Chapter 29

                                    

                                          
Vivianna felt like she was famous.
                          
Everywhere she went, if Kai wasn't with her, two heretics trailed behind her. It was as though she was a celebrity being protected from the paparazzi. Except, of course, no one actually knew her name or what she was going to be known for in July. 
                          
It was very strange, growing accustomed to being followed around all the time. She was used to doing things alone. Operating in secret, wearing another face. She'd never had someone constantly breathing over her shoulder. 
                          
The first week hadn't been too bad. The heretics hadn't been too talkative. First she'd been followed by Valerie and Beau. Then by Nora and Mary Louise, who spent more sneaking off than watching them. Finally, Malcolm and Oscar. Repeat. 
                          
Kai had taken up a job as a bartender with Liv, who wasn't completely overjoyed to be working alongside her brother, but seemed pleased that someone she knew could easily take her shifts if she needed to take time off. The siphoner had also enrolled in a few courses, taking advantage of Oscar's generous offer to compel the administration to waive any tuition fees. He was focusing on just the classes he really needed for his career, since he'd already been to college in the 90s and had taken all his general education requirements. 
                          
Vivianna had tried to work in the same building as him, to maximize their time together, but hadn't been able to make it too far into the restaurant before the smell of food left her rushing to the nearest trashcan. She ended up choosing to work at the library instead, where she'd stamp books and monitor the printer for a few hours every day. At least there wasn't any food allowed in there. And it was quiet and calm, which gave her a chance to read every single book the library had for new mothers.
                          
Granted, it earned her strange stares. She certainly didn't look pregnant yet, and even if the students didn't focus on what she was reading, it was hard to ignore the stony glares that the majority of the heretics shot their way when they stood near her for too long. The friendliest of all was Oscar, who tried to make conversation with everyone. The bitchiest was Mary Louise, who grew jealous of any person who stared at Nora for too long. 
                          
The second week had been a bit more chaotic.
                          
Eight weeks into pregnancy. She was bloating, having headaches, feeling heartburn, salivating constantly while still throwing up at the smell of greasy foods. She was going to the bathroom constantly, and having strange dreams that kept her up at night. Kai had done his best to help her sleep by tiring her out with his talk about how 'dinosaur baby' was about the size of a kidney bean.
                          
"I'm sorry," she said, when they were up at three in the morning, and he was talking to her about a few conversations he'd overheard at work. "You're probably so tired and you're having to get me sleepy by having a conversation."
                          
"Doesn't matter if I'm tired," said Kai, stifling a yawn into his shirt. "If you're not able to sleep, then I shouldn't be snoozing away." He pulled her closer, and brought his hand to her belly. "I hope dinosaur baby sleeps through the night once it's born. Otherwise, we're gonna have a repeat of this."
                          
Vivianna didn't have the heart to tell him that there might not be a 'we.' If this pregnancy went down the worst possible route, he'd be doing this entirely alone. The thought of it made her want to burst into tears, paranoid that she'd never get to raise the baby that was already causing her so many mixed emotions. As awful as adjusting to pregnancy had been, she was starting to grow excited. Fantasizing about how they'd decorate the nursery. What stuffed animals would be the baby's favorites.
                          
She tried to distract herself by being more talkative with the heretics. They didn't respond very well. Every little thing seemed to piss them off.