Page 48 of Cora

When we finally came together, it was explosive, and my body ended up being so overstimulated that I moved to the other side of the bed to avoid being touched as small orgasmic tremors continued to assault my body.

I was going to have to hydrate better so that they didn’t drain my body of all the moisture, ten mind-blowing orgasms at a time.

A week later, I padded into the kitchen on bare feet. I had just woken up from a nap. I usually don’t nap during the day, but with the constant weather fluctuations this year, my body was struggling to adjust.

“How are you feeling?” Remi asked me, his concerned eyes searching my face before pressing his lips to my forehead to check for a fever.

“I still feel gross,” I admitted, setting the iPad down and leaning into his touch.

“Maybe some food will help,” Trent said from the stove.

I wrinkled my nose. Not everything Trent was cooking smelled nice. When Remi set an open can of asparagus on the table in front of me, my stomach couldn’t handle it, and I rushed to the kitchen sink to empty whatever was left in my stomach down the drain.

“Oh, fuck!” Remi exclaimed, staring at me with a mix of horror and wonderment.

“What?!” Trent, Derrick, and Isaac asked together, picking up on his tone.

“Cora, baby?” Remi asked as he soaked a towel in cold water and pressed it to my forehead. He led me back to the table, sat me in a chair, and then crouched in front of me. “Sweetheart, when was the last time you had your period?”

I heard the others gasp before a roaring started in my ears. Oh, God. When was the last time I had my period? It was before they all got here. Was I really pregnant? The roaring got louder. How the hell was I supposed to have a baby? I didn’t know the first thing about having a baby or caring for one. What if I wasn’ta good mom? It wasn’t like I had a good role model. When everything started to get fuzzy and spin, someone, presumably Remi, shoved my head between my legs and rubbed my back in soothing circles. My ears cleared, and I heard Isaac growling at everyone.

“This is a surprise for everyone. We did this to her. If you can’t pull yourself together and be supportive, leave the fucking room.” When I finally sat back up, I felt loads better and found four very concerned men hovering around me.

“Are you ok, Cora?” Derrick asked.

I nodded and then shook my head. I didn’t know what I was. Trent handed me the iPad, and I smiled appreciatively. “What are we going to do?”

“Hey,” Isaac said, “people have been having babies for thousands of years, and for most of that, they didn’t have access to modern medicine. We’re going to figure this out, I promise.”

“We have plenty of time to find a library and get all the books we will need about delivering babies,” Trent added. “Now, can we all stop freaking out about this and take a moment to celebrate? We’re having a baby!”

“My idiot brother has a point,” Isaac said, “I know we didn’t plan for this, and it feels super scary, but we made a baby. This feels like the most normal thing to happen in three years.”

“Yeah,” Derrick chuckled. “What’s more normal than accidentally knocking up some chick you just met?” I laughed with him. It was a common occurrence before the apocalypse happened.

“Why are you such a dick?” Remi demanded angrily. “You couldn’t think of a less crass thing to say?”

Derrick pointed at me. “It made her laugh, and that’s all I wanted, so fuck off.”

“Please don’t fight,” I said through Siri.

“They aren’t fighting, Princess,” Isaac assured me. “They’re just voicing their opinions.”

“Now that we know why you’re sick, we need to figure out what foods won’t affect your stomach. You have to eat,” Trent said. “Does anything sound good?”

I contemplated his question for a minute. “Rice.”

“Rice it is,” he said, immediately getting the rice cooking.

If I had to be pregnant, at least I picked the right daddies for my little nugget.

Later that afternoon, I sat in a lawn chair in the yard, soaking up some sun. Part of me was still reeling about being pregnant, but I was actively ignoring those feelings. I wasn’t in this alone, so I’d just lean on their strength when I felt unsure of it all. My heart raced as the awareness of being watched flooded my senses. My eyes popped open, and my hand immediately moved to the gun at my hip as I searched for the threat. It wasn’t hard to notice the bright red hair of the woman standing on the drive, leaning against a fence post. I knew that wouldn’t be the last we would see of Queen.

“Hello,” she said when she saw I noticed her. “I didn’t want to approach until you knew I was here.” Queen started walking toward me, and I stood and pointed my gun at her and held my hand out for her to stop. She pretended she didn’t notice as she continued to talk. “I’m looking for three of my friends. I’ve lost them, and I’m searching everywhere I can think of for them. I’m all alone now, and I’m sure you can understand how scary that can be for a woman in this world.”

I looked behind her but couldn’t see where the rest of her cronies were. I did not doubt they were hidden somewhere in the forest, though. Queen was still walking toward me, describing the three men who attacked Remi. I held my hand out again for her to stop, and when she didn’t follow my order, I shot the ground about three feet in front of her. She sure as hell stopped then.

“Is that any way to treat a new friend?” Queen asked with barely contained annoyance. She went to take another step but stopped when she heard the guys screaming my name.

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