=Max=
When I wake up I'm alone in bed. It's still dark in the room and outside, but there is light coming from the bathroom. As I get out of bed I hear the distinct sound of retching. Oh, ew. I didn't think Eric had that much to drink.
I open the bathroom door and Eric is sitting next to the toilet, holding on tight. He doesn't seem to realise I'm here until I'm kneeling right next to him.
"How long have you been up?" I touch his arm, his skin feels almost like ice.
"I don't know." His eyes get wide and he leans up, but then slumps down again. He closes his eyes, his breathing careful.
I pull a towel from the heater and wrap it around him. Then I sit on the edge of the bath, looking at him.
"Don't stare at me." His voice is weak as he tries to glare at me. "Sorry, don't mean to. Just wondering what I can do for you." I reach
out to him but he holds up his hand, his body tensing up for a moment. "I don't know. I'm not feeling too well. Like my insides are fighting
against me. I might even have a fever." He looks at his hands, his knuckles white from how hard he is squeezing. "Sorry for complaining."
"If you even feel half as crappy as you look, I totally understand." I reach out, touching his clammy face. "You feeling like you're not gonna
puke any more?"
"Uhg. I think I'm empty." He tries to get up but doesn't get very far. I grab him and hold him close, his body weak against mine. I sit him down on the toilet because he definitely can't stand on is own two feet. I
turn around and run the bath, nice and warm, hopefully that will make him feel better.
"Why are you-? I just want to get back to bed." Eric tries to stand up, but I catch him right before he falls.
"I think it's better if you keep warm, a bath is a better idea." At least it would help with the feelings of fever. "Come on." I pull him up and help him get into the bath, then I slide in behind him, holding him. The bath is big enough for the two of us together, but just barely.
Eric sighs and snuggles in. "That feels better."
"Good." I keep my arms around him, keeping him close, reminding him I'm here, even when he's going through whatever this is.
"I didn't think I had that much to drink. And if you're fine, it couldn't have been the food." Eric's voice is steady now, his body relaxing against mine.
"Yeah, I don't think that is what it is either." I have no clue what is
going on with him, I just know that it can't have been food or alcohol.
I hold onto him tight and he's soon back asleep, fully relaxed in my arms. My mind is going over all the possibilities. Maybe it was just something he ate differently than me, or maybe he pushed his body too far last night. Maybe even… My bite? That shouldn't make a difference, humans shouldn't get sick from a bite, definitely not when I'm in human form too and certainly not from me. I care about my health, if I had been ill I would have known it. I don't know, maybe he is allergic to my spunk?
That would be really bad.
I drain some of the water and pour in warm water again, heating up the bath more. Eric stays asleep the whole time and I'm tempted to close my eyes too.
It only takes seconds, but I'm gone, asleep.
***
I open the door to my room, Eric is sitting on the bed, blankets wrapped around him. He looks slightly better than he did this morning, getting some colour back on his cheeks. I hold up his bag.
"Got it. They did look a bit funny when I picked it up." I walk over to the bed, putting the bag next to him.
"Thanks. I'd like to at least put some comfortable clothes on." He rummages through the bag, pulling out underwear, a t-shirt and jeans.
"I don't mind." I wink and Eric blushes before he swats at me. "Perv. I do mind. You're not gonna parade me around naked and I'm
sooo not feeling like getting back in that suit."
"Are you feeling a bit better?" I reach up, pulling him towards me and putting our foreheads together.
"A bit. I no longer feel like my body is fighting itself." He lets out a deep sigh. "I need to get dressed, sign my name out and then decide what to do with the rest of my day. But first, a shower, and you're not allowed to peek." He gets out of my grasp and takes his clothes to the bathroom.
"Spoil sport." I call after him and I hear laughing coming from behind the door. It's good to hear him laugh, it means he is feeling better.
My phone starts playing an upbeat electro tune, specially reserved for my mum. I pick up, still in a good mood. "Hi Mum."
"Is it true?" Her voice has an edge of panic. "Is what true?" Her alarm sets me on edge too.
"It's all over the media. You took a human man to your room. Is it true?" Her voice skips an octave on the last words. Then she takes a breath. "I couldn't believe it so I called Alexia."
Of course she did, trusting her more than her own son.
"She said that she didn't know. But I think she is hiding something from me."
Now, why would she? Luckily Alexia knows a lot better where her loyalties lie than my mum. I can't hide the smile breaking out on my face. "Why would she do that?"
"Don't be coy with me. Tell me what is going on." "What do you want me to tell you?"
Mum is silent for a moment, before she speaks again, only so quietly that I almost miss it. "Did he get sick this morning?"
Eric hanging over the toilet, his body all limb, the images flit through my mind. "Maybe." My answer is only tentative.
"Oh dear." The way her voice is too quiet, like she is in shock, sets alarm bells off in my head.
"What? What is going on? Do you know why he is not feeling well?" "You need to come home, now, and take the boy with you." She takes
charge, like she always does when there are problems.
"Why?" I'm not taking him if I don't know what is going on, I need to protect him.
"We'll talk about that when you're here. That is not a conversation for over the phone." She doesn't answer my question.
"Not until you tell me what is going on." I look up as I hear a click and Eric pokes his head through the door opening, looking at me with worry.
"He's …" The next word is nothing but a mumble. "He's what? What is going on?"
Eric comes to me, only dressed in a fluffy white towel, he wraps his arms around me, putting his head to my chest. It calms me down some, but it would never have prepared me for what my mum tells me next.
"He's pregnant." The last word barely more than a screech. "You'll become fathers."
Eric lets go of me, going white as a sheet, which I'm sure I'm too. I grab for him because I'm afraid he is about to faint, that is how pale he has gone.
"We're going to be, what?" The words come from my mouth, and somewhere I register that my mum is still talking to me.
Of all the options going through my mind this morning, this was not one of them.
Eric is pregnant. Oh dear indeed.