuddered at the thought.
"Just where exactly did you think that this baby was going to come from?"
"It's a needle! It's got to hurt or make you, I don't know, freak out."
"Right," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "As opposed to a much larger needle in my spine when I get an epidural, or hours of pushing an eight-pound baby out of me."
"He's going to sew you up," Jack couldn't hide the anxiety in his voice.
"Just two small stitches. And he's not sewing up my vagina."
Jack cringed at the word. "You don't need to say it. Just call it something else," he suggested.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her husband. Men seemed to have no problem talking about the female anatomy except when the actual scientific terms were used.
"Are you sure you're okay with this? I am so proud of you. I could never have someone stick a needle in my . . .you know," Jack said.
"You don't have a you know."
"I mean my private man part," Jack unnecessarily clarified.
"Do me a favor?" Elizabeth asked.
"Anything."
"Stop whimpering and go stand across the room. You're going to drip sweat on me."
"All done," the doctor announced as he moved away from Elizabeth.
"That was it?!" Jack said in surprise.
"Men," Elizabeth said. "You really are the weaker sex."
Sex was out of the question the next day for the Thorntons, but that didn't stop everyone aboard the transporter from feeling love and affection. As the transporter got closer and closer to Earth, the ship's occupants realized that it was bittersweet.
Elizabeth, who was stepping out of a very brief shower, jumped when she heard a car horn honking.
I should be used to it by now, she chided herself, but she couldn't help but smile.
Every time the crew sent another familiar Earth sound through the intercom, Elizabeth had to catch herself and remember that they were just audio recordings.
"You almost ready?" Jack called out from the adjoining room.
Elizabeth walked out of the shower area. "Two minutes. I just have to throw on some clothes."
After five months of close living, she had ceased being self-conscious of her body in front of her roommates and had long ago given up clumsily dressing in her berth behind closed curtains or trying to change in the small bathroom when one of the other people assigned to share it might want to use the room.
She maneuvered her panties on without removing her towel, but then dropped the large cloth.
"Anyone seen my clean bra?" she asked with a frown.
"You packed it," Candy answered from one of the top berths. "You packed everything. Someone's in a hurry to get out of here."
"Aren't we all?" Elizabeth asked with a smile.
She grabbed her Louis Vuitton bag, a relic from two years earlier, and pulled out her bra. Slipping it on, she hooked it in the back, and then reached for her green blouse. Tonight, was the transporter's farewell party. A chance to say goodbye to everyone before the last-minute preparations for arrival back to Earth.
"I've already got my vacation plans arranged. A week in St. Croix. Scuba diving, laying on a beach, sipping cool drinks", Becca announced.
'I'm going skiing. Booked my tickets last week," Candy offered. "You guys must be desperate for Earth even more than us. We've only been gone nine months, you've been gone two years."
"I can hardly wait to get home. But I'm going to miss everyone from Coal Valley and the transporter," Elizabeth said wistfully.
"Passengers always feel that way. Crew members are lucky, I guess. We just have a month of vacation and then back to work on the next transporter. Candy and I will be roomies again. Passengers are dispersed all over the world. Everyone going back to their old lives." Becca noted.
Elizabeth moved out of the way for her roommate, who jumped down from a berth and pulled off her uniform. Standing in a demi-cup bra and a matching thong, Becca looked in her locker for something to wear to the party.
"I can't decide what to wear."
"You only have two outfits other than your uniform," Elizabeth reminded her as she gave Jack a knowing look. How long does it take to decide between two outfits?! I am not going to miss sharing my husband with two other women.
"Unless I wear something of Candy's."
"You can wear my leather crop top. I'll wear your blue blouse," Candy answered.
Just put on something, Elizabeth silently ordered as she buttoned her green blouse which was fitting snuggly.
She didn't really want the image of Becca's perfect body seared in Jack's mind when one of his most recent images of Elizabeth's body was of her lying on an examination table with her feet in stirrups. Not to mention red eyes from her previous bout of crying, hair tousled from the air bursting out of vents in an attempt to mimic wind, and a slightly swollen stomach.
Instead of putting on clothing, the scantily clad woman pulled a blouse from her locker and tossed it to Candy.
Now there were two almost-naked women in the room because Candy stripped off her clothing and hopped down from her berth.
"You're so lucky, Elizabeth. You have Jack to give you advice on what to wear."
"I think Jack's the lucky one", Elizabeth muttered. As small as the room was, there was no real way for Jack to avoid seeing the flat stomachs, full bosoms, and perfectly round derrieres of two of his roommates.
Elizabeth had once asked Abigail if she thought that the Candy and Becca were so often half-naked in their living quarters because they truly had no inhibitions or because they were flirting with Jack. Abigail had honestly responded that she didn't think they were flirting, but she couldn't be sure if maybe they didn't do it on occasion just to get a rise out of Elizabeth.
After five months, Elizbeth realized it was probably a combination of both – lack of inhibitions on their part as well as the need to break the monotony of space travel by good-naturedly taunting Elizbeth on occasion.
She couldn't blame them. Space travel could be dull and tedious. A stowaway, space bombardment, and biological hazards could only break up boredom for so long.
"She does have me," Jack said with a smile. "Although you two have me as roommates too," he added pleasantly with a teasing glance to Elizabeth before continuing. "You should probably use me while you still can. You've got me for one more day."
"Okay, what do you think of me in this blouse?" Candy slipped her toned legs into a pair of jeans and pulled them up. Buttoning them, she turned to face Jack for his appraisal. The blouse was extremely low cut and had sheer side panels.
"Looks good."
"What about mine? My breasts are bigger than Candy's so it's a bit tight", Becca remarked. The cropped top showed her abdomen which was sculpted by countless crunches.
Elizabeth highly doubted that Becca needed anyone to tell her that she looked good. The woman's body was perfection and Elizabeth had a feeling that her roommate looked good in everything.
Except Jack's arms, and that was because Elizabeth would pummel her gorgeous roommate black and blue if she ever found her there.
"Or should I wear my purple one?" Candy spoke up. She looked down at her bosom and contemplated it.
"Blue's my favorite color."
Okay, now that's a bit much. He doesn't have to admire it, Elizabeth thought with a scowl. When we get to Earth, we are never having roommates.
Except for the baby.
"Blue reminds me of Elizabeth's eyes," Jack said casually. "She's got perfect blue eyes."
And just like that Elizabeth's scowl turned into a smile.
"Everything reminds you of Elizabeth", Becca said with a laugh.
"Can't help it."
Jack shrugged and smiled at Elizabeth.
"I'm ready." Elizabeth set down her hair brush and turned towards Jack.
"Did you tell Jack about your fortune?" Becca asked nonchalantly, but Elizabeth swore the woman gave a humorous look to Candy.
The smile left Elizabeth's face and she turned to glare at Becca.
"What fortune?" Jack asked curiously.
"It's nothing," Elizabeth replied as she grasped his arm. "Let's go. We don't want to be late for the party."
"You thought it was something when you heard it," Becca noted.
"I thought you were going to pass out," Candy added with a chuckle.
"What are they talking about?"
"Nothing. Just a silly fortune telling by Star. Totally silly. Don't worry yourself about it." Elizabeth sent another dirty look at her roommates and moved towards the door, but Jack held back.
"Why would I be worried?"
Becca smiled. "Because Star's never wrong. Her whole family is into fortune telling. Reading palms, checking astronomical signs. Tea leaves. Don't worry, Jack. You'll be able to handle fatherhood. No matter what you face."
"What I face?" a worried Jack asked. "What is she talking about, Elizabeth?"
"Just a silly prediction about our future."
"It's not a prediction. It's foretelling," Candy corrected her.
"Same thing," Elizabeth said dismissively.
"No, it's not", Candy corrected her again. "A prediction is just that. A prediction - what may happen. Foretelling means its actually going to happen. Star doesn't predict. She foretells."
"What did she foretell?" Jack asked. He sat down on a lower berth and waited for a reply.
"That we are going to have a happy family. That's all."
"If that's all, why would I be worried?"
"You wouldn't be. Becca and Candy are just stirring up trouble. Let's go." Elizabeth tugged on Jack's arm but he remained seated.
"We're not the ones stirring up trouble. We had nothing to do with this. This is all you two's doing." Becca giggled. She pulled on a pair of pants, and smoothed her hair away from her face. "You know, Elizabeth, if you and Jack have such a great relationship, I can't imagine why you'd want to keep a secret from him about something this important."
"Are you keeping a secret from me?" Jack's face pulled back in surprise as he looked at his wife.
"No, of course not. Don't be silly."
"He's not being silly, he's interrogating you. Go on, Jack, ask her some more. Use that law enforcement training. Ask her what Star foretold,' Candy encouraged him.
"Stay out of this, Candy," Elizabeth snarled but her roommate merely smiled back at her.
"Was it something about the baby?" Jack asked.
"Which one?" Becca said with a snicker.
Elizabeth threw her a dirty look.
"Which one? We're only having one baby. Doc already checked. We've seen the ultrasound," a confused Jack replied.
Elizabeth sighed in frustration at her roommates before answering Jack.
"Star was just telling me that she saw more children in our future. Eventually. That's all."
Jack's two grandmothers had both firmly believed that some people had the power to foresee the future and Jack, despite knowing that there was no scientific basis, often wondered if some people had the power.
"You always said you wanted two or three," Jack said with a relieved voice that there was nothing wrong with Elizabeth's pregnancy. "I agree. Two or three would be great."
"What about more than that?" Becca asked in a sweetly innocent voice.
""More than three?"
"Uh huh."
"Like four? I guess that would be okay," Jack said after a moment of thinking. "Four would be nice. A lot of work but I suppose there's more to love. Four would okay."
"What about more than that?" Candy asked with a smile.
"More than four? Like five? Wow. That would be a lot. Is that what Star predicted?"
"Foretold, not predicted", Candy corrected him. "Could you handle five children?"
"Five? Five children?" a somewhat stunned Jack asked. "Is that what Star said?"
"It's just a silly fortune telling," Elizabeth answered. "Let's get going. We want to get some of that champagne before it's all gone."
"You can't drink alcohol," he reminded her. Suddenly suspicious of her hurry to leave.
"Jack, There's no reason to get upset by what Star said."
"I'm not upset. It's just, well, five children would be a lot of children. You have to admit that, Elizabeth. I'm not sure about us having five children."
"Star's always right", Becca reminded the couple. "She said I would find a cat with just one eye and half a tail last time we were home, and sure enough, I did."
Elizabeth threw a pillow at Becca to get her to shut up.
"Five children?" Jack repeated in a daze. He looked at Elizabeth but she averted his gaze.
Jack looked to Becca and Candy who were both trying not to laugh.
"She did not predict five children, Jack", Elizabeth answered hotly.
"Oh. Okay, that's good," a relieved Jack said. "Good," he repeated with a grateful sigh.
"Keep interrogating her, Jack", Candy said enthusiastically. She ducked when Elizabeth sent a second pillow sailing across the room.
"Not five?"
"No, not five," Elizabeth answered evasively.
"Dear God, SIX?!"
"There's no reason to get upset!" Elizabeth wailed. "She just read my palm."
"And your astrological chart when you started to freak out", Becca added.
"And your aura when you were still freaking." Candy chimed in.
Jack stared at Elizabeth with wide eyes. "And they all said we were having SIX children?!"
Elizabeth paused and wrung her hands together. She and Jack loved each other and wanted a family. It just seemed a bit much to digest. Not that she necessarily believed Star, but she had heard of Star's past foretellings which had all been accurate. Even Abigail, who normally didn't believe in such nonsense, had confirmed that Star's fortune telling was accurate.
"Elizabeth?!" a nervous Jack questioned.
"None of them said six children. . . .. . . . . .they all said seven", Elizabeth finally answered weakly.
Ten minutes later, Elizabeth led a stunned Jack to the table of food and drink which had been set up in the large lounge on level B. She picked up a plastic cup which was full of bubbly champagne and handed it to him.
"Drink", she ordered.
Jack downed the contents of the cup in one gulp. "Seven", he said weakly.
Elizabeth replaced his empty one with another full one and ordered him to drink again.
"Men", she muttered. "You really are the weaker sex."
UP Next: The Landing