Starting Over: Nerites
Copyright© 2025 by Quantum Mechanic
Chapter 15: Ending the beginning
Science Fiction Sex Story: Chapter 15: Ending the beginning - Cheyenne is a plains world dedicated to production of livestock for sale to other human-occupied planets. Jean has a great job there, but he's offered a better job on a watery planet, and an opportunity to develop his own homestead. In order to take the new job, he has to uproot and transplant his young family. It's not easy going, and once there, the troubles have just begun.
Caution: This Science Fiction Sex Story contains strong sexual content, including Ma/Fa Romantic Heterosexual Fiction Science Fiction Cheating Massage Oral Sex Pregnancy Slow
In the months leading up to the birth of her baby, Beth and Josephine grew closer, spending as much time together as they reasonably could. There were limits, of course. After the Trebiens’ financial near-disaster, Jo had returned to work nearly full time, and much of her off-work time was dedicated to commuting, preparing meals, and “entertaining” Alex.
As Beth neared her delivery date, Jo tried to keep her calendar as open as possible, but her most effective help was in delivering the children to and retrieving them from the school boat. This gave the expectant mother a great deal of relief, since it reduced the frequency at which she was required to board and debark a rocking boat, while carrying the weight of an entire (albeit small) additional person.
As it happened, eight days before the expected delivery date, Beth was outside hanging clothes to dry – they had never actually bought the clothes dryer she wanted. Jo, having brought the girls home safely, and being pressed for time, had just left. Jean, having arranged his schedule so that he could be at home for the delivery, was due to return from his latest assignment at any moment.
Braxton-Hicks contractions had been annoying Beth for some time, but she had mostly been able to ignore them. Working at drying her laundry, she pinned one side of Jean’s favorite shirt, and was reaching to pin the other when she felt a very strong contraction. Almost immediately, she felt her panties become wet and a warm fluid ran down her leg.
Damn! she thought, I must’ve peed my pants!
Under other circumstances, that would have been a reasonable conclusion. When a second strong contraction hit, however, she realized that something was different.
I wonder if my water broke? It didn’t happen this way with the other two!
Fighting the rising panic, she finished hanging the shirt, then picked up the partially emptied laundry basket and carried it back into the house. On entering the house, she went directly to the comm unit and had it autoconnect to her obstetrician’s office. The nurse answering the call recognized her immediately.
“Hello Ms. Pasteur,” she said, “How may we help you today?”
In her haste to get a handle on the situation, Beth blurted “What should it be like if my water breaks?”
The nurse became very serious, even agitated. “Why do you want to know? Did something happen?” she demanded.
“Yes,” Beth replied calmly, then she went on to describe her experience.
“You need to get in here right this minute,” the nurse ordered. “Where are you?”
Beth told her, but when the nurse wanted to call for a MedEvac unit, she balked.
“I can get myself there,” she insisted. “Just make sure someone is there to see me. I don’t want to waste the trip.”
Finally, the nurse gave in, and assured her that the doctor would be present, at which point Beth broke the connection. Looking at the time, she realized that Jean would likely arrive at home before she could return from her appointment, so she left him a note, packed the girls and herself into the airboat, and headed for the doctor’s office.
It had been a very long day for Jean. Just as he’d been preparing to leave the work camp that morning, another crisis had arisen, requiring major changes in the ecosystem design. In a hurry to finish up so he wouldn’t miss the crew transport, he’d made a few errors. It was nothing major or irrecoverable, but nothing that could be ignored, either.
The project engineer wasn’t happy, and seemed unable to fathom why a man would be in such a hurry to get back to his pregnant wife. There would be another transport along in just a week anyway ... Jean wasn’t amused, and pointedly informed the engineer that he would be on that day’s transport, whether or not the modifications were final.
As it happened, the errors were easily corrected, and Jean made the shuttle with time to spare.
Beth sighed. The doctor was in, but busy (of course) when she arrived, so she had to cool her jets for a while. She was bored, and so were the girls.
When she was eventually called into the examining room, the doctor gave her a cursory exam, and verified that she had broken her water.
“Yep,” he said, “Looks like we’re gonna have a baby in a day or two. Are you staying close by?”
“I came here directly from my home, which is about an hour away by airboat,” she replied. “ I haven’t arranged anything for lodging, yet.”
The doctor scratched his chin, thinking. “You could probably go home for the night, but with your medical history, I’d prefer for you to stay in town. If you suddenly went into full-blown labor, there’d be no way to get to you in time.”
“I have a friend who has an apartment here,” she offered. “I’m sure she would let me stay there for a day or two, if need be.”
“That would be my preference,” he replied. “But for now, why don’t you go for a long walk, say at that new indoor shopping mall. Come back here around closing time, and I’ll check you over again. Meantime, talk to your friend.”
“Okay,” she said, “I’ll see you around 1800 hours.” Then she retrieved her children and started for the mall. Using the wrist comm Jean had insisted on getting for her, she contacted Josephine and relayed the doctor’s instructions, asking about using the apartment. Jo, of course, saw the positive arguments for that, and immediately agreed, offering to stay with her, in town, for the night.
“Oh, that’s not necessary,” Beth protested. “I don’t want to impose on you like that. I’m sure you had plans for the evening that didn’t involve babysitting me!”
“Nonsense,” Jo replied. “I’ll just call Alex and let him know where I am, just in case he shows up for dinner. I don’t want him to worry about me, but chances are, he’ll be eating with a client, anyway. Let me take care of that now, and you just come on over whenever you’re done for the day!”
“Alright,” Beth said, as she gave in. “I’ll see you sometime after I see the doctor again. Thanks!”
Following that exchange, she broke the connection, and headed for the mall, noticing a nagging lower back pain. Her contractions were about ten minutes apart, getting stronger, and coming very regularly.
Arriving at the mall, she and the girls spent the next few hours window shopping, as the contractions became stronger and more frequent. By the time she returned to the doctor’s office, she was ready to call the whole thing off.
Examining her, the doctor found that she was already dilated to a little more than three centimeters, and contractions were strong, long, and regular at about five minutes apart. This was worrisome, but he still didn’t think she would deliver for another twenty four to forty eight hours.
“Just to be on the safe side,” he said, “I want to check you into the hospital. You’ve probably still got at least one full day to go, but I don’t want to take any chances. Can you get there yourself, or do I need to call a MedEvac team?”
“I can do it,” she replied, “but what about my girls? I’ve got to arrange for someone to care for them!”
“Not to worry,” he said. “Just take them with you. You can call for a friend or relative to meet you at the hospital. The nursing staff in the emergency waiting room will look out for them until someone shows up, and they won’t let them go with anyone without your approval.”
“Okay,” she replied dubiously, and then headed for the hospital. En route, she called Jo to bring her up to date.
On hearing the news Josephine’s mind went into overdrive. She had one final appointment scheduled, and it was a must do! A cancellation would be very destructive at this point.
“Damn girl, I can’t break free right now!” she cursed.
“It’s all right,” Beth reassured her. “Jean should already be home by now, and if he read my note, he’s probably calling all over the place trying to find me. He’ll turn up at the hospital, eventually. The good news is, I won’t be needing to stay at your apartment tonight!”
“I told you, that isn’t an imposition! Anyway, Jean may want to stay here tonight, rather than sleep on the floor in your hospital room, or go all the way back home.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. Well, we can talk it over with him later,” Beth observed.
“Okay,” Jo said, “I’ll see you a little later this evening. Right now, I need to try and find Alex. He wouldn’t want to miss this, for anything!” Beth acquiesced, and she broke the connection.
It was just getting dark as Jean arrived home. The house was unlit, and the airboat was missing. This was worrisome. Entering the house, he saw the note taped to the refrigerator door:
Gone to doctor. Baby?
He immediately began calling around, starting with Beth’s wrist comm. No answer. Then, the doctor’s office. Again, no answer. He called the hospital. They answered but immediately put him on hold. That was unacceptable. He called the Trebien home. No answer again. He tried Josephine’s office (apartment) number. Busy. At that point he gave up on the comm, and closing up the house, he hurriedly mounted the jetski and powered toward Poliniriton at top speed, cursing the fact that he was backtracking.
Why didn’t we use a doctor in Clayton?
He knew the answer to that, though. The little hospital in Clayton didn’t really have any neonatal facilities (it was more a trauma center), nor was there a resident obstetrician. Furthermore, Beth hadn’t been willing to let an internist or general practitioner handle her prenatal care.
In significantly less than an hour, he arrived at the dock nearest the doctor’s office, and spotted the family airboat, tied up nearby. On foot, he proceeded to the office at a fast walk. Finding it closed up, he pounded on the door, but no one answered.
The next logical step was to go to the hospital. It was a long walk, and he was in a hurry, so he flagged down a taxi and paid for the ride. In under ten minutes, he was decanted in front of the emergency room entrance. Entering through the doors, he spotted the girls immediately, sitting together quietly and watching cartoons on a broadcast receiver. As he strode toward them, Riva noticed the movement, and glanced his way. She tugged on her sister’s arm to get her attention, then jumped out of her seat to run to her Daddy, Nessa not far behind.
The girls were worried. They hadn’t seen their Mom in forever (actually it was little more than an hour), and were concerned that they might not see her again. After reassuring the girls that their Mom was probably alright, and reassuring the nursing staff that he was indeed their father, things began to settle down a bit.
“I need to go in and check on your Mom. Do you girls think you will be alright waiting out here for a few more minutes?” he asked.
Riva looked doubtful, but Nessa said “I think so Dad. You go ahead and look in on Mom. Tell her we love her?”
“I’ll do that,” he said as he turned toward the labor rooms.
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