Chapter 8

Several hours later…

Frowning, Steve and Mark were finally back at the house only they were sitting on the front porch, staring at something they'd bought and groaned, "Now that just ain't RIGHT!"

Mark frowned along with his best friend, cocking his head to the side, and asked, "Is that what it really looks like?"

Chalice was laying on the couch, a garbage can by her, and sleeping peacefully. After her brother and Mark left, she'd tried laying down in her bed, but couldn't. The baby was stirring and caused her to throw up three times before venturing into the living room and laid down on the couch. Just as a precaution, she set the garbage can close to her incase she had to vomit again. One of the many joys of pregnancy.

Steve's eyes bugged out of his head at what he saw next. "MAN THAT IS JUST WRONG!" He shouted, his voice echoing throughout the yard.

"What?" Mark leaned over to look down and felt his own eyes widen. "HOLY SHIT!"

Slowly opening her eyes upon hearing the yelling, Chalice groaned when she heard it was her brother AND fiancé doing it, and figured it was something stupid. She growled, standing up from the couch, and held her stomach, walking over to the front door. Ripping it open, Chalice went to shout profanities at them to shut the fuck up and stopped as the words died in her throat. Her jaw dropped and her eyes were huge as she stared at them in shock. She couldn't believe what she was seeing before her very eyes.

Mark and Steve were sitting side by side on the porch steps, both hunched over their own copies of the book 'What To Expect When You're Expecting'. "Hey man, check this out, around five months, you'll be able to find out if it's a boy or girl." Steve said, pointing to a paragraph in the book, looking truly interested in what he was reading.

Chalice just stared at them, a sigh escaping her lips, and smiled when she heard that. "It's a boy." She softly informed from behind them, leaning against the doorway, and took a few deep breaths since another wave of nausea was overtaking her. "I just feel it in my heart that it's a boy and I've been having dreams about it lately."

Mark and Steve both stood up, putting the books behind their backs, looking surprised to see her. "We uh…didn't hear ya come out, Challie." Steve coughed, his face turning beat red with embarrassment.

"Do you finally understand why I'm acting so crazy now?" She asked them both, her voice low and quiet, almost soothing, and rubbed her stomach to calm down the fetus that was causing her some mean morning sickness.

Mark nodded, his eyes filling with concern, walking up to her to rub her stomach gently as he whispered in her ear, "Feeling sick, darlin'?"

"Morning sickness…can occur any time of the day or night." Steve said slowly, reading from his book. "That fuckin' sucks…"

"You have no idea…" Chalice started to say, but trailed off and immediately bolted back into the house, covering her mouth with her hand, and barely made it into the bathroom. She spewed the contents of her stomach out, getting down on her knees, and coughed as the tears flowed down her cheeks. "God please stop…" She whispered, vomiting harder, and held her hair back the best she could.

Mark followed her quickly, Steve right on his tail. He kneeled down behind her, pulling her hair back gently while she vomited. Steve was rubbing the back of his neck, looking both sick to his own stomach, and concerned. "Want some toast? Or maybe some crackers?" He offered, trying to help.

Chalice finally finished, pulling back from the toilet she'd gotten to know well over the last few hours, and leaned her head back against the tub, suddenly feeling extremely tired. "Never again. I'm NEVER going through this shit again." She shook her head at her brother's offers and slowly stood up, pressing a hand to her stomach, and took a few deep breaths. "Do you have any ginger ale?" She asked softly, knowing that would do the trick since she had her OWN copy of the book they bought.

Steve nodded, disappearing into the kitchen, grateful for any excuse to get away from the bathroom. Fairly certain he was going to start puking now if he hadn't left. Mark stared down at her, an eyebrow arched. "Would you like me to get…fixed…darlin'?" He asked slowly, though he winced at the thought. He'd do it though if she didn't want anymore children and he couldn't honestly blame her. She looked like she was in the eighth circle of Hell.

"No!" She exclaimed at him, her big blue eyes widened in shock, and felt her bottom lip trembling. "No because what if I decided I want more children with you?" She whispered heartbrokenly, staring back up into his emerald green eyes, and could already feel her hormones raging like a hurricane inside of her. "You don't want anymore children with me? Do you even want THIS one, Mark?" Hurt was clearly shining in her eyes as she raked a hand through her hair, pressing a hand to her stomach further.

Mark knew it was the hormones talking so he didn't get mad or upset. He shook his head, grabbing her hands in his. "I didn't say that, darlin'. I want as many children as you care to give me." He said gently. "But I want you to be happy too. If this is making you miserable and you don't want anymore after this one…" He trailed off, looking unsure of what to say. "I'm afraid to speak." He admitted openly. "I don't want you taking something I say wrong and getting upset."

Sighing heavily, Chalice felt her heart tighten at his words as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She held him close to her, burying her face in the crook of his neck, and sniffled a little. "Mark, I'm sorry. This is all a lot to take in so please just be patient with me. I didn't mean what I said. I do want more kids with you after this one, no matter how much pain I go through. I want a family with you, sweetie." She pulled back to stare up into his emerald green eyes. "Don't be afraid to speak your mind to me. If I say something cruel or mean, just blow it off because its my hormones talking."

Nodding in agreement, Mark had NO intention of doing what she said. He wasn't about to sit through anymore of this hormonal shit if he could help it. He grinned, shaking his head when Steve hollered for her to come get her ginger ale. "I think your brother is getting worried, darlin'." He whispered, bending down to lightly kiss her lips.

Nodding, Chalice grabbed Mark's hand and walked out of the bathroom, smiling softly back at her brother, and took the ginger ale from him. She kissed his cheek and whispered, "Thanks bro." She then walked over to he couch and sat down on it, sipping her beverage gently, and leaned against it as she closed her eyes. Tears swelled in them as she rubbed her stomach with her hand, not believing a little life was growing inside of her.

Steve sighed, remaining in the kitchen with Mark for a minute, taking care of the dinner no one had eaten. Both men had been way too distracted by the news of the baby. He got into the fridge and pulled out two cans of beer, handing one to Mark. Mark popped the top and toasted his best friend and future brother-in-law in celebration of the new life that was about to enter their worlds. "To my nephew." Steve grinned, raising his own can, remembering Chalice saying something about how she knew it was a boy.

Mark grinned as well, nodding before taking a swallow. He nearly choked on it, his eyes bugging out before reading the label. "Steve…"

"Yeah…I know…It's light."

Sighing, Chalice set her ginger ale down and slowly stood up from the couch, walking into the kitchen, and leaned against the doorway. "It might not be a boy, but its just what I've been dreaming of lately. It could be a girl, your niece, so don't jump to conclusions, dear brother of mine." She advised with a smirk, having overheard their toast.

Steve shrugged, sipping his own beer, looking like he might gag. "Boy or girl, doesn't matter to me. It'll be damned good lookin', providin' it has blue eyes." He smirked at Mark. "Sorry, yers are nice, but blue is better."

"No, I want our baby to have Mark's eyes. I love the emerald in them." She replied with a smile, biting her bottom lip, and leaned her head against the doorway even more. "Sorry, bro, but I want it to have Mark's eyes."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Good god in heaven, are ya SURE ya didn't sacrifice her when ya kidnapped her?" He asked, looking at Mark, eyeballing the man.

Smirking wickedly, Mark wrapped an arm around Chalice's waist, draining his beer, looking disgusted with it, and drawled teasingly, "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't."

"Change of subject now." Chalice ordered abruptly, clearly not liking the conversation, and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she leaned against her fiancé. She didn't want to think about how close Mark was to raping her and shuddered at the thought as she took a few deep breaths. "Fuck!" She groaned, running into the bathroom again, emptying her stomach once more.

Echoing her groan, Mark sighed while Steve shook his head as he stated, "Yer fiancée, go hold her hair back fer her."

Mark flipped him off before going to do just that. "Darlin', maybe ya should go see a doctor and find out if there's anythin' that can be done to make this morning sickness a little bit easier on you." He suggested thoughtfully, concern etched in his features.

"Mark, there's nothing that can be done. Didn't you read the fucking book?" Chalice snapped at him, groaning when her stomach rumbled again, and threw up once more, coughing. She'd never felt this sick in her life and knew she had one more month of it before it finally did go away. Or she hoped it did at least, according to the book.

"I'm going to get you some more ginger ale." Mark informed her gently, bending down to tie her hair back with his pony tail holder, his own hair cascading down around his shoulders. He squeezed her shoulder gently before walking out into the kitchen, ignoring Steve's curious look and got out the ginger ale. "Don't ask." He ordered gruffly.

"She's havin' a hormone thingy ain't she?" Steve whispered, knowing Chalice couldn't hear him. She was still puking from the sounds of it.

Chalice walked out of the bathroom sighing heavily, and collapsed on the couch. She closed her eyes, hearing her brother and fiancé talking quietly in the kitchen, and pressed a hand to her stomach. Sleep instantly claimed her body as she curled up on the couch. She snuggled into the pillow and allowed instant darkness to overtake her body, needing as much rest as she could get. The next month or so were going to be brutal.

~!~

The next day, Mark was up before Chalice that morning, downstairs drinking a cup of coffee. He'd pretty much hidden anything food wise that might make her stomach turn, trying to help her with the morning sickness issue. Though he knew it wasn't just food that turned her stomach, it was just the pregnancy in general. He was leaning against the counter, clad in a pair of cut off black denim shorts, his hair hanging around his face. He had a coffee mug in hand and the book in the other, reading about what was to come in the next seven months of her pregnancy.

Chalice slowly stood up from the bed after waking up, stretching, and had never felt better in her life. She yawned, a smile on her face, and slowly walked over to the mirror, staring at the reflection. She was positively glowing as she grinned, wearing a silver night gown that Mark had changed her into the previous night, and sighed. She ran her hand over her stomach, which was barely sticking out, and felt the happiness explode inside of her as she brushed her hair. She then headed down the stairs, or more like skipped down them, and walked into the kitchen. "Good morning, sweetheart." Her cheerful voice sounded throughout the kitchen as she poured herself a glass of orange juice, and started gulping it down.

Mark felt relief course throughout him when he heard her tone of voice an seen the smile on her glowing face. He smiled back at her and walked over to kiss her, tasting the orange juice on her lips, and growled, licking his own clean. "Mornin' darlin'." He drawled huskily, bending down to kiss her ear gently. "How did ya sleep baby?"

"Mmm heavenly." She purred back at him, the smile still on her face, and stepped back as she caressed his with the back of her hand. Her blue eyes sparkled back at him, more than usual, and brought another cup of orange juice to her mouth, downing more of it. She then kissed his lips softly and giggled when he growled again, her hair flowing down her back in waves. "What's the matter, sweetie? Getting turned on by orange juice?" She teased with a wink.

"I'm getting turned on by your lips, the orange juice is just an added bonus." He growled, gently pulling her up against him. He smiled, kissing her again before taking a sip of her juice. "Mmmm…" He groaned, slowly licking his lips in her direction with those wicked green eyes gleaming back at her. Giggling, Chalice walked away from him, running her teeth across the bottom of his lip, and swayed her ass in his direction as she got some pots and pans out, deciding she needed breakfast. More like a craving and began stirring the pancake batter, grinning from ear to ear. Mark shook his head, sitting down at the table with his coffee and book, watching her. "Hungry?" He asked, arching an eyebrow when she dropped a huge puddle of batter in the pan, wondering if it was going to make her sick. The most important thing though was that she wasn't in the same mood she'd been in the previous day and Mark hoped to keep it that way throughout her entire pregnancy. Wishful thinking on his part, but a man could dream, couldn't he?

"Famished, sweetheart. I have a craving for breakfast." She responded happily, that same smile on her face, causing her to glow, and sighed as she started cooking. A knock sounded at the door, causing Chalice to stop what she was doing, and walked out of the kitchen to answer it.