Page 8 of It Varies
“You had a catcher.”
“Sable.Yes.She and I suspected something would happen, so we set up a link.I activated it, and she came to catch me.”
“The polymorph.”
“Why do you keep calling her that?What is that?”
“She can control her body completely.She can be animal, man, furniture, or anything in between.”
“Ah.Got it.”She smiled.“Plenty of those where you come from?”
“No.They descend into madness a few years after activating.They lack anchors, and their body loses control.”
She tensed.“How do we fix it?”
“We don’t.”
“You really want to help me find the answer to that.”She was grim.
“Why?”
“Because my friends both went off caffeine with me in solidarity the moment I confirmed I was pregnant.We work long days, and you have no idea how much that meant to me.”
“They are family.”
“True family.They have been to every big appointment with me and taken me out for lunch afterward, even when we started the day with lunch.”
He nodded.“I will ask the archive if they have heard of anything of this sort.”
She smiled.“Thank you.”
“In modern parlance, may I have your number?”
“Oh.Right.I suppose it’s appropriate.”
She pulled out her phone and typed how she thought his name would be spelled before handing him her phone.
He grinned.“Close.”
He took a stylus from his own phone and corrected the spelling, adding his last name.Asher.He sent himself a text from her phone and smiled softly as his screen lit up.
She rubbed her belly as her son kicked hard.
“Are you going to any additional appointments?”
Jennika paused.“Yes.I have one this week to guess the baby’s delivery weight and check the position.”
“And the delivery date?”
She took her phone back and texted him the estimated delivery date.“If I don’t have to go into surgery, this is the date he should appear, based on when we engaged in the summoning ritual.”
He grinned.“I like that phrasing.All I know is that I wanted you from the moment I touched you.”
She smiled.“All I was thinking was that you smelled good, and I hoped you weren’t in a hurry.You weren’t.”
He carefully reached out and cupped the back of her head, pulling her forward for a kiss.She sighed and gripped his shirt.He slowly lifted his head.“Not good?”
She chuckled softly.“I can’t bend in the middle right now.”
