Lysa Veringal’s heart pounded like a drum in her chest, threatening to burst at any moment. As her breathing rate shot into orbit, she began to feel somewhat lightheaded. The situation unfolding in her life cannot be happening; it should be entirely impossible.
Lysa had been feeling sick for almost the last month and a half, but it was just on and off, so she assumed it likely just had something to do with her being stressed about meeting her father for the first time in years or that she had been having a few awful days out in town.
But now, after having finally done a test that she thought would have been just an irrelevant attempt at assuring herself she was not going crazy, Lysa finally understood what was happening to her.
The small word pregnant on a little display of the device attached to her arm, sampling her blood for hormone changes and signs of fetal development, made her heart both sink and sing in jubilation.
That she is pregnant should not be possible, but after having been on the toilet for three hours and having taken multiple blood tests, urine, and even a saliva sample, she knew it was reality. Even if the odds of it being so was one in billions if not trillions.
Lysa ripped the test kit off her arm, the sticky substance pulling her ski and the small needles leaving a tiny series of marks that began to trickle blood. She tossed it to the ground to join the dozens of positive tests littering her bathroom floor's white tiles.
Lysa was at a loss for words; her mind was pulled in every direction possible as she attempted to justify what was happening and conjure a way to explain this to her Ruh’ah—well, now Gra-hu, Martinez.
Martinez was a Human, and they were both very sexually active with one another, but still, only a handful of species in the galaxy could naturally crossbreed to the point that the GU put no effort into learning what species could.
Doing so was seen as a waste of uncountable credits and man-hours for some of the finest universes’ geneticists.
Most interspecies couples would have to visit a clinic to conceive, and even then, it would always be the mother species with some of the father traits imposed: eye and fur color or anything else the two species shared in common that could safely be imposed on the prospective newborn.
She leaned forward and rubbed her fingers along the edges of her four solid red eyes, relieving the slightest amount of tension in her mind. Feeling her panicking heart somewhat settle as she breathed deeply, Lysa followed her Teacher’s training.
Always remain calm, and keep breathing. Teacher had taught Lysa how to fight against other species who might wish her harm. So, the lesson of always needing to remain calm was vital to her survival. Now was no different; she just had to face reality and take things one step at a time.
She opened her eyes and peered down at her open pale thighs that were hugged tightly by black shorts. While it is winter in the region, Draun is in; she dresses in a way that reminds Martinez of a Human style called goth. She was not planning on leaving the house today, so her shorts and tank top would do.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Lysa stood slowly, gathered the tests, and tossed them into the garbage, save for the latest blood test kit. She would need it to show Martinez to convince him of what most people would call impossible.
It was an odd feeling swirling in her chest. She wanted to jump for joy and cry in panicked sorrow; she and Martinez would be parents—she would be a mother, a dream she always had but doubted would ever happen.
That doubt was the case until she met Martinez. They had spoken about going to a clinic and having the groundwork started. But that still did not mean anything would be conceived for months or years. They were both class red species, so it would likely be the latter.
Lysa pulled out her datapad and started to dial her mother, but just before pressing the call button, she stopped. While not being the most traditional Aviex, Lysa knew her mother had some respect for the old ways of her near-dead species.
Because of her species' history of coming from a world of ash, darkness, and scarce resources, it was traditional for the new Gra-hu to be the first to hear the news. As such, she would tell her mother later; for now, she had another part of the tradition to prepare for Martinez and get him to come over for dinner tonight.
After messaging Martinez and asking him to come over tonight, Lysa sauntered into the kitchen in her humble home and opened the fridge to see if she had enough food to make something lavish for Martinez.
Her home, overall, was nothing most would bat an eye at. It was a mundane one-story house with two bedrooms, a bathroom with a lovely tub, and a living room with an attached kitchen.
Most houses in Draun were similar to hers. Some in the more suburban districts were more posh, but there were few in this heavily built-up city. Her friend Lira had inherited such a house. Lysa had visited the white Jurintik's home hundreds of times over the last decade and knew it well.
On the other hand, her mother's house in Celna was an actual compound. Lysa’s parents owned more land than all of Draun. You could walk for an entire day through the woods and still be on their property.
The guest house that she and Martinez stayed at while visiting there was twice the size of her current home. She would love to live somewhere like that one day, but affording that on her and Martinez’s salaries was impossible.
Finding somewhere larger to live would have to wait; they likely only had three months until she was due because Aviex pregnancies last at most five months, and she must be at least a month in.
Lysa sighed as she looked at the extensive assortments of meats and hemo-packs in the fridge. The Aviex were omnivores, but unlike Humans, they had developed a tendency toward meats and the ability to gain almost all nutrients from liquids such as blood.
That tendency is why, unlike Martinez, she had rows of dagger-like teeth. A trait that is in common with the myth of vampires from Humans.
Because Martinez had not been over in a week, Lysa lapsed on stocking vegetables and starches. So she will have to run to the store after all, but such is life. Martinez deserved to have the good news given to him properly, and it would only take her an hour at most to pick up supplies for food they both enjoyed.
After getting bundled up for the cold and Martinez’s jacket, which she borrowed several months ago, Lysa stepped out onto the streets of Draun and headed off.
Unlike when she typically is out and about in the vast city, the looks of distrust and revulsion her species fell victim to did not bother her. Lysa’s mind was far too occupied with daydreaming about what the little Aviex growing inside her would be like to notice or care about what strangers viewed her like.
She could also see their kid being more Human-like, with traits like Martinez’s brown skin, dark-colored eyes, and flat teeth. Either way, she would love them, and undoubtedly so would Henry.
This situation was so out of the ordinary that anything could be possible. Their child could be a unique hybrid pulling from them both, be near indistinguishable from one or the other. Either way, the jubilation she felt was beyond anything she had ever known.