Surprise 2

"Amrita, my mother had a twin pregnancy once, but one was not born. It is common in my family too. Sometimes one just disappears. It is just absorbed by the other." Kadir added. "The chance is really low though. It happens less often when the twins are not related fully." Kadir explained. He could hit himself, but she was in his l

 "Regardless, our family is growing quickly. We have hardly gotten to know each other. It would have been nice if we could had time to get to know each other, so I knew these things. " Nora said. Kadir stroked her hair affectionately. Cerez had been quietly absorbing the situation. He had a smile plastered on his face, twins did not run in his family. He did not have a younger sister. Halid had a vast empire that needed an heir. It was safe as long as the health conscious Vida was alive. When he became bound, he understood the pressure the Matriarchs were under now that he was witnessing Nora's life. She seemed happy, but she was a captive that had unfair expectations put upon her. He looked at the images on the monitor, his heart welling with love and protectiveness over Nora and their little growing family. Both of these could be his, it did not matter though. He would get his chance eventually.

She had thirty-two weeks left if there had not been any changes in evolution. Pregnancy could be longer, she already felt miserable and nervous the whole time with the questions spinning in her head. Was a pregnancy here typically short because of Morrits Syndrome. Would she encounter the same problems if they were female that other women in this world did. 

"Twin pregnancies are usually prone to complications." Nora said, thinking about how miserable her grandmother said her mother's pregnancy was. She was also having the same terrible morning sickness her aunt had with her cousins. 

"We will make sure you all are safe, we have better medicine than the North right?" Cerez broke his silence to encourage his spouse. He hated what his spouse was going through. Even the Uzuza that they fed her throughout the day did not do much for her vomiting. He had watched as she started to get a little thinner.

 "Mother is sending some traditional health tonics for you later, maybe they will make you feel a little better?" Cerez said, looking at the pale Nora. Vida had been rambunctiously researching old folk remedies since learning of her morning sickness. He wished she would ask for medicine.

"They sure are taking all of my energy," Nora said. She slid tiredly off the bed and approached the display of the scanner. "They look kind of ugly, huh." Nora said with a light chuckle. This was no ultrasound There looked like nightmarish creatures. Both of them were half her. She felt overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions looking at the display. She knew that fatherhood was different here and that they would all love the children. She was certain that she was the first British woman that wished her babies had different fathers. She stared at the screen transfixed at the image, her mood improving drastically as she chuckled. She zoomed in on each of them, zooming in on the areas of the screen that the Doctor had just highlighted on the screen. 

"Amazing. They thought my Great Matriarch was dead because they could not hear her heartbeat and only her sisters. You could only get a still and blurry image," Nora said as she meticulously admired their handy work. 

"The North was really behind in their technology. It must have been very hard when you were injured, " Liem said with some exasperation in his tone. He wondered about the abilities of her people if they were truly that far behind. 

"Yes, we were very behind. We lost a lot of it. My braces were a nightmare." Nora said, feeling homesick. She was lucky that she was so quickly found. If she had not stepped into that trap in her delirious search for people, she would have died of radiation poisoning. Her life was a gift already.

'Would her Father be happy about this? Probably not. Her grandparents would come to accept this in time. What had sent her here, was a massive wave of energy. She felt how irradiated she was. She had only survived because of the medical technology available. If they had survived that, they probably thought she was dead and had a memorial service. The weird phenomena that transported her would have killed anyone.The area would be toxic. It was probably gone.' she thought. 

"Do you miss home?" Kadir asked. 

"I do miss it. There is nothing there for me now, nobody left that I loved. No one from my clan can be happy for me. You are all I have. It is just lonely. I have no one to show me how to be a mother or how to do this." Nora responded morosely. Kadir, Cerez and Liem all simultaneously frowned upon hearing that. They could not imagine what she had gone through. She sounded depressed. 

"Then we will be your home and we will be your family. Forget the things that bring you grief. We will soon fill your mind with happy memories," Cerez said. Chimes went off in their ears incessantly. Nora heard her own. She sniffled and laughed. 

"I suppose that is your Mother's wondering about the scans," Nora said. Breaking the hug, she flicked her wrist to open the Interface and viewed the messages. "You can tell them, if you would like to." Nora said. There was no point of keeping this secret anymore. She would find out about it, the family owned Sacred Tree. Liem had no problem with his Mom's behavior. She could not widen the obvious rift between them just because she was upset. She was the opposite of Allurai and let the men communicate and manage Clan Quill. She was never the type to be on social networking anyway. Her spouses all opened their Interfaces and tapped their Interfaces against the scanners display.

 'Oh neat, I was worried about not getting a copy' Nora thought. She swiped her Interface and smiled at the tiny image on her screen. She wished she had one of these machines at home. The family of four filed out of the room and took an elevator to their transport. Her ear heard the familiar chime. Nora felt a wave of dizziness hit her and then hunger. She was not coping well with the nausea and was barely able to keep what she ate down. Her interface alerted her that her blood glucose was low. 

"I need to eat something, I am not doing well." She said, wishing that she was able to keep breakfast down. Liem looked at his pale spouse and picked her up into his arms. 

"If you keep walking expending your remaining energy like this, you will probably fall, Nora. Just rest your head against me," Liem said as they exited the elevator. Heads turned and men stopped in their tracks. A Matriarch was a very uncommon sight. Cerez and Kadir flanked Liem, both of them very conscious of it. A man stopped before them, temporarily stopping the group. 

"The Northerner? I thought I would never see you again," Jarrad said aloud. A smile spread unknowingly on his face. He touched it, puzzled. Where were these feelings coming from?

'Oh shit.' Liem thought as he heard her being identified by one of the three Gimmel that had been given positions at Sacred Tree. 'Is he going to be a problem? Or will she figure it out from his actions?' Liem pondered.

"Please move, we cannot stop to talk with you at the moment. Perhaps next time?" Kadir said, his voice was booming by nature.

'What am I thinking?' Jarrad sidestepped understanding he was grateful that he was so polite to him. He let them through, but he continued to follow them. 

"Matriarch, it's me, Jarrad from Izaberne? I healed your leg." Jarrad yelled, trying to keep up. "What are you here for, I can help!" Jarrad said as he panted as he tried to keep up. He felt like he was losing his reason. He barely knew her. She would not remember him.

"We do not need any help, thank you," Kadir said. He deplored having to use his size, violence or punitive threats against people. 

"Who is Jarrad and why is he following us like that?" Nora weakly asked, her voice tinged with fear. It was really weird. Why would she recollect someone she interacted with when she was sedated? 

"He was one of your doctors at Izaberne Station, I do not know why he decided to follow. Maybe he is a fan of yours?" Liem explained, calmly. 

"Thank you for what you did and your offer, but I would just like to go home." Nora said. "Why is he here?" Nora whispered to Liem. 

"It is common for staff to transfer assignments." Liem lied to Nora and looked at Cerez with a very concerned look.

"Use restraint with the amount of force you use if you have to deter him when we board." Liem said he picked up his pace to a brisk walk. 

"Alright." Cerez said, apparently they were getting a preview of the response she received. He noticed heads turning. He did not want to scare her by acknowledging it. The man was following desperately. "Let's pick up the pace." Cerez said as he looked back to the puzzled man who was running to keep up behind them, disturbed greatly by this man's enthusiasm. He was like a Dron in a paddock next to a breeding female. There was no chance for him. They hurried their way to the lot and opened the doors in advance. They walked into the transport and closed the door quickly using the emergency lever.

"Get this thing moving." Liem said and growled grumpily, frustrated that they had let their guard down going to this hospital. It was his oversight. He should have checked the staff register as he was making their itinerary for the day. Jarrad watched the Allari transport shut. He felt his obsession that brought him to Callor reawaken and turned around to walk into the hospital. That is right, the Forum news. She was healthy, she was pregnant. Jarrad began to knock on the door, nervously snapping out of the seeming stupor and panicked. 

 "I didn't mean to disturb you or scare you. Please. Do not deduct." Jarrad shouted over the metallic gears and clamps disengaging. Jarrad nervously swallowed as the transport departed and quickly flew away. Men were looking at him. Jarrad raked his face in regret. He was curious as to why he had behaved in such a risky manner. 

'That was a clan Allari transport with three very important Alphem males.' Jarrad questioned his sanity. He felt immensely concerned for her when he saw her in her spouse's arms. His job was a job for him. He could not say it was a physical attraction. He was happy with his new partner. It had been over eight cycles since she left Izaberne, he thought he would be able to let it all go once her discharge was completed, and she was out of his care. It took him days of not sleeping to request the transfer into the city. By the time he had arrived, he received a communication from the new Administrator of Izaberne Station Hospital. He inquired about all the staff that had left with him to Callor. He dismissed it as coincidental. He chose to work in Izaberne as it was a position that had a high rate of enumeration and would allow him to study again from the merit points. 

'Is there something unique about her or did I lose my mind?' Jarrad was full of thought. The climate and weather in Izaberne limited the amount of leisure activities. Taking care of poisoned and injured workers took a mental toll on a person. It was common for people to change positions after a refit and the new administrator was probably just panicking. The environment grows upon you and the first wave of patients was always harder. When he got his new job at Sacred Tree as a Researcher, he found three of his other colleagues on his same team along with some really attractive Bitas. He was happily dating one. At least he was certain that she was still in Callor. There was definitely something to these arrangements and something interesting that he had just put together. Inside the cab of the transport Liem exchanged a worried look with his spouses. 

Liem stroked Nora's hair. Nora, luckily, was able to mistake the worry over her for just some nervous father. She fell asleep on the bench in Liem's arms. The men sat quietly as the transport made its way to the Allari Housing Complex, their nerves frayed. When they got home, they found Dorien waiting outside the building. Liem exchanged a knowing look to Kadir. Kadir gladly scooped Nora up from Liem's lap. She woke up briefly and smiled, looking into his face. Kadir gave her a warm smile back. 

 "Hey Kadir, why not take her in for a nap and I will start on her meal." Cerez instructed. 

"I will follow Cerez inside then," Kadir said to Liem. The men silently waited for the three to disappear inside. Liem's face switched to a cold facade. Dorien's brows furrowed as he looked at his son. This was new. He was supposed to be getting happy news from his son.