I’m not sure when Ebby started living with me versus just always being over. It probably started the night I came back from the incident.
***
When I walked in, I had found Ebby playing his portable piano in his underwear. He was quite good, seeing as he had been a professional pianist at one point. What made me smile just little was the sight of him in green boxers.
As soon as he heard me snickering he stood up, and turned around. I don’t think he expected me to be laughing with tears of pain in my eyes.
“Saffron, what happened?” he asked, worry and anger in his voice.
“Aries…..magic….charisma……hot tub….” I managed to say between sobs. He just let me cry. Why was I being so emotional?
When at last I was finished, I stood before him like a small child, shoulders hunched over and my lip still quivering. He put his hands on my shoulders and rectified my posture.
“It’s okay Saffron. We’ve been through worse. Now can you tell me what happened?”
I explained the whole horrible experience. I had met another magical vampire, one with the purple hair, signifying his magical charisma. I hadn’t even noticed myself losing my freewill until it was too late. It started as dancing, then progressed on, till he took me back to his apartment.
He had an outdoor hot tub, and suggested we get in. As I lost my last bit of will power, I changed in to a towel-swimsuit, and had gotten in.
That’s when he suggested we take it to the next level. It was like I was watching myself make these decisions, with no choice in the matter. After that, he had said we through with me, and I was free to go. I had run home as fast as I could, completely horrified.
Ebby nodded quietly throughout the whole thing, though I saw him clench and unclench his fists a couple of times.
When I had finished, he swooped me up in his arms, whispering in to my ear “its okay, Saffron. It’s okay.” Then Ebby leaned in to kiss me.
I shied away.
“Not now, Ebby,” I told him. “I just got through this incident, and I need some time. Please, not now.” And then, as if my body was mad at me for not kissing him, I promptly felt completely ill, and ran to the bathroom to puke.
Ebby knocked at the door.
“I’m sorry Saffron. You’re right. Are you okay?”
“I’m f-” I emptied the last contents of my stomach. “I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute. I washed out my mouth, and went to my bedroom, and crawled in to bed, anxious to forget the whole experience.
I woke up later in the morning, around eleven. I had a short amount of time until my work shift, so I showered, and had a plasma pack. Then the carpool arrived, and I headed to work.
***
Life seemed to pass by mundanely, with Ebby staying home and practicing piano, and myself continuing on in my job at the restaurant. It was actually quite frustrating.
For once, the restaurant was running smoothly. The arguments were few and far between, and we were now a four star restaurant.
The problem with success meant there were no open positions. And while I wanted fresh faces in the kitchen, more than anything I wanted to advance up the ladder.
It had become increasingly clear to me that I wanted to truly become a top chef, and yet I was stuck in the middle of my career.
On top of all this, my nausea persisted. It was becoming common place for Odine to look in the staff bathroom when she couldn’t find me.
There was one break from the humdrum of everyday life. I had been preparing a bowl of macaroni and cheese for the kids menu with Alexy one day, when he shocked me with a double whammy.
“We’re over right?” he said. I almost dropped my spoon.
“W-what makes you say that?” I stuttered. Of course, I had been meaning to call it off with this confusion between myself and Ebby, but how had he suspected?
“You didn’t hear? Well, Ebby was screaming at this dude named Aries Mallory or something about being rapist, and to leave you alone. I figured since you didn’t bother to tell me, we were though.”
I was shocked for a moment. Ebby had confronted Aries over me? Was he crazy? Not only was Aries a vampire, he could have gotten Ebby to jump off a cliff! I was surprised he made it out with his life.
Alexy was still waiting for me to answer his question. After recovering from the news of Ebby’s gracious act, I responded.
“Um, yeah. Just friends,” I muttered dazedly.
“Cool. Does this mac and cheese need broccoli?” I looked at him like he was crazy, and we continued cooking.
***
The next day after work, I came home exhausted. While no one was getting promoted, we finally had a group of new kitchen scullions. They all needed lessons in working the dish washer and humility, so I was the one to teach them.
Needless to say, when I arrived home, I was beat.
I ended having to pound the correct combination in to the call box a couple times, before it let me up. Then, the elevator jammed. When I finally got in my apartment, bed sounded like heaven.
When I walked in, Ebby was already asleep. I smiled at him. He forgot he was supposed to sleep on the couch. Oh well, it was alright for tonight. I was too tired to change, so I just fell asleep of the covers right then and there.
When I woke up, I realized how uncomfortable my uniform was, so I put on a night dress. It wasn’t until I assaulted with knowledge did I realize it. The knowledge many mortals and few vampires had ever possessed.
I was pregnant.
***
Author’s Note: I apologize for how short this chapter was. I’m anxious to move on to another part of the story, and I wasn’t sure how much else I could put in this chapter without overdoing it.