I didn't see Ian for the rest of the day. This worried me because it wasn't like him. Except for when chores split us up, we were practically inseparable. I didn't see him at all at lunch. Mel found me dolefully staring at my soup, ripping up pieces of a roll and tossing it into the mix.
"Hey don't be so glum," she chided, coming down to sit with me at my empty table.
"What?" I looked up, torn away from my worried thoughts.
"I promise everything is going to be fine. More then fine. It will be great," she said knowingly. I met her with a confused expression.
"What do you mean..?" I questioned.
"Oh nothing!" she laughed. I exhaled loudly, more confused then before.
"Hey Wanda, hey Mel!" Jamie said cheerfully, sliding onto the bench across from us. I simply nodded in response.
"Heya Jamie, how was class today?" Mel asked casually. Too casually. Jamie made a face.
"Sharon was awful. I don't know what her deal is." Mel chuckled.
"What else is new? But I guess she isn't all that pleased with what's going on today…" she trailed off.
"What's going on?" I asked, doubting I'd get a straight answer.
"Nothing," They both responded too quickly. Mel gave Jamie a pointed look and they both stopped talking. I watched them both completely bewildered. Eventually the silence was filled with mindless banter from Jamie about what he learned today. I wasn't paying much attention until I noticed what was on Mel's plate. There were two different sandwiches. The first, which she was currently eating, had peanut butter and ketchup on it. The second had tuna salad and cheese whiz on it. Was it possible for this day to get even weirder? I think so. Mel absolutely hated mixing food types together. What was going on here?
I took a closer look, examining her to see if anything was different. I couldn't see much of a difference. She had the same, healthy look on her face. Her skin was the same tan shade as usual. She appeared to be acting normal and happy apart from the weirdness of today.
Then I noticed something. There were two very different and out of place things that I may not have recognized if I myself had not lived in that body for an extended period of time. The first were the dark circles under her eyes which shouldn't have existed. Mel normally slept great whenever Jared was around. The second was the slight bulge in her belly. Mel was the last person I knew who was prone to gaining weight, especially on the amount of food that we eat here in the caves. However because I am a soul, I still had no idea what this all meant until I recalled several memories from when I used to share a body with Mel. I let out a small gasp, staring agape at her. She met my expressing begrudgingly, reading my thoughts.
"Hey Jamie, can you go find Jared? He was supposed to be here by now…" Mel lied skillfully.
"Why can't you go get him, I'm eating," Jamie retorted.
"Please?" Mel asked nicely, batting her eyes jokingly.
"Oh fine," Jamie got up with a laugh and left the table to simply Mel and I.
"Mel…" I started hesitantly.
"Yes…?" she said heavily, already knowing what I was about to say.
"Are you pregnant?" I asked quietly so that only she could hear me.
"Yeah…" she confessed, setting down her sandwich, "I'm actually surprised it took you this long to figure out."
"How long have you…?" I inquired.
"Two or three months, give or take. I actually don't know exactly. But around that." She was having a hard time looking me in the eye, still unsure of my reaction to all of this.
"Does Jared know yet?" I wondered aloud.
"I think so. He hasn't said anything yet, but he's smart as anything and I'm sure he's figured it out already. I can't hide anything from him. Or you apparently." I finally caught her eyes, and behind all that fear and uncertainty I saw something else: joy. I broke into a smile.
"I'm really happy for you," I finally stated.
"Really?" A small smile finally beginning to overtake her face as well.
"Yeah. Of course. The only thing I'm worried about is how much the baby will be like its parents. I couldn't imagine anyone more strong-willed then you and Jared, nonetheless the both of you combined," I teased. We both laughed, easing back into comfortable chatter. Jamie eventually rejoined us without Jared. This didn't seem to bother Mel. I had the feeling she knew where he was anyway. Probably with Ian or something. Eventually Jamie skipped off to class.
"Well hey, I have to get back to work soon, Wanda," Mel finally said.
"You probably shouldn't be doing heavy work since you're pregnant. I mean yeah, I don't know that much about the human body, but that still doesn't sound like a good idea," I interjected.
"You're probably right…" she digressed. "Well I'm going to the latrines first and then maybe I'll take a nap or something."
"I'll come with you," I decided, standing up. I wanted to make sure she was actually going to do it.
"Uhm…" she mumbled nervously, "Let's go pee down in the game room."
"What?" I asked in surprise, eyebrows upraised.
"It will be more fun that way," she said with a wink. Okay the hormones were kicking in. I could definitely tell now. But I just agreed and went with it. Mel was the one who was being weird anyway, and it didn't make that much of a difference anyway. So she peed in the dark game room and then I walked her to her room to make sure she lied down.
"Now don't go off and try to work," I warned.
"Hah. I'm not you Wanda. I don't have a strange passion for working like you do. You're too good sometimes, you know that?" She teased off handedly. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to you later." And with that I headed back into the kitchen. Mel was going to be exceedingly interesting to handle as the hormones got worse, I was sure.
I didn't see Ian until about half an hour before dinner. I was in the kitchen just taking a batch of rolls out of the oven when I felt a muscular pair of large arms wrap around my waist from behind. I knew who it was in a moment, even before he nuzzled his face into my long hair and kissed me softly on the neck. I giggled, all previous worries and fears completely evaporating in the warmth of his touch.
"Well hello there Ian," I said happily, setting down the rolls and then turning around in the embrace to face him. His dark, jet black hair had flakes of purple volcanic-rock dust in it. The same material coated every inch of his pale skin. His midnight eyes glowed brightly.
"Hello Wanda," Ian said with affection.
"Why are you covered in dust?" I inquired.
"You'll see soon enough," He said, the grin on his face growing impossibly larger. "I think I'm going to go take a bath really fast before dinner. Do you mind waiting up for me to eat?"
"Of course not," I replied.
"Good. Thank you love." With a kiss on the cheek he darted off. I couldn't help but let the tenderness of the moment overtake me. Ian is the kindest, gentlest, most wonderful human I know. Would he ever realize how much like a soul he is? I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I almost didn't even notice Sunny quietly watching me from the other side of the room.
"Oh hey Sunny, what's up?" I asked, finally seeing her there.
"Nothing really." She said simply.
"Where's Kyle at?" I wondered, confused that he wasn't with Sunny, as usual. Then again today was a day filled with the unusual.
"Finishing up something with Jared…" She said deliberately. Sunny was a worse liar then me. I let out a huff, knowing that even if I did grill her for the answer, she wouldn't break. We spent the next few minutes in silence, helping set up for dinner.
"You're really lucky, you know that?" Sunny said out of the blue.
"What do you mean?" I queried, surprised at her forwardness.
"Ian loves you so much. He doesn't love the body you're in, or the person your host used to be. He loves you, Wanderer the soul, the small alien fused in the back of your host's head. Do you know what I would give to have Kyle feel that way about me? I see you and Ian every day, I see the way he looks at you, and all I can see is his unconditional love for you. How does that even happen? Is that supposed to happen? You guys are completely different species. I feel like, at least for me, that can't happen. Yeah Kyle likes keeping me around, but what if all of a sudden Jodi comes back? Then I mean nothing. I'll just be an unwanted parasite and… and…" Sunny was approaching hysteria now, glistening tears welling in her dark eyes.
"Aww Sunny," I said softly, putting down what I was doing and wrapping her in a hug. Sunny broke down, burying her head into my shoulder and sobbed. We stood there for a few minutes as I let her cry it out, until the tears eventually subsided into sniffles.
"I feel like I have no idea how much time I have left." She whispered fearfully. I rubbed her back gently, trying to calm her down. The silence grew.
"Look Sunny," I finally began, "I know exactly how you feel. That's what it was like when I was in Mel's body. For the longest time all I wanted was Jared. I loved him. I still do. No where near in the same way, the way I feel about Ian now is ten times stronger then the way I ever felt about Jared. That's because I fell in love with Ian by myself, not with any influence of a host body. I know that it's hard, but look on the bright side. Right now those aren't decisions you have to be facing. It's true you never know how much time you have, but I look at it that you need to just enjoy the time you're given and don't worry about what hasn't happened yet. What might never happen."
"Easy for you to say…"she mumbled, "Ian is so kind and sweet and loving to you, it's easy to see that you can never doubt that."
"Sunny, that's not true. I feel like everyday shouldn't be happening. How in the world did I end up here in a cave full of another species, and yet have never felt more at home in my life? I know that I can't take any of this for granted. What happens will happen, and you can't control that. Try not to get too worked up about all of this," I finished.
"I guess…" she muttered quietly. I sighed. Human emotions were probably the most temperamental and nonsensical thing I have ever encountered in all my lives. I decided that there wasn't much I could do at this point but to stand and watch the world go by. Hopefully Sunny would realize that too.
A/N So this chapter was going to be longer, but I didn't want to combine the next part with this. You'll see why :) Thank you to all you lovely people who reviewed. It made my day. You guys are awesome and encourage me to keep writing.
Lots of love, Bae (Bright Auburn Eyes)