Three months later

I run to Brian’s house, eager to tell him the good news. When Brian sees me coming, he beams. “Amanda! I have good news!”

I smile back, out of breath. “Me...too. You...first.”

Brian gets me a glass of water, which I accept gratefully and drink.

“Amanda, I finally got access to Elena’s file. She’s clean; you can see her anytime! I turns out she really IS a member of a Falcon Rights Group.

I grin. “See? I told you you’re just paranoid!”

Brian laughs. “You’re right. What did you want to tell me, Amanda?”

“Oh yeah! Brian, I just got back from the doctor!”

Brian gets worried. “What?! Are you hurt?”

I laugh. “No, stupid! Brian, I’m pregnant!”

Brian takes a step back. “Really?” He exclaims. “Amanda, that’s wonderful! Did the doctor tell you what sex it is?”

I rest a hand on my stomach. “No, not yet. He said he couldn’t really tell yet.”

“I’m really glad, Amanda.” Brian says. “Gods know it’ll be a challenge raising a child in this condition, but it’ll be worth it.”

I give him a quick kiss on the lips. “Yeah, but first, I want to tell Elena.”

Brian looks at his feet. “Um, Amanda?”

I look at him. “Yeah?”

“Could I come? I want to apologize to Elena for the way I acted. I feel really bad.”

I smile. “Brian, that’d be great. Let’s go.”

Elena’s house

We arrive at Elena’s house and I knock on her door. She opens it and sees me. “I thought I might be seeing you again. Please, come in. You too, Brian.” She says, smiling.

Brian steps forward. “Elena, I’m sorry I acted so rudely at our first meeting. With all these spies and falcons working for the humans, my natural reaction, as Amanda’s mate, was to be more than a little skeptical. I’m sorry.”

Elena smiles. “Don’t worry; as soon as Amanda mentioned that you’re in the Army, I imagined that you would be skeptical. It’s quite all right.” She turns to me. “You didn’t come here only to apologize, did you?”

I smile. “No; I have some great news!”

“What’s that?”

Grinning, I burst out, “I’m pregnant!”

Elena throws her arms around me. “Mija, that’s wonderful! Is it a boy?”

“The doctor said he couldn’t tell yet. I’m actually hoping it’s a girl.”

Elena raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Why’s that?”

I blush a bit. “Well, it’s kinda embarrassing, but it’s always been my dream to raise a daughter. That doesn’t mean if I have a son I’ll love him any less, gods no, but it’s been my dream since I was a little girl to raise a beautiful daughter. Of course, in my little-girl-fantasy-dream, I wanted to get married on some tropical island and be an actress as well, but I guess we just can’t have everything!” I say, making a fake little pout.

Elena laughs. “Unfortunately, no.”

Brian comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. “I think it’ll be a blessing to raise a child in this environment. We should teach her- or him- even more about out culture by what we can’t do.”

I smile up at Brian. “You’re right.”

Suddenly, Elena gets up. “You may not believe it, but I had children as well, many years ago. I’d be happy to help you with anything you need. But first,” she says, making for the kitchen, “we need to get you in shape. If you want the baby to be strong, you need to eat right and exercise. So, get in here and help me make some protein shakes. Do you want one egg or two?”

I grimace. “This is gonna be a LONG nine months.”

Brian laughs. “I agree. Come on; let’s help.” He says, taking my hand and going after Elena.