Bigfoot’s Mate (Mates for Monsters: Sasquatch #3)

13. Deborah

CHAPTER 13

DEBORAH

Today…

Standing by the transport van, I shift from foot to foot nervously as the female Sasquatch, Enfys, eyes me judgmentally.

Okay, the judgment might be my imagination.

Enfys will be traveling topside with me so she can perform the mind-erase trick, only I’m hoping I can convince her not to do it. If I play on her sympathy, maybe she’ll let me keep the memories I have of my time here in Grotto, the best memories of my life—a life that’s been way too short.

I’m not exactly sure how to word my request. "Hey, I know protocol says you have to erase the past month from my memory bank, but since I won’t last much longer, would you mind letting me keep it? Letting me have memories of the best few weeks of my entire life to cling to as I die?” Could work.

The sound of approaching footsteps echoes through the tunnel, and Frankie appears, munching a sandwich. The moment the smell of egg salad hits my nostrils, my stomach roils dramatically.

I clap a hand over my mouth and lean against the van, willing myself not to hurl. Again.

"Whoa there." Frankie reaches out for me. "You okay?"

"Fine." I nod and pinch my nose. "Just not a fan of eggs right now."

“Oh.” Frankie laughs. "You sound just like Kiki and Bambi.”

"Tell me about it." Enfys smiles, showing fang."Those two and their pregnancy food aversions. Kiki can’t be anywhere near raw meat. And Bambi?" Enfys shakes her head. "I served her my special stew and she ran out of the room gagging, same as you did just…”

She stops talking mid-sentence, and something passes between Enfys and Frankie—a look that makes my skin prickle with unease.

"Deborah,” Frankie's voice takes on that careful tone that people use with small children. "Is there any chance you might be…uh…?”

"Pregnant?" Enfys finishes for her.

I bark out a loud, humorless laugh that sounds slightly unhinged even to my own ears. “Nope. Not a chance.”

They exchange another one of those looks.

"What?" I cross my arms. “I’m serious. I can't be pregnant. My reproductive system is basically a bombed-out wasteland thanks to..." I wave my hand vaguely, not wanting to say the words “terminal illness” out loud.

“No.” Frankie’s forehead wrinkles. "The transfusion would have repaired all that."

I blink. I stare at Frankie, then at Enfys, then, blink again. “The what now?"

“Transfusion. You know, the blood transfusion." Frankie says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Sasquatch blood cures pretty much everything in humans. Got a wart? Seasonal allergies? A little Sasquatch blood, and not anymore.”

The world tilts sideways for a second. “Um. You lost me way back there.” I gesture behind me.

Frankie lets out a labored sigh. “I was there. That first day, when you passed out and Dafydd took you to his cave to recover. It was me he called to bring him supplies. Then we gave you a transfusion of his blood." Frankie suddenly looks a little sheepish. “He said he had your permission. Please tell me he had your permission.”

My mind reels. I remember that night. “I just need your permission. Please. Permit me.”

“Yeah, I gave him permission.” My voice sounds small. “Of course, I figured it was for some crazy witch doctor-type hoodoo voodoo cure that had no chance of ever working.”

Then there was that long nap... waking up feeling better than I had in months... the magical remission of my symptoms...

"But..." I sputter, "but why didn't anyone tell me?"

Frankie's brow furrows. "We thought you knew. Dafydd said he cured you. He told everyone.”

"I thought he was just being... I don't know, optimistic!"

"Nope." Frankie pops the 'p'. "Sasquatch blood is a miracle cure for humans. How did you think you suddenly got better?"

"I don’t know!” I throw my hands up. "I thought maybe something about being underground was helping, or... I don't know what I thought. You mean I'm not dying?"

"Not even a little bit." Enfys crouches beside me so we’re eye-to-eye, her furry face gentle. "You're completely healed."

"But..." My voice cracks. My legs suddenly feel like jelly, and I slide down to sit on the ground, my back against the van's wheel. "But does that mean I’m actually…” I swallow hard not able to get the words to emerge from my parched throat. But the pieces start clicking into place. The nausea. The dizziness.

“Pregnant?” Frankie wears an amused grin. “I’d say definitely. Whadda ya think, Enfys?”

“I think congratulations are in order.”

My head snaps up. "Holy shit." I press a hand to my still-flat stomach. "I'm going to have a baby?"

"A bouncing baby Squatch," Enfys confirms with a grin.

"But..." I scramble to my feet. "But Dafydd thinks I hate him. He thinks I'm leaving because I don't want to be with him.”

"Then maybe," Frankie suggests with raised eyebrows, "you should go tell the poor guy otherwise?"

I'm already running back toward the main caverns of Grotto, my heart pounding with equal parts terror and joy. I'm not dying. I'm having a baby.

I've got a Sasquatch father-to-be to un-break-up with.