Chapter Four | Careful Where You Tread

'The most dangerous untruths are truths moderately distorted.' – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Faking a pregnancy was like murdering someone and having their blood stained all over you. No matter how hard you scrubbed, you'd never get rid of the guilt or the blood in your clothes. Jake was feeling like that right now. He had told his mate he was warming to the idea, but in all truth he definitely was not. He always had the horrible feeling that something was going to go wrong, somehow someone was going to discover what they were up to, and they would be utterly humiliated.

And he was about to find out just how dangerous this lie could get.

"I just do not want a baby shower," Neytiri told Nikti as they came into the royal's lounge. Jake was already sitting there, and he slyly eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Please?" Nikti begged. "I had one. They are fun!"

"I just think they are..." Neytiri searched for the right word.

"Tacky?" Jake offered, looking at his mate.

Neytiri looked at her mate and nodded slowly. "Yes, what he said," she said to Nikti. Nikti rolled her topaz eyes.

"Please! Fine, it will not be a baby shower. What about just a fun get-together?" Nikti begged.

Neytiri sighed and looked at her friend with a shrewd look in her eyes. Nikti would never let this go and Neytiri didn't have the patience to argue it further. "Fine."

Nikti beamed and hugged her friend. "Alright! I am going to go plan. See you two later." After Nikti disappeared, Neytiri and Jake retired to their room. "Can you help me?" Neytiri asked. Jake nodded and lifted up her dress, undoing the clasp gently and letting Neytiri pull out the bundle of fabric that made her look like she was pregnant. Thank God we're in a room to ourselves, Jake thought. If someone saw them doing that, well, he didn't want to think about it. Neytiri stretched a little. "The great thing about this pregnancy is that my back does not ache and my feet do not swell."

Jake chuckled and kissed her softly. "Yes, and you won't have to go through the pain of labour." Neytiri smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him a little harder. Jake leant down to kiss her neck when she moved away. "Come on, we best get to bed. Any 'get-together' Nikti throws is very longwinded and very boring, and we need to make sure we do not fall asleep." Neytiri's prediction would unfortunately not prove to be true.

· · ·

Nikti, being an established get-together-planner, had the gathering up and ready by the next day. It was hosted just outside of Hometree, in the clearing, and every member of the clan was there, of course. The chirp of night dwellers in the forest and the beauty of the bioluminescent lights cast a beautiful glow on everyone, especially Neytiri. Jake found himself smiling with pride as he watched her, knowing she was his and how much he loved her. And in that glow of the forest, Neytiri looked like she was really pregnant; she looked absolutely radiant.

Just as Neytiri had predicted, it was very longwinded to start off with. Everyone wished Neytiri and Jake the best of luck, and some of Neytiri's close friends and family made speeches. As predicted, this was very longwinded, and it got even worse when Mo'at gave a speech and mentioned the traumas of Neytiri's breech birth, causing Neytiri to pale and make several of the audience members physically sick. Jake leaned over to his mate and said softly in her ear, "You never told me about that."

"I think you can see why," Neytiri pointed out, taking her hand off her belly to massage her temples gently. "Imagine hearing it for the first time on your sixteenth birthday."

After the speeches that made everyone drowsy, save for the one by Mo'at who made audience members queasy, the adults got to talking. Everyone came to try and rub Neytiri's belly, which made her uneasy, scared that they would shift some fabric, but she smiled along. The children, deciding they were bored, went to go practise with bows and arrows. One little boy, by the name of Palin, came and shook Jake's hand to get his attention. "Will you come watch us?" He asked with a smile. All the children loved attention from Jake, as he was always playing with them. Neytiri loved it when he did that. He was one of the only Omaticaya leaders who really interacted with the clan.

Jake smiled and ruffled his hair. "Aw, sorry little buddy. I have to stay here with the adults. But I can see you from here," Jake added when Palin's ears went down. Palin smiled again and then raced off. The moment he did, Jake's smile faded. Neytiri came over to him and squeezed his hand. "I don't trust his parents," Jake said softly to his mate.

"The Serlans?" Neytiri asked. "Why?"

"I don't know... I just feel they're up to something," Jake told his mate. Jake had every right to be concerned. Every family had their secrets, and though in the Omaticaya you couldn't hide anything, the Serlans were shiftier than most.

Neytiri frowned for a moment; she didn't like gossip or snitching on their friends, but she had to agree with her husband. She shook her head and took his elbow. "Come on," she said, steering him back to their friends. "And keep by me."

"It's not that I'm complaining, but why?"

"Everyone wants to rub my belly. It is annoying and worrying. Soon, they might realise that I am carrying a baby that does not kick," Neytiri said through gritted teeth.

Jake chuckled and led her over to where they were serving the food. "And I thought I was the one on edge," Jake smiled as he walked with her. A child's arrows were leaning against a nearby log while their owner went to get some food, at a dangerous ninety degree angle.
Neytiri rolled her eyes and elbowed him. "Shut up," she murmured, turning around to flick him with her tail in a scolding way. As she did so, she didn't notice the pile of arrows, nor notice when one scraped across her stomach, snagging onto one of the pieces of fabric and pulling it out of her, making her stomach deflate somewhat noticeably. No one noticed, except for Dieln.

The young healer came over to them. "Neytiri?" He said, bending down and picking up the piece of fabric. Neytiri and Jake paled. "You dropped something..."

"Oh crap," Neytiri murmured, her lips not moving, and with a low enough volume so only Jake heard. He didn't really think about the fact that this was the first time Neytiri had ever sworn, for he was too busy fretting.

Dieln looked at Neytiri with a slight frown. Neytiri knew that look. He was calculating, trying to figure this out. Neytiri swallowed quietly and opened her mouth to try and say something to cover this when Jake jumped to her rescue. "Well... her uterine wall isn't that strong, we've been told, and it's just an extra precaution," he smiled, wrapping his arms around Neytiri's shoulders. Neytiri quickly caught on and smiled, placing a hand on her mate's which was on her chest.

Dieln frowned. "All right..." He then shook it off and smiled, handing the fabric back hesitantly. "Well, I guess you'll need this." Neytiri gingerly took the fabric from him before Jake whisked her away. He dragged her fully away from the party and everyone's view, into the forest. Dieln's eyes followed them into the forest, like a palulukan watching its prey. "My God, that was just too close..." Jake breathed.

Neytiri sighed and leaned against a tree. "I know."

After Jake got his heart rate down, he looked at his mate. "'Oh crap'?" He asked with a bemused smile. "First time I've heard you swear, ever."

Neytiri gave a small laugh. "If stuff like this keeps happening... you will be hearing a lot more." Neytiri shook her head and quickly put the fabric back under her dress. "And ma Jake?" She asked.

"Yes?" He asked, looking into her topaz eyes.

Neytiri smiled and kissed him lovingly before patting his cheek and saying, "Leave the lies to me."

Jake frowned. "Oh sure, because you were just going to jump in and save us," he replied. "You've never lied in your life. I have."

Neytiri nodded. "True. But in all honesty, you are not a good liar."