Air by Terra Harmony Page B

sight. I turned toward my room. I’d wait for Micah to find me. Maybe I’d mend some of the clothes we’d torn apart last night. I smiled to myself at the memory.
    “What are you so happy about?” Alex caught me off guard in the hallway.
    “Nothing,” I said a little too quickly.
    He stepped closer and whispered, “I heard the good news.”
    I raised my eyebrows playfully. “What good news?”
    “You know…” He glanced quickly at my protruding belly.
    I continued to look at him innocently. “Know what?”
    His swallowed. “Don’t make me say it.”
    “Say what? Is it a secret?” I looked both ways down the hall, as if we could get caught at any moment.
    “You know,” he said. “The Buddha belly.”
    I laughed out loud. “Buddha belly?”
    He rolled his eyes, finally catching on. He suddenly pressed his hands on my stomach and rubbed vigorously. “Buddha, Buddha, Buddha!”
    I laughed even harder, slapping his hands away.
    Someone cleared their throat.
    We broke away, turning toward Micah, standing at the end of the hall. Alex cupped his hand over his mouth, speaking out of the corner of his mouth to me, “Uh-oh, he beckons.” Then a little louder, looking at Micah. “It’s too late, pal. I’ve already rubbed all the luck out of this thing.” He gestured to me, or rather my belly.
    I punched Alex playfully in the arm and walked toward Micah. Micah took me by the hand and planted a kiss on my cheek before steering us down the hall. He half turned toward Alex as we moved, and shot back, “I don’t need any luck; I’ve got the woman.”
    “Touché,” Alex said quietly, turning to go his own way.
    Micah led me through a door and down two flights of stairs. I hadn’t been in the basement since my first couple days’ induction to the Chakra and this organization. We stopped outside one of the closed doors and he turned to me. “The doctor’s here. He’s going to do a complete exam. He’s delivered babies to women with powers like yours. He knows what he is doing.”
    A tingle crept up my spine. “Is he going to do an ultrasound, so I can see the baby?”
    “Yes, if his equipment is working correctly.”
    We hesitated, neither daring to move to open the door. I spared us both the awkwardness. “I should do this alone.”
    I turned to enter the room quickly, hopefully leaving Micah without a choice, but he stopped me just as quickly. He grabbed me by the hand and spun me around into him. Holding me tightly, he looked at me intently. “You aren’t alone anymore. I am with you always, whether you like it or not.”
    I smiled, feeling more relieved than I thought I would hearing those words. “Okay.”
    “Okay.” He smiled back and leaned in to kiss me, pausing just before our lips touched. He let me close the distance, forcing me to show him I wanted it just as badly as he did. Gentle at first, the kiss began to grow more intense. His tongue found mine and he didn’t let go. He sucked the very breath from me but then gave it back plus some. I would’ve been happy to stay there for the rest of time, exchanging each other’s air, locking lips and holding onto each other so tightly we were sure to have bruises the next day.
    The sharp metal clang of instruments hitting the ground in the next room brought us back to reality. We reluctantly pulled apart, though we left our hands intertwined.
    He spoke first, “Are you ready for this?”
    I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “Ready.”
    He pushed open the door for me and the sting of white hit our eyes.

 
     
    Chapter 11
     
    Promises
     
    The doctor’s visit was rough. He quizzed me relentlessly. Mostly on dates. The date of my last cycle, dates of possible consummation, dates I used my powers, and on and on. My head began to swim. There was a two week window of when I could have conceived; too close to say who the father was either way. Examining me, the doctor favored an earlier date, which meant Micah, but he followed that