“I bet you are happy now that it didn’t.”
Amanda sighed. “I wish. I still have moments of sheer panic, but I also have moments of incredible joy.”
“What about you, Syssi?” Edna asked. “Do you get scared sometimes?”
“Nope. I wanted to have a child for such a long time, and I’m enjoying every moment of the pregnancy.” She handed one margarita with a paper umbrella to Amanda, and the other to Jacki. “I conduct entire conversations with my daughter.” She went back to the bar and brought Edna a glass without an umbrella.
Amanda chuckled. “That’s sweet, but I think you should have a talk with Vanessa. What if you are having a boy? Imagine how he feels knowing that you want a girl.”
Syssi rubbed her belly. “I know that I’m having a daughter.”
Amanda lifted a brow. “No doubts, darling? Life is full of surprises. What if you are having twins?”
“I’m not. There is only one heartbeat.”
“If their heartbeats are synchronized, they might sound like one. Bridget needs to give you an ultrasound. You are pregnant enough to find out the baby’s sex. No more guessing.”
“Yeah, you are right. But Bridget has ordered a new ultrasound model that provides better imaging than the one she has now. I’m waiting for it to get delivered. I saw the images it produces, and they are simply amazing. You see the baby as clearly as if the camera was inside the uterus.”
Amanda looked down at her flat belly. “I wish I could find out the sex of my baby too. But it’s too early. It has to be a girl, though. I’ll go nuts if I have to wait for a boy to reach puberty before he can be turned immortal.”
“Don’t think like that,” Syssi said. “A moment ago, you admonished me for my conviction that I’m having a girl and addressing her as one. If you psych yourself up for a daughter and then discover that you are having a boy, you might feel disappointed, and that will affect the baby.”
Jacki snorted over her paper umbrella. “Just call it the baby until you find out what you are having. Wouldn’t that solve your problem?”
Amanda laughed. “You are absolutely right, but I have a better idea. I will call mine Tiny.”
Stifling a smile, Syssi shook her head. “No child of yours and Dalhu’s is going to be small. You should call it Colossus.”
“That’s awful.” Amanda rubbed her belly. “I’ll call my baby a precious miracle.”
57
Edna
All the talk about pregnancies and babies was making Edna wistful, and jealous, and a little resentful, which in turn made her angry at herself.
It wasn’t Syssi and Amanda’s fault that her situation had no easy solution. She should be happy for them.
“I talked with Merlin,” Jacki said. “He told me that I should wait six months before trying to get pregnant because I need to fully transition first. But since Kalugal and I aren’t using contraceptives, it can just happen, right? Maybe we won’t need his potions. I hear that they are awful.”
“They are.” Syssi took a sip from her glass. “I think he does it on purpose to make sure that the couples seeking his help really want to conceive.”
Amanda waved a dismissive hand. “Some people think that it’s all psychological and that his potions don’t do anything and they are just placebos. So far, you are the only one who’s gotten pregnant with his help, and it could have been a fluke.”
“How many are trying?” Jacki asked.
“Let me think.” Amanda tapped her finger over her upper lip. “I know about Bridget, Vivian, and Gertrude. I know that Callie is not, and neither is Wonder. Ella is not ready either. I think Ruth is going for it, but I don’t know about Sylvia and Sharon. I don’t think Tessa is ready either.”
“What about Kri?” Jacki asked.
“I don’t think so. She and Michael are too busy with work and school. They are both attending an online college.”
Hearing about all those happy couples with their uncomplicated lives didn’t make Edna feel any better. Maybe she should join the men outside and ask Kian for one of his small cigars.
Except, she didn’t smoke, and the cigar would only make her nauseous, and not for the right reasons.
“What’s the matter, Edna?” Amanda asked. “You were smiling, and now you look like you have a sour lemon stuck in your mouth again.”
“Amanda!” Syssi gasped. “That’s such a nasty thing to say. Edna is upset because Rufsur is leaving later tonight. Leave her be.”
Amanda shook her head. “Come on, Edna. I know that there is more to it. Talk to me.”
Edna put her margarita glass down. “I wish there was a simple solution for Rufsur and me, and that I could join your lovely discussion about pregnancies and babies.”
“You can have a baby with Rufsur,” Syssi said. “Even if you get pregnant right away, which probably won’t happen that fast, by the time the baby is born, a solution might present itself. I know that you are opposed to the idea of Kalugal and his men joining the clan, but that is Annani’s ultimate goal, and what Annani wants, she eventually gets.”
Syssi’s words brought about a surge of hope that started deep in Edna’s belly and radiated up to her face, but then reality slapped it back down. “Annani rarely orders Kian and Sari to do things they are opposed to, and there is no way Kian is going to agree. Not unless we find a workable solution. But Rufsur and I have been wracking our brains, and I even consulted with William, but so far, Rufsur has hit a brick wall with Kalugal. He’s not willing to compromise. I didn’t try Kian yet, but I have a feeling his response will be the same.”
Syssi leaned forward. “The last time we talked, you were vehemently opposed to the idea of Kalugal and his men joining the clan.”
“I changed my mind. As you said, life is not black and white, but a million shades of gray, and things never fit neatly into the boxes we build for them. You said that you prefer a messy box to an empty one, and I realized that I also don’t want my box to remain empty, but since my tolerance for mess is limited, I need to find a workable solution. Rufsur and I came up with the idea of forming a federation of two independent communities. The problem is that Kalugal is not open to it at all, and I doubt Kian is either.”
“He is not.” Syssi grimaced. “I guess we all got the same idea after Kalugal made the comment about Sari and her people moving here, and the two arms of the clan forming a federation. I talked with Kian about it earlier, and he is not willing to consider anything. He doesn’t trust Kalugal.”
“Kalugal is the same,” Jacki said. “Rufsur came over earlier, and the two of them had a long talk. I guess it was about the federation idea because neither of them looked happy, and Rufsur left right after.”
Edna sighed. “Kalugal told him to choose a different female.”
Syssi gasped. “He didn’t!”
“I’m afraid so. But after Rufsur explained that we are serious about each other, Kalugal offered him additional days off so he could spend more time with me. Perhaps we should just accept that instead of trying to move mountains.”