CHAPTER TWELVE:
PREGNANT PAUSES

Needless to say, Pleakley kept himself very busy for the next few hours, scrubbing the house spotless just so he wouldn't have to face his parents. How could he face either of them when the very thought of it conjured up haunting mental pictures of his own mother in bed with that man? It nearly made him sick to his stomach. He hadn't been so mortified since the day Leera told him she'd been raped. Or when he'd found out that Vay had once stooped to turning tricks just to keep him alive. Of course, this was nothing like those times, nowhere near as horrifying when you stopped to think about it, but for some reason it sure felt that way.

He hadn't realized it, but Vay, Kirk, and even Gidgel had been keeping their distance from him. They all knew something of the shock he was in, and decided it best to just let him alone to deal with it in his own way until at least some of that shock wore off. Leera hadn't heard the confrontation outside, but she'd seen her husband slamming the back door and rushing past her to either the bathroom or their bedroom. She wasn't sure which, and she didn't bother to check on him. Somehow she knew too that it would be best to give him a little space for the time being, and that most likely she would get a more detailed explanation for his behavior from Vay.

Outside, under a canopy of palm fronds, she found Vay and Gidgel sitting in a hammock and Kirk perched on the top step that led up to it. They all seemed strangely subdued, but they all looked up when they heard her approach. Heavy with her unborn child, Leera waddled up the steps of the wooden platform underneath the hammock. Seeing her struggle, Kirk stood up and offered his hand, helping her up.

"Thank you," she panted.

Vay climbed out of the hammock. "Come take a load off your feet," she said, surrendering her seat to her daughter-in-law. With some difficulty (and help), Leera managed to get into the hammock. Gidgel moved down to one end of it, giving Leera extra space to stretch herself out and lay down.

"I'd forgotten how cozy this thing is," Leera sighed. "I think I could fall asleep on it."

Vay sat down next to Kirk, though not close enough so as to invite anything more than casual, platonic conversation. A moment later, Leera's sharp intake of breath drew the attention of the other Plorginarians. Gidgel, who was nearest, leaned over her and asked, "What is it? What hurts?"

Leera lifted her head up to look at him levelly and wrapped an arm around her lower abdomen. "Nothing. It was just — the baby kicked just now. Really hard. It didn't hurt so much as it surprised me." Though she sounded calm, her face was tightened with a pained look, and she did not meet Gidgel's eye.

Vay stood next to the hammock. "You sure you're alright, then? You don't exactly look comfortable in this hammock. Do you want to get down?"

Leera shook her head. "No. I'm fine. But I'd like to just stay and rest for a few minutes. It's nice right here, and it was hard enough just climbing into this thing, so I think I'll stay for a while. You guys don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," Gidgel said before Vay could. "The more, the merrier. So just kick back and relax."

Leera winced a little and laid back in the hammock. "Speaking of 'kick,'" she muttered, "baby's having a field day."

Gidgel was still hovering over her. He held a hand out, palm down, over her belly. "May I?" he asked, and she nodded, taking his hand and guiding it to where the baby's movements were strongest. Leera winced a little when it kicked again, and Gidgel's face mirrored hers.

"Wow! This kid's pretty powerful. I don't remember Wendy ever kicking like that."

Vay leaned in close and put a hand out to feel for the baby too. "Wow is right! Yeah, Wendy hardly ever moved, and especially not like that. He'd lay still for days at a time. Sometimes I was worried that he…" she trailed off, here eye locking with Leera's. "Of course, he wasn't the healthiest baby, but it feels like this one's going to be." She smiled warmly at her daughter-in-law. Leera smiled back, her eye drifting past Vay to Kirk, who was sitting a few feet away on the step.

"Would you like to feel, too, Mr. Skirmish?"

Kirk looked like he had been struck by lightning. "Really? You'd let me?"

"Of course. It's your grandchild, too."

Kirk opened his mouth again, but for once he found himself speechless. A moment later he was standing beside Vay, letting Leera take his hand and direct it to the right spot. When he felt the kick, he gasped and quickly pulled his hand out from under hers.

"Wow," he muttered, staring in amazement at where his hand had been. "Wow."

Leera held her hand out to him. "Here. You can feel it turning over right here."

Hesitantly, he let her take his hand again. This time he willed himself to keep it in place. The look on his face as he felt the stirring of new life within was a mixture of fear and fascination. When he looked up at Leera, he pulled his features into a smile for her. "I've never done this before," he confessed, hoping his face didn't look as flushed as it felt. "It's amazing. And — beautiful." Leera returned his smile.

Then she remembered why she'd come outside. She looked at Vay, "I was going to ask you… what's up with Wendy this morning? He seems upset about something."

"He didn't tell you?"

"I didn't ask."

"Oh." Vay glanced around at Kirk and Gidgel as though searching for a clue. "Well, let's just say he found out something he wasn't supposed to know about."

"Oh?" Leera looked at her mother-in-law curiously. Vay blushed slightly. Kirk blushed too and backed away to his seat on the step.

"Well, what happened was, I spent the night with Kirk last night and — Wendy's not too happy about that."

For a moment there, Leera's face mirrored Pleakley's previous shock. "Oh," was all she said, but she was obviously not upset by this revelation. A little stunned, but definitely not appalled like her husband was. "So, what, now he's not talking to you or what?"

"I'm not sure," Vay replied. "But I have a feeling he's going to hold the bigger grudge against Kirk. Right now I'm just giving him his space and some time to come to terms with what happened."

"He didn't walk in on you guys, did he?" Leera asked.

"No," Vay replied, glancing at Gidgel. "He just overheard us talking about it."

Leera looked down at her belly. "Humm. Well, I think he'll get over it fairly quickly. He's just such a drama queen at times. Like all of life's a soap opera or something. And I don't think he'd ever hold anything against you, Mom. He loves you too much."

Vay swelled with pleasure hearing Leera call her Mom. She'd only just started using that title for her mother-in-law about six months ago, on her wedding day. Before that it had been just Vay, and before that it had been Miss Pleakley.

"I do wish he'd stop being so cold to his dad. I mean, if you can forgive him, then why can't he?"

Vay sighed and shrugged. Kirk looked at Leera with an appreciative smile.

"I don't blame him," he said. "I'd hate my guts too if I were my father and I'd done to me what I'd done to him. Wait… did that make sense?"

Leera giggled and nodded. "Well, I've only known you for one day and I don't think you're all that bad. I can even kinda see where Wendy gets it from."

Kirk looked at her curiously. "Define 'it.'"

This time Leera blushed. "Oh, well… 'it' actually covers a lot of things. Mostly things I don't think he got from his mom."

Kirk grinned impishly. "You mean his rugged sensuality and manly charm?"

Leera laughed. "No. I mean his fragile sensitivity and feminine charm!" Vay and Gidgel laughed, too. Kirk looked puzzled and somewhat embarrassed.

"And you think he got that from me?"

Leera smiled, looking fondly at her belly while giving it an affectionate stroke. "He certainly got something good from someone," she purred, and though one couldn't be absolutely certain of what she was implying, it was enough to make both Vay and Kirk reconsider each other for a moment.

"Oh!" Leera gasped, holding her belly tight. "I think Baby agrees with that. Wowie, that was a sharp one."

"Still kicking?" Vay asked. Leera nodded.

"It's a bit lower this time. Down here," she said, rubbing her lower abdomen. Vay and Gidgel both felt it in turn, but Kirk stayed back. Leera noticed this.

"You can feel, too, if you want, Mr. Skirmish. You don't have to wait for an invitation. Come feel."

Kirk's smile was a relieved one. He stepped up to the hammock again and gingerly touched her belly. The baby's movements were slower but still strong, and in its new position, every little movement could be seen as well as felt. Kirk beamed with pleasure when he felt his grandchild move. He felt it move away from where his hand was and he slid his hand down further to find it again. It took him a moment to realize that his hand was now at the underside of her belly, just above the pelvic region. He blushed and started to pull his hand away.

"It's alright," Leera assured him, and his hand stayed, seeking out the gyrations of the restless baby within. Leera sat up a little and said, "Put your head right here. You might be able to hear it's heartbeats."

Kirk obeyed and laid his head gently against her belly, next to his hand. A few seconds passed before his eye lit up with excitement. "I hear it! That's incredible!" He pressed himself a little closer to hear better.

"What the hell— ?"

Kirk yanked himself away from Leera's belly just as Pleakley came storming up the steps toward the hammock. He backed up to the edge of the platform, trying to keep a safe distance between himself and his irate son. Not that that did any good. When Pleakley reached the platform, he got right in Kirk's face as he demanded to know what he had been doing to his wife.

Vay grabbed her son's arm and gave it a firm tug backward. "Wendy! You're being ridiculous! Kirk didn't do anything to Leera that she didn't allow him to do! And Gidgel and I were here the whole time! Do you really think we'd let him try anything like that?"

Pleakley yanked his arm out of her grasp and just stared at her, his face hard to read as several emotions fought for dominance on it. Then he looked at Leera, and his expression was clearly incredulous. "You let him touch you like that?"

"Like what?" Leera asked calmly. "He was just feeling the baby kick and listening to its heartbeats. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing," Pleakley admitted, "But that's not what it looked like from where I was standing."

"What did you think he was doing?" Leera demanded before she realized she already knew the answer. "Never mind."

"Well, I still don't trust him," Pleakley said to her, but quite loud enough for Kirk to hear him too. Either he didn't notice the sudden hurt look on Kirk's face, or he didn't care. "Especially after last night." These words he spoke directly toward Kirk, glaring straight at him as he did so.

"What happened last — ," Leera started, but realized she knew the answer to that one too. "Never mind."

Pleakley looked at her suddenly, a slight hint of panic on his face. "Did Mom tell you?" he squeaked. She nodded. He groaned.

"Now you know what I mean about not trusting this man. He's — "

"Wendy," Vay interrupted, and the tone of her voice made his own voice die in his throat. "This really has to stop, you know. You can't just go on hating his guts for the rest of your life."

"Wanna bet?"

"Look, you're not even giving him a chance. It's like you're desperately trying to find more things to hold against him. And you know what? It's pathetic. If anyone has any reason to be mad at Kirk, it's me, and I'm not mad at him. But right now I'm mad at you. Every blow you aim at Kirk hurts me, too. I've come to forgive him, so why can't you?" Her words softened to a near whisper at the end of her speech, and she glanced over at Leera, whose simple words had inspired it.

After a long moment in which he appeared to be struggling with himself, Pleakley spoke. "How? How can you forgive him, Mom? Has he paid you back for all the money and work it cost to take care of me? Or did he just give you a simple verbal apology and that's enough for you?" His words were sharp, but Vay let them slide.

She sighed. "It's complicated, but I have my reasons to forgive him."

Pleakley snorted and looked away. "So he was that good last night."

Furious, Vay jerked her hand back as though she was going to slap him, but Gidgel was closer. With surprising strength, he grabbed Pleakley's arm and twisted it, throwing him to the floor of the platform. Pleakley landed on his stomach and immediately flopped over on his back, expecting a second attack. His uncle stood over him, holding up an odd yet dangerous looking tool he had pulled from his belt. Pleakley recognized it as something he often used to cut through the steel hulls of wrecked ships to salvage parts that were otherwise only reachable if the ship was completely disassembled. He knew it had other uses, too. He cringed, terrified of what his uncle could do with such a tool. He had never seen him so angry.

"Don't you EVER talk to your mother like that again,"Gidgel growled through gritted teeth. Pleakley shuddered. He couldn't stand the burn of his uncle's glare so he looked away, only to lock eyes with his mother. Vay just stared at him, her eye wide and moist, as though she were about to cry. Her expression was the picture definition of 'stunned.' And stunned she was: stunned by what her own son had said, and stunned by her brother's fierce defensiveness on her behalf.

Pleakley couldn't stand it anymore. Blitznak, what was he doing? He couldn't go on like this. But things had been so perfect before Kirk had come along, and everyone was blaming him? It was unreal. But he couldn't deny it any longer. He'd hurt his mother far worse than he ever thought he could hurt someone he loved. Sure, there was always room for mistakes, but what he'd done was hardly a mistake. No. He'd wanted to hurt her, wanted to make her feel, just for a moment, the pain he'd been feeling himself… the pain he'd thought had been her doing… when all along it was the very pain he had been inflicting on himself.

Pleakley climbed to his feet and, ignoring his wife's pleas, ran sobbing back into the house.

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Hurray for updates! And hurray for tension! This is turning into a regular soap opera, isn't it, folks? Inner turmoil XD YUMMY! I just hope I'm not driving my readers off with all the angst. Don't worry. It's about to turn around. I think I'm on another roll here, so hopefully I'll have at least one more chapter up by the end of this week. Of course, I'm not making any promises, because I don't even trust myself to keep them!

BIG thankies to all my readers for your generous reviews! You have no idea how rewarding reviews are to me. Although I can't help wondering what happened to half my audience. I had a much larger following with the first "Pleakley's Story." Ah, well. Extra thanks to you all who have been keeping up with me and following my stories so avidly. I hope it's not too much of me to ask some of you to possibly give reviews for individual chapters, other than just reading the whole story so far and then just posting one brief review. I like to know what specifically makes you all laugh, cry, happy, angry, horrified, excited, etc. Or just what you thought about a particular chapter. Complaints and criticisms are welcomed also, of course. It can help me out in the future as I continue to write these stories.

Note to Spiritofdawolf: I have no idea what happened to your first post. I don't recall ever seeing it. Sorry. Also, I didn't understand your questions. If you want them answered, please try to clarify, and I will answer what I can up front without giving away future plotlines.

Note to mostextreameprincess: Based on what I've seen and heard in the series, and especially after the most recent episode, "Retro," I think I can safely say that Plorginarians do indeed have teeth.