His Human Surrogate (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #2) - Michele Mills Page 0,38

carrying over to Berg and walk away. It reminds me that I’m temporary. I might even have to return to New Earth or decide if I want to go live on Omega 9 by myself. If the laws change in my favor prior to the lapse of my visa, there’s still no way I can live in this community and not be part of the baby’s life.

My immediate future flashes before my eyes. I really need to start making plans now for what I’m going to do after the birth. I may be helping to restore Berg’s house and setting up my shop there, but eventually I’ll have to move out of the domicile. And after the baby arrives, I can’t live with Riley or Bestla or Methone. That’s too close. For my own sanity I’ll need to live somewhere else in town. Close enough to visit Riley and the twins occasionally and for Riley to be able to easily visit me, but far enough away so that Berg and his baby can start fresh and bond without me in the way.

The females finally calm down and someone else, whose name I can’t remember, asks another question, “are you living in his house? In that big, old mausoleum?”

“Wasn’t it condemned?”

“Almost,” one of them says. “The homeowner’s association was trying to have it torn down, but then Bergelmir Touchstone bought it. It was so exciting.”

“Right? Bergelmir Touchstone lives in the same community as we do. This is so freaking cool.”

They all turn to look at me.

“Yes, I live there,” I answer. “But actually Bergelmir is away on a long business trip, so I’m now not only his surrogate but also his house sitter.”

“You live with him? That means you talk to him too?” Lurcas asks with a dreamy sigh. “You speak to him and he replies in complete sentences?”

It surprises me how much other beings seem to think that Bergelmir is a mysterious recluse and therefore getting to know him is a rarity. To me he is neither of those things. I’ve been able to easily talk to him since the moment I met him. Well, after I got over my initial terror. “Yes, we message all the time.”

“Okay, wait, wait…” one of them says, “let me get this straight. You’re pregnant with Bergelmir’s baby and living in his house alone while he’s off on a business trip. But you aren’t his bound?”

“No.” I shake my head. “The immigration office came by to check. I am living there alone and they changed my work visa to surrogate plus house sitter.”

“He has you carrying his offspring…but you aren’t legally his bound.”

The three other mated Hyrrokin females at the table look at each other, deep in thought.

“Oh hell, is he really that smart?”

“No.”

What are they talking about?

“Yes, he’s that smart. His brother is a genius.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

I’m so distracted I don’t even notice I’m supposed to be rolling the dice. “What?” I ask. “What are you talking about?”

The females look at each other, then back at me.

“Oh nothing,” Lurcas gives me a big smile. “It’s nothing. Chloe, it’s your turn.”

Dammit. I want to know but they won’t tell me.

I do my best to deal with my sexually obsessed body and the morning sickness by staying busy with my work and the remodeling of the fireplace.

And then two days later Riley surprises me by inviting me over to her house for dinner and karaoke with Berg’s family. “Oh my gods, bring it on,” I shout out through the vid screen.

I can’t get there fast enough.

I always have time for karaoke. I love my antiquing and remodeling and the lessons with Grandma Narvi, but Riley is the only other being on Tarvos who knows what karaoke is and has the nerve to sing with me in front of other beings. This is literally our favorite thing to do together.

“None of these Hyrrokin know what karaoke is?” I question. I’m still having a hard time processing this shocking news. “Don’t they have something similar, here on Tarvos?”

“Nope, nothing like it,” Riley answers. “And they don’t dance either. Well, they do have some kind of war dance…”

I snort-laugh. “Okay, I hear you. What are we going to sing tonight?”

“It needs to be a duet,” she says, “so we both have a part. And maybe two songs? One fast and one slow?”

“Yes, you’re right. That would be fun.”

Riley has an encyclopedic knowledge of original planet popular music. I’m continually impressed at the songs she comes up with. Our latest favorite