Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 101: Joey in the Pouch

Today’s pair matches were up on the board in the dining hall:

1.Cormac/Lili v Arrie/Wolf

2.Feifei/Wolf v Cormac/Lili

3.Arrie/Cormac v Wolf/Lili

4.Feifei/Cormac v Arrie/Wolf

"What the hell is this?" Cormac was grandstanding over at the whiteboard. "Why is Lili fighting against me with Wolf?"

"Settle petal," called Niko from his seat at the breakfast table. "She’s not always going to be your partner for every exercise, man."

Cormac glared at the board as if he might rub out the offending match.

Lili’s smile was extra bright as she came up and read the board. Thank goodness to be mixing it up a bit! The man was stuck to her like glue, and she was feeling completely suffocated.

Feifei saw the matches and she felt bad that Bo leaving meant that she had to take someone else’s partner from them.

She placed her breakfast tray next to Delphi’s and sat down. She had been feeling mildly queasy at breakfast for the last few days, but now, as the smell of the sliced ’roo meat hit her, her entire stomach flipped over, and she covered her mouth and gagged.

She raced from the room, hand fastened over her mouth, Delphi running behind her.

"Winter, Ruby," Delphi called as she ran.

Feifei hit the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. She didn’t have time to lock it and the three women piled into the bathroom behind her, finding her retching over the toilet.

"Feif, what’s wrong?" asked Delphi with alarm.

This girl was tough as nails; she never fell sick.

"Don’t worry about me," Feifei said weakly between retches. "I’m just a bit queasy. It’s not food poisoning or anything."

Winter looked very concerned, her face pale and scrunched up.

"How long have you been feeling sick for, Feifei?" asked Ruby professionally.

"I haven’t felt good in the mornings for a couple of days," she said, retching again as she remembered the smell of that meat. "But this morning is the first time I’ve actually thrown up. That meat didn’t smell at all good to me. Could it be off?"

"It was cooked fresh this morning and barely stored," said Winter quietly.

"What could it be?" Delphi asked Ruby.

"She could have a mild stomach virus," Ruby suggested. "Sometimes a flu can be accompanied by a poorly tummy. Do you have any other symptoms Feifei?"

"Not really. I am a bit more tired than usual, and I’m sleeping a lot, so there’s no good reason for it."

Winter looked really troubled now, almost like she might cry.

"What is it Wints?" Delphi asked her gently.

Winter shuffled from one foot to the other, wringing her hands.

"Don’t leave us in suspense, girl. You’re clearly worried about something."

"Feifei," said Winter in a cracked voice, "is there any possibility you could be... pregnant?"

There was absolute silence. The question shocked Feifei so much that she stopped vomiting.

Now Delphi looked really alarmed.

"Feif? Did you sleep with Bo, honey?"

She nodded over the toilet, holding her hair back.

Delphi gulped loudly.

"When did she last have her period, Winter?"

Winter was in charge of distributing the menstrual supplies, so she knew the other girls’ cycles. They had all pretty much aligned for years now anyway, give or take a day or two at the most.

"That’s the problem," Winter looked down at her feet. "I’ve been trying to give her her supplies for the last week, and she keeps telling me she doesn’t need them."

"Is your period a week late Feifei?"

Feifei nodded miserably.

Delphi’s eyes shot wide open.

"Did you use contraception Feifei?" she asked frantically.

Feifei shook her head and slumped down onto the floor next to the toilet.

"Did she ask you for any morning after pills?" Delphi asked Winter pessimistically.

Winter shook her head solemnly.

"Feif," said Delphi, still in shock, "come on girl, don’t sit down there. It’s yucky."

She pulled the girl to her feet and wrapped her in a hug.

"Hey, it’s not confirmed yet, and it’s not the end of the world, is it?" Delphi tried to cajole her. "It’s happy news if it’s true. You’re going to be a mamma!"

A big tear slid down Feifei’s cheek. Delphi tried to stop it with her finger.

"Hey, definitely no crying, girl. What will the baby think if they hear that was your reaction to their arrival? You have to be brave."

Winter and Ruby packed into their hug.

"Don’t cry Feifei, you’ll make me cry too," Winter started to weep.

Ruby’s face started to stream with tears too.

"They better be happy tears you two," Delphi growled, and they both nodded, trying to smile through their red crying eyes, looking really ghastly.

"Mmhm," Winter snuffled. "I’m very happy. I’m going to be an auntie!"

"This little baby will have seven other mommies Feifei," Ruby cried.

"You bunch of cry-babies," Delphi teased. "Enough. Ruby, take Feifei to the medical room and see if you can confirm it for sure. Come and let me know ASAP."

Delphi gave Feifei’s hand a squeeze before Ruby lead her away. Feifei was starting to shake as the magnitude of what might happen, kicked in.

"It’s alright babe," Delphi comforted her. "Whatever happens we’ll get through it. It will turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you, you’ll see."

Feifei stared back down the hall at Delphi as Ruby lead her away, a look of abject terror on her face.

Delphi raised her own lips into a smiling position with her fingers and pointed at Feifei, but Feifei looked back at her like she was being lead away to the executioner’s platform.

Delphi wandered back into the breakfast room and sat back down next to Alton, completely shell-shocked.

She stared at the door intently, looking up every time someone came or went.

Alton was talking to her, but she missed everything he said entirely, staring at him blankly.

"Delphi? Delphi!" he said with frustration, "Are you listening to me at all?"

"Sorry," she shook her head.

"I just spoke for two minutes straight. Did you hear any of it?"

"No."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Is what I have to say that unimportant to you, woman?"

She looked over at the door as Ruby finally appeared in the doorway.

Ruby signed at her. ’Feifei is pregnant.’

Delphi rested her chin on her hand, covering her mouth.

"Well, we can scratch Feifei from today’s matches, and from the mission," she said to him. "Excuse me Alton, I need to go and see Feifei," she scraped her chair back and stood up.

Alton grabbed her hand before she could leave. She looked down at him and saw shock written all over his face.

He pointed over at Ruby and hissed to Delphi, "did she just say Feifei is pregnant! Or did she say Feifei is a roommate?"

"When did you get that good at sign language?" Delphi frowned, wondering how Alton got good enough to confuse roommate and pregnant; two easily mistaken signs.

"How I learned sign language is the least important part of this conversation, Delphine. Is she pregnant, or not?" he hissed.

Delphi nodded.