His Human Surrogate (Monsters Love Curvy Girls #2) - Michele Mills Page 0,44

family.

I also make sure I exercise by taking walks with Riley and her babies. We walk along trails in the wilderness preserve near the community. We’ve been doing this together since that first week I arrived and even though I’m six months pregnant now, I find I still have the energy for this. We don’t take power walks anymore. Riley has slowed us down to a stroll which is more my pace now. But I like how my thighs seem more muscular than they used to and so are my calves. I’m trying to remain strong, which will make the baby’s birth go smoother.

We chat a lot while we walk.

“Aegir’s trying to get me pregnant,” Riley admits to me this morning as she pushes the double-stroller around a bend in the path.

I laugh. “Like I don’t know this? Aegir tells anyone who will listen that this is his objective. And what, this bothers you? Since when? I thought you wanted more babies too.”

“I do, I just wanted to wait. But seeing you pregnant, and how well it’s going, it makes me want babies.”

“You have two babies,” I remind her.

“Well, they’ll be a year old next month, and if I got pregnant pretty soon then they’d be like a year and a half when the next one comes along. That’s not so bad.”

I think to myself that three small children, all at once, under the age of two sounds pretty damn exhausting, but Riley is a dynamo when it comes to baby care, so she’s on some entirely different level than me. I’m certain I’ll be one of those women where one baby will seem overwhelming.

“How many babies do you wish you’ll have, one day?” she asks, like she can read my mind.

I know she’s just trying to keep my mind off the present situation and remind me that one day I’ll be doing this pregnancy thing again, for real, with the man who will be my future husband. Whoever that is. And actually, that does make me feel better. Because one thing I’ve learned from all of this—I really do want to be a mom. Someday.

“I’m thinking if I ever have kids, I’d want two, max,” I say. “What about you?”

“I want lots. Aegir and I want six kids, minimum.”

I bark out a laugh. “Six? You guys are crazy.”

“Crazy like a fox!”

I chuckle at her antics. “I love you,” I tell her.

She gives me a one-armed hug. “Love you too, girl. So much. I can hardly wait for you to find the male of your dreams and start your own family. And if this immigration crap never gets worked out and you have to leave, I really think you’ll be amazed at how quickly you find a life partner on Omega 9.”

“I don’t know…”

“Chloe, you’re a babe and a total sweetheart. The male you decide to marry is going to be a lucky bastard.”

I bark out a laugh. “Riley, I’m huge. I’m about to have a baby. And I wasn’t skinny to begin with.”

“You’re got to be the cutest pregnant woman I’ve ever seen. I’m jealous because there’s no way I’ll look that cute when I’m carrying a baby. Look at you. Your ankles are trim. Your hair is shiny. Your skin glows…”

I stop in my tracks. “What?” I look down at my enormous stomach with the stretch marks I know are showing up along my sides, the ones I diligently rub cream into every evening. “No way,” I tell her. “I’m as ungainly as a space liner.”

She shakes her head and continues walking. “You don’t see it about yourself,” she says over her shoulder. “You’ve never seen your worth. But I have a feeling you will, soon.”

I’m strolling back home, pondering Riley’s words and enjoying the beauty of the lake and this entire neighborhood, when I receive a ping on my tablet. I look at it expecting to see a message or vid from either Riley, Bestla or Berg, but it’s my sister. This surprises me, because she rarely initiates our conversations. Maybe it’s an emergency? I answer right away.

“Chloe,” she says without preamble. “Do you realize the being you’re working for is a Billionaire?”

I stop in the middle of the sidewalk and try my best to play off my surprise. Of course, Lucy has managed to dig up information about Berg and to her, it’s the most important fact imaginable. “Yes, I know,” I lie.

Actually, I don’t know. I thought Berg was just garden variety wealthy. Aegir is