"Yes, you all have the cell inside of you. Janet's is more p.r.o.nounced than yours. I can only surmise it's either because she is a female or because she is pregnant. I've had the same results in most of the women here."

"Has anyone had anything bad happen because of this cell that's in us?"

"No, to my knowledge, nothing bad has happened to anyone as a result of the cell. Several of the women who have been bitten or had the acid-like stuff on them have actually appeared to be healthier than the others. I can't prove anything by it, but it does appear that way so far."

"So what do we do from here?" Steven spoke up.

"I'll give her some prenatal vitamins, and she needs to eat better. She is one of the few women I've had who became pregnant that didn't need iron pills as well. That's a very good thing."

"What about Carmen? How is she?"

"She's doing well. I can't tell you anything more. You'll have to talk to her yourself. She's outside waiting to see you."

Janet didn't wait any longer. She threw open the door and hurried outside.

"Carmen! How are you?" She wrapped the other woman in her arms.

When she let go, she smiled at the huge grin on the other woman's face.

"You're pregnant," they both said at the same time.

"Isn't that great! We'll have babies at the same time! They'll be friends. I wonder if we'll have the same kind or if one of us will have a boy and the other a girl?" Carmen was overly excited about being pregnant.

"It will be great. How are you feeling other than that?" she asked.

"I'm fine. There's nothing really different since I was sick. I think the stuff inside of me and you has helped me."

"I sure hope it will help. I can't stand thinking about something foreign being inside of me."

Carmen smiled. "I agree, but I really think that is what saved me."

"Are you ready to head back home, Carmen?" Brad wrapped his arms around her.

"We should at least eat together while we are here," she said.

"What do you say, guys?" Brad asked.

They all agreed it was a good idea and left the doctor's office together. They walked down the street to a diner and talked and visited while they had an early dinner. It was only three in the afternoon, but they had a long drive back ahead of them. Janet was sure her men were anxious to return.

"Carmen, we should talk every day on the radio and compare symptoms to see if we're doing the same things."

"That's a great idea!"

"We better go, Janet." Greg stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I don't want to get back too late."

"Same here," Kirk said.

They loaded up, strapped in, and headed for home. Janet spent the majority of the trip just thinking about everything. She knew that she would probably have the baby around the middle of April. That meant that the garden would fall on the men to get started. She wouldn't be able to do it. That led to the thoughts of how to care for a baby and a house and a garden all at the same time.

Well, women did it on Earth back before the advent of the automobile and tractors and such. Surely she could manage as well. They had a fence that would keep the creatures out. She would have to worry about all the added responsibilities once the time came. She was making herself sick thinking about it too much right then.

"You're awful quiet, love. What are you worrying about?"

"Just that I don't know how I'm going to take care of a house, a garden, and a baby all at the same time."

"We'll worry about it more later. Right now, you need to concentrate on eating and gaining weight. You'll feel better once you are able to eat right." Greg looked over at her from the driver's seat.

"I can't help it. I don't think they thought about this when they sent us out to another planet."

"I think they did," Steven said. "They gave you two husbands so that one could help you while the other one worked when the time came. We'll work it all out, Janet."

"Steven's right. You'll have help. Just relax and take a nap until we get home."

"Maybe you're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right." Greg grinned at her then squeezed her leg.

She leaned back and closed her eyes. She didn't sleep because she could hear the men talking around her, but she did rest. By the time they pulled up outside the house, she felt much better.

"Stay put while we get the house unlocked." Greg jumped down from the transport and headed for the house.

Steven stepped down and waited while Greg unlocked the door. Then he reached up and unlatched the harness before carrying her over to the front door. Janet slid out of his arms once they were inside. She wanted a bath. She felt icky after the exam and wanted to clean up.

"Where are you going, baby?"

"To take a bath. I feel dirty."

"Need one of us to run it for you?" he asked.

"No thanks. I can do it."

"Remember you're carrying a baby, love, and don't boil him."

"Ha, ha." She shook her head at Steven.

Once in the bathroom, she took his comment to heart and was careful not to run the water too hot. Still, it was a nice temperature when she slid down into the water. It felt wonderful. She quickly bathed then climbed out and dried off. About the time that she walked into the bedroom, the men walked through the door as well.

"Time for bed, baby." Greg began pulling off his clothes. "I'm going to take a shower."

"I'm going to grab the one down the hall," Steven said. "I'll tuck you in first before I go."

She climbed into bed and settled in the middle under the sheets. She s.h.i.+vered at the colder temperature of the bed. After having been in the warm bathroom, it was a startling difference.

"Snuggle down, love. We'll be back to warm you up in a few minutes." He bent down and kissed her.

Greg walked over and kissed her as well. "I'll be right out."

She never knew when they came to bed. Sleep claimed her in the middle of thinking about the baby.

Chapter Sixteen.

Janet finished up most of the garden by the end of the month. She still had a few tomatoes and some eggplant left on the plants to watch and gather. Most everything else was ready to be pulled up and plowed under.

She sighed. She had made it past the morning sickness part of pregnancy but still couldn't seem to do much at one time. She got tired easier than before. She took frequent breaks and actually took a nap almost every afternoon. If she didn't, she ended up in bed by seven or eight that night. The men noticed and encouraged her to rest as much as possible. They didn't think it was odd for her to be so tired.

Janet made her second trip down to the cellar to put away the tomatoes she had canned. It would probably take two more trips to get them all down there. She was tired and figured she would need to take a nap for sure that afternoon after she had lunch. As she climbed the stairs, something ran up between her feet and scared her so badly, she lost her balance and fell backwards down the stairs. Her head hit the bottom step and she slid down to land in a heap on the floor.

The first thing she thought about was her baby. She wrapped her arms around her middle and prayed she hadn't hurt the child. Then she tried to get up, but she found that her back hurt too much to move. Then she turned her head and found that her head was hurting as well. When she ran her hand down the back of her head, it came away b.l.o.o.d.y. Oh, G.o.d! She'd busted her head open. That's when she felt the pain in her head.

Janet tried to roll over but couldn't stand the pain to her back and hips. Tears began to flow as she realized she was stuck until the men got home that evening. She didn't feel anything wet between her legs, but she couldn't reach that far without jarring her back.

Her head began pounding after a little while. Then she worried about whatever it was that had run between her legs coming back. How had it gotten in and what was it? It had looked to be about the size of a small cat. Was it dangerous? She couldn't remember whether she had read anything about it or not. She thought she remembered there being something about it, but she couldn't concentrate with her head pounding like it was.

It was cool down in the cellar and before long, and she felt herself begin to s.h.i.+ver. She worried that she was going into shock. That couldn't be good for her, especially not with having a busted head. If she fell unconscious, she wouldn't be able to watch for the creature.

"Greg, I wish you were here. I'm so scared."

Several long minutes later, she felt herself begin to drift. What if they didn't find her down there? Then she remembered that the pantry door was open so they were bound to find her. But what if the creature closed the door? They might not find her for days. They could think that a wild animal had run off with her.

Just as she began to fall asleep, the creature started down the stairs toward her. She screamed thinking it would scare it away, but it just stood at the middle step looking at her.

Greg looked over at Steven and laughed.

The other man had a black eye from running into a board and busting his nose. It really wasn't funny, but what was funny was how Janet would treat him. She was going to smother him with attention. Greg thought it was funny. The other man hated it when he did something stupid.

"Man, you can laugh all you want, but it will be me she's all over tonight, not you."

"I know. I can't help seeing you walk into that board though because you were too busy talking about her."

"Well Kirk and Brad talk about Carmen all the time. We should be talking about Janet the same way."

"And look what happens when you do. You end up with a black eye." Greg shook his head.

"You don't love her, do you, Greg?"

Greg didn't take his eyes of the road now. He had dreaded this question for a long time.

"Greg?"

"No. I don't love her. I care about her. She means the world to me, but I guess I'm just not that sort of person. Either that or she just isn't the one for me. I mean, we knew that we might not fall in love with our wives when we agreed to be a part of this."

"I guess I just can't see how you can not love her. She's wonderful and gives you every part of her. She's worked really hard to be who you need, Greg."

"Don't you think I know that?" Greg all but yelled at Steven.

"Okay. Just don't let her know how you feel. She's having our baby."

"I don't plan on it. I can't help how I do or don't feel, Steven."

"I know." The other man grew quiet.

Greg sighed and pulled the transport up to the side of the house. Steven jumped down and Greg parked it under the shed. He was just walking inside when Steven came running into the living room white as a sheet.

"She's fallen down the cellar stairs."

Greg felt cold water pour down his spine at the thought of her at the bottom of the stairs. He ran behind Steven toward the kitchen and the cellar stairs. Steven hurried down the stairs with Greg right behind him. When they reached the bottom, it was to find Janet lying on her side in a pool of blood. Aw, h.e.l.l. She'd lost the baby.

"Where is she hurt?" Greg demanded.

"I don't know. I can't tell where the blood came from. Her pants are mostly dry. I don't think it's the baby."

"f.u.c.k! Check her head."

"Ah, h.e.l.l. She has a busted place on the back of her head."

"I'm scared to move her, Steven. I don't want to do anymore damage."

"We don't have a choice. We've got to get her upstairs, she's cold, Greg. We can't do anything with her down here."

"I'll pick her up. You walk behind me so that if I slip, you can catch us."

"Got you." Steven stood back while Greg gathered her to his chest and picked her up.

She groaned but didn't open her eyes. He felt something burn his arm when he held her, but he didn't pay any attention to it. Right then, all he cared about was getting Janet upstairs where they could see about her. What in the h.e.l.l were they going to do for her?

As soon as he had her upstairs, he walked over to the kitchen table and gently laid her on her side on the table.

"Check her head, Steven. I'm going to start taking her clothes off her to see where she's hurt."

"She has a big gash, about two inches, back here. She needs st.i.tches in it, but at least it's quit bleeding."

"She has a bad bruise along her back. I hope to G.o.d she hasn't broken her back. I've made it worse by carrying her up here if she did."

"We had to move her, Greg. We can't see well enough down there and she's cold already. I'm going to get blankets while you finish checking her. I'll be right back." Steven ran out of the kitchen.

"h.e.l.l, baby. What have you done? Please don't die on us."

Greg finished pulling her pants off and found to his amazement that she wasn't bleeding v.a.g.i.n.ally. Thank G.o.d for small favors. The baby seemed to be fine so far. He did find some strange-looking b.u.mps on her thigh, though. He checked her pants and found that they were all burned looking. Where had that come from?

Steven was back with blankets and piled them on her. He gave Greg a questioning look.