The woman who entered had a heart shaped face and skin the color of cream. There was no trace of stress or sign that the delicate woman had ever seen a day of hard work. Her soft cheeks and clear skin shone with youth and beauty.

Her indigo eyes were warm and serene as she looked down upon me. Her platinum blond hair was swept into a high bun, but there was no doubt it was as flawless as the rest of her.

I was a mountain orphan monkey who had toiled most of this body's life under the sun. I have the scars and bumps to match such a life. My skin was likely deathly pale, my hair greasy from being stuck below deck, and years of work were ingrained in my bones and skin.

I felt absolutely haggard looking at her.

Even her clothing was better than my own. She wore a beautiful red plaid dress; I only had this starchy, ugly hospital gown. The physical comparisons would never end if I let them, so I looked above her head instead. I wanted it to look like I was looking at her while avoiding actually looking at her. It also allowed me to peek beyond her a bit to better understand where we were. Unfortunately, there still wasn't much to go off about where we were exactly.

I didn't need her to open her mouth to introduce herself. I knew who she was. She's Evangeline. The female lead and the heroine of this world. Who else could she be with her perfect smile, rare purple eyes, and red attire?

My stomach gurgled uncomfortably as I fought the chaotic emotions inside of me.

"You're awake." Her voice was sweet and gentle as she stepped closer. "I was worried because I could hear some strange noises. I'm glad you're alright."

Define alright. I thought as I attempted a smile, but all I gave was a grimace.

"My name is Evangeline, but you can call me Evie. Any friend of Rex's is a friend of mine." She perched on the side of the bed and smiled sincerely at me. Her scent wafted towards me, and I recoiled from the sticky, sugary smell.

I made a noise as I, yet again, tried to smile back at her. The swirling chaos in my stomach prevented me. Before I could stop myself, I erupted, and projectile vomited all over her clean face.

Later, much later, I would laugh about this. Evie's surprise gasp, her scream, and the way Rex came running in, only to stop short when he saw it was just vomit. I covered my mouth to prevent more bile from sprouting from my lips, and it helped to prevent it from shooting at her again. Instead, it spilled past my fingers and onto the bed. I could feel tears forming. How embarrassing!

Evie ran off to clean herself, and I expected Rex to follow. Instead, he stayed to look me over. My nausea disappeared the moment Evie took her scent and left. I couldn't act like I was fine the moment she was gone. Shit. I lowered my lashes and hoped the ill coloring on my face stayed. I watched as leftover vomit spilled from my fingers onto the once-clean sheets and blanket. I needed to get this washed.

"Wendy, are you feeling well enough to stand?" Rex's question shocked me, and my eyes darted to him, unsure how to answer. Why was he still here? I thought after he took a moment, he would run after Evie…

He must have thought I was too sick to answer because he scooped me up in his arms. An inappropriate thought slipped into my mind as his firm arms held me. Maybe it was a good thing I was skin and bones now! I didn't think Adam could pick me up, but I'd lost weight, and this was apocalypse, Rex. His muscles seemed to flex as I looked at them. Yeah, this was hard toiled Rex.

I said nothing as he walked me out of the room. I laid my head down, enjoying the steady beat of his heart against my face. The sound, as always, lulled me into sleep.

When I woke up, I was in a different room, and my hospital gown had been changed. I was wearing a red and orange floral nightgown. The bed I was sprawled on was unreasonably comfortable, and I stretched, ignoring that my clothing had been changed. My face rubbed the soft, silky sheets. This smelled so good, like Adam. My eyes shot open at that realization, and I sat up to look at the dark blue sheets. Adam's scent. Unable to help myself, I started sniffing it like a drug dog.

He wouldn't notice if there was a pillow missing, right? I hugged one and, unable to stop my sticky fingers, slipped it into my space. I giggled and flopped back on the bed, pulling the sheets and blanket over my head.

"What are you going to do with that pillow?" A crisp voice cut me off mid giggle.

That was Rex's voice, he saw? Was he in the room? I peeked out from under the coverings to meet his amused gaze. He was sitting at a desk I hadn't noticed with a handful of paper. To be fair, I hadn't looked around the room. I was focused mainly on the aroma of the bed.

I floundered internally as I thought of an excuse. He didn't see me sniffing like a hound dog, right? Just the thievery? "I spilled drool on it. I was going to take it away to wash." I manage to say around a dry mouth.

He didn't say anything, and I exposed the rest of my face as I embodied the image of innocence. I'm not a creepy stalker, I swear. I tried to project that thought as I blinked at him.

I don't think it worked because his expression didn't soften. Before either of us could call the other out or make up another lie, a voice outside the room drew both of our attention.

"Evie, you're too nice. It's suspicious that he brought back a girl, and now she's in his room!" An unfamiliar woman's voice was right outside the door.

I sat up and focused on a far more pressing matter than gossip. I was thirsty! All that vomiting and sleeping left my head a pile of cotton. I closed my eyes and looked through my space at my options. I had cups of coffee, pitchers of iced tea, smoothies, and more. If I was pregnant, it would be ideal to avoid caffeine.

I settled for a lavender mint milk tea. It was made without earl gray or black tea. So it was a great warm drink with none of the possible hangups. I sat on Rex's bed with my feet swinging off the edge, sipping the tea slowly. I didn't want to upset my stomach again.

"She's sick, and his room was available. It's more important that she rest than getting sicker over conjecture." Evie's soft, trickling words were the voice of reason to the erratic woman.

How strange for the two to converse right before Rex's door. Are they stupid or play-acting?

I sipped the tea, deciding it wasn't a big deal. Rex also seemed not to care because he was turning over the pages in his hand rapidly as he scanned them.

If I stole another pillow, would he notice? I stared at Rex as I inched my fingers toward a smaller throw pillow. As if sensing that I was about to steal it, he looked up from his paper and looked into my eyes. I hiccuped sharply in surprise and stilled my fingers. My eyes widened guilty, and I bared my teeth in what I hoped was an endearing grin.

"Evie, you're so kind. That strange woman is troublesome, though. She was on a boat alone with him for weeks. Who knows what happened between them!" The noisy woman wasn't done, and I inched my hand to double-cup my mug and looked around the room for the first time.

This was Adam's room. I've never been in his room before. The walls were dark mahogany; besides some paintings, nothing wasn't anything ostentatious. It was nice and what I would expect from Adam. Did that mean we were at his family home? Then why were there many strange fish things where I was before?

"Morgan." Evie sounded exasperated, but she didn't end the conversation. She was failing if she was trying to be the voice of reason. All she accomplished was revving up her friend. How interesting.

"You two are end game. You should tell him to make her rest in the guest room." The woman named Morgan was insistent and very annoying.

Rex still didn't seem to care. It seemed like they would keep going until someone from this bedroom reacted. I slipped my now empty mug back into my space and approached the door. It was cracked open; how fortuitous for the gossiping minnies.

"You're a little too loud while I'm trying to rest," I said in my nicest voice but accompanied that with a wicked grin only they could see.

Evie turned pale with shock. The other woman was a glaring brunette who looked like she wanted to skewer me with her black eyes, Morgan, I presume.

"Wendy, they helped change you into clean clothing." Rex's voice drifted to the three of us, and I looked at them with fresh eyes. My white hospital gown was in Morgan's hands. Is that why they left the door cracked when they were done? Who were they putting the show on for? Maybe they wanted me up and about so I'd leave Rex's room. Ha, fat chance. Of course, there was also the possibility that this was a big coincidence. Also fat chance.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Thank you," I said with a bit more warmth. Then I slammed the door shut, not before I heard Morgan spew, "She's so shameless!"

I trotted back to Rex's bed as if it was mine. He said nothing, but I could feel his gaze on me. He didn't tell me to leave; I could hear papers being moved. I lay on his bed, inhaling his natural scent. Tears formed as I did this, but I couldn't stop myself.

I miss you, Adam.

I didn't fall asleep; instead, I lay in Rex's bed, listening to him work. He was too far for me to see what he was reading or working on. I ended up peeking at him from time to time before growing restless. I wasn't used to sitting or lying around. My body was worn out from the never-ending roller coaster that was my life. So, all I really wanted was to lie down. But my mind wanted me to be out and about getting things done.

It was a contradictory mess.

"Where are we?" I finally asked Rex. This scene was strangely reminiscent of the days we spent at my home.

"My uncle's home in Alcom's Cove." Rex's voice was steady as he read through the papers in his hand. When was he going to run out of them? "Haven't you been here before?"

I made a face. "No," I said. Mr. Dickham isn't someone I'd want to visit.

"I stayed here while I became his heir," Rex said, and I blinked as I processed this.

"So this is your actual room room?" I likely sounded too surprised.

"I thought you were engaged to Adam," Rex said, and I hiccuped. "Shouldn't you have seen his room?" He was speaking as if they were two different people yet the same. Looking at Rex, I realized with a sinking heart they truly were and that I needed to do better at separating them.

"I never asked to." I sounded as incredulous as I felt. "He came over to my place instead." There were just too many secrets.

"Why?" Rex said.

Why indeed. I mulled over the question. I finally realized the more straightforward answer was true, so I said, "I didn't want to." I had never asked to go over, and I doubt Adam would have said no if I had. I guess some part of me knew that I really shouldn't go. Mordecai accused me of being a coward who ignored the truth. Or I was just an idiot. Hard to pick between the two.

"What were you doing on the boat that night, Wendy?" Rex changed the subject abruptly, and I looked away.

"I was trying something stupid to get back. Thank you for saving me." I didn't sound grateful. I wanted to be, but it could have worked if he hadn't intervened. I lost the chance to ask Acuzio, but I had the scale, and maybe a spell could have worked. At the very least, I would still have the scale and hope.

"Don't try to go back," Rex said, and I inhaled wrong and started to cough.

Rex set down the paper and walked towards the bed. He knelt on the floor until we were at eye level, and I stared into his beautiful brown eyes. Adam's eyes. A strand of his hair fell loose from its place, and I smoothed it back before I could think twice. Rex said nothing about this action; instead, he intensely scrutinized me.

"You're likely going to hurt yourself further if you keep trying. Just stay here. Maybe this was meant to happen."

I shook my head, "It can't be that because…" I'm pregnant. I stopped myself from completing this sentence.

"You almost drowned chasing this fantasy, Wendy," Rex said emotionlessly, but it struck my heart cruelly.

"I promised I would stay by his side." I inched away from Rex. His voice, his scent, and his eyes were too seductive. I needed distance from his pheromones. I have Adam. Adam and Rex are two different people. Stay focused woman!

"If your Adam is me, then I'm giving you permission to break that promise and stay here where you can be safe," Rex said as he stood up. I watched him straighten his clothing when he was done.

My mouth fell open, and I mutely shook my head. I had to keep trying.

"Give it some thought," Rex said as he headed towards the door. "Take your time resting, Wendy." He was gone before I could retort, and I rubbed my cheeks after the door closed.

Adam said that in the second timeline, Rex would try keeping me. He was right. I shouldn't be surprised Adam was a vault of knowledge and intelligent enough to make the correct calculations. But this was too out there. Why was Rex telling me to stay? There wasn't any affection, love, or lust in Rex's gaze. I don't think he's in love with me. It's more like…I don't know the word for it. It was unique, and even though my instincts told me to run. Instead, I ended up burrowing deeper into the covers and resting like I had been told to.

I expected I would dream of Adam. But Mordecai appeared. Well, I supposed it's truly the other way around. I appeared to him at a Chinese buffet. The aroma of well-seasoned food tickled my stomach something fierce.

Mordecai was in the form of a man who carried me before. He wore a shimmering purple suit. His long hair was tied back, and I noticed a tattoo on his neck for the first time. Only when I tried to look closer there was nothing, just the shimmering glitter his skin naturally held.

I ran up to him; he was loading up a plate and shouting questions at the cook, who was waving a ladle carefree in the Phoenix's direction. The two seemed close, and when they were done talking, Mordecai turned to look at me before sighing.

"What are you doing here?" He said, sounding bored.

I grabbed a plate and, like him, started loading it up. "Eating, I suppose."

"You should be seducing Rex, not pigging out on food." He said and then clucked his tongue.

"I'm pregnant," I said instead of the sassy remark I wanted to.

"So?" Mordecai said before turning to the cook and saying something in Chinese. The cook looked at me, laughed, and then said something back. Mordecai laughed with the cook before turning to me with a somber expression.

I narrowed my eyes on the two. "So how can I seduce Rex."

"They're the same man, dum dum. That makes the kid his." Mordecai was sloppily loading up his dish and spilling things everywhere.

"No, that's not how it works. They're two different people." In every sense of the word and in the way that it mattered.

"You make things so overly complicated." Mordecai scowled at me as he waved a ladle at me. Specks of food flew off it and hit me in the face.

He took off carrying his plate, and I struggled to keep up. The rest of the room was hard to focus on. Everything seemed blurry the longer I looked at it. The only clear image in the room was Mordecai. I couldn't recall the cook's face or their features for the life of me, let alone their gender.

"Where are we?" I said as I blinked, trying to focus on something other than my rude ancestor.

Mordecai laughed in response and said nothing. I swallowed my feelings, filled up my plate, and followed him to a table in the center of the room. Everyone seemed to avoid it, and looking at the tablecloth, I had an inkling why.

The tablecloth was red and gold with a phoenix in the center. There was a name card, and I couldn't read its symbols. It didn't look Chinese…it looked more ancient than that. "Where are we exactly?"

"Across the worlds and timelines exist many parallels and timelines," Mordecai said as he sat down. He didn't wait for my response and instead started to dig into the food.

"This is a Chinese buffet, right?" I said. I couldn't focus on the people walking around, but the music, food, and decorations meant it was right?

"That's racist," Mordecai said with a chuckle, and I hiccuped. Before I could flounder, he cut me off, "I'm fucking with you, Gwendolyn. This isn't a world you've been to or heard of. Here, the Chinese culture is a bit different because of its history. Sit already."

I promptly sat down and watched Mordecai eat his food.

"What's more amazing is that you found me," Mordecai said around a mouthful of food. I dodged the flecks that fell out in all directions.

"You didn't call me?" I set down my plate and gulped at the smell. I was ready to eat it just moments ago, but now, I couldn't wait to get away. I pushed the plate towards Mordecai, who took it.

"I had no reason to. I'm avoiding you." My ever-blunt ancestor said. He started to laugh at his joke, but the chuckle died mid-way, and he set down his chopsticks to look at me.

"You're pregnant with Adam's kid." His eyes narrowed at my stomach, and I reflexively covered it.

A stream of words flew out of Mordecai's lips. He stood from the table abruptly. "I should give you a gift." He was gone a second later, and I blinked after him.

"Wait, I'm stuck here!" I said, but no one in the room seemed to hear me. Or if they did, they didn't seem to care.

A heavy sigh released from my lips as I sat back and waited for something to happen. I wasn't going to stay here forever, right?

I'm not sure how much time had passed before Mordecai came back. With him was John. I hadn't seen the man since the clearing games. He looked the same as before but more tired. We didn't have time for greetings much like last time. The two of us could barely share a commiserating smile before Mordecai shoved himself and his gift between us.

The gift was a basket, and I tore my eyes off John to look at it. Gifts from a deity were bound to be one of a kind, right? Just look at the damage a Dragon God's scale did.

I'm not prepared for any more chaos in my life. How can I gently turn it down?

"Ta-dah!" Mordecai said, brandishing a quill he took from the basket. "This gives you easy access to your powers as a literary witch."

I stared at the quill with shaky eyes I take it back. I definitely need these gifts! Oh my god. That seemed almost too good to be true. If I could draw out my witchy powers, I could fix all my worries with a literal stroke of the pen.

"Is it limited in some way? How much can I do with it?" I needed to know before I got my hopes up.

Mordecai blinked and turned his gaze to the quill. "I hadn't thought of limiting it. What a great idea!" He wiggled his fingers over it, to my dismay, and muttered something in a different language. It was unlimited?! Are you kidding me? I learned an essential lesson in this moment. Never look a gift horse in the mouth with Mordecai. He'll cook it and eat it in front of you for the hell of it.

When Mordecai was done, he slipped the quill back into the basket. He seemed to derive enjoyment from the anguish on my face. "Half the fun in giving gifts is getting my own gifts through others." He said as he dug around in the basket. "There's some seeds from other worlds you might have fun with, a delicacy all pregnant women should eat, maternity clothing charmed to grow as you do, and this thing." Mordecai displayed a tiny egg in the palm of his hand.

"Don't eat this." He said with grave solemnity. "It's extraordinary." He put the egg back into the basket and handed me the basket. "You can leave now." He said, then started eating again.

I took the basket and blinked. How was I supposed to leave?

Mordecai looked up to grab a cup of water John had set down and drained it. When he saw that I was still there, he furrowed his brows. "Go already."

"I don't know how," I said, confused about how he expected me to leave. I wouldn't have waited for him to return if I knew how!

"Just leave how you got here," Mordecai said, exasperated.

I shrugged, still not understanding how I got here in the first place.

"Fine." The Phoenix sighed and waved a hand, which I assumed was to send me back. Only nothing happened.

John's eyes bugged out, and I met his eyes, which were equally fearful.

I've never seen my ancestor surprised. Mordecai's mouth dropped open before his expression morphed into fury. He flicked his hand at me again as if to send me away. Pain smacked me upon the second wave of his hand as if he had hit me. I could feel part of me jolt forward as if to move me, but something was tearing within me as a result...in the end, I stayed, and Mordecai lowered his hand, which stopped the pain.

Mordecai narrowed his eyes, "How tricky of him."

"What?" I said. My body felt even more disoriented as I lost even more focus on the room. Did Mordecai say him?

"How strangely…" Mordecai said before he cut himself off by saying the next word in a language I could understand.

"Alright, my dear Gwendolyn. You have to do it yourself. Imagine the world with Rex, and you should be back."

I closed my eyes and thought of home, with Adam, not Rex.

I was back in Rex's room when I opened my eyes.