Ominous Cravings Chapter 1

Ominous Cravings Chapter 1

"What?" Upon hearing what he had just heard, Kris dropped the ham sandwich he had made Susie on the floor. He kept his mouth shut, and slowly raised a finger, before taking a deep breath and asking a second time. "Come again?"

A sweaty dragoness, still dressed in her pajamas for lack of care, towered over him in an alleyway, several yards away from the front door of the apartment building she lived in. She leaned a little closer and repeated herself. "I'm pregnant."

For a moment, Kris felt his heart sink, but not for long, before his mind went into overdrive. How could this be? Was it even possible? What happened to 'humans are made of blood their bodies are different'? Different animals couldn't get pregnant from each other, why could a Monster from a human? Was she making it up? She must have been making it up. There was no way she wasn't making it up. "Are you making this up?", he eventually asked.

He could see the anger creep up those terrifying jaws. Understandable anger, but he had to ask. He was struggling with this turn of events as it was. "I'm telling you, yeah! I already embarrassed myself twice buying these things because I didn't believe the first one either!" She held up several lengthy white bars. Pregnancy tests, and with two lines visible on each and every one. He didn't know what to think of her holding these so close to his face, but the evidence spoke for itself. It was true. Slowly but surely, the confusion in his face made way for dread. How were they going to deal with this? How did Monster pregnancies even work? Were they different for different kinds of Monsters? She had scales and sharp teeth. Did Susie lay eggs? Was she going to show up with a big egg for him to watch over one day?

How were they going to hide this from Susie's parents? Scratch that, how were they going to hide this from his Mo- "Say something!", Susie interrupted his thoughts half-way shouting into his ear and dropping spit on the side of his head.

"Uh...I'm not sure, I..." He had to think. He had to come up with something. How were they going to hide this? She went to Halloween as a box. Could she pull off a big barrel costume, start Halloween early and keep the costume on long after it until the baby came?
By the angel the Baby! He didn't even say a word, he just noticed his increased heart rate, began breathing heavily and went over to a wall to sit down and lean against it. What were they going to do when the Baby arrived? He wasn't ready to be a father. He wasn't even done with high school and never had a job in his life. Where were they going to keep it? Maybe if they ran away and lived on entry level jobs...no, that wouldn't work. "Susie...", he eventually began. Even with all this, Mom would still find out one way or another. "We have to tell our parents."

"No!" She declined with a very insistent tone. She didn't sound like he had much hope in persuading her. "My dad would kill me!"
"Then what are we supposed to do?"

She shrugged. "I don't know!" She wound one arm around Kris' neck and began knocking on his head with her other hand. "You're the guy with the ideas! Come up with something!"

"I have ideas for things, but I have no idea how to deal with this." He could see the growing disappointment in her face and it slightly broke his heart. "Unless...how would you feel about wearing a barrel?"
"What?"

"So if you're pregnant, you're going to blow up right here, right?" He placed a hand right on her belly and began stroking it with his fingers. Apparently enough to tickle her, so she asked him to stop and pushed his hand away. At least she was smiling again. He began explaining the extended-Halloween plan, but in hindsight, she saw it for the nonsense he figured that it was.
"You know what? We'll get through this somehow!" She got up, helped him up and they slowly got ready for her to go back upstairs and put some outdoor clothes on again. It was evening, but it was a Friday, so they still had some time to hang out. "Maybe I'm getting this wrong and it won't be so bad." Yes, maybe they were getting things mixed up. Maybe the pregnancy test was one for humans and always came out positive. Maybe things were going to turn out fine. Maybe they were overthinking all of this and she wasn't pregnant at all.Some of her sudden confidence rubbed off on him.

And yet, it was sorely misplaced. They had their little corners where they could hang out during breaks and after school. And when they were in those places, Susie was understanding with Kris anxiously feeling up her belly and her joints. He always did this ever since she first told him about this. And he barely spoke in their little private time, too. Then again, that was normal for him. He preferred silence when him talking wasn't necessary. All the more now than before. After classes, usually, the two of them went out for some grub. And within two weeks, he was leading her down the road to their little favourite diner, only to feel her overpowering grip on his shoulder pull him back. He looked up at her, and she knew him well enough by that point to know he was just intently waiting to hear what she had to say. Something was off about her face. She wasn't nervous, it wasn't anything she was aware of, but he couldn't put a finger on what was different either. "I don't really feel like a burger right now." She let him go, and he walked along side her, not leaving her out of sight. "You know what I'd really love right now!" She slightly put on a rhythmic nod. "Boiled eggs."

"Boiled eggs?"

"Yeah. Like not scrambled eggs like there, but just normal, boiled eggs."

"You know, you could always have boiled eggs at home."

She put her hands together behind her head and stretched herself. "Yeah, nah. I'm no good at cooking." And so, the task fell to him. He took the lead and led her away from the diner and home. Like they had come to get used to do, she slipped behind the trees where Mom didn't see her - at least he hoped she didn't - while he went home and announced that he was home. Mom greeted him back from behind the closed bathroom door. The water was running. She was taking a shower. Perfect. He had barely taken his shoes off, when he already sped half-way through the living room and into the kitchen. He had to work fast, so he used a little trick. He put a little pot on the stove, which he turned on without putting any cold water in it, instead, he poured cold water into the water cooker that was meant for making tea. That way, he could heat it up much faster, and had just enough time to get the eggs ready. He had to work with abundance. For one, in case he had to eat some of the eggs when Mom came by, and then in case Mom took one or two to have herself. Five eggs. Enough for his purposes, not too much to raise any flags in front of his mother. And he got them done as fast as he planned. Which wasn't fast enough for Mom not to come outside in her bath robe and stroke his head, while watching him work in the kitchen. He told her he would be leaving again soon, and was lucky to notice her go upstairs to get changed. When he was finally done, she was still upstairs. One egg was enough to leave behind. Possibly, hopefully. Before there was much of a risk of his mother coming back, Kris quickly placed a little plate where she usually sat and one of the eggs on it, before he outright grabbed the plastic canister that contained the finished and now cooling eggs, a spoon and his favourite spice to bring outside.

Once he too had vanished between the trees and saw Susie in one of their favourite, more secluded spots here, he stopped, took a deep breath and sighed with relief. He really really hoped this wasn't going anywhere. Susie just had a spontaneous hunger for eggs. She wasn't going to gain weight, she wasn't going to blow up, she wasn't going to have stranger and stranger cravings and make hiding this whole situation harder and harder, it was just his mind running wild.

And yet, his breathing wouldn't settle, and this uncomfortable feeling wouldn't let go of his back, while he watched her crack and peel apart those shells and devour the eggs whole.