Chapter 2: The Morning After
Becca woke to the pale gold of morning filtering through the curtains, the kind of soft light that made the dust motes in her apartment look like tiny stars. For a moment, she forgot where she was. Then the weight in her belly shifted, a slow, lazy roll that had become as familiar as her own heartbeat, and she remembered everything.
She lay still, listening to the quiet. Chloe was beside her on the pull-out couch, curled into a tight ball beneath the blanket, her blonde hair fanned across the pillow. Her face was slack with sleep, but even in rest, there was a tension in her shoulders, a frown etched between her brows.
Becca propped herself up on one elbow. Her own creature was calm this morning, a warm, quiescent presence that she had learned to live with over the past days. It moved when she moved, settled when she settled. She had found, through trial and error, that her own breathing mattered. When she panicked, it panicked. When she breathed slow, it breathed slow.
Chloe stirred, a small sound escaping her throat, and her eyes fluttered open. For a moment, she looked lost. Then her hand went to her belly, and her face crumpled.
"Hey," Becca said softly. "You're okay."
Chloe blinked at her, pale blue eyes wet with unshed tears. "It's... it's moving. I can feel it. It's so weird, I can feel it inside me."
"I know." Becca shifted closer, careful not to jostle her own weight. "It's weird. It's really weird. But you're okay."
"I don't know how to be okay with this." Chloe's voice cracked. "I thought it was a clinical trial. I thought they were going to take some blood, maybe some other samples. I didn't think I'd have a... a thing inside me."
Becca reached out and took Chloe's hand. It was cold, the fingers thin and trembling. "I know. I didn't either. But listen. There's a trick. It calms them down. It calms you down too, if you let it."
Chloe looked at her with raw, desperate trust. "What trick?"
Becca sat up fully, tucking her legs beneath her. "Breathe with me. Slow. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Like this."
She demonstrated, drawing in a long, steady breath and letting it out in a slow, controlled stream. Chloe watched her, then tried to mimic it. Her first breath was shaky, shallow. The second was a little better.
"Again," Becca said. "And this time, put your hand where you feel it most. Where you feel the movement."
Chloe's hand hovered over her belly, then pressed down gently. She winced.
"It's okay," Becca murmured. "It's not going to hurt you. It's just adjusting. It's trying to find a comfortable spot."
"Comfortable," Chloe repeated, as if the word was foreign.
"Yeah. You know how it is when you first get into a new bed. You toss and turn for a while before you settle." Becca smiled, a crooked, wry thing. "It's doing the same. It's just... bigger than a pillow."
Chloe let out a breath that was almost a laugh. "God, that's so weird."
"I know. But it helps, right? Thinking of it like that. It's not a monster. It's just a passenger. A very small, very strange passenger."
Chloe's breathing steadied. Becca watched her chest rise and fall, watched the tension in her shoulders begin to ease. The morning light caught the curve of Chloe's belly, the new, unnatural swell beneath the too-big hoodie that was Becca's own, and something in Becca's chest softened.
"Now, here's the thing," Becca said. "The creature responds to you. If you're scared, it's scared. If you're calm, it's calm. So you have to teach your body to be calm, even when your brain is screaming."
"How do I do that?"
"Slow breaths. That's it. In through your nose, out through your mouth. And when you breathe out, imagine the breath going down into your belly. Wrapping around it. Letting it know it's safe."
Chloe closed her eyes. Her breathing deepened. In. Out. In. Out. Becca matched her rhythm, and the two of them sat in the quiet of the apartment, the golden light pooling around them like warm water.
And then Chloe gasped.
Her eyes flew open, wide and startled. "It pulsed. It... it pulsed. Right where my hand is."
Becca leaned forward, her voice low and steady. "Good. That's good. That means it heard you. It knows you're calm now. It's responding to you."
"It feels... warm." Chloe's expression shifted, the fear bleeding into something softer, more uncertain. "It's weird, but... it feels warm. Like it's happy?"
"I think it is," Becca said. "I think they feel things. Maybe not like we do, but... they feel something. And they know when we're scared. They know when we're not."
Chloe looked down at her belly, her hand still pressed flat against it. "I don't know if I can do this. Ten days. It's going to be in me for ten days, and then... and then what? They take it out and I'm just supposed to go back to my life?"
Becca shook her head. "I don't think there's a 'back to your life' after this. I think there's just... forward. One day at a time. One breath at a time."
Chloe's eyes searched hers. "Are you scared?"
Becca considered the question. She was. She was scared of the procedure, scared of what would come out of her, scared of what it would mean. But she was also not scared. In a strange, unexpected way, she was curious. She had spent her whole life escaping into other worlds, other lives, other stories. And now she was living one.
"Less scared than I was," she said finally. "More... curious."
"Curious about what?"
"About what happens next. About what this thing in me is going to become. About whether I'm going to come out of this the same person I was when I went in." She shrugged. "I don't know. It's like a game, you know? A really strange, terrifying game where the stakes are my body and maybe my sanity. But I've played worse."
Chloe let out a small, watery laugh. "How is this a game?"
"It's not. But the breathing helps." Becca reached out and covered Chloe's hand with her own, feeling the steady pulse of the creature beneath their combined touch. "Breathe with me again. In through your nose. Out through your mouth. Feel it settle."
They breathed together, the rhythm slow and easy. Chloe's hand relaxed beneath Becca's, her fingers uncurling. The creature pulsed again, a gentle, rhythmic beat, like a second heart.
"See?" Becca said softly. "It's not so bad. It's just another heartbeat. You've got two now. That's all."
Chloe looked at her, and something in her eyes shifted. The fear was still there, but it was not alone anymore. There was trust in its place, fragile and new, but real.
"Thank you," Chloe whispered. "For being here. For not leaving me alone with this."
Becca's chest tightened. She squeezed Chloe's hand. "I'm not going anywhere. We're in this together, okay? Both of us, with our weird little alien passengers. We'll figure it out."
The golden light crept further into the room, warming the cluttered space, the empty energy drink cans, the stack of game controllers on the coffee table. Two women sat in the middle of it, their hands clasped, their bellies full of strange and impossible life, and for a moment, the world outside the apartment faded to nothing.
Chloe's shoulders dropped. Her breathing evened out. She looked at her belly, then at Becca, and a small, real smile touched her lips.
"I think I can do this," she said.
Becca nodded. "I know you can."
And in the quiet of the morning, the creatures pulsed in time with their hearts, patient and waiting, and the two women held on to each other.
Becca pulled her hand back and pushed herself off the couch with a groan, her bare feet padding against the worn wooden floor. The creature inside her shifted in response, a lazy roll against her spine.
"Coffee," she announced. "I need coffee, and you need coffee, and if I don't have coffee I'm going to be useless for the rest of the day."
Chloe watched her with wide eyes as Becca shuffled into the small kitchen nook, pulling down two mismatched mugs from the cabinet. The apartment was small, cluttered with the detritus of a life lived mostly indoors: empty energy drink cans, stacks of old gaming magazines, a half-finished sketch on the coffee table. But there was something warm about it, something lived-in that the sterile halls of the Atheneum lacked.
"The coffee's not fancy," Becca called over her shoulder, measuring grounds into the old drip machine that had belonged to her grandmother. "It's the cheap stuff. But it does the job."
She pressed the brew button and leaned against the counter, watching the dark liquid drip into the carafe. The morning light caught the steam rising from the pot, and she let herself breathe. In through her nose, out through her mouth. The creature pulsed gently in response, a soft reassurance.
When the pot was full, she poured two mugs, adding a generous splash of cream to hers and a hesitant amount to Chloe's. She picked up the mugs and made her way back to the couch, settling down beside Chloe with a soft grunt.
"Here." She handed Chloe the mug, their fingers brushing. "Careful, it's hot."
Chloe wrapped her hands around the mug, inhaling the steam with a small, appreciative sound. "Thank you. This is... this is really nice."
They sat in silence for a long moment, the only sound the quiet sipping of coffee. The sunlight had crept further into the room, painting golden stripes across the floor. Becca cradled her mug, feeling the warmth seep through her palms, and let the quiet settle between them. It was a comfortable silence now, not the tense, awkward kind from earlier.
Chloe took another sip, then let out a soft sigh. "This is good. I think I needed this."
"See? Caffeine solves everything," Becca said, a wry smile tugging at her lips. "Well, almost everything."
Chloe laughed, a small, genuine sound. "Almost."
Becca took a long sip of her coffee, letting the bitter warmth slide down her throat. She felt good, better than she had in days. The breathing exercise had helped Chloe, and helping Chloe had helped her too. There was something grounding about being needed, about being the one who knew what to do.
And then she felt it.
It started as a subtle pressure, low in her belly. A familiar shift, the creature adjusting its position. But then the pressure grew, a slow, steady expansion that pushed against her from the inside. She set her mug down on the coffee table, her hand going to her stomach.
"Becca?" Chloe's voice came from far away. "Are you okay?"
Becca couldn't answer. The expansion was undeniable now, her belly swelling outward beneath the fabric of her oversized t-shirt. It was like a balloon being slowly inflated, a deep, internal push that made her gasp. The creature was moving, coiling, settling into a new configuration, and her body was changing to accommodate it.
"Becca!" Chloe set her own mug down, scooting closer. "Your stomach. It's getting bigger. What's happening?" I don't know." Becca's voice came out strained, her hands pressed flat against her growing belly. "It's not supposed to happen yet. It's only been a few days."
The swelling continued, a gradual expansion that stretched her skin. She could see the movement beneath, the creature shifting inside her, arranging something. The pressure built and then released, and her belly settled into a new, larger shape, heavy and low.
"We need to go to Lab One," Becca said, her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. "We need to see Vance."
They moved quickly. Becca grabbed her jacket, Chloe pulled on her shoes, and they were out the door, hurrying through the sterile halls to the main lab. The guards recognized them at the gate, and they were led to Lab One without delay.
Dr. Vance was already there, standing beside a sleek examination table with an ultrasound machine. He looked up as they entered, his sharp gray eyes flicking to Becca's swollen belly with something, recognition or concern, she couldn't tell.
"Ms. Holloway," he said. "I was expecting you might be coming."
"Were you?" Becca eased herself onto the examination table, her hands still cradling her belly. "Because I wasn't. I thought I had more time."
"The creature has accelerated its timeline." Vance moved to the ultrasound machine, picking up the wand. "It appears to have reached the egg-laying stage ahead of schedule. Let's see what we're dealing with."
He lifted her shirt, exposing her stretched skin, and pressed the cool wand against it. A black-and-white image flickered to life on the screen, a swirling mass of shapes and shadows. Becca watched, her breath caught in her throat.
"There," Vance said, pointing at the screen. "Do you see that?"
Becca squinted. There were shapes, dozens of them, clustered together like pearls in an oyster. They were small and round, each one distinct, pulsing with a faint inner glow.
"That's... that's eggs?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Fourteen of them," Vance said. He studied the image, his expression clinical, detached. "The creature has laid fourteen eggs. They will gestate inside you for several days before being birthed."
Fourteen. Becca stared at the screen, at the constellation of eggs glowing inside her belly. Fourteen of them. She had known it would happen, known there would be eggs. But seeing them there, so many of them, so impossibly many, made it real in a way she hadn't been prepared for.
"How many days?" she heard herself ask.
"Four to six, depending on how quickly they mature." Vance set the wand aside, typing something into a tablet. "Your body will guide the process. You'll feel pressure, some discomfort. But you're strong. You can handle it."
Becca looked down at her belly, at the new weight of it. The creature pulsed inside her, a steady, reassuring beat. Fourteen eggs. She was carrying fourteen aliens. And in a few days, she would bring them into the world.
"Okay," she said, her voice steady. "Okay. I can do this."
Chloe was at her side, her hand on Becca's arm. "We can do this," she corrected softly. "Together."
Becca looked at her, at the fragile trust in Chloe's pale blue eyes, and nodded. Together.
Dr. Vance's hand hovered over her shoulder, a gesture almost paternal, before he withdrew it. "The next few days will be demanding, Ms. Holloway. Rest as much as you can. And keep doing what you're doing." He glanced between them, a flicker of gratitude breaking through his clinical mask. "You're both proving the viability of this program."
The walk back to the apartment felt different for Becca. Each step carried a new heaviness, a low, dense weight that swayed with her stride. She could feel the eggs shifting inside her, a gentle sloshing sensation that was neither painful nor pleasant, just present. She kept one hand pressed to her belly the whole way, as if to reassure them all that she was still in control.
Chloe walked close beside her, close enough that their elbows brushed with each step. She didn't speak, but her presence was a quiet comfort, a warm body in the cold corridor.
The apartment door swung open, and Becca let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Home. The cluttered, messy, perfectly imperfect home that smelled like old coffee and stale energy drinks. She kicked off her shoes and waddled to the center of the living room, stopping in the patch of golden light that still pooled across the floor.
She didn't know what made her do it. Maybe it was the clinical harshness of the lab, the battery of screens and instruments that had studied her like a specimen. Maybe it was the need to see it for herself, to understand what had changed inside her. But her hands found the hem of her t-shirt, and she lifted it.
The shirt rode up over her belly, and she froze.
It was huge. Not just bigger, but obscenely, impossibly huge. What had been a modest swell that morning had bloomed into a taut, heavy globe of flesh that jutted out in front of her like a planet. The skin was stretched thin, gleaming slightly in the morning light, the pale network of veins visible beneath the surface. She could see the shapes through her own skin, the faint outlines of the eggs pressed close together, a clustered constellation waiting to be born.
"Oh," she breathed. The word was small, inadequate.
Her hands came up slowly, trembling slightly, and pressed flat against the warmth of her own belly. It was warm, so warm, like a furnace banked inside her. She could feel the eggs beneath, a subtle shifting weight that responded to the pressure of her palms. Fourteen of them. Fourteen tiny lives, growing inside her like pearls in an oyster.
"It's so big," she whispered, her voice cracking with something, fear and wonder tangled together. "It's so big, and it's all... it's all inside me."
Chloe stepped up beside her, her eyes wide. She studied Becca's belly with an expression that shifted from shock to curiosity to a strange, wondering awe. And then, without warning, she laughed.
It wasn't a mocking laugh, or a cruel one. It was a nervous, giddy, almost disbelieving laugh, the kind that bubbles up when reality is too strange to process any other way. She grabbed the hem of her own shirt, the one Becca had given her, and lifted it.
Her belly was smaller, still early in its own process. But it was unmistakably swollen, a soft, rounded curve that hadn't been there before her procedure. She looked down at it, then back at Becca's, and her laugh deepened.
"Okay," she said, still giggling. "Okay. That's... that's not fair. Yours is huge. Mine looks like I just ate a big lunch."
Becca snorted, the sound surprising herself. "You want mine? I'd happily trade."
"No way." Chloe held her hands out, measuring the air over her own belly, then over Becca's. "I mean, I know mine will get bigger. But what if it doesn't get that big? What if mine stays like this forever and yours becomes like, a planet?"
"A planet?" Becca laughed, a genuine laugh that loosened the knot of fear in her chest. "If I get any bigger, I'm going to need a wheelbarrow."
"A wheelbarrow," Chloe repeated, her eyes bright with mirth. "Okay, but, like, for real. How are you even standing? That thing has to weigh like a hundred pounds."
"Hasn't measured it. Give it two days and ask again." Becca shook her head, still smiling, still running her hands over the taut, unfamiliar territory of her own body. The fear was still there, but it was quieter now, dimmed by the shared absurdity of the moment.
Chloe stepped closer, still holding her shirt up, her small belly gleaming pale in the sunlight. She reached out, and her hand dropped to Becca's belly, pressing flat against the warm, stretched skin.
"Whoa," she breathed. "It's so warm. Like, really warm. Can you feel that?"
Becca nodded, her throat tight. "Yeah. All the time now."
Chloe's fingers splayed wide, feeling the subtle shift beneath the skin. "And they're all in there? All fourteen?"
"Apparently."
"You're like an aquarium," Chloe said, and then she burst into laughter again.
Becca laughed too, a helpless, hiccupping sound that made her belly shake. The creature inside her pulsed in response, a gentle, reassuring beat, and she instinctively pressed her own hand against the curve of Chloe's smaller belly.
The touch was electric.
Becca didn't understand it. They had touched before, held hands, brushed shoulders. But this was different. Her palm against the soft swell of Chloe's belly, feeling the heat of the creature within, the tiny pulse of the alien heart beating in time with Chloe's own. And Chloe's hand on her belly, warm and solid and real, like an anchor point in a world gone strange.
A shudder ran through her, deep and visceral, starting somewhere in her core and spreading outward through her limbs. Beside her, Chloe gasped, her eyes flying wide, her free hand clamping down on Becca's arm.
"Do you feel that?" Chloe whispered. "That... that thing that just happened?"
Becca nodded, her voice stuck in her throat. She could feel it still, a deep, resonant hum that connected them, a feedback loop of warmth and pulse and presence. The creatures inside them were responding, syncing, their rhythms aligning with each other as if they had always been meant to be together.
"Stay still," Becca breathed. "Just... don't move."
They stood there, frozen in the golden light, two women with their hands on each other's bellies, feeling the impossible connection between them. The creatures pulsed in perfect time, a synchronized heartbeat that thrummed through both of their bodies. It was terrifying, and it was beautiful, and for a long, suspended moment, the world outside the apartment ceased to exist at all.
The hum between them didn't fade. It stayed, a low, resonant chord that vibrated through Becca's bones, through the warm globe of her belly, up into her chest where her heart beat in double time. She looked up, and Chloe was already looking at her.
Their eyes met. And something in the air shifted, thickened, became charged with a current that had nothing to do with the creatures inside them. Chloe's pupils were wide, her lips parted, her breath coming in shallow, uneven pulls. There was something in her expression that Becca had never seen before, a raw, unguarded openness that reached out and grabbed something deep in Becca's chest.
The need to be closer was overwhelming. Not to touch her belly, not to feel the pulse of the creature, but to touch her. Skin to skin. To close the impossible distance between two bodies.
Becca didn't think. She didn't plan. Her hands found the hem of her t-shirt, and she pulled it over her head.
Chloe's breath caught, a sharp, startled intake that hung in the air. Her eyes went wide, her hands falling away from Becca's belly as if burned. But she didn't look away. She stared at Becca, her gaze traveling over the freckled expanse of her shoulders, the soft swell of her breasts, the pale skin of her stomach stretching over the enormous curve of her belly.
"Becca," Chloe whispered, her voice thin and strained. "What are you..."
Becca didn't answer. Her hands moved to the waistband of her sweatpants, and she pushed them down, stepping out of them in one fluid motion. The morning air hit her bare skin, cool against the heat of her body, and she stood there, naked, in the golden light that poured through the curtains.
The vulnerability was staggering. She had never been comfortable in her own skin, not really, not in front of anyone. But now she stood before Chloe, her body heavy and strange and impossible, all of it on display. And she didn't want to hide.
Chloe stared at her. Her face was flushed, a deep pink that spread from her cheeks down her neck, disappearing into the collar of the hoodie Becca had given her. Her hands hung at her sides, trembling, her fingers twitching as if she wanted to reach out but couldn't quite make herself move.
"I don't," Chloe started, then stopped. She swallowed hard. "I don't understand what's happening. I feel like I'm supposed to be scared, but I'm not. I feel like I'm supposed to look away, but I can't."
Becca took a step closer. The floor was cool under her bare feet, and her belly swayed with the movement, heavy and low. "I can't explain it," she said, her voice low and rough. "I just need you closer. I need to feel you against me. Every part of you."
Chloe's breath hitched. She looked down at herself, at the hoodie that hung past her hips, the leggings beneath. And then, slowly, as if moving through water, she reached for the hem and pulled the hoodie over her head.
The fabric slid up her body, revealing the pale plane of her stomach, the soft swell of her own belly, too small compared to Becca's, but there, round and new. Her chest was bare beneath, her breasts small and pale, the nipples tight in the cool air. She dropped the hoodie on the floor and stood there, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes wide and unreadable.
"Your turn," Becca breathed.
Chloe shivered, a visible tremor that ran through her whole body. She uncrossed her arms, her hands going to the waistband of her leggings. She pushed them down, her hips tilting as she stepped out of them, and stood naked in the golden light.
She was all pale skin and sharp angles, a stark contrast to Becca's softness. Her belly was a gentle swell, her hipbones jutting, her legs long and thin. She looked fragile, breakable, and desperately beautiful.
They stood there, both of them naked, the morning light painting them in gold. The hum between them swelled, the creatures pulsing in perfect sync, and Becca felt something click in her chest, a lock falling open.
She closed the distance between them. Her hands came up, cupping Chloe's face, feeling the trembling warmth of her cheeks. Chloe's eyes fluttered closed, her lips parting on a shaky breath.
"Tell me if you want me to stop," Becca whispered. "Tell me now."
Chloe's eyes opened, pale blue and wet with something that looked like wonder. "Don't stop," she said.
Becca closed the last of the distance between them, her hands still cradling Chloe's face, her thumbs tracing the soft skin of her cheeks. Chloe's breath was warm against her lips, quick and shallow, and for a heartbeat, neither of them moved.
Then Becca leaned in.
The kiss was soft, hesitant, a question more than a statement. Her lips brushed against Chloe's, gentle and searching, and she felt Chloe's whole body shudder against her. For a moment, Chloe was frozen, her hands hovering in the air, her breath catching in her throat. But then something in her broke open, and she kissed back.
It was clumsy at first, unsure, their lips pressing together with an awkward urgency that spoke of inexperience. But then Chloe's hands came up, fumbling at Becca's shoulders, gripping the warm skin there, pulling her closer. The kiss deepened, softened, found a rhythm.
Becca's belly pressed against Chloe's, the two curving swells of them meeting in the space between their bodies. The warmth was incredible, a banked furnace that radiated outward from the point of contact. The creatures inside them pulsed, a synchronized beat that seemed to drive them closer, to demand more contact, more skin.
Becca's hands slid down from Chloe's face, trailing along her neck, her collarbone, the sharp ridge of her shoulder. Chloe arched into the touch, a small, breathy sound escaping her throat. Her fingers tangled in Becca's curls, tugging gently, pulling her deeper into the kiss.
They stumbled together, a clumsy, eager dance, their feet tangling, their bodies pressing and releasing. Becca's back hit the edge of the pull-out couch, and she gasped against Chloe's mouth. Chloe pushed forward, pressing her against the cushions, and the weight of her, the sharp angles of her, the soft swell of her belly, was overwhelming.
"Bed," Becca managed, her voice ragged. "We should, the bed."
Chloe nodded, her face flushed, her eyes dark and dazed. They disentangled themselves, hands still touching, still unwilling to break contact entirely, and shuffled toward the narrow bed in the corner of the room. It was a twin, barely large enough for one person, but they didn't care.
Becca sat on the edge of the mattress, and Chloe climbed onto her lap, straddling her hips, her knees on either side of Becca's soft thighs. The position brought their bellies together again, the round swell of Becca's pressing against the smaller curve of Chloe's, and the contact sent a shiver through both of them.
Becca's hands found Chloe's waist, spanning the narrow circumference of it, then slid up to cup her small breasts. Chloe gasped, her head falling back, her hands gripping Becca's shoulders for balance. The movement pressed her belly more firmly against Becca's, and the creatures pulsed in answer, a deep, resonant hum that vibrated through both their bodies.
"Becca," Chloe breathed, her voice thin and trembling. "This is, I've never, I don't, I've never done this with a girl before."
Becca's hands stilled. She looked up at Chloe, at the fear and the wonder warring in her pale blue eyes. "Me neither," she said. "But that's okay. We don't have to know what we're doing. We just have to do it together."
Chloe let out a shaky laugh, a sound that was half sob, half joy. "Together. I like that."
Becca pulled her down, and they fell backward onto the mattress together, a tangle of limbs and soft flesh. The bed creaked beneath them, and Becca found herself on her back, Chloe half sprawled across her, one leg tangled between hers, her head resting on Becca's shoulder.
Their bellies pressed together, the two curved swells fitting like pieces of a puzzle, a warm, living weight between them. Becca's arms wrapped around Chloe, one hand splayed across the curve of her back, the other buried in her blonde hair. Chloe's hand found its way to Becca's belly, pressing flat against the stretched skin, feeling the pulse of the eggs within.
And there it was again, that hum, that deep, resonant connection that thrummed between them. Becca felt it in her bones, in her teeth, in the very core of her where the creature waited. It was a feeling of rightness, of belonging, of two separate beings becoming something more.
Chloe shifted, lifting her head, looking down at Becca with eyes that were bright and wet. "I can feel them," she whispered. "All of them. I can feel them moving."
Becca smiled, a trembling, vulnerable thing. "They know you're here. They like it when you touch me."
Chloe's lips parted, and something raw and honest flickered across her face. She leaned down, pressing her forehead to Becca's, her breath warm and uneven against Becca's mouth. "I think I like it too," she whispered. "I think I like it a lot."
Becca didn't answer with words. She tilted her head and kissed her, slow and deep, and Chloe melted into it, a soft, yielding warmth that pressed closer and closer until there was no space left between them at all.
They moved together in the quiet of the apartment, a slow, exploratory dance of hands and mouths and skin. Chloe learned the curves of Becca's body, the soft give of her thighs, the full weight of her breasts, the impossible heat of the globe of her belly. And Becca learned Chloe, the sharp architecture of her hips, the delicate bones of her wrists, the way she shivered when Becca's thumb traced the swell of her own small belly.
The creatures pulsed between them, a steady, reassuring beat that seemed to say, you are not alone, you are not alone, you are not alone.
And for the first time since she had been dragged into the Atheneum, since the creature had been pushed into her body, since she had seen her belly begin to swell with impossible life, Becca believed it.
They lay tangled together afterward, the narrow bed barely containing them, Chloe's head on Becca's chest, her hand still resting on Becca's belly. The golden light had shifted, growing brighter, the morning well and truly begun. Becca's fingers traced lazy circles on Chloe's shoulder, and the creature inside her pulsed a soft, contented rhythm.
"That was," Chloe started, then stopped, her voice muffled against Becca's skin. "I don't know what that was. But I didn't want it to end."
"Then it doesn't have to end." Becca pressed a kiss to the top of Chloe's head. "We have the whole day. And a lot of eggs to gestate."
Chloe laughed, the sound vibrating against Becca's ribs. "Is that what we're calling it? Gestating?"
"That's the technical term, yes." Becca's voice was warm, teasing. "I'm very technical."
Chloe lifted her head, looking up at Becca with eyes that were soft and open and full of something Becca didn't dare name. "I'm glad it was you," she said. "That you were here. That I wasn't alone."
Becca's throat tightened. "Me too. I'm glad it was you."
The words hung in the air, fragile and true, and the creature inside her pulsed a gentle confirmation.
The words hung in the air, fragile and true, and the creature inside her pulsed a gentle confirmation.
And then, slowly, the hum began to change.
Becca felt it first as a subtle shift, a recalibration deep in her core. The creature inside her had been pressed against the front of her belly, straining toward Chloe through the barrier of skin and warmth. Now it began to retreat, a slow, deliberate uncurling that moved back and down, settling into the deeper cradle of her pelvis. The pressure of her belly eased, the taut globe relaxing into a softer, lower weight.
Beside her, Chloe stirred. Her hand, still pressed flat against Becca's belly, registered the change a moment later. "It's moving," she said, her voice drowsy and confused. "Yours is, mine is too, I can feel it going back."
Becca nodded, her breath slow and even. She could feel it through Chloe's body as well, through the points where their skin pressed together. Chloe's creature was also retreating, settling back into its original place after its long reach toward Becca's. The two of them had been straining toward each other, pushing at the boundaries of their hosts, desperate to close a distance they could sense but not cross.
"They wanted to be closer," Becca said, the understanding settling over her like a warm blanket. "That's what we felt. That hum, that... that pull. It wasn't us. It was them."
Chloe lifted her head, her brow furrowing. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, the intense feelings we had. The need to touch, to press together, to be as close as possible. That wasn't us falling for each other. That was them trying to reach each other from inside us."
Chloe stared at her, her lips parted. She looked down at her own belly, then at Becca's, and a strange, rueful smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "So we got naked and climbed into bed together because our alien parasites wanted to hold hands."
Becca laughed, a helpless, surprised sound that made her belly shake. "Yeah. Apparently."
"That's embarrassing." Chloe dropped her head back onto Becca's chest, her shoulders shaking with a laugh of her own. "That's really embarrassing. I thought I was having a moment. I thought we were having a moment."
"We were having a moment." Becca's hand found Chloe's hair, fingers combing through the tangled strands. "Just not the moment we thought we were having."
Chloe was quiet for a moment. Then she lifted her head again, her expression thoughtful. "Do you think they're lonely? In there?"
Becca considered it. The creature inside her had always felt present, aware, but she hadn't thought about its emotional state before. It had been a passenger, a tenant, something to be managed and endured. But now she thought about it differently. The way it had strained toward Chloe's creature, the desperate pulse of it. "Maybe. They're the last of their kind, right? That's why they're doing this. Maybe they've been alone for a long time."
Chloe's hand moved to her own belly, rubbing slow circles over the swell. "That's sad. That's really sad."
"Yeah." Becca's own hand joined Chloe's, covering it on Chloe's belly, then sliding down to rest on the heavier curve of her own. "But they're not alone now. They have each other."
The creatures pulsed in answer, a soft, synchronized beat that rippled through both their bodies. Then they settled, back in their original places, warm and quiet and content.
Becca shifted, easing herself back against the pillows, her hand still resting on the globe of her belly. The weight of it was different now, lower and denser, the eggs settled into their proper place. She could feel each one, a cluster of small, distinct presences, like marbles wrapped in silk.
Chloe scooted up beside her, her body a warm line against Becca's side. She reached out and pressed her hand flat against Becca's belly, feeling the subtle shift beneath the skin. Then she let her hand drift down to her own smaller belly, rubbing it gently.
"At least they're happy now," Chloe said softly. "That's something, right? They got what they wanted."
Becca looked down at her own stretched skin, at the constellation of eggs waiting inside her. "Yeah," she said. "I guess that's something."
They lay there together, the golden light warming their bare skin, their hands moving in slow, soothing circles over their bellies. The creatures were quiet, settled, resting in their places. And for a long, peaceful moment, there was nothing strange about it at all.
Becca's stomach answered with a low, insistent growl, a sound so loud it startled them both. Chloe lifted her head, blinking at Becca's belly as if it had spoken.
"Okay," she said, her lips twitching. "That's the eggs demanding room service."
"Fourteen growing aliens need fuel," Becca said, patting her stomach. "They're very demanding tenants."
Chloe laughed, pushing herself up on her elbows. "Should we go to the cafeteria? Get them something?"
"Like a proper delegation." Becca eased herself upright, the weight of her belly shifting with the movement. She looked down at herself, at the pale skin and the huge curve of her, and felt a strange fondness for the body she now occupied. "Yeah. Let's eat."
They dressed slowly, unwilling to rush out of the quiet they had found. Chloe pulled the hoodie back on, then tugged it over her belly, and for a moment Becca watched the fabric settle over the new swell. She saw the shape of it, the way the material hugged the curve, and felt a tender ache in her chest.
"Ready?" Chloe asked, zipping the hoodie halfway.
"Ready."
They walked through the corridors together, their elbows brushing with every step. The facility hummed around them, the familiar low drone of ventilation and distant machinery. A few guards nodded as they passed, their faces neutral and unreadable. Becca kept her hand resting on her belly, steadying the heavy weight of it.
The cafeteria was the same as always: a large, fluorescent-lit room with rows of tables, a long serving line, and a constant clatter of trays and voices. The smell of food hit Becca as soon as the doors slid open, and her stomach clenched with fresh hunger.
"Okay, I need one of everything," Chloe said, grabbing a tray.
"Start with the pancakes. Trust me."
They moved down the line, piling their trays far beyond reasonable portions. Becca loaded up on scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast with butter that she spread thick enough to be a pastry. Chloe went for the pancakes, the waffles, a bowl of fruit, a yogurt, a carton of orange juice. The cook behind the counter raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
They found a table near the windows, one of the few spots that caught a sliver of natural light from the high, narrow skylights. Becca set her tray down with a heavy thunk and settled into the chair, arranging her belly in front of her with a practiced shift of her hips.
"Okay," she said, picking up her fork. "Now this is living."
They ate in comfortable silence at first, the food warm and filling. Chloe worked through her pancakes with a dreamy expression, dipping each bite in syrup with ritualistic care. Becca demolished her eggs and worked on the bacon, tasting the salt and grease with a satisfaction that felt almost primal.
"How long have you been doing the freelance thing?" Chloe asked between bites of waffle.
"About five years now. Started after I got laid off from the call center. Couldn't face the corporate world again. It just, you know, sort of drained me. The endless meetings, the forced cheerfulness, the fluorescent lights."
"Did you make enough? To live on, I mean?"
"Barely. My grandmother left me the apartment, so I didn't have rent. Just utilities and food and my gaming subscriptions. I got by. Not comfortably, but I got by." Becca chewed a piece of toast, swallowing. "What about you? What did you do before all this?"
Chloe pushed a piece of pancake around her plate. "I worked at a library. A small branch in the suburbs. I did the cataloging, helped people find books, read to the kids on Saturdays." She smiled, a soft, wistful thing. "I always liked the quiet. The smell of the old books. The way the light came in through the big windows in the reading room."
"Sounds nice."
"It was. It was simple. I liked simple." Chloe's smile faded a little. "I never thought I'd be chosen for anything. I'm not, you know, special. I don't have any skills they'd want. I was just there, asleep in my apartment, and suddenly they were taking me away."
Becca reached across the table and pressed her fingers against Chloe's. "You're special to me."
Chloe looked up, her eyes bright. She squeezed Becca's hand back, then returned to her waffle.
The cafeteria had filled up while they ate. Women came and went in clusters, most of them in the same loose facility-issued clothing. They sat in small groups, some talking quietly, most eating alone. The ambient noise was low, a murmur of voices and the clink of silverware.
Becca finished her bacon and leaned back, her hand resting on the curve of her belly. She let her gaze drift around the room, idly taking in the other women. There was a table near the door with two women in their twenties, both talking low and fast. A woman near the salad bar ate alone, her head bent over a paperback. Several others sat at scattered tables, some hunched over trays, others scrolling through phones.
And Becca noticed something odd.
She looked again, her gaze sweeping the room with more attention. None of the other women had bellies. Not like hers. Not even like Chloe's. Their stomachs were flat, or near flat, the fabric of their shirts lying smooth against their frames. A few had a softness around the middle, but nothing that suggested a growing weight, a resident life waiting to emerge.
She frowned, her hand stilling on her own belly.
"Chloe," she said quietly. "Look around. Look at the other girls."
Chloe looked up, her fork pausing. She glanced at the table nearest them, then the one beyond, her gaze traveling across the room. Slowly, her brows drew together.
"They're all flat," she said, her voice small. "Every single one of them."
Becca nodded, her mind churning. "I thought there would be others like us. Pregnant, or getting there. In various stages. But they all look, they all look normal."
"Maybe they're waiting," Chloe offered. "Like I was. The procedures aren't for everyone at once. Maybe they're all still scheduled."
"Maybe." But Becca wasn't convinced. She studied the other women again, looking for anything, any sign of the shared burden. There was a tightness in some of their faces, a lingering pallor that could have been fear or exhaustion. But their bodies told a different story. No swells. No curves. No heat radiating from hollow wombs.
She looked at Chloe, whose pale eyes had gone distant. "You're thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That we're the only ones carrying something?" Chloe shook her head slowly. "I don't have a clue what that means."