Chapter 12

Rachele and Ghok stand facing each other on the footpath directly in front of the restaurant’s entrance. They have finished up with even Ghok having the presence of mind to down the cup of coffee he had ordered. Though neither one of them feels like the matter of Rachele’s secret pregnancy has been resolved, it seems that between them they have said everything that needs to be said.

“So...” Rachele says in an uneasy tone that has a sense of finality to it. This is all so familiar to her. It feels exactly like the awkward farewell they had shared after they had spent the night comforting each other following the funeral. “Did you parked near the market?” she inquires, realizing that it is pointless to try to muddle their way through a goodbye now if they are only going to have to walk the same route together for the next couple of minutes.

“No, I am parked in the parking lot down the street,” he points.

“Oh, okay,” she replies with a cheery nod. That means he is headed in the opposite direction.

“Do you need a ride somewhere?” the alien asks, misreading her reason for asking.

“Oh, no,” she smiles politely. “My place isn’t that far.”

It seems they have run out of pleasantries. But before he leaves, there is one last thing Rachele needs from him: confirmation. Confirmation that he will go making any trouble for her and that he won’t screw up the arrangements she has made by trying to interfere with the transfer of the baby. She doubts he’ll raise a big fuss as it will spell doom for him too. For all she knows, he could be like other men want to take her down with him. He is already more human than alien, so there really is no telling. Yet he had fallen enigmatically quiet in the restaurant when she had revealed her arrangements for it. She had taken this to be a good sign. After all, she has in essence solved this enormous problem before it could even fall on him. But all the same, for her own peace of mind, Rachele needs to know for sure that he is leaving her today in a spirit of cooperation.

“I can walk you home, if you like?” Ghok offers before she is able to ask her question. He seems uncomfortable, like he has only made the offer because he doesn’t know what else to do.

But it’s perfect for her. “Uh ... yeah. That would be great,” she agrees with a friendly smile. As eager as she is for this unpleasant reunion to be over and done with, it is best that she try to stay on good terms with the alien, so rebuffing his polite gesture probably isn’t the smartest choice. Besides, there is still a fair degree of foot traffic passing them by on the main street. That will quiet down as they drift into the residential area, which means she will be able to speak to him more openly about respecting her decisions and privacy. The woman turns around and leads Ghok down the street.

Ghok tries not to let it show, but watching Rachele waddle by his side still puts him on edge, as does every reminder of her pregnancy like the belly and the appetite. Finding out he has carelessly fathered a child and then come to Earth with it is not a shock he will quickly recover from.

They walk together in awkward silence until they stop at the first crosswalk. Both of them avoid eye contact with each other. Ghok, in fact, is avoiding eye contact with everybody.
“So...” he begins, searching for a way to cut the tension as they wait for a couple of cars to pass through. “Nice town you have got here.”

The woman stifles a chuckle. “Yeah, it’s ... nice,” she agrees with a hint of sarcasm. It isn’t wise to talk too disparagingly about the town as there are a couple of locals standing nearby.

“Yeah. It is very ... very...” Ghok tries to stretch out the conversation as they continue moving again.

“Quaint?” Rachele looks over at him with a sly smirk. She is surprised to see him actually smile for a split second—the first time he has done so since he first noticed her pregnancy.

“I was going to say peaceful,” he clarifies. “It reminds me of the mountain region of the Uhari region on Mihr. It is where I grew up before moving to Vulta.”

The other pedestrians who are with the two quickly outpace them.

“Peaceful? Fast asleep, more like. But hey, it’s not like there is any point looking for a town with a great night life, you know? I just needed some place to stay until I got through this,” she says while rubbing her belly. “Some place where nobody knows who I am, and where nobody will remember me after I leave ... Besides, the company I made the deal with is up in the mountains.”

“I take it that they are going to keep the birth secret,” Ghok says more than asks.

“Of course,” she says with a wry grin. “The facility is big, yet you’d be surprised how many people here don’t know about it. Or at least they don’t talk about it.”

“That sounds secretive,” the alien suggests. “I find that humans are full of secrets.”

“Are there not secrets with the Nehrezl?” she asks.

Ghok shakes his head quickly. “It is not only law to not keep secrets, the Nehrezl find it offensive to do so. That is another reason they were so angry with our indiscretion.”

“Because we kept it a secret?” she asks. When he nods, she asks, “But if we did it in the open, wouldn’t it have broken the rules?”

“Yes,” he answers. “But we only made it worse by keeping it hidden.”

“Does that mean we could have lived and just been imprisoned or banished or something?”

He shakes his head. “Death is the penalty no matter the offense.”

“Then what the hell would have been the point of not hiding it?” she asks, feeling the old familiar weight pressing down on her shoulders.

“A quicker death,” he answers solemnly.

They look at each other. “Thanks for telling me in advance.”

“You must make quite a living at the market,” he says after a lengthy pause, trying to turn the subject.

“It pays the bills, plus it’s pretty easy work considering my condition. I make enough to get by,” she explains. Well, at least it was at first. I had to hire Sandra to help out.”

“Well, I think you look great,” the alien remarks. “Back home, the females all keep up their appearances, not letting their pregnancies interfere with everyday life.”

Kind reassurance is such a consistent trait of his, often it is hard to believe he can even muster the strength to live among humanity. “Yeah, thanks!” she scoffs.

“No, really!” he assures her.

“Come on, Ghok! I look like a fucking blimp.”

“No,” the alien argues, more assertively than before. “For a pregnant woman almost at term, you look fantastic!” He looks her body over thoroughly to prove that he isn’t simply telling her what she wants to hear. As he does so, he is surprised to discover just how true his kind words are.

All things considered, Rachele is incredibly attractive for an Earth woman in her state. Apart from the belly, she hasn’t seemed to put on much additional weight, if any. He has seen plenty of his people pregnant and plenty of Earth women in the same state to know when one has put on a healthy weight versus unhealthy. For Rachele to avoid this pitfall as a human is impressive! Even her large belly he feels she carries it very nicely.

A broad smile washes over her face. “Thanks, Ghok,” she says in a far more flattered tone than before. “It’s nice to hear stuff like that.” She looks over at him and noticed that his gaze is stuck on a particular part of her anatomy. Well, two particular parts, to be precise. She cannot help but smile at his fascination. She remembers that he had shown an extra special affection for her breasts during their erotic trysts. Well, if he loved them back then, no doubt he is in awe of the way they have been enlarged by her pregnancy. She can relate as she has watched them grow into a bust that she never thought was possible on her. It has been perhaps the only enjoyable aspect of this whole exhausting ordeal.

An idea sparks in her mind and a sense of feistiness come over her that she hasn’t felt in ages. She leans over close to the alien and speaks at almost a whisper. “Would you like to see them?” It takes Ghok a moment to process what she just said. But all of a sudden he understands, though he can hardly believe how she just bluntly asked him that. “Would you like to play with them?” she asks with a sly smile.

Ghok almost loses his step. “Seriously?” he asks, copying her hushed voice. Rachele nods. “Of course ... sure...” he agrees with a delighted grin, still struggling to believe what is happening. Maybe there is hope after all that she will be his mate.

“Okay,” she says. Rachele surveys her surroundings carefully. By now they have wandered into the town’s modest industrial area. Long ago the town used to be a lumber town. And while they still do cut trees down, it is for the people that still want furniture built from trees. After a few more steps they come to the corner of a dull white painted building that they have been walking along. She grabs the alien’s hand and pulls him into the alleyway between it and the next building.

“What? Here? Are you serious?” Ghok asks incredulously. Rachele only answer is an emphatic nodding of her head and a beaming self-satisfied grin. “Well, you know this town better than I,” he chuckles. He is almost as amused as he is anxious and scared of being caught. He gazes in awe as she peels her sweater off of her fruitful belly, away from the two rich bulges above it and finally up over her head.

She takes her time in removing it, almost as if she is merely stripping off a layer because she feels hot. Ghok realizes that she is teasing him and that only makes his anticipation—not to mention the danger of getting caught—and thus the thrill, grow stronger and stronger with each passing moment. She hands him the sweater without a word and then slowly draws her hands back to the uppermost buttons of her blouse. Her eyes curl upward to shoot a mischievous gaze squarely at the alien and she bites gently into her lower lip, forming the smirk of a girl who knows she is being bad and is enjoying it. With agonizing patience, she undoes the first button, then the second, then the third.

Ghok’s two hearts creep into his throat as her sinking neckline begins to reveal the swollen boundaries of her cleavage. They begin to pound like goblin drums when he first catches sight of the pale colored fabric of her bra cups. They grow even more furious when he sees the segment of strap that holds the cups together. As her liberating hands began to round the curvature of her belly, Rachele spreads the sides of her blouse apart to give Ghok a better view of what she has uncovered, but there still isn’t enough slack in the blouse to give him a really good look at the treasures within. She continues onward while he looks on, frozen with suspense.

She has just released the last button above her belly button when suddenly her smooth, teasing demeanor collapses like a house of cards. Had Ghok been looking at her face he would see that her naughty girl smirk has been replaced by a look of panic. She fumbles desperately with the button she has just undone. He has been so transfixed by her little exhibitionist display, it has taken him a minute to realize what has happened. But soon enough, he recognizes the sound of footsteps coming down the street, closing in on them with frightening speed.

Rachele eventually manages to feed the first button through its hole before dashing up to the next one and making a similarly clumsy effort to redo it. She soon realizes that there is no way she has enough time to completely redo the buttons on the blouse before whoever is coming discovers them. “Fuck!” she quietly curses as she snatches her sweater from the bewildered alien’s hands. With speed that would make any woman in a similar compromising situation, she pulls the sweater back over her head and navigates it down around the loosened edges of her blouse. By the time the stranger—a young man maybe only a couple years older than her— saunters past the alley end, all that is left is for her to straighten out the hemline and free her ponytail from the collar.

They both flash the man a polite smile and a nod. The quizzical look he returns reveals that he is suspicious about what a famous alien and a heavily-pregnant woman are doing just standing around in an alleyway. But he says nothing and his pace does not slow. They both remain where they stand until the man’s footfalls fade into silence. Then they turn to each other and break down in restrained laughter.

“Wow! That almost felt like it did on Vulta!” Ghok exclaims. “That was close!”

“Yeah, I’d say,” she agrees. “Fuck, let’s not do that again.”

Ghok can appreciate the woman’s reluctance, but he cannot help but feel extremely disappointed. He had almost gotten to see two of the most amazing natural wonders conceivable, and in the blink of an eye that opportunity has been lost.

“We’re not that far now. Come on!” Rachele tells him with a spritely smile.

Suddenly his spirits are lifted. If he read her tone right, it seems like he hasn’t cancelled the show, but merely decided to take a brief pause until they can get to the privacy of her home. He hopes at least, with all his will that he is right. Regardless of whether it is the excitement of almost being caught or the eagerness to show off her assets, something has lit a fire under the woman. Her pregnancy waddle has quickened considerably as she proceeds through the final leg of their journey. Ghok happily matches her pace. He spends virtually the entire trip covertly admiring her splendid bust, tearing his eyes away for only brief intervals to check the path ahead for obstacles.

They don’t speak a single word until Rachele points to a quaint little house with a blooming front garden and declares, “This is the one.” Nonetheless, the chemistry between them the entire time is electric. She retrieves her keys as she marches quickly up the front stoop and makes short work of the door lock. Ghok is close behind her as she enters the cozy living room and closes the door behind him once they are both inside.

Then she turns around and looks him right in the eyes. They both still bear half a smirk from their close encounter only moments ago. Her heart is racing from the excitement and the rushed journey back home. She exhales a single deep breath before the sweater comes off for the second time. It is an unceremonious reveal compared to the last one. Much of what the alien got to see earlier is visible between the wide gap between the two halves of her blouse. She casually tosses the sweater at her feet, and then resumes the deliberately slow unbuttoning of her blouse, almost as if the interruption had never happened. After a couple more buttons, the gap in the blouse seems to be loose enough for her purposes. She tugs at the collar of the material, skewing the opening so that one entire cup of her plain cotton bra is on display. Then without pause, she pulls the gap over to the opposite side to show off its twin.

Ghok gawks uttering in a daze. Though in truth, he is less captivated by the size of them the chance to be so close to them again. The curvature of her upper breasts have expanded significantly since he last been with her. The shadowy slit of her cleavage looks almost big enough to hide his massive alien prick inside.

Rachele says nothing as the exhibition continues. It takes some effort, but she manages to suppress her urge to grin. She pulls the strap of her bra off her shoulder, until it drifts down her arm a ways. The cup is loose now, but not enough to fall by itself. Slowly, she slips her fingers into the cup, deeper and deeper. When it seems she can go no further, she grabs hold of the pliant flesh inside and gently lifts it out of its enclosure.

A wave of pins and needles washes over the alien’s body as he watches her flesh bow so willingly beneath the pressure of her fingers. Yet the highlight of the mound remains hidden in her palm. He aches to see her breast in its entirety. Every second the woman stalls feels like an eternity. But the prize is more than worth the wait. Her hand peels away and drops gently to her side. The change to her nipple is even more radical than her breast’s growth. They had been soft pink in tone in a way that hinted very effectively at how velvety smooth they were to the touch. But now its color was a rich maroon, reminiscent of the juicy pilanto fruit of Mihr, which clashes sharply with the complexion of the surrounding breast. The nipple itself is far more raised than he remembers. It makes her entire chest look like it belongs to a completely different woman. Yet at the same time, Ghok knows that this isn’t true. He knows that the breasts before him, both the one he can see and its concealed twin, are the same heavenly soft mounds he had adored at length during that night at her apartment. He knows that these are the same he had blissfully coated with his hot cum after they had repeatedly kissed his tip with their caress.

They may have lost their cuteness factor, but what he can see of her chest is just as gorgeous as ever. Her already large breasts have now ripened. They have become more of what they were. And whereas Rachele’s regular bust was passively sexy, her pregnancy breasts exude a strong sense of vitality. Ghok gawks in utter silence at the wonder before him. Though he has seen both pregnant and nonpregnant women, he has never seen the before and after. And there isn’t a single Nehrezl with breasts.

Rachele hides her apprehensiveness behind a soft smile. The alien’s reaction is unreadable and she doesn’t like it. Her breasts have changed so much since he had given them that standing attention in her bedroom. He said they were perfect just the way they were when she pointed out that other woman had bigger breasts? “Fuck it. You might as well get a better look,” she casually declares. “It’s not as if anyone else can see.” She quickly tends to the remaining couple of buttons of her blouse, and then takes it right off. Now the only sight Ghok is getting is the best look at the woman’s huge belly. It is certainly a confronting sight, but surprisingly not disagreeable as he would expect. Perhaps he has gotten the shock of discovering he had knocked her up out of his system. Rachele drops her blouse on top of her sweater then briskly removes her bra and casts it on the same pile, all the while studying the alien’s face for a clue about his impressions.