The following morning, she was up and ready for breakfast, unsure about whether she was supposed to wait for Rocco to retrieve her or go on down to the dining room. When it was a few minutes before the hour, she finally decided to just go on down. If he found she wasn’t in her room, he would no doubt come down on his own.
Making her way downstairs, she walked into the dining room and saw no signs of food being put out. Walking into the kitchen, there were no signs of anyone cooking. She waited around for a bit and then decided to go back up to her room. For a well-staffed estate, it seemed rather quiet here this morning. Growing impatient, she made her way back to her room and finished unpacking some more of her things.
Glancing at her phone, she saw that it was nearly nine. So, no breakfast downstairs. No sign of the person who had told her someone would wake her and they would share breakfast. She felt more annoyed than she had in a while. Rocco didn’t have to want anything more from her than for her to fulfill her contract as a surrogate, but he could at least not be a douche. If he hadn’t wanted to have breakfast with her, he shouldn’t have asked, especially after blowing off dinner.
At nearly nine thirty, she decided to go out. She called a cab and had it pick her up. It was just past ten when it arrived and still, there was no sign of Rocco. She had been tempted to go down to his room to look for him, but decided there was no point. He had obviously forgotten her and she wasn’t going to go wake him just to have him be even ruder to her. She used some of the advance she had negotiated to buy herself a nice breakfast at a small bistro overlooking the bay.
She tried to convince herself there was no reason to be upset, but she just couldn’t get past how shitty it was going to be to live with such a thoughtless person for months. The worst part was that there was no changing it. She had signed a contract and was already pregnant. She was stuck and no matter how intolerable it felt now, it would be well worth it, in the end. Besides, hadn’t she already put up with worse behavior from William? If she could get through being so disrespected by the man she had once loved, she could manage it with a stranger.
After her meal, she walked around a few of the shops nearby, doing more window shopping than anything. She did purchase a small set of earphones to listen to music and such on her phone, but most things were too expensive for someone who needed to watch their funds. The money she had gotten up front needed to last for months and would easily do so with him paying for most things. She had paid for her storage unit and her phone service up front for ten months. What was left was just for incidentals outside what Rocco would provide.
He met her at the front doors upon her return. The expression on his face was one of concern as he opened the cab door for her himself and helped her out.
“Thank God! I thought you had left . . . or worse!”
“I was hungry, and no one was around,” she said.
Her tone was flat, annoyed. How dare he act like she was in the wrong when it had been him that had not shown up for breakfast. She could see his expression change, realization that he had forgotten breakfast with her setting in, but he said nothing, instead turning to the cab driver.
“How much does she owe you?”
“23.50,” he replied.
Rocco pulled some cash out of his pocket and handed it to him, waving him off as he shut the door. Mystic didn’t wait for him, instead making her way to the large front doors of the estate.
“How about lunch, Mystic?”
“No thanks. I had a late breakfast. I won’t be hungry for a while,” she replied, heading across the lobby.
“Mystic, stop!”
She paused, taking a deep breath before turning around to look at him.
“What do you want?”
“I’m sorry, Mystic. I suppose I should have opened with that. There is a reason I wasn’t here for breakfast. One that I can’t share with you, but one that was important to me.”
“I get it. Whatever your business is, it is far more important than some strange woman barely pregnant with your kid.”
“No. That’s unfair.”
“It is unfair. I was prepared to go through with a pregnancy on someone else’s behalf, to live under their roof like some sort of handmaid, but I had no idea I was signing up to be treated like shit for the duration. You missed dinner, you missed breakfast. I get it. You don’t care to get to know me. I’ll be gone soon enough. So, let’s not pretend here, okay?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you just continue to do whatever it is you do and I’ll take care of myself. You have a staff that will tend to most things. You said there is a nurse on the way to tend to my nutrition and health. I can get a cab to wherever I need to go outside the house. Just look at me like an unwanted house guest that you need to steer clear of until I’m gone. It will all work out just fine.”
“Mystic, that is not the impression I intended to give you,” he replied.
For a moment, he looked like he was almost hurt, but he was hard to read, and his face quickly went back to an indecipherable state, looking almost past her.
“Well, it’s the one I’ve gotten. It’s fine. I just hope that, when the time comes, you take a little more interest in spending time with your child than the vessel that brought him into the world.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, turning to make her way up the stair. Whether it was the effects of the pregnancy or a bit of depression beginning to slip in, she wasn’t sure, but she felt exhausted. She went into her room and closed the door, stripping down to nothing but her panties and climbing between the sheets again. Sleep came quickly and when she awoke, she could see that the sun was dropping in the sky already.
She had no desire to cross Rocco again, but she was already feeling hungry again. Though she was usually a light eater, she had found that she was ravenous and wondered how much that had to do with begin pregnant, or more specifically, to do with the incredible rarity of the child she was carrying. She let out a loud sigh and go out of bed, dressing and brushing her hair up into a ponytail. Descending the stairs, she found the house still empty. Where was all the staff?
“They are off on Wednesdays?” Rocco said from behind her, causing her to jump visibly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I was waiting for you to wake up.”
“How do you know I was sleeping?”
“The snoring gave it away.”
“I don’t snore,” she scoffed.
“Wanna bet?”
Mystic glared at him for a moment and sighed again.
“You do that in your sleep too.”
“Seriously? Were you standing outside my door listening?”
“No. I have . . . uh, very good hearing.”
Mystic squinted at him a moment and let that sink in. She was going to assume he meant his hearing exceeded that of a normal human, but didn’t really feel like engaging in conversation. Then, something odd happened, she felt incredibly dizzy and things began to go gray all around her. She felt herself falling and then she was in his arms, being held up by him.
“I . . .,” she began to say and then things were just black and silent.
When she came to, she was laying on the sofa in the over-sized den. Rocco was talking to her and rubbing ice cubes against her lips. When she opened her eyes, he grabbed a glass from nearby and brought it toward her lips.
“Okay, good. Let’s get this in you before that happens again. You shouldn’t have skipped lunch.”
“I had a late breakfast,” she reminded him.
“Yes. You told me. It’s not enough. You have to eat all your meals. Drink this.”
Mystic took a drink of the bright orange liquid and made a disgusted face, pushing it away.
“Gross!”
“I know it is, but you need to drink all of it. Just turn it up and drink it down. It will get your system stabilized so you don’t pass out again before you get some food in you.”
“What is in it?”
“Don’t ask. Just drink it. Dr. Stanford gave it to me in case this happened.”
Mystic groaned and tried to sit up a little more. He still had his hand on her back and the other one on the back of her head, supporting her. She took the glass and tossed it back, gulping it down as quickly as she could muster. It tasted like syrup and super concentrated baby aspirin. He laughed as she continued to make a puckered face.
“Good girl. How are you feeling?”
“Better, I guess. It just tastes so bad.”
“It kicks in really quick, though. Can you sit up on your own?”
Mystic sat up with his help, leaning back against the sofa for a moment until she felt a little less shaky. She nodded at him that she was okay, and he pulled his arms away from her, sitting forward on the sofa a little and turning toward her.
“Listen, Mystic. We’ve gotten off on the wrong foot here. I should have brought you straight home and explained some more things to you and I should have already had a nurse in place. I was just not expecting your pregnancy to take so quickly and had to finish up a few things so that I could focus on what you and I are doing here. It’s affecting you a lot faster than what I’ve seen with others.”
“What do you mean?”
“A shifter baby is not like a human baby in a lot of ways. They burn through a lot of energy while they are growing. Your body will adjust to it, but since you are barely pregnant, you just aren’t used to it yet. You have to eat three meals a day and snack anytime you start feeling a little peckish. You were asleep and so, when you awoke, you were past when you should have already had lunch, a snack and preparing for dinner.”
“I can’t just eat all the time.”
“Tell me something. What was your very first thought when you woke up?”
Mystic considered this for a moment and her eyes widened.
“I was hungry and thirsty.”
“Exactly. Do not ignore your body right now. If you feel hungry, eat, because the baby is hungry too. It will keep you from having another fainting episode.”
“I’ll be the size of a house by the end of the year!”
“No, you won’t. Your body and the baby will burn it off just like any normal woman’s eating and a normal baby would. The bottom line here is that you are human and having a baby that is not. His metabolism is faster than yours and you have to keep up with him.”
“Him?”
“Yes. Him. Shifter babies born of human wombs are always male.”
“Why?”
“Male shifters only carry Y chromosomes, so always male babies. Only female shifters can have female babies and they must do so with a human, as well.”
“Because male shifters don’t have X chromosomes.”
“Exactly.”
“But there are female shifters, probably much better suited to having shifter babies. Why not find one of them? Why look for a human?”
“Honestly, it’s just a matter of preference. I don’t have time for a relationship. I don’t want one. I like my life the way it is. I’ve dated a few female shifters and they all were ready to get married and mate on day one.”
“A child is a big responsibility too and, no offense, but you seem far too busy to really focus on fatherhood.”
“A child is different than a woman who expects certain things of you. I’m not always this busy. As I said earlier, I was just trying to tie up some loose ends that I thought I’d have more time for.”
“In other words, you don’t want to be faithful to one woman.”
“Maybe someday, but not right now.”
“Then why not wait to have a child when you meet a woman you want to be a father with?”
“Too many variables there. I might not find a human woman with the blood type required. I might not find a female shifter that I like. Why wait for the right woman, who may never come along, when I can just have a child now with a surrogate? In the end, I have a child. You get paid and we both walk away better off in a way that is important to us.”
“Fair enough then.”
“I think so. Now, let’s get you something to eat before you pass out again. That magic elixir of Dr. Stanford’s won’t hold you forever.”
Mystic looked at him, her eyebrows raised in surprise. She wanted to ask the question but realized how stupid it might sound. After a moment, he realized what she was thinking without asking and she still felt dumb for it.
“Relax. It’s not real magic. I don’t think that exists. At least, not that I’ve seen.”
“Can I see your dragon?” she asked.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Curiosity, I guess.”
“Sure. I will show you when I can do so safely. It’s not exactly something I can just go and do on the front lawn.”
Mystic laughed. She was feeling a little better for the conversations, but also a bit afraid of what was happening with her body.
“Where is the staff?” she asked.
“Today is Wednesday. No staff is allowed at the house on Wednesdays, but I might have to change that while you are here and at least have a few folks come in.”
“Oh, no. I don’t want to mess up their schedules.”
“There are some that won’t mind. They’d prefer to work on Wednesday and have a full weekend off instead. I can work out a rotation. I’ll worry about that. Let’s get you some food. How does a nice steak sound?”
“Delicious,” she replied. “Can I have a baked potato too?”
“You can have whatever is in the kitchen. I’ll go start the grill. Don’t get off the sofa just yet. I can’t risk you passing out on me again.”
“I feel fine.”
“That’s great. Sit there and feel fine until I get back from starting the grill. Then, you can go to the kitchen with me to pick out what you want with your steak, hopefully, there are potatoes. I would take you out, but this will be faster.”
Mystic frowned at him and sat back on the sofa, watching as he walked out of the room. When he was gone, she attempted to stand, felt a bit woozy and immediately sat back down. Maybe she should just listen to him, she decided, chuckling to herself.