The Holly and the Tentacles (Tinsel and Tentacles 2.0)

Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

A eryn stretched, hand on his lower back. He was getting pretty…big. Huge. Ponderous. All the words that meant his pregnant belly was so sticky-outy that Barb had asked if he was having an alien baby.

She was a butthead.

“Hey, kiddo.”

Speak of the devil. He smiled up at her. “Hey.”

“What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”

He blinked. Legacy had just been home for three weeks, and they’d spent all that time wallowing in each other, decorating their little second bedroom with stuff for the baby and cuddling. A lot.

“Um. I have no idea.”

“Well, is Legacy going to be here?”

“I think so?” Gods, he hoped so. He wanted normalcy. He wanted holidays with his alpha. The baby kicked as if to say she agreed.

She. He moved his hand to his belly. He and Legacy had made a little girl, and he was so awed by that.

“You should come to my place. I have procured the most magic thing. A linara. You know, those birds down on the surface that are most like an old-Earth turkey?”

“Oh, wow. Look at you. No fake meat, huh?”

“Nope.”

“I would love that. As long as Legacy?—”

“Like I would ask you and not him.” She grinned, her eyelines crinkling like mad. She had the best face. Usually stern and craggy, but when she smiled, it really lit her up. You could tell just by looking at her how kind she was.

“Okay. What can I bring?” He grunted at a strong kick, which kind of took his breath.

Barb frowned. “You know, you should probably be on medical leave right now.”

Aeryn sighed. “I know. I can barely reach my desk these days. The doc signed off on it.”

“Then why are you here and not putting your swollen feet up at home?”

“Because I can only do so much sitting on my ass at my quarters. I’m bored to tears when I’m there by myself.” He really couldn’t play with his tentacles anymore, and he had probably watched every movie vid there was a couple of times. He’d played video games until his hands had cramped, and he was tired of cleaning.

Her face creased with sympathy. “I’m sorry, kiddo. That sucks.” She cleared her throat. “And there are no other, um, pregnant omegas for you to bond with on station?”

He shrugged, his head down. “I guess not. I asked at the activities desk, but there’s no like, support group or anything. I saw one female Garminian, but she ignored me pretty hard.”

“Yeah, they don’t love humans…” Barb patted his shoulder. “Well, if you want to hang out, cool. Or, I can send you home with a mobile workstation. I have pages of data entry for you to do.”

Aeryn chewed his lip. Working from home sounded nice. He could do it on the couch with his feet up…

“Okay, cool. That would be great, lady. Thank you.”

“Let me get you a comp.” She patted his shoulder again, which was a sure sign that she thought he looked like warmed-over shit, and she ambled off, coming back a few minutes later with a thin mobile unit. “Here you go. I’ll leave your station here live. When you log in there, it will let me see the stuff here.”

“Got it.” He pushed up to his feet, unfolding carefully, belly first. “Ugh.”

“You need to get Legacy here, honey. You’re ready to pop like one of those fake chip cans with the snake in it.”

He made a face at her, pursing his lips and wrinkling his nose. “I’ll put in the request for him to have medical leave with me.”

“Good man. Holler at me if you need anything. Otherwise, I’ll see you at Thanksgiving. We’ll eat around 1400 hours.”

“Gotcha.” He beamed at her, then grabbed his drink mug and headed off with that and his mobile unit.

He got halfway through the walk, and he had to stop, arching his back, his breath coming a little hard.

“Well, if it isn’t the ginger gimp.”

Oh gods. Aeryn recognized the guy Jameson had scared off all those months ago. Big, ugly, covered in drilling dust, the guy stepped up to block his way.

“Leave me alone.” He shifted his weight to his good leg, then choked up his grip on his drink cup. If he had to, he would whack the guy right in the head with it.

“So who’s your baby daddy, little bit? I never see you with anyone.” The guy stepped into his personal space. “If you need an alpha protector, I’m your guy.”

Ew. Ew, ew, ew. “You’re not my anything,” he said, never breaking eye contact. He might be at a terrible disadvantage physically, but this wasn’t about him. This was about protecting his baby, and he wasn’t going to be quiet and meek.

“But I could be. You’re such a weakling, little bit.” The man reached out with one filthy hand to touch his cheek, and he swung, whacking the man right in the wrist with his cup, because that would make his whole hand go numb.

“Do. Not. Touch me.”

“You little fuck!” The guy closed in, his other hand landing on Aeryn’s shoulder.

“Leave him alone.” A woman came to push in between them, glaring at the miner. “Back the fuck off, buddy.”

Aeryn breathed a big sigh of relief. And he noticed she was pregnant too.

“You’re going to pay, you red-headed freak.”

“I’m going to call the guard,” the woman said.

Aeryn brandished his mug, and the guy stepped back a pace. “Fine. I’ll see you later.” He pointed at Aeryn, then turned on his heel and stalked away.

“Wow. He’s got it in for you, huh? What did you do to him?” The woman had curly brown hair and brown eyes, and she wore a technician’s suit zipped up over her baby bump. She must work in facilities.

“I just hit him with my mug, but he always singles me out. I have red hair and a limp.” Aeryn shrugged. It was what it was. Everyone had a problem with him for something.

“I’m Halie, by the way.” She stuck out a hand. “I was about to get some lunch. Wanna?”

“I’m Aeryn.” He shook hands with her, smiling. “And I would love that.”

She linked arms with him. “Well come on. We’ll do it up right. The round belly club, ahoy.”

He laughed and nodded, falling into step with her. “Indeed. We got this.”

“We do.”

And Aeryn had a feeling that he had a new friend, too. That was totally worth confrontation with the asshole.