Page 40 of Adored By Her Orc Avenger
Bonnie stands in the hallway near the waiting room with the same expression on her face, and the shaman follows. He won’t even meet my eyes.
“Come on back,” she orders. “In the hall for now, not her room.”
Ur remains in the front room of the hospital, looking conflicted.
“Is she okay? What’s wrong?” The words rush out of my mouth, jammed together, but Bonnie and the shaman don’t rush to answer.
Finally she gestures to the shaman, who lifts his chin. “Dana is pregnant.”
Blood roars in my ears. Pregnant? This whole time, she was carrying another man’s child? I’m torn between irrational jealousy and terror. How often had I put her child in jeopardy? For fuck’s sake, I had her jump down a waterfall. The alternative was being eaten alive by wolves, but surely if I’d have suspected, there would have been a better way. Not to mention all the walking and sleeping on the ground and attacks…
“I have a sense for these things,” he continues. “The baby is only a few days old. She wouldn’t even have any reason to suspect that she’s carrying a child this early. But I can sense the growth of another life, and Bonnie’s blood test confirms it.”
Bonnie crosses her arms. “And only an orc pregnancy would progress this fast.”
“What?”
I don’t understand.
No, I do understand. I’m not a moron. But for some reason my brain won’t stop fizzing and popping like some fermented brew gone wrong.
Dana is carrying my child.
It’s a fact, stark and bare. I know how it happened. Hell, I’ve had nightly dreams about how it happened.
But still, something won’t register it. Not completely.
What?
24
DANA
Ilie on the cot with my mouth open, staring at the wall in shock. The word keeps ringing in my mind; pregnant. I look at my stomach and run my hand over it, thinking about how I’m carrying a life inside me, and I had no idea. The baby can’t be even as big as a blueberry yet, but it’s already beginning to grow.
I’m going to be a mother,I think as I look at my stomach. The thought repeats; I can’t believe this is happening. I’ve always wanted children, but after my clan betrayed me, my main objective was to live a peaceful life in Burning Sun. I never thought this day would come after the trauma I endured because, at one point, I thought the physical abuse might have made me infertile.
I’m shocked that I even have a chance of being pregnant, let alone that I get knocked up on the first try. My face falls as I think of him. The baby’s father, the man that’s ignored me for the past week, an orc that I thought was my knight in shining armor but proved to be a selfish asshole.
I won’t let him hurt my child as he did to me. He won’t be allowed to come into the baby’s life and leave abruptly. I know what that type of abandonment can do to a child, and I will do everything I can to ensure that doesn’t happen.
Just as I think about how the last thing I want is for him to find out, he rushes in. I roll my eyes and sit up in bed, not looking at him directly. Out of my peripheral, I catch a look of shock on his face. He stutters but doesn’t say anything. I don’t try to make conversation but look away from him instead.
Bonnie must have told him. The thought angers me, but I can’t blame her. He and I were missing for over two weeks; of course, he would be the father. Regardless, we have no reason to speak. He made his decision in the woods, and there’s no walking back the neglect he put me through.
Although I honestly believe these thoughts, I can’t help but imagine him holding our little boy or girl. I wonder what they will look like and who they’ll take over personality-wise. I imagine raising a half-orc baby on my own, and the thought is overwhelming, but I know I have no other option.
There’s no point in imagining a fairytale family with Hurian in it. That would be me keeping my hopes up foolishly, as I know they will always be let down with him. He wants to focus on survival and battle, and he can be free to do so without the confines of my wanting him to be a father.
“Is it true?” he asks as he clears his throat.
I run my fingers over my stomach and shrug. I look at the ceiling and sigh, debating what I should tell him. I could lie, but he would figure it out eventually. If I act excited about it, he might think I want him to be a part of our lives, so I decide to compromise on my reaction.
“There’s a good chance I’m pregnant,” I respond flatly as I look at him with blank eyes. “There’s a slight chance the doctor could have been mistaken, but I think he’s right.”
The chance of the doctor being wrong is incredibly slim. He’s predicted more than half the pregnancies at Burning Sun. I know him to be well-educated and wise in his words. Hopefully, Hurian will choose not to believe his diagnosis so he can leave us alone.
I look away from him and feel the pain he caused me to creep back into my heart. I remember walking behind him in the woods and struggling to get his attention, the way he spoke to me so coldly after lying to me the night in the river, saying the idea of us wasn’t stupid. I can’t help but replay the memories repeatedly, maybe to protect myself from wanting to try with him again.