Slow Way Home
Chapter 34

[Day 42 of 45]

Leonard McCoy entered the rooms he'd been sharing with Gaila. Her own quarters she'd given over to a Vulcan couple so they wouldn't be separated. So she was living with him which – while it should have been odd because they'd been together just over three months it didn't.

Entering he felt tired, drained. He'd been up probably forty hours and counting but people kept getting hurt and sick. He was needed. If it was a normal mission they wouldn't need him so much but dammit, it wasn't normal. It was way beyond the realms of normal. He wanted to go to sleep, to get some much needed rest.

That idea was shot straight to hell in a hand basket when he heard the familiar sound of retching coming from the bathroom.

All exhaustion fled from him as he hurried to the bathroom where he found Gaila puking up her guts, her red hair falling around her face. He reached out to pull it back so it didn't get vomit in it. He clipped it back quickly before rubbing her back.

After a moment or two her vomiting turned to dry heaves.

"I'm giving you a check up, no arguments," Bones told his girlfriend of three months who nodded while groaning. He felt worried but they cleaned her up as best they could while getting her dressed. The trek to the infirmary had never felt so long as it did then. She was obviously sickly, her darker green toned skin pale and she felt clammy to the touch.

Getting her into the infirmary he sat her on a biobed. From there he grabbed a scanner and started to examine his girlfriend.

It took him a moment to notice that her pheromones were nearly nonexistent. Even with her monthly suppressant hypospray left some of her pheromones active at all times. That fact alone worried him. He began running more tests, searching for a source.

"What's wrong?" Gaila asked having noticed his expression.

"Something is negating your pheromone production," he stated while searching for a cause. He knew medicine about a lot of different species but he couldn't remember anything that could completely negate an Orion Female's pheromones.

He knew that Gaila was half Orion, Half Human, hence the red hair. He also knew the males of the species had become immune to the pheromones of the females. It had been slowly accruing and shortly after humans met with Orions the men took control and really did use them as the Slaves they'd originally pretended to be. Without partial suppressors it was dangerous for most species to be around an Orion because they brought out aggression. But he knew of nothing that would completely negate their pheromone production.

Gaila's hand grabbed his and she looked ready to be sick again. He grabbed a bucket and handed it to her. She shook her head.

"As a signal to the species… we stop producing pheromones while pregnant," Gaila whispered. His eyes widened and he immediately lowered the scanner to the area of her womb. As he did he found it. A fetus.

While he didn't have a lot of knowledge with pregnancy he'd studied up on it when he befriended Gaila, just in case. He'd done the same for Vulcans when he befriended Jim and the twins. He knew Orions, on average, were pregnant for only twenty weeks. However, Gaila was half human and without knowing when she conceived they couldn't tell whether the pregnancy was going to be like an Orion or a Human.

"I… I was a few days late getting my Hypo," she whispered. "We'd barely seen each other for more than two minutes at a time so it shouldn't have been a big deal. I shouldn't be pregnant. It shouldn't have happened." Her voice was squeaking now and it sounded like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

"Breathe Gaila," he told her soothingly, hands on her shoulders while he looked into her beautiful eyes. He believed he knew when she conceived. It had to have been the first time he had a good shift off – which was about three weeks before. If one counted in the time it took for ovulation which added a week and a half to two weeks she was approximately five weeks pregnant by human standards.

Stepping back she looked at him but he toyed with the medical scanner. With it zoomed in he had to focus on the fetus. Realizing he was rusty.

"Vera, could you come here," he called and she nodded while leaving the patient she'd just finished with. "You're a family practitioner, correct?" she nodded. "Could you give a rough estimate of how far along the fetus is?"

"Congratulations," Vera said with barely a glance. Gaila's hand grabbed his while the Doctor looked at the fetus. "I'd say about six, maybe seven weeks for a human. Three and a half for an Orion." Gaila breathed.

"Thank you," he called after her as she left to go check on another Patient. "Gaila, everything will be alright."

"I… what do I do?" Gaila asked Bones who shook his head.

"Whatever you choose, I will stand by you," Leonard reassured her.

"Even if we breakup?" Gaila asked and he nodded though he hoped that didn't happen.

"Even then. So long as you don't become Jocelyn," he told her and she chuckled with a watery smile. "I promise, this baby – if you keep it – will always have me."

"Can we go to our quarters?" she asked and he nodded. Then they stood up. His mind spun at the idea he was going to be a father again. He knew he was almost head over heels for Gaila – probably had been since before they got together. And he knew he'd love their child. It was fast but he was cautiously happy.

[And three more chapters. I hope you aren't too disappointed. While Jim can't get pregnant Gaila can. But do you think it's too fast? Anyways, I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with me so far. I know I'm not the most regular at updating and I apologize for that. And I promise my next update will be late next Friday or Saturday… no later. And a special shout out to ptl4ever419, beauty0102, MirrorFlower and DarkWind, and Seacat03 for your reviews. Thank you again…]