The flutter happened again, more of a tiny kick and she closed her eyes, amazed at the feeling and frightened. Brawn was a big guy and she’d hoped she was gaining weight so fast because the baby might be as large as the father but she couldn’t forget he wasn’t totally human. She might not know much about pregnancy since she’d never experienced it before but she had friends who had children. She shouldn’t feel the baby stir for months. The baby might be growing faster than a purely human one, thanks to Brawn’s altered genes, and like it or not, she was in over her head. She needed to have a conversation with the New Species doctor to figure it out.

She opened her eyes and reached for the paper again. Her hands shook as she dialed the number. Her heart pounded as the phone rang. A woman’s voice answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Doctor Trisha?” Becca remembered to use the same Texas accent. “It’s me again. The pregnant lady.”

“You promised to call me and it’s been three weeks,” the doctor accused, sounding out of breath and maybe excited. “How are you?”

“Scared and alarmed. I’m feeling the baby move. How can that be? It’s way too early.”

“How far along are you?”

“We’ve been over this. I am not telling you that. Is it possible that the baby could be developing faster than normal? I mean, is that nuts to even consider? New Species are part animal and I’ve been researching on the internet. The gestation period is shorter in animals than in humans. I’m gaining weight too fast and now I’ve got movement. It’s not gas either.” She shorted a laugh at that one, glad for some humor. “It’s definitely the baby.”

“You need to come to Homeland. What is your name?”

“Pregnant lady.”

“Are you really living in a cabin by yourself?”

“Yes.” Becca figured that was safe information to give out.

“Do you have a friend or someone who checks on you at least?”

She hesitated. “What is the point of asking me this?”

“You’re alone, you told me you don’t trust anyone and you need help if you really are pregnant. What are you afraid of? No one is going to hurt you. You can walk right up to the gates, tell them you’re there to see me and I swear I’ll rush right out. If you don’t want anyone to see you, I can meet you anywhere you want. I’ll bring my bag and some equipment that is mobile. I can even come to your cabin.”

“That’s not going to happen. I got lost for a reason. I don’t want anyone to find me.”

“I can tell you if your baby is all right. Don’t you want to make sure? I have a son and I know I was worried sick about his health when I was pregnant. I swear I gave myself an ultrasound almost daily just to check on him. I could do that for you if you came here. I’ll come to you if you don’t want to be seen. I know there are protesters out there. We have a helicopter and could fly you in to prevent anyone from seeing you.”

“I appreciate that but as I said, I don’t trust anyone.”

Trisha hesitated. “Are you afraid of the father? Is that it? Do you think if you let him know that he’ll react badly?”

“I try not to think about him.” Becca leaned forward and sighed. “I know he has a right to know and I plan to tell him one day but not until it’s safe. You don’t know what is at stake.”

“Then tell me. Just tell me something.”

Becca hesitated. “My family would go insane if they found out and they would hurt the father. That’s all I can tell you.”

“So you are protecting the father of your baby? That’s why you won’t come in? Your family doesn’t have to know. Your family can’t get to him or you if you come here. I swear you will be safe. All of you will be.”

That might be the case for the average person but not for Becca. Her father had to know everything that happened at Homeland and Reservation. Having a pregnant woman show up would be a security risk. He’d be notified and she still winced over the memories of him asking her a hundred times if anyone had touched her when she’d been held prisoner. The rage that threatened in his eyes assured her he’d stop at nothing until Brawn was dead. It’s why she’d never told him about her marriage. He’d have murdered Bradley in a heartbeat. Her dad was a dick at times but he became downright insane when someone hurt her.

“Are you still there?”

Becca realized she’d drifted in her thoughts. “Yes. Do you think the baby is growing faster than normal? Is it possible? Just answer me that because that’s all I can figure and I’m worried.”

“Are you more than four months along?”

“No.”

“Good.” Trisha hesitated. “Don’t you want to know the sex of the baby? If you let me see you I could bring a portable ultrasound machine and tell you the sex.”

“That’s just mean. You know I’d love to know that but I can’t risk it. If you aren’t going to answer me, I need to go.”

“Wait! How are you feeling? Are you healthy? Any unusual symptoms or anything? I’m assuming you haven’t seen a doctor?”

“You know I can’t risk that. I’m tired a lot but I read that’s normal. My appetite is great. I haven’t thrown up in weeks and am past the morning sickness stage. I have to go. Thanks for talking to me.”

“You have to call me more often. At least once every few days. You’re alone. Something could go wrong. Please?” The doctor sounded panicked.

“I’ll call you once a week.”

“Do you promise? I am worried about you. You don’t know everything and I can’t tell you over a phone.”

“Tell me what?” Becca’s heart pounded with fear. What did the doctor know that she wasn’t saying?

“Just call me and we’ll keep talking.”

“I have to go.” Becca hung up.

* * * * *

Trisha hung up and put her house phone to her ear. She’d called Justice when she’d picked up her cell with the woman and let him overhear the conversation on speaker phone.

“Did you recognize her voice? You deal with most of the humans we come in contact with.”

Justice sighed. “No. I didn’t recognize it but the accent is fake. She slipped a few times. Maybe she’s lying about the pregnancy.”

“No. She knows too much. She said she felt the baby move for the first time. She’s between eight and ten weeks along. That’s when we feel movement. That’s good. Thank God. I was terrified we wouldn’t have any time to find her before the baby was due. She is about halfway through her pregnancy, Justice. I delivered my son at twenty weeks. She doesn’t know New Species babies grow and develop faster. We have to find her fast. My husband is canine. Feline pregnancies could go faster and I’m assuming he was feline, considering she didn’t mention the penis swelling during sex that is common with canines. Hot sperm is more noticeable with felines. We won’t know until the first feline mixed baby is born how long their pregnancies last.”

“Let me… Hang on. Tiger just walked in.”

Tiger chuckled. “We got a trace. We know about where the call came from. I have good news and bad news.”

“What’s to report?” Justice hit speaker phone. “Can you hear us, Trisha?”

“I can,” she stated. “What’s the bad news first?”

“It looks like this woman is probably the real deal. The call was traced to an area near Reservation. She must live out there, which means she probably did come in contact with our people.”

“That’s good news,” Trisha agreed.

“Not when we have a human pregnant by one of us and we didn’t know about it. It’s bad until we have her here and secure.” Tiger took a breath. “The good news is that it’s a remote area. We’ll send teams out and look for her. There aren’t that many cabins out there if she’s really living in one. It might take a few days to go to all of them but it shouldn’t take more than three days. We’ll find her soon.”

Justice sounded relieved. “That’s great.”

“Yes. Will she be showing, Trisha?” Tiger moved closer to the phone.