Page 76 of The Artist
“I don’t know; I don’t think so. I’ve never counted days as I’ve never had a reason to care.
“Hmm. All right. You might wonder why I didn’t rush over sooner, but I didn’t want to poke your skin more than necessary and it’s unlikely that we’ll get a reliable result until it’s been at least six days after the intercourse.”
It took twenty minutes for her to get the urine and blood sample she needed and to do a full pelvic exam.
“What do you think?” she asked. “A woman always knows her body the best. Do you feel different? Any morning sickness, sore breasts, headaches, fatigue, sadness, or constant urge to pee?”
“Actually…” I thought about it. “My breasts have felt a bit swollen and my mood has been all over the place, but I figured that it’s because of the situation.”
Doctor White angled her face with a look of concern. “Yes, it can’t be easy for you. What are you going to do if you’re pregnant?”
“Mason says he won’t let me go back to France if I’m pregnant.”
She sighed. “I figured he would say that. Back when I got pregnant with my first child, my husband treated me like I was a nuclear bomb that would go off if anyone touched me. It was the most stressful time in my life. Most Nmen are wonderful and I never regretted coming up here to find love, but they can be overbearing and have an unfortunate tendency to think they know what’s best for us.”
I looked down. “My government wants me back. A woman must do her civic duty and carry two children. It’s the only way for us to not die out as a nation. If I’m pregnant they would consider my child theirs.”
“You mean they would force you to raise your child in France?”
“We don’t stay with our children. They are raised by everyone.”
“I don’t understand.”
“A baby is placed with a team of infant specialists in their first month. After that they come to live in a baby unit until they turn one year old. I work in a unit like that, but I wouldn’t get to raise my own son or daughter. For each stage of their lives, there are special units of loving people raising them.”
“So, no families?”
“No. I know the Motlanders have family units and that you parents here in the Northlands live with your children, but that’s not how we do things back home.”
“But why?” Doctor White’s shoulders drooped down. “What kind of society would take a child from its mother? That’s so barbaric.”
“And yet, from what I understand, you Motlanders used to do it with boys all the time. Wasn’t that how the Nmen got their boys? Raised in the Motherlands until the age of three and then given over to the Northlands.”
“Yes, but that was considered a sacrifice and was part of our peace treaty.”
“Exactly. You did what you had to do to keep the peace. It’s the same for us. Our way of living is rooted in our society’s need for population growth. In the beginning each woman was mandated to carry a minimum of three children to secure our numbers. Some of our greatest heroes carried many more.”
“But didn’t the fathers of the children oppose their being taken away?”
“Doctor White, according to our history books the first group of survivors struggled with social issues. It was actually a horrific episode of senseless killings caused by jealousy that led to the ban on relationships that we live by now.”
“I… what?” She blinked her eyes in confusion. “I admit that I know almost nothing about your culture, but are you saying that you’re not allowed to marry?”
“Not just that, but to have any long-term romantic relationships. It’s dangerous. That’s why having sex with the same partner more than three times isn’t allowed.”
“But who is keeping count?”
“No one, but it’s socially unacceptable. If it’s reported, we could end up with a hefty fine or more dire consequences.”
I hated the look of pity on Doctor White’s face.
“I feel bad for you, Belle. The greatest joy in my life is the love and friendship I share with my husband, and the extreme happiness of raising our children together.” She paused. “Not that it was always easy with us being so different, but the happy times have been worth it tenfold.”
The old gnawing envy, that I’d felt so often when Freya and Aubri talked about their future husbands or shared love novels with me, returned. It had been much easier to shut down my longings when I was back home. But being here in the Northlands, surrounded by people who lived in families, made it impossible not to dream.
“I’m happy for you, Louise. It sounds incredible.”
She took a moment to study me. “You know, when I grew up, marriage and physical love were considered archaic and I didn’t know a single person who was married. Back then all I knew about the Nmen were grim stories that frightened me. Officially, we weren’t allowed to even talk about them. Then Christina Sanders and Pearl Pilotti moved to the Northlands and I read articles with pictures of these huge men. I went from feeling horrified to curious, and then when I was twenty-five years old, I took a chance and signed up for the Couples Matching Program.” Louise’s eyes softened. “I will never forget the day I met Torsten.”
